Hello, this is Hatanaka from the Production Department.
The annual Monosus Anniversary Party.
This year, we held our 12th anniversary party on Friday, November 11th ( you can see our report on the day here ).
At Monosus, there are various committees just for events (such as the year-end party committee and the company trip committee), and it is up to each person to take part in a committee at least once. This was my first time participating in a Monosus event, since I had been with the company for only six months. Meanwhile, the members of the club had told me that I would probably be in charge of the party committee, so I was prepared, but I was nominated by the club president, Hayashi, during a club meeting (lol), and without even knowing what a Monosus party was like, I started planning the event blindly.
The key to planning an event is to have a clear image of the final goal.
Party committee members who spend every night thinking up the party concept. From the left: Matsunaga, Kojima, and Hatanaka
There were three people on the party committee, including me.
A long battle began with Matsunaga from the Creative Department and Kojima from the Coding Factory Department.
When asked what was the hardest part, all three said it was creating the "concept."
This party is held every year, and each year the party is planned based on a "concept" formulated by the party committee.
I really struggled with creating this concept.
According to the party's representative, Hayashi, the concept he wanted people to think about was, "To realize what you want to do in your private life in a public setting like a Monosus party."
The three people, all of whom had no experience planning events, got together and started throwing out various ideas.
First, we made a list of things we wanted to try in our private lives. We discussed what we wanted to try from that list in a public setting like a party, and presented some ideas.
For example, the Monosas Festival was conceived as a way to go beyond the framework of work and create a more private space. Ideas included having people wear Monosas happi coats and bean-dyed traditional Japanese coats, setting up food stalls, and having food vendors so that people could enjoy themselves freely.
In addition, we wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment and unity from coming together to create something large, so we wondered if we could create a system where the pictures that each person posted on the cloud would be put together to create a single, whole piece of work.
Unfortunately, all of these ideas were rejected.
If things continue like this, they will continue to be rejected and we will not be able to decide on a concept... We must first think about why they keep being rejected. So, before thinking about the concept set, we decided to stop and think about "why".
The conclusion we came to was that our concept did not reflect the final goal (what we wanted the party to be like when it was over).
For example, while we wanted to create a space that was almost private for a party, we couldn't think of a concrete reason for not being able to think of what the point of doing that was at a Monosus party. We also wanted people to be able to enjoy themselves freely, but we couldn't imagine what the end goal was, what would come after that.
This situation continued because we tend to just list the things we want to do.
If we can't visualize it ourselves, then of course it won't get across even if we give a presentation.
So, we started again by imagining a specific goal, what we wanted to happen when the party was over.
All three committee members had in common a list of things they wanted to do in their private lives: to be the center of connections between people. Roughly speaking, it would be nice if your friends became closer through you! That's what we want to do at Monosus parties. And those connections don't just happen at the party, we want to provide encounters that people want to continue in the future. Ultimately, we want the party to be a place where each guest can encounter things, people, and events that pique their interest.
It sounds simple when you put it into words, but I think it's actually amazing to be able to be a catalyst for connecting people.
Moreover, it is quite different from connecting people in a "private" community of friends, and I think it is difficult to control this in a "public" event that brings together nearly 200 people. For this reason, I think that structuring the content that will create the opportunity to "connect" people is also an important point for the success of the project. (I will talk about the content later.)
We decided on the outline of the concept based on the theme of "connecting people."
What each person is interested in varies from person to person. I think the type of connections people want to make will vary depending on the number of people who attend the party. It could be meeting people you want to work with, people you want to hang out with, people you want to live with, etc. That's why we made the sub-theme "A place where you can meet people you want to do ◯◯ with."
It's nice when friends become closer to each other. It would be great if we could expand that and create an opportunity to connect people. This theme was born from that thought.
Based on this theme, we decided on a concept called "Monosasu Village Harvest Festival."
The comparison of Monosus to a "village" harvest festival embodies the artist's thoughts on this theme.
A word that expresses Monosus, which is also written on this year's invitation.
"Monosus is not a group that has come together just to work and earn money, but a group like a village that shares parts of daily life and the little hassles, fostering relationships by coming together and connecting with other people."
I think it is precisely because of this group that Monosus is able to "naturally" value relationships with people. The keyword "village" was born from this Monosus-ness.
And the "Harvest Festival"
The Food Hub Project, which was launched in Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture, in collaboration with Kamiyama Tsunagu Corporation , led by Production Department Manager Manabe, is celebrating its first anniversary, and we wanted to treat our guests to rice cake pounding and other dishes made with glutinous rice grown and harvested by the Food Hub Project.
Gathering around the dining table and eating food is an act that I believe contains an element of daily life. The harvest festival is an event held in "rural villages" to celebrate the safe harvest of crops, and it is an event that combines the act of "work" (harvesting crops) with the daily act of "eating" (eating), which is linked to the word "Monosasu." This is how I arrived at the concept of the Monosasu Village Harvest Festival.
This year's invitation. A masterpiece by the head of the design department, Onogi.
Creating exciting and anticipated content to realize the concept
Once the concept has been decided, the next step is to create the content to bring it to fruition.
What kind of party can we hold to create an opportunity for customers to connect with each other?
What kind of party would get everyone excited?
In order to realize the concept we had in mind, we placed great importance on creating "participatory" content, so that people who are meeting for the first time could feel comfortable and actively get to know each other better.
So we came up with the idea of creating a system that would spark conversation between customers while helping them learn about Monosus' individuality, which is the core of how customers can connect with each other.
So here is what I came up with: "Monosasu Village Quiz!"
One of the contents. Monosas Village Quiz.
Monosus is a company where members with various unique personalities gather, each with their own unique and shocking stories (laughs). These stories are presented in the form of a team quiz.
We wanted to create an opportunity for people to "make connections," so we divided the participants into teams using badges and had customers gather members themselves.
Monosas Village badges. We will use these to divide the team.
This is also a masterpiece by Onogi, the head of the design department.
Each team consists of five people.
When customers check in, they can choose from four badges at random: the "Village Mayor's Badge," the "Kettle," the "Boar," and the "Masu" badge. The person who chooses the village mayor's badge must gather people who have the "Kettle, Boar, and Masu" badges to create their own village. Finally, a Monosus employee holding a "Hazekake" badge joins the village, and a group of five people is formed.
Dividing into teams (hereafter referred to as villages) is the first mechanism for generating conversation between customers.
We were worried that just splitting up into villages might take a considerable amount of time, but people meeting each other for the first time communicated with each other, saying things like, "The boar guy!" "I'm the kettle guy!" "I'm Masu!" and took an active role in the game, and before we knew it, around 20 villages had been formed.
When the village chief calls out to them, they raise their hands and say, "I'm an ◯◯ badge!" and appear to be building a village.
The second mechanism for generating conversation was a highly difficult quiz where the answer could only be found through conversation (laughs). Rather than simply turning the episodes into quizzes, we decided to have the village members interview Monosus employees using clues related to the question, and have them discuss together how they could approach the answer through the interviews.
Actual interview tips from Monosus employees
I was a little worried about the challenging quiz questions, which involved subjects I knew absolutely nothing about, but during the interviews each village seemed full of energy and laughter, so I'm glad I took on the challenge!
I think that conducting the interviews early on helped to ease the tension among the village members and also achieved our aim of increasing the sense of unity and solidarity that is necessary for the team competition.
Because the risks are so high, I was really nervous until I started, but every time the quiz started and the answers were displayed, the crowd cheered like local heroes and the excitement was such that I felt really relieved.
The quiz answers and interim rankings were announced. Seeing the audience pumping their fists in joy and clapping in delight was the best moment I felt.
We prepared prizes for this quiz, and with the hope that the participants would continue to build relationships after the party, we decided to give the top two teams meal tickets for a trip together as a group.
I think that by clarifying the core concept, we were able to reflect that concept in the prizes.
One thing we could have done better with the game is that we only explained the situation to the Monosus members, who we were asking for their cooperation, on the day itself. I think it must have been very stressful for the people being interviewed. After all, we hadn't even told the Monosus members the answers to the quiz, let alone what the questions would be. We wanted the Monosus members to have fun along with the customers, so although they were collaborators, we had them become participants in the village. We were unable to set aside time for the briefing in advance, and it ended up being at the last minute, which was a factor in the event's failure, so not being able to manage the overall schedule was a major issue...
And another piece of content.
Produced by Manabe of the Produce Department, the Food Hub Project held a mochi-pounding event and threshing experience using harvested glutinous rice. The hands-on nature of the experience helped people to become closer, even if they were meeting for the first time.
Even before the event started, people were already lined up at the mochi-pounding area. Afterwards, the mochi that everyone had pounded was served on the dinner table and was a big hit. The two people in the foreground of the photo are Mr. and Mrs. Hakumomo from the Food Hub Project.
To be honest, I was really looking forward to this threshing experience. I have never done it in my life. I think most people are the same! The guests at the venue were very interested in the threshing machine, which they had never seen or touched before. The rice threshed here is collected and sent to Kamiyama, Tokushima Prefecture, where the Food Hub Project is located, so that it can be eaten!
The threshing experience is also popular among children. Onogi, the head of the design department, has the face of his father.
The Food Hub Project not only provided these experiential content, but also provided full cooperation with the food!
The food at Food Hub Project was absolutely delicious. I finished the huge amount of food in no time.
And for the annual BBQ, we had the cooperation of Yoshiyuki Hoshina, the master of Tansui , and Tsuyoshi Nonaka of dAZE at the bar. It was a day where we could really feel that Monosus's party is made possible thanks to the support of many people.
This year, the BBQ hosted by the master of Tamsui and the representative Hayashi was a great success. They looked perfect together in matching Monosasu T-shirts.
The bar is Monosus BAR by dAZE. A professional will come and make drinks for you. It's so luxurious.
What I learned from planning the party
Perhaps because they've been together so long, the three party committee members have started to think alike, and their outfits end up overlapping one in three times.
Hatanaka (left), Matsunaga (center), Kojima (right)
As mentioned at the beginning, this was the first time for all three of them to plan an event.
To begin with, the three of us were in different departments and did completely different jobs, and as I had only been with the company six months ago, it was the first time I had had a conversation with the two of them other than greetings since becoming a party committee member...
In the midst of all this, as the concept and content were getting impatient and preparations were not being completed, and the day of the event was approaching, the discussion between the three party committee members, who had never had a proper conversation at first, suddenly became so close that it turned into a skirmish!? (laughs)
But on the other hand, when the party finished, I was so overwhelmed with emotion and fulfillment that my body was shaking with joy (laughs).
I believe that the reason we are able to share so much hardship and joy together, not just through work, but with members of other departments, is thanks to Monosus's loving whip, which does not allow for any compromise even when it comes to company events.
The benefits of organizing the event are enormous.
Of course there has been a change in the way the project was carried out and the way it was thought about, but I think there has also been a big change in the way we thought about things.
After the party ended and we had time to take a breather, we spoke to the two of them to share their experiences, which they had gone through with the rest of the committee.
Matsunaga's words:
Anyway, I'm glad I did it. Up until now, there have been things I've wanted to try, or thought I should try, but I've avoided them because I didn't know how to go about it or how to proceed.
Most of the things I experience as a party committee member this time are new to me.
I started out not knowing where to begin or how to begin, but even though I was feeling sorry, I got everyone around me involved and just kept asking, begging, and asking for help from people with experience and those in their field.
Before I knew it, it had somehow taken shape.
I realized that there is a way to somehow move forward with things I thought I couldn't do, and it made me feel more positive and eager to take on more challenges from now on.
This is not to say that we could make things work by making unreasonable requests (although sometimes we were in a tight spot and made some unreasonable requests...).
As they take on difficult challenges with their teammates, they receive help from others to reflect on their actions, discover areas for improvement, and then reflect on those areas and try again to move forward.
Listening to Mr. Matsunaga's words, I felt that this was truly team building being put into practice in an unexpected way.
Kojima's words:
There were many times when I couldn't understand what Hayashi-san and Manabe-san were saying. I became withdrawn and just nodded to what they said, and didn't say anything. So, no matter how many times we thought about the concept and the content, we couldn't communicate with each other, and I think that's why I ended up thinking of things that were off the mark.
I feel that the biggest issue I felt through the party was the need for questioning skills.
Listening to Ms. Kojima's talk on "questioning ability," I felt the weight of this as a personal challenge. When I have questions about areas I'm not confident in, I feel intimidated, thinking that maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know, and I end up suppressing my questions, or just listening to what someone says without digging deeper and thinking I understand, which means I don't really understand what they're trying to say.
There were many cases of people returning to their original positions as a result of moving forward without clearly understanding what the other party wanted and being unable to share that in their own words.
I was reminded of what is very important when it comes to work, and I think it was a really good experience.
It's not just the party committee. All employees cooperate to make decorations, signs, and souvenirs all by DIY, which is the Monosus way. The MC is a former Monosus employee. It's also Monosus style to continue to be involved in this way even after leaving the company.
And above all, I think it was really great that through preparing for the party I was able to deepen my interactions with Monosus members who I had not had much chance to talk to before.
Despite being busy, they readily responded to my sudden requests, and when I was at a loss, they stepped up to offer me ideas and solve my problems with me, and gave me accurate advice.
I realized that everyone who works at Monosus and those who have any connection to Monosus are the kind of people who are willing to help anyone in need, even if it means doing something a little troublesome.
thank you very much!