Language: English

When helping others, there are two types of situations:

• Helping some get out of trouble (generally, this can be resolved by financial means, but not all the time);
• Helping some get better.

There’s a lot of focus on the first part and little on the second part.

If someone has lots of success in life but needs some money to do even better, it’s a natural tendency to try to drag them down. „Oh, but he/she will be better than I! That’s not cool!”.

Also, when helping someone poor, there’s always a little thought about the laziness involved. „Have they worked hard to get out of their situation? Should I help this lazy person? Wouldn’t it have been better had they suffered?”

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See part 1: Free invites – Blog de Olivian Breda.

I go to a lot of events using free invites.

But, in my case, „free” generally involves giving something back, so it’s generally more like a barter.

I also invite some people as a token of goodwill.

But I don’t invite people expecting something in return.

Negative example #1: I used to organize a series of events. For a long time, we had a central, well-organized, cool, good-equipped, and friendly location. After a few years, the area closed. We had to charge a small tax (around 30 lei, something like that, less than €10; I think it was €6-7). Years after the event ended, I met someone who asked me, „At some point, did you hold the event for free?”. I was stunned. After all these years, all that person cared about the event was €7. We made no profit; we barely even covered our costs, even though we also had some sponsors.

Negative example #2: I invited one person to an event and asked that person to write a follow-up message on my blog beforehand. The person recorded the event (I’m not sure if they had permission for that) and told me at the end, „Here’s the video; write whatever you write.” When I told them they should write the article, they didn’t do it.

Negative example #3: I invited a person to an event and asked for a follow-up message. They asked for permission to write negative things, which I accepted. They wrote some things about event organization and logistics. While not of zero value, it had little value to other readers.

Writing a follow-up article helps me remember the information better, creates quality content for my blog, and allows me to network. It’s a win-win-win. Yet, few people write event follow-ups.

I know some event organizers who don’t give free event invitations. I like their policy.

People pay a premium for business class because of a certain kind of company. I like their view.

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