What do mathematicians and magicians have in common? I’m not actually sure if there’s a right answer but I’m convinced there’s a connection.

Inventing a magic trick and inventing a theorem are very similar, so magicians and those who excel at math have a lot in common. Of course charisma and showmanship is what gets you a permanent show on the Las Vegas Strip like David Copperfield. Then there’s people like Arthur Benjamin, more math whiz than magical wizard; this guy doesn’t even have a hat with which to store a rabbit, much less performs card tricks and saw people in half. Benjamin though performs to packed houses and receives standing ovations from his audience at every performance.

Benjamin is known as a mathemagician; someone who is so brilliant at math that he mesmerizes his audience with nothing but a lightening-quick ability to calculate complex problems:

Benjamin, from what I’ve seen and read, doesn’t levitate or make the Statue of Liberty disappear like Copperfield did in his heyday. But, as you can see, that doesn’t make what he does any less amazing.

I have a love/hate relationship with checklists – I hate to see a list full of things to do; the list just stares back at you, mocking you silently. The list reminds you that there’s unfinished business to take care of.

But when you knock off a bunch of items from your checklist you feel vindicated; victorious even because you’ve accomplished something. As a person who doesn’t have the microscopic attention to detail as some, I have come to appreciate the checklist as a tool to make my life easier. After all, my brain can only hold so much information at once (insert your own joke here).

We have a number of checklists at eventIQ to help staff do quality control, stay on top of  individual projects, follow details for events being set up and especially we use checklists to help us stay on top of all the things we need for a trade show.

So checklists can be pretty useful tools and make me less grouchy. And if you can believe it, a person can even have FUN with checklists — it’s all in your approach.

If you were to see me rolling a purple suitcase through the airport, you probably wouldn’t take a second glance.

After all, a suitcase is just a tool for storing socks, shoes and toothpaste, right? Maybe to some, but to me the purple suitcase is a metaphor — it represents leadership, responsibility and organization. Since we use this particular suitcase to pack our trade show booth, it’s vital that everything that we need for a show is put in both before and after.

At first blush you think a trade show booth is pretty simple stuff but really there’s so many things that go into it — everything from sharpies to Scotch Tape and extension cords  – that you need a checklist so nothing is left behind either at the office or at the trade show.

And not only am I responsible for what’s in the suitcase but general show preparation as well — what are the goals for the show, booth location, and coming up with a strategy to make us stand out (we like to ask questions, rather than “pitch”).

As you can see, using a trade show check list at the final stages of your event preparation is a valuable organizational tool to make sure all the last-minute details are handled. You can see the famed Purple Suitcase at the Saskatchewan Association of School Business Officials (SASBO) annual conference April 18 in Saskatoon where we will have our trade show booth set up, doing a short demo of InviteRight and giving away a cool tech gift.

You are young, smart and earnest and want to leave high school as your class valedictorian.

It’s a goal shared by many people in their senior year of high school but not everyone has what it takes. Boosting your grades as well as your social profile while fending off students who view you as competition for the job can be draining; which is why becoming valedictorian is as much about endurance as it is intellect.

Use these steps to learn how to become your school’s valedictorian, even if you already are the top student.

1. Start working on this early in high school

2. Learn how your school chooses its valedictorian

3. Develop excellent study habits

4. Complete all your homework, classwork and tests at a superior level

5. Get involved in your school clubs and activities (especially graduation planning)

6. Enjoy your senior year — ultimately it’s the friends you make along the way that will matter not who gave a speech at graduation.

Even when you win — remember there’s an election for this position — that’s only half the battle. You will need a great speech on an important and inspiring topic in order to be truly memorable.

“April is a promise that May is bound to keep.”

– Hal Borland

With the school year end near, thoughts turn to elections whether it’s from prom queen, this year’s grad theme or the grad class song.  Or maybe it’s time to start plotting your personal election strategy for next year’s student council vote.

The Electionbuddy team wants to help you win — running for student office can be a rewarding experience and even though it will add to your workload you will one day marvel at the role you played and how you affected student’s perception of their school.  We thought it would be cool to share this video on how to win a student election courtesy of wikiHow.

And we hope you think of electionbuddy.com for managing the election process.

School spirit is a term hard to define, but we here at eventIQ think a group of Edmonton high school students has it figured out.

In February, 2012, over 500 Ross Sheppard high school students showed off their school spirit with a Lip Dub that rivals anything that Milli Vanilli ever did. Set to music by Coldplay and Katrina & The Waves, students danced and strutted all over campus and in the process made all students, former and present, proud to be part of the school.

Does your high school have spirit like this? Let’s see it — Send us a link on Facebook or Twitter to your Lip Dub or activity that shows students showing off your school.

Spring Break vacation was always welcomed when I was in high school — it meant a chance to recharge the ‘ol batteries and to prepare myself mentally for the rest of the school year.

Who am I kidding? It was a chance to go to Florida! Okay; I only did it once and my pasty-white complection turned into a lobster-red sunburn by the end of the first day. In fact, the whole trip resembled something out of National Lampoon’s Vacation, right down to the station wagon and being trapped spending quality time with my parents.

Pass on these tips to students

Tell your students instead of opting for sun and surf,  to use their March break to look for a summer job or internship. Here are some tips to help them get started:

• Figure out your career aspirations: Not sure what you want to do after high school? Make a list of your interests and strengths, as well as your dislikes and keep them in mind as you look for a job.  If you have shown that entrepreneurial spirit early on, it’s worth a call to Junior Chamber International.
• Do a thorough search: Ask your guidance counselor for assistance. A college counselor told me go to the grocery store and write down all the brand names you see on the shelves. Then Google the names to see what companies have jobs.
• Be a cold calling champ: It’s a little scary at first, but you will get used to calling employers and asking them about seasonal positions.
• Be persistent: Don’t give up if you don’t receive call-backs or positive answers right away. Remember, rejection is only a numbers game. Someone will hire you!

EventIQ has swung a deal with Sobeys to offer Western Canada high schools a fantastic fundraiser — you will receive 10% back on all orders!

Parents and teachers who have used this fundraiser elsewhere really eat this one up! This is a cost-effective way for your school community to buy groceries and fuel AND put cash back into the school (no more working bingo’s or selling cookie dough or magazine subscriptions to raise money!).

How the grocery card fundraiser works:

• All cards offer a 10% return to your school’s account (no minimum amount per school)
• All cards are redeemable for face value
• Cards come in denominations of $50 and $100
• Cards are per-ordered by parents and cards are picked up at the school
• If a school sells $25,000 in grocery cards it will earn a $2,500 profit.
• Program ends June 1, 2012.

If your school tries this fundraiser and finds it raises TOO much money (a real possibility!), then consider giving free grad tickets to families in need, put the funds toward other school programs or the grad class can choose a charity to donate to.

Update – Scholarship and Free Tickets

The eventIQ-Sobey’s partnership is part of the Grad Give Back Program, originally announced in October. The program includes giveaways for students that will help more families attend their son or daughter’s graduation activities as well as a $500 scholarship. For more details on the Grad Give Back Program, call us at 866-811-3144 or email your questions to sales@eventiq.com.

In my job at eventIQ I often become nostalgic about high school and think back about the person I was then and how much I’ve grown as a person since.

I realize after reading submissions for our scholarship that soon-to-be high school grads remind me a lot of me 10 years ago  20 or so years ago. Only they have so many more choices for education and careers so they are challenged to narrow their path and set goals even more so than people I graduated with. I remember thinking I had so many big decisions to make when I was 18 and that I wished someone would just give me the right answer.

Then I took it a step further and thought about all the things I would tell my 18-year-old self about life if we could meet. Here are three things that I wish I knew then that I know now:

• Commit yourself to making lots of mistakes – learn from your mistakes. The worst mistake you can make is being scared to try something new. I recall my dad driving me to a new city to start college and all the way there I was practically digging my fingernails into the dash because I was so nervous. It turns out college was fantastic — I made terrific friendships and had learning opportunities that I never would have experienced if I had chickened out and not gone.
• Find work you love doing – My career advice to my 18-year-old self would be to find your passion – no matter what it is. Don’t let someone else’s idea of what a career is define your life because you will just wake up one day and wish you had become a professional surfer rather than an marketer.
• Talk to lots of people in college and early on in your career – start networking early. Talk to professors and former high school teachers, friends and family. Join a club or volunteer and talk to other members — the more you network the more opportunities will begin to snowball.
• Most of all I would tell my young self — while it’s important to set goals and achieve them, its just as important to enjoy the ride. Leaving high school doesn’t mean you’ve reached your life’s peak; a lot can happen in the coming years (ok, ok decades!). You will fall in and out of love more than once, meet people that will stay your friends and some that won’t. And you will have many interesting experiences that you will share — hopefully with your grand kids.

Another event IQ grad give back  Please share this with your grads if you enjoy this post.