A round-the-world DJ tour to set multiple Guinness World Records and raise awareness about and funds for the one billion hungry people around the world who urgently need help is not your typical project.
Most projects consist of one simple or complex task and that’s about it. My world tour encompasses so many elements that it should be viewed as a fully-fledged enterprise in the same category as a business start-up.
There are five aspects of the Big Journey:
- The club world tour (performances in nightclubs around the world)
- The DJ world tour (what I could refer to as promotional performances/appearances such as radio guest slots or in-store performances)
- The round-the-world road trip (driving around the world in a car is a mammoth project)
- The worldwide hunger awareness and fundraising work (to get people, artists, performers and companies in the dance music field to pledge resources – time, money, effort, attention, to name a few – to fight and prevent hunger)
- Management of my soon to be launched record label, my current record label and other business interests while traveling the world.
I thought about all this when the idea of going around the world by car was taking shape and I just figured that it would also be a great experiment to see what motivated and focused humans can achieve.
That is why I have found a tour director so far. She’s actually a partner in the company that we’ll start-up together to manage the world tour (logistics, costs, itinerary, expenses, funding and so on). Her credentials are impeccable and above everything, she has the right thinking both in “what could be achieved” and in “we need to do something for the one billion hungry people around the world”.
My number one beef with project management are the stupid graphs that come with the territory. Anyone who dangles one in front of me will be showing himself or herself out of the door, guaranteed!*
I will also need to launch and run the new record label while I am on the road. I have exciting ideas that I will share in future posts. But I will definitely need a “woman or man on the ground” to help me oversee this parallel project. This person will obviously need to have a background in the record industry but also have a twisted sense of challenging established rules because the concept that I will unleash on her or him is not for the timid!
I said that there were five projects but there are actually six. I also intend on appreciating the places and meeting people along the journey. This cannot be neglected as it defeats the purpose of the biggest road trip ever.
I am also blessed with having so many good friends who are scattered in various countries and cities around the world (that’s what attending international schools and universities and also playing music to diverse crowds generates!). I plan on paying a visit to as many as possible. I have been told many times that my room is waiting for me. I have not seen many of these precious friends face to face for many years but we keep in touch via email, telephone and/or Facebook.
And by the way, due to the unpredictable nature of this first ever endeavour, plans can change quickly meaning that what has taken months to prepare can be thrown in the garbage within a few seconds. For instance… what would happen if my body decided that it could not withstand a continuos car trip???
What’s the point of this article?
This project is no simple picnic planning. It’s a whole enterprise. That’s why I am carefully laying the ground work to put the wheels in motion. I am also giving myself some tight headlines because the window of opportunity is so small as 2010 is going to be a very busy and important year in recent history.
So to all who think that I am going on a joyride, let me assure you, it’s not all fun and games. But I will choose this “pain” gladly than be confined to a 9-to-5 job, slaving away for someone!
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Graph source: Wikipedia
