By Chief
On the cover image, and why it always takes a week.
The cover is the room before the room. Here's the rule.
If the cover image is wrong, the room is going to fight you all night.
I learned this in 2024. Two of our earliest events had covers that did not match what the night turned out to be. Both nights felt off, not because the music was wrong but because the people came in expecting something else. The cover sets the contract.
These days the rule is: a week to land the cover, a day to write the description, and an hour to publish. The cover is the longest single decision. It is the one decision the rest of the night cannot recover from.