The Elevate Media Podcast
Join Chris as he chats with successful business owners and entrepreneurs and shares his own lessons and successes of building Elevate Media Group.
His mission is to help coaches bring in more clients through video podcasting and content creation so they can elevate their brands and become the experts in their industries without all the time spent doing it.
The Elevate Media Podcast
Maximizing Event Success through Creativity and Vision
Unleash the secrets to hosting events that not only impress but also fuel your business growth with insights from the Party Goddess herself, Marley Majcher. Discover how a well-curated guest list can spark magic, as Marlee emphasizes the power of blending diverse personalities to create unforgettable interactions. We explore the significance of a clear brand vision and purpose, ensuring your event is as impactful as it is enjoyable.
Explore cutting-edge strategies to transform mundane gatherings into thematic spectacles. From turning a DJ booth into a silent disco arena to crafting an awards night that freelance videographers won't forget, we explore the art of engaging your audience with creativity and flair. Picture a social setting with a harmonious blend of lounge seating and delicious hors d'oeuvres, all designed to foster connections and keep the conversations flowing.
Delve into the intricacies of event promotion with tactics that guarantee a full house, featuring a layered approach with both physical and digital invitations. Learn how to keep your audience energized and engaged with dynamic layouts that surprise and delight their senses. We wrap up with the essential strategies for maximizing attendance and adaptability, ensuring your event leaves a lasting impression long after the final guest has departed.
This episode is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.
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Welcome to the Elevate Media Podcast with your host, chris Anderson. In this show, chris and his guests will share their knowledge and experience on how to go from zero to successful entrepreneur. They have built their businesses from scratch and are now ready to give back to those who are just starting. Let's get ready to learn, grow and elevate our businesses. And now your host, chris Anderson.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to another recording of the Elevate Media Podcast. I'm Chris Anderson, your host. Today we're going to dive into how to throw better events, how to utilize events to grow your brand and connect with people, and to do that, I brought on another expert. Imagine that, and so today we have Marlee Masher on the show today. She is an expert in throwing events, parties, celebrity events. Call her the party goddess. So, marlee, welcome to the Elevate Media Podcast today.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to talk about one of my absolute favorite subjects.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and like we were talking about before we hit record was you know this? We haven't covered these topics very much as events or parties and things like that and how to use it to grow your brand properly. So you know, to kick things off, what got you into becoming the party? Goddess, okay.
Speaker 3:Well, that would take your entire show, but I'll try to make it as fast as possible. So I'm from Pasadena, California, where I still live, which is a suburb of LA, and I went to Georgetown and my parents wouldn't let me go to school in California. They're like you have to go anywhere else. So they said you can come back, but you got to go to go out of state. So I went to Georgetown and which was super hard for me at the time. My so I went to Georgetown and which was super hard for me at the time.
Speaker 3:My ADHD was undiagnosed, although I don't know how, and I got my business degree, but my junior year I didn't have anything to do before, like in that summer. So I went to cooking school in Paris and then I came back and I needed to do something a speech that I knew more about than anybody else, and at Georgetown that was nothing. So I interviewed this chef and decided I needed to marry him, but he was 20 years older. That's the whole story. And then I got engaged the month after graduation and got back into the restaurant business so yeah, okay, so that's so.
Speaker 2:Parties like what, like what makes a good event or party if you're throwing one or if you're thinking about throwing one.
Speaker 3:Okay, absolutely Positively. Is there a couple of key things? Of course, the host and the vibe that they create, but it's the guest list. But I am going to tell you that it's not the guest list that you think, okay, okay.
Speaker 3:So most people think that, oh, I'm going to really carefully curate this Right and I'm going to have, like my fancy friends with my other fancy friends, you know, and I'm not going to invite that person because they didn't go to college and these people are not going to. That's the exact wrong approach. The best parties are the ones where you have the CEO, who flew in private, and the gardener and the whatever, everybody mixed together and the key secret sauce is the host or hostess making that work. And as long as they make it interactive and make everybody feel comfortable and set the tone absolutely positively, you will have and I have, I have done this my whole career you will have the 75 year old gazillionaire leave after and you'll be like, oh my God, they're over there talking to so-and-so who is just out of rehab, probably still has the needle marks in their arm.
Speaker 3:And they'll'll be like that was the greatest party ever, right, because you're forcing a different dynamic and people aren't used to it and it's unexpected, and that's what events are all about something unexpected yeah, because you know the events I've been to like uh are like conferences, so you know you listen to speakers.
Speaker 2:They might try to hype you up a little bit, make you stand up and do some jumping jacks or something I'm so bored I'm sorry, yeah, yeah, so. So that's my perspective of party that's most people's perspective.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so how can we? Because if we want to still add value in that way, maybe like with speakers, but how do we still bridge that gap to make it enjoyable? I know you said the host, you know I'm bringing everyone together and the person who's running it, the emcee, whatever you want to call them, right Sets the tone. But are there other pieces that need to be in place to make sure it's set up to be enjoyable, to be fun, to be memorable?
Speaker 3:Absolutely Well. I mean, that's why I get paid so much money is because there are not that many of us who can, who can do it that way. But there are some tricks, right? Okay, One of them is very clearly knowing what your objective is for the event. You got to keep coming back to that, because is your objective to, like, debut a brand right, Maybe not, it hasn't launched yet, but it's a soft opening. Or is the? Is the event to sell people into a coaching program, Like if it's a hardcore sales thing? Or is it just kind of networking to get high level people together, Because you know, later you want to get into the country club? Or is it a dual thing, Cause you want to get into the country club but you also want to kind of warm people up because, I don't know, you haven't been visible since COVID. So it's it's very important to keep that top of mind.
Speaker 3:And the next thing that's very important to keep top of mind is your brand and your aesthetics and all that. And so many people think they have a brand and they really don't because it's just so Casper Milk Toast, right? So if your brand is just like no brand, that becomes the brand. And then how do you build on that right? So if you're in a spot where your brand is kind of Casper Milk Toast, then pick something that's really unique and highlight that unique and like. I like that. So, for example, let's say the host or hostess, um, let's say it's the most buttoned up corporate thing, but the host or hostess grew up on a farm and absolutely loves horses or whatever. We'll then have that be part of the total theme, that it's like you know the cowboy situation, like in the middle of New York or something completely unexpected still. So that, so that people go oh my God, that was totally memorable. I have never done a scavenger hunt in New York dressed like I was in jeans and a cowboy hat Right, but there are all these different ways you can facilitate things. Cowboy hat, right, but there are all these different ways you can facilitate things.
Speaker 3:But the key is to come up with a through line that's true to the brand and true to the goal, but that makes people go oh my gosh, I've never seen that. And people think, oh well, I'm limited by the hotel, like we're gonna do coffee and tea service and like the bad pastries that just got shipped in. Well, I'm sorry, You're not that limited. Ask the hotel Like can you do you know cappuccinos? Can you have like a custom tea area like full of different teas with antioxidants? Or can you have a tea bar in the afternoon that's got matcha and just little extra things, so that at every touch point people are saying to themselves oh, that was really cool, Like it was cool, it was thought out. Maybe in how you identify the T. I mean, I'm just thinking of kind of common things that no matter how low your budget is or what kind of event, there are always ways.
Speaker 3:Right, Like in the ladies' rooms, you know, could you have a QR code and be like don't forget to take a selfie later, or you know something like that, Since women are like oh, you know, you're at the, at the mirror putting your lip gloss on when you leave there's always, there are always opportunities to make a statement and to stand out, and that your goal when you're doing corporate stuff well, your goal when you're doing corporate stuff well, your goal when you're doing social stuff too is to have people leave and be like, oh my gosh, you're never going to believe like what happened at this event yeah, because when I think of a like, obviously I just think of djs, I think like I don't know soap bubbles or something flying around everywhere like is that one extreme?
Speaker 2:Am I thinking, like way on the on the far extreme, on that side of things?
Speaker 3:That is definitely one extreme. Yes, that is, that is so. Okay, you're right. So let's say oh my gosh, yeah, that, yes, you are correct, but then okay, but then.
Speaker 2:I told you I'm from Indiana.
Speaker 3:We don't. I and I, and I so appreciate it. My mom was from Ohio and I a hundred percent. She's like Marley, people do not like operate that way in the rest of the world, which I understand, but okay, so let's just turn that on its head. You giving me that example.
Speaker 3:Okay so you're going to have a DJ, okay, great, everybody's DJ, right. But how about if you make the experience where it's one of those like silent DJs, where it's the DJ and everybody has their headphones on, or everybody has their headphones on for the first 40 minutes and it's kind of facilitated, right? So it, I mean there are, you can have a DJ, and then you can do it. What if it's okay, so great, you have bubbles? Well, what about having bubbles?
Speaker 3:and everybody's like okay, yay, but then you have like bubble maker about having bubbles and everybody's like, okay, yay, but then you have like bubble maker of america there yeah who does the biggest bubbles anybody's ever seen, and you have a selfie station of bubble gum and the whole thing that the drinks that night are prosecco or champagne, so everything is bubbles like okay take one thing and just exploit it. So it it is so stupid, Like it's like a Seinfeld episode, right? Yeah, Think like that with your event you take something. Seinfeld was a show about nothing for 30 minutes or whatever, but it was freaking hysterical because they took the one dumb thing. So it's like if you've got to have bubbles, okay.
Speaker 2:But then it's freaking, gonna be bubbles. Yeah, you know, you see what I see the difference you play into the theme of of the main thing you want to do so, for example. So we're at elevate. We are starting to create a community for freelance videographers. We want to help them, you know, go from solo to having a team, like what I had done with my company, yeah, and we're thinking about next year, yeah, doing awards event. So having people you know recommend who they think they're the best wedding videographer is the best, whatever, and inviting them to an event like this, a party type thing, and I was like I've been trying. I was like how can I make?
Speaker 3:it like actually fun and not just like go up there and talk about each thing like I thought, well, dj could be cool. But again like, okay, a, call me number one, we'll do some kind of like sidebar fun trade or something. I promise, if, seriously, if you want, but b, I would think okay. So my first questions as a planner are going to be how many people are you going to have at the event?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:Approximately Like you can answer this. Let's like work on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, the venue I was looking at could hold like 150. Okay, so that was kind of my starting because it's our first one ever.
Speaker 3:Got it Okay, good, and, by the way, say you're going to have 150. And is it going to be? How many of them are going to be videographers versus like their plus ones? Or are their plus ones not even invited?
Speaker 2:No, plus one definitely invited Probably no kids. Yeah for sure, freaking no kids.
Speaker 3:So that's the biggest buzzkill in America. Yeah, sorry, I have three, so I can say that.
Speaker 2:And I think we'll probably offer somehow, either by like selling the ticket for them to come, or somehow to cover the open bar, or like a certain amount of drink tickets or something like that at the venue.
Speaker 3:So you, could sell a table, so the people that get nominated or whatever, maybe you could invite them to get a table, something, so that would help like underwrite your core costs.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, keep going would help like underwrite your core costs Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, keep going.
Speaker 2:Whatever?
Speaker 3:you do. Do not do 66 or 72 inch round tables with the white tablecloth to the floor. I will kill you If you do. If I ever see that on social media, I'm going to be like that. I'm after never heard.
Speaker 2:Okay, making a note of that for sure. No way, okay, we wanted it to be like a formal event, kind of like you know, grammy Etsy type thing.
Speaker 3:Now, when you say formal, do you mean that you're serving a sit down dinner?
Speaker 2:Um, I don't yeah, I'm not sure on that If it'll be like hors d'oeuvre type thing or like a sit down dinner or something here's why I say that?
Speaker 3:because if you go sit down dinner right which, by the way, a lot of you think everything that's quote, fancy and that's what you should do but you can have really the most amazing, elegant thing and have everybody be way happier by doing it all lounge seating and high end lounge seating and and past hors d'oeuvres and stations so people can get in little pods and chat.
Speaker 3:If I were you, I would take the tip from you. Know those, um, those places that you can go? I forget what they're called, but they're like literally, um, like like social social media, like little influencer pods. Well, okay, you're, you've got videographers right. Their medium is all visual.
Speaker 3:So why, not have all these different pods right. So maybe you have a contest during the party, like where somebody shoots you know 30 seconds or less and the person who shoots the best video or something with their friends. Or you know 30 seconds or less and the person who shoots the best video or something with their friends. Or you know you have an award where they got the most people in the video or they took it in front of the or they they highlighted a product on the table.
Speaker 3:I mean, you could. You know you could. The other thing is you could have your client sponsor it or donate. And then the videographer. You could tell the videographers ahead of time what it is like. There are so many things to do, but you're then going to light them on fire on their level right so that's their medium.
Speaker 3:Give them a challenge in their realm, yeah, to play with and have fun with, and then have it so that the goal is, like you, you know to, to post it in as many places. Maybe you have a follow-up award that gets delivered three days later based on the post that went most viral. I mean, you know, it could be, it could be a million things, but the idea is that you just you flip the whole thing on its head.
Speaker 3:You don't go. I have a venue. I'm going to do a sit down dinner. It's going to be fancy. We're going to have these big tables of 10 or 12. Forget all that. Everybody's been to those.
Speaker 2:And by the way.
Speaker 3:It's very hard to do those really, really well. And if you got like a Michelin star chef in and they are doing these amazing, but you're not right, you're going to already be going broke with it and you're going to be having rubber chicken and bad potatoes and everybody's going to be like, oh, that was lovely, it was so nice to do it, but they're not going to have had a great time. They're sure as heck not going to be like oh, my God, that was amazing, you know.
Speaker 2:Right? No, for sure. I like that idea Cause then more people mingle and things too, and totally.
Speaker 3:Maybe you have it where you have the three, three vignettes for a hundred people, right, and maybe they're in different color areas. And then you know the DJ or the MC or even the videographer, has everybody switched to a different section at some point, when it's from the orders to a different time, or point when it's from the hors d'oeuvres to a different time? Or maybe in addition to passing the hors d'oeuvres, you're passing little you know, splits of champagne with straws that are branded for your, your company, and then those make it into the videos. Like, ask the videographers, maybe you take a little survey ahead of time what's the coolest thing you've ever seen done at an event or that you would want done at an event? And you do a survey ahead of time so you get all of them involved and then you do a prize, like before. So the one of the other key things is getting that buy-in early. And.
Speaker 3:I highly recommend, if you have, depending on what your budget is. But even if you have to get this sponsored or donated is, I would send out paper invitations, send out backup, like electronic ones, but send out paper invitations. And the reason I say that is because we don't get that much stuff in the mail anymore. That's not junk. Much stuff in the mail anymore, that's not junk. Yep, so you get an invitation, a real one or a real anything that is not like the computer generated and pretended somebody signed it and you are on fire yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:No, and I like that, and you know we had an idea too with that same kind of concept. But, um, since we're a video production agency sending out little videos within the invitations, like hey, super excited to invite you to our event, so it was like a little screen within the card or something. Yeah, but yeah, so we're we're working on that, cause like, yeah, I want it to be memorable, I want people to have a good time, cause you know, we've all been to events that's like, is this over yet? All of them?
Speaker 3:like literally, that's why I'm a recluse half the time. People like oh my god, are you so busy for the holidays? I'm like I'm I'm busy working, but I'm like I cannot go to another.
Speaker 2:Oh hi lovely to see you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah yay, I didn't want to see you before, otherwise I wouldn't have waited till december in this party. You know what I mean. Like you need, we need something, and but the other thing too is so it's a videographer's thing, it's going to be in 2025, it's the world of ai and all this stuff. I mean. The other thing you could totally do is you could put this completely on its head and have you know stations where the the it's like the old school tv screen. You know how, like when people, when you go up at the, at like the circus or something, and not the circus but like a fair, and you put your face and there's like the strong man and the guy, so like the equivalent of that. But it's like make your movie like in an old style movie format, you know, or okay, you have to do it, but your challenge is it can only be images right Strung together, or like, or how movies or videos were first made right, like, like, literally like the photos of the cards, like with the horse.
Speaker 2:Yep and you flip Yep.
Speaker 3:Start to run like totally turn it on its head. Yeah, to run like totally turn it on its head and but just pick one thing and just go and just watch how everybody is like clamors to be part of it because it's so obvious in the beginning. If you took that much time and attention, my God, everybody knows it's going to be a great party, because nobody's going to do all that on the front end and then serve dumb chicken.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so with that then too, if you have those kind of things, is any entertainment even needed, like a DJ or like Always, oh, still Okay.
Speaker 3:Always, and here's why Okay. Think of parties like a seven-layer cookie bar. Okay, so think of of parties like a seven layer cookie bar. Ok, so if anybody doesn't know, to seven layer cookie bar it's like it's chocolate chips and it's a layer of coconut and condensed milk and all those things, and I'm a sweet girl, so to me those things I could eat them on their own, but put the seven layer cookie bar together and it's magic.
Speaker 3:OK think of. Just like marketing, you don't just have Facebook ads or Google ads or a website, you have all these layers. So you want to think of your parties like that, where you're going to have some introverts who, no matter what you do, are not going to participate in this. You're going to have some people who are the most outgoing, who are going to come with three friends who are going to be hammered before they got there. Then you're going to have so do you see what I'm saying? You need these layers.
Speaker 3:So always have the music going. You always need music, even if the DJ goes on. Break right? You want layers of entertainment, because not everybody's going to participate at one thing. So let's pretend we go with the bubble deal and you're going to have the DJ still playing in the background, but then over here you have like bubble guy who's going to entertain these people on the couch doing that for a while, and then, over there you're going to have like a fun champagne bar of splits where you're going to pick up different bottles of bubbly and people can ask questions.
Speaker 3:And the reason I say that is because the introvert can go over there and kind of get lost and hide talking to the champagne person, right, and then not feel uncomfortable. The people over here who are loud and drinking and whatever are not going to, are still going to be having a fun time. The bubble person isn't going to annoy them, they're just going to try to jump in with selfies with them, you see. And then somebody over there is going to have, like you have an interactive food station or you have a, you know, as they say, like your DIY video station, old school. But you're hitting people on all these different levels and what you want your guests to say is oh my gosh, did you see what they've got over there? That's your dream in an event. Oh my gosh, did you see that? Because everybody wants to be the first person to say oh my God, did you see that? Did you try that? Did you? And that's what you want, because that energy is palpable and it's the energy and the buzz that creates an amazing event.
Speaker 3:The other thing that people make the biggest mistake with is too much space at an event. You want it to feel tight. If you I'm not saying you want to feel claustrophobic but everybody thinks, oh, I'm gonna, don't, you don't want the big ballroom. If you've got to have the big ballroom, the first thing I always do is like block it off. I want people to feel because you could have freaking the rolling stone somewhere and if you don't have enough people to feel like they're really catching the buzz of the other people, it'll dissipate. It's just like boiling the ocean.
Speaker 3:You have to have that concentrated energy and I'm not saying you want weights at bars and stuff like that, but just as soon as you think okay, you make it a little smaller, like you just put the couch, because people can always move the couches or always adjust a little bit, but you want that buzz, you want them, and then the more movement you can do so, the more if you can bring them into this section and then have a big reveal of another section. Remember those things really don't cost that much more. It's just people like, oh my god, I had no idea. There's like another party over there. You know, or you do a speakeasy or you do. I mean, there's, there are so many things that just by labeling it something different, you you know, or if you sell tickets, you can sell tickets, speakeasy later okay, so.
Speaker 2:So, if you're so, I know you mentioned not doing those. You know, round tables with wide tail cloths. Yeah, there's no seating, though. Enough people for people, correct? Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 3:If, if you do. If you're going to have a served dinner, you have to have a seat for everybody. But I am totally against served dinners.
Speaker 3:I mean almost a hundred percent of the time, I think. Even if you have a well, here's the other thing Even if you have like a very set program with with your crowd, I can't imagine that it would be too set, but even if you do you can still have a served salad right. So then it receded for a bit. But the other thing is is if you do it where it's stations and some past and some stations and all this stuff and you've got people moving around, then my rule of thumb, unless there's a significant outlier, like your guests are and I'm not even making this up, but like if your guests I've had events where some of them are just skew a lot older, so you might adjust the ratio, but otherwise I say seating for two thirds of the group, no more. Just the ratio, but otherwise I say seating for two thirds of the group, no more. And remember you count a couch that long eight foot couch counts as seating for three.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:Right. So you just want vignettes. You want low seating, you want high seating. Some older people don't like super low seating. They're happy to have a high seating, though Some people don't like high seating. They're like, oh, my back is going to bug me. So when you have all those different options, it naturally increases the energy too, because they want to quote go over there and see. They want to go over there and see oh, what's over in that section.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know the white area or what's over there it's that you're not. Everything isn't predictable. When you walk in the big ballroom with the you know tables of 10 or 12 and the little rose and greens scenario on the table, you're like, okay, I already know where this is going to go. Right, it's. It's like watching cinderella or something the most basic story, and you already know the ending because you've seen it a hundred times right.
Speaker 2:So what have you with that? Like, if we're presenting awards, does that cause any hindrance having people standing or being all over the place, or I don't?
Speaker 3:I mean I it depends. I mean, you know you've got to be able to pull it off, right. So as long as you have an mc or somebody who can pull it off, then absolutely not, because what you could do is you could have some big.
Speaker 3:You know, you could do something silly, you could have a gong you could have, and then all of a sudden you have the music stop and you have the DJ start and you're like, okay, station identification, we're about to do the award for and make it. I mean make it fast, right? Nobody wants these long speeches and all this stuff anyway, Right.
Speaker 3:Have them come in and out and then do have them have a photo op so that you get media and stuff and and then be like but that's great If you stop the party, like every you know 20 minutes or something, or maybe you do you stop, let's depending on how many awards you have. Maybe you stop the party two or three times and you knock out three quickly. Ok, and then they go back to the party two or three times and you knock out three quickly, okay.
Speaker 2:And then they go back to the party, okay. So doing it sporadically throughout, just having a symbol or something that makes them realize, hey, that we're about to have a new reward come up, okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Is? There is no, and you mentioned time too, Like is there a time limit on events? That Matt does it matter?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it Does it matter, yeah, it does it's so. People, no matter how fabulous the event, with very few exceptions you've got a four hour window start to finish and no one will be there for those four hours. Here's why it's that it could be the best friend it could be, but the spouse isn't going to want to be there the whole time. Somebody is going to be tired from work, somebody is going to have been running late. If you're lucky, you're going to have people there for three hours, I mean, unless they have to be there. You know their employees or they're chained to it. But you've got about three hours if you're really set to captivate them.
Speaker 3:So you make you know in your brain. You say, okay, the start time is seven, I'm making that up. You don't necessarily put it seven to 11, right, because it'll naturally dissipate. But just think of it everything as a natural flow, like at weddings, you don't leave until cake is cut. Well, guess what? It drags on too long and you can see people doing the Irish exit out because they're just like, oh my God, this is like crazy. Because you have a natural like time clock for this. Whether it's standing or socializing, you can only do so much.
Speaker 2:Right, Okay, that's good to know. Now, would it? Would it change? Would that change? If you like, your the event is in like a hotel convention area and like they're staying at the hotel. Would that limit increase at all?
Speaker 3:Or is that still about the same? I would plan an after party. I'm not saying, don't plan other stuff.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:But you're not. Well, I mean maybe I shouldn't say you're not. I mean anything's possible. I have yet to see it right where now. I've seen people move from one venue to another different story but it's like here's the party, because you people need these, natural. It's like, you know, beginning and middle and an end and some people are going to want to have that. Okay, we're good, right, and then other people. I've got a flight to catch in the morning. I've got this that I was up with the kids, whatever it is.
Speaker 3:And then other people are just the fricking rager. It doesn't matter if they were flight kids, breastfeeding, whatever they're like, I'm in what's where's the neck? You know where's the rest of the party. So you have, I can. You don't have to pay for that, but you can be like, hey, listen, you know, everybody afterwards is going to xyz and the crowd will come way down. That's, by the way, the time you're going to do the most business. If you're networking or you want to, it's going to be right.
Speaker 2:Then yeah, and but it's sort of like you release everybody else and then the ones that want to hang out, hang out okay I like that and I think you know the idea could be like partnering with whatever locations to try to benefit them as well, and I totally like have it like it could be a crawl.
Speaker 3:I love me a good crawl so it could be, even if it's in the hotel, like you could have the big thing in the hotel and then they have a separate bar or you even. Here's the other thing too, which I've done a million times and is so great Get a suite upstairs and have that be it's going to be. You know, have it be big but have it be smaller and you know, just not like weird kind of suite, but you know what.
Speaker 2:I mean.
Speaker 3:And so that it's like a continuation. So there's always a, even if you're like, oh, it's going to be in the middle of nowhere, there's no, there's stuff around. Well, if there's, if the hotel is a bar or you could just get a big suite or the hotel probably would partner with you with it.
Speaker 3:The other thing is see if you can do a crawl. I think freaking crawl is great where you you have. Then everybody leave there and you go to. You know jo, joe's down the street and Joe knows you're coming and you know they give you guys. I don't know something.
Speaker 2:Whatever it would be like a private area or something. Yeah, whatever it is, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I would tell I would absolutely exploit the fact all day long that these people are videographers. Tag the venues. I would say, hey, listen, you know, I would call them sponsors or partners, depending on much you know free stuff they give you. Yeah, and I would have these video because you'll have a couple who will just like blow it out of the water you know for sure.
Speaker 2:No, I like the ideas and you know that that's another thing too. Like, obviously we're in indiana, I've sang in a venues here locally. But you know, our idea was to get it somehow get intake form, get videographers who are interested somehow and see where they're located and then see if there's a majority in a certain area.
Speaker 3:Maybe you go to them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it would be smarter to do it closer to where a lot of people are from.
Speaker 3:Well, here's the other thing.
Speaker 3:I would look on the calendar about where there's a videographer convention a photography equipment convention, something where that whole crowd is already going to be, because, guess what, you might not be honoring them, but you go to the convention. So let's say the convention. As I'm making this up, it's like you know, thursday, friday and then Saturday is the leave breakfast or something. Well, you guys have your party on that Friday, or you have your party something, so that you can kind of be working the show floor and then, if you meet cool people or people you like, come over to my event yeah right get a special ticket or something, or, yeah, exactly be like here.
Speaker 3:But I that to me is, if it's a business thing, that's totally what I would do yeah, that's a good idea too.
Speaker 2:So much to think of, but I, you know, it's been a great conversation really, you know, because it's different. You know people, we think about business, we think about growing business and logistics and everyday type things. But, right, you know how can we make something fun that? Helps your business and I think this is Now. If you wanted to invite maybe a bigger name person I kind of end with this question so maybe someone in your community? Obviously we're not going to get Dwayne Johnson or Kevin Hart at our event.
Speaker 3:That's a misnomer. You don't know by the way in. California. We manifest everything.
Speaker 3:So I understand in Indiana you're not manifesting, maybe, but I would just be putting it out there, dear Wayne, but there is a everything's oh. I don't have an A-list celebrity that lives in. You don't need an A-list celebrity. You need the A-list celebrity of your town that could be the newspaper publisher, that could be the family who's been there forever. It's be.
Speaker 3:It's like the old school ways of influencers, right. The guy that's families have the grocery store for three generations in be. It's like the old school ways of influencers, right. The guy that's families have the grocery store for three generations in your, it does. It's just the who's kind of. It could be the bartender, who's the local hero making an appearance. You know it could be. It really could be anybody that's just kind of known in your, in your circles, right. And and then I mean, if you can get a name great, sometimes it's. You know you might also find out who are the influencers in that videography space. That might be worth actually paying somebody to be there to or to do something, or you know, I don't know. Whatever. It depends on your audience and what they're going to value.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 3:But you could even do part of your survey Like, hey, listen, if you had, if you could have anybody there like you know who would it be. Or and maybe you do nothing with the information, but you aren't limited to just Dwayne the Rock.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Okay, no, I like it. That's cool and you know this has been a great conversation. Obviously, we could talk for hours and hours and hours on how to build a good event and how to market it and bring people in, but I mean, this has been fantastic. You just have to call me.
Speaker 3:It's going to be very simple. I've got the whole thing planned, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:One question did pop just bottom of my head. I'm sure you can answer, probably quickly. You know we get, we send out all these invites. Yeah, how do we make sure people actually are coming?
Speaker 3:Well, that, my friend, is the, not the quick answer question. Okay, so what you do is you've got to layer them with reminders. So remember I said send out the paper invitation, no matter what. I don't know if it's the postman in every county or dumping stuff in the bushes, but somehow, no matter how perfect your address list is, people will not always get it.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:No matter what, if you send the paper one, you follow up with an electronic one and you say, hey, you should have gotten a paper one, but if you didn't, here's this. And then you absolutely send out those reminders, just saying, hey, listen, we hope to see you. But, like, if we don't, can you at least tell us you're not coming? And then, depending on how broad, like how well you know the the list if it's like you know, assuming that they're your friends or it's not a cold list, sure, then usually you take the count that says yes, they're coming, and reduced by 10%.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:Now, if only 50% of the people reply and you've got a 50% that despite all those reminders you still haven't heard from you? Know you've got to tweak it, but I, I just the biggest thing is you're. You are just going to have to chase people. That is the sign of the times.
Speaker 2:Like the squeaky wheel gets the grease, kind of thing.
Speaker 3:I mean they. What is the thing now right With marketing? I mean it used to be oh, you could, you had to do three touches before you close the sale, then it was like five, Then the sale, then it was like five, then it was like eight. I mean, especially with things where they they don't, they don't have to commit, I mean it's. And, by the way, then there's this other thing of everybody getting better dealed. I mean so it's like, oh well, then I got invited to a party, but it probably doesn't happen as much in the midwest as it does here, but it's like half the time people are don't want to commit to the last second in case God forbid they should get a better offer.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So always kind of build that in and definitely build that in when you give your final food and beverage count to the venues.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm not saying massively underconfirmed but no, you are going to, no matter if you're like, even with weddings people say nope. I know all these people are coming and I'm like I'm going to guarantee you, yeah, there is going to be a certain number that something will happen. It always somebody gets sick, somebody has an excuse, somebody has covid, some a kid, some there is, somebody gets in the playoffs. Always there's a small number of your for-sures that something will get in the way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and we thought about to mitigate a little bit of the loss, or people not coming would be making sure they knew their nominees.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's a completely different story. I mean, especially if they know their nominees, then yeah, I mean, you have to. I'm giving like drive-by party planning advice right you have to take into consideration some of these key things, like if they're nominees, if they you know half of them work in your building. Those things are 100% going to factor in. Or if there's a snowstorm on the day of your party, that's also going to factor in.
Speaker 2:So you have to use common sense and adjust accordingly okay, no, like I said, marley, this has been a great conversation. I really appreciate everything you've talked about today and the direction and everything. It's just yeah, it gets me excited because it's fun.
Speaker 3:It's something different, it should be fun and the thing is, is it's fun if you approach it as we're going to have so much fun and you keep asking yourself, like, how can like, how can we make it fun? How can this be more interesting? How can we make it a challenge, like, like, but, as they say, piggybacking off of something that's already got that built in energy.
Speaker 3:Oh, my gosh, your job is half done, because then it becomes at the conference oh my god, did you? Did you get invited to sonso's party? Like oh, are you going to go to elevate? Like oh, and they're like huh piggyback.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love that idea. So, um, if people do want to connect with you, learn more about what you do, um, can you do more than do the event stuff as well? Yeah, where's the best place for them to connect with you?
Speaker 3:At the party goddess. Two D's, two S's on Instagram and from there you can find us. But of course, the party goddesscom. But definitely at the party, goddess. And yeah, dm me follow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, everybody go follow her, check out what she's doing, learn from her. But again, marley, thanks so much for being on the Elevate Media podcast today.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Thank you for listening to the Elevate Media podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. See you in the next episode.
