eCommerce Week LA is a virtual summit hosted by Outsourced CMO and Marketing Consultancy, Hawke Media. Over the week of September 27 to October 1, 2021, each of the five days focused on a different theme. There was Marketing Monday, Tech Tuesday, World Impact Wednesday, Team Efficiency Thursday and Finance Friday.

Our CEO & Founder, Sarah Shewey, appeared on Marketing Monday with her session, Creating a Community Through Digital and Experiential Marketing.

Watch the full playback below to learn how to utilize digital marketing to create an engaged and connected customer base

For more on this

• Watch all the playbacks from the Hawke Media's eCom Week LA 2021
• Find the full list of speakers from the eCommerce Week LA 2021

Countdown is a global initiative happening on October 30 that is focused on championing and accelerating solutions to the climate crisis with the main overreaching goal of turning ideas into action.

Last year on October 30, 2020, Happily participated in the Countdown initiative with a TEDxHappily live broadcast. Our Happily TEDxHappily Countdown 2020 event was centered around our own Happily values of:

1. Reduce: Ideas and resources about reducing emissions and waste in our community
2. Represent: Climate change requires equity and justice
3. Reinvest: Reinvesting in local and forgotten spaces and communities
4. Respect: World peace is possible in our lifetime

You can watch the full playback at tedxhappily.io.

Here are 10 intersectional and educational climate action accounts on Instagram to follow

1. TEDCountdown

@tedcountdown

TED’s climate change initiative — turning ideas into action. Working with global partners.

2. Intersectional Environmentalist

@intersectionalenvironmentalist

A climate justice community and resource hub centering BIPOC and historically excluded voices.

3. Sway

@swaythefuture

We’re on a mission to replenish the planet, starting by eliminating plastics with the regenerative power of seaweed.

4. Climate Reality

@climatereality

Founded by Al Gore, we’re bringing the world together to stop climate change and create a healthy and prosperous future powered by clean energy.

5. UN Climate Change

@unclimatechange

Official Instagram account of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat.

6. Earthrise

@earthrise.studio

A creative studio dedicated to communicating climate & justice. Another world is possible.

7. YPCCC

@climate.change.communication

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) conducts research on public climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy support & behavior.

8. Climate Action Art

@climateactionart

Collection of the best climate artivism on IG. Digital gallery of art calling on politicians & voters to take #ClimateAction now!

9. Black Girl Environmentalist

@blackgirlenvironmentalist

An intergenerational, supportive community of Black girls, women and non-binary environmentalists.

10. Greta Thunberg

@gretathunberg

Climate- and environmental activist with Asperger’s. Born at 375 ppm.

The Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 is not your average fashion runway show. It is a video experience that showcases the best of the brand's lingerie alongside leading models, influencers and performance artists. Oh, and it was completely pre-recorded and designed with a virtual-first distribution strategy in mind.

A quick shout out to the show’s genius set designer and producer Willo Perron! The show was filmed over a few days entirely on location at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles.

Watch the official trailer to give you an idea of the show if you haven’t seen it yet.

We’re gonna share our Happily Producer Notes on the Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 with some key takeaways for all brand marketers, executive producers and livestream broadcasters out there.

1. Go virtual-first

By going virtual-first there was no division between a privileged onsite audience and the rest of us who would traditionally watch a livestream and get a second-rate runway viewing experience.

With the Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3, no matter who you are or where you are from, we all equally experienced (and can continue to equally experience) this event by watching it on Amazon Prime. The reach and impact of a virtual-first event is tenfold with the event accessible to an estimated 200 million Amazon Prime subscribers.

2. Pre-recording gives you more control of your brand’s narrative

This runway show was not an onsite event. It did not have an onsite audience and it was not live streamed. It was a completely digital-first production that was pre-recorded and premiered online for a virtual audience and the world to experience together.

By taking out the ‘live’ element and designing it to be a pre-recorded event, you have more creative control over the viewer experience. From a production, strategic, and creative standpoint, you are able to guide the viewer’s experience in a completely different way with multiple takes and editing. The final result will have a higher production value, more opportunities for storytelling, and enable you to turn a product launch event into a comprehensive brand experience.

Pre-recording content creates a highly polished viewing experience where you control every frame that the viewer is focusing on, how your product is showcased and how the brand is being represented. By the way, we see this with Apple product launch events, too.

Image: Symone, Winner of RuPaul's Drag Race S13, slaying at Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 Presented By Amazon Prime Video. Getty Images.

3. Showcase diversity

The talent lineup of models and artists alone deserves a standing ovation. We are talking about a balanced and curated diversity of body types and sizes, diversity across the gender spectrum, a range of ages represented, a showcase of different skin colors and ethnicities. Basically Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 was a realistic representation of their consumers and a true display of their brand ethos of inclusivity.

As event professionals, you can instantly understand that diversity must have been the number one priority for the team when curating the talent. What industry professionals can learn is that this event is a gold standard of what talent diversity looks like - especially in an industry where diversity in all its forms has been infamously inadequate. If your brand can authentically embrace and understand diversity - age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status - then you will be celebrated for it.

Image: Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 Presented By Amazon Prime Video. Kevin Mazur/ Getty Images.

4. Host a premiere press party prior to the main launch event

Essentially the Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 is a film experience that was released as a product launch event. Most notably it reflected marketing that we are more familiar with in the entertainment industry and the release of a Hollywood movie.

Prior to the Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 dropping on Amazon Prime, a premiere-style red carpet and onsite party was held for the press; one in Los Angeles and then another in New York City. In attendance were all the talent, models and performance artists from the show - just like a movie premier.

5. Timing is everything on social media

They announced the event via the Savage X Fenty Instagram and other socials with teaser videos exactly one month prior to the show release. Then two weeks before they dropped trailers and behind-the-scenes footage to continue to tease and generate excitement. A week before they distributed assets that each of the models/featured talent could post on their own socials to further amplify the show through their network of influencers/micro-influencers.

This is another benefit of pre-recording content - you already have engaging footage from the event to edit into little ‘sneak peeks’. You can drip feed your socials with visuals from the event to build momentum and capture an audience (and the media!) in the weeks prior.

Here are some of our highlights and favorite appearances from the show:

• Supermodel and icon, Cindy Crawford, making a surprise guest appearance
• Indigenous model and activist Quannah Chasinghorse
• RuPaul Royalty, Season 13 winner Symone and runner-up Gottmik making Mother Ru proud
• Vogue master, Leiomy, showing us how it’s done and leaving it all out on the floor
• Model Precious Lee
• Australian singer/songwriter Troye Sivan walking the runway
• Normani performing in a square red room wearing a light green snakeskin print catsuit
• Ricky Martin performing a medley of his major hits on a massive stage platform outdoors
• Jazmine Sullivan’s “Heaux Tales” providing the perfect soundtrack for model Irina Shayk’s runway walk
• Daddy Yankee bringing some Latin flavour against the backdrop of the city lights in a sequined jumpsuit
• Hip-hop legend Nas kicking off the finale framed by the soaring towers outside of The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
• Singer and TikTok influencer, Bella Poarch
• Broadway star, Jeremy Pope
• Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes Leon
• The Canadian-Egyptian actor, Mena Massoud
• Professional skateboarder, Nyjah Huston, making his modeling debut

Adrian Segar, Founder, Conferences That Work via his blog

For the full discussion, watch Adrian on Happily Live with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily.

Adrian is a rockstar in the events industry

For decades he has been designing participant-led and participation-rich events and meetings all over the world.

Adrian is also the author of three books on the topic of events and conferences - or ‘unconferences’ as they are commonly referred to. His first book published in 2009 ‘Conferences That Work: Creating Events That People Love’, is considered a quintessential manual on how to craft genuinely engaging events.

His latest 2019 book, ‘Event Crowdsourcing: Creating Meetings People Actually Want and Need’, is an extensive guide to curating events that have the content that attendees actually want and need.

Adrian earned a Physics B.A. at Merton College, Oxford, England, and was awarded a Ph.D. in elementary particle physics from University College, London. These days he lives in Vermont, has founded two nonprofits, and has served on numerous nonprofit boards.

Want more on this topic?

Here are links to resources and things mentioned in this Happily Live:

• Adrian's 'Are in-person events COVID safe?' blog post in his website
• Check out Adrian's website
• Find all of his books here
• Read Adrian's blog
• Follow him on Twitter
• A '19-Tips to Message COVID-19' guide via Pathos Labs
• 'Guidance for Building Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic' via Ashrae

As event producers and event organizers there is a lot that we can all do to combat climate change and lessen the carbon footprint of a production or event. Sustainability is a guiding light for us here at Happily, which is why our events are carbon zero, and why we are always seeking ways that events can be as eco-friendly as possible. (Hint! The answer is going virtual.)

Decisions around the food and drinks that an event is catered with can have a ripple effect on our communities, our environment and our globe. We are going to explore sustainable catering and summarize the main areas that make a menu better for the future of our planet.

We believe that understanding the basics of food sustainability will greatly assist in making more informed decisions when communicating with vendors, hiring catering companies and planning a menu. For an overview of what a sustainable event looks like, including transportation and sustainable event venues, you can also check out 10 Ways to Produce an Eco-Friendly Event.

What is sustainability?

In general, the term sustainability refers to a capability to maintain something at a certain rate or level. Most of the time, we use the term in reference to the balance between the environment, equity, and economy.

UN World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

What is sustainable catering?

It is essentially about taking into account the origin, the quality and the non-monetary cost of the products we consume, with a focus on their impacts on the environment and society.

The goal of sustainable catering is, when possible, to:

• Minimize environmental impacts eg. land degradation, loss of biodiversity, water pollution, climate change

• Contribute to local economies and sustainable livelihoods of workers

• Provide social benefits, eg. assisting people to make healthy and nutritious food choices

Let’s break down the 6 main principles of sustainable catering

These following principles are guides to making more informed choices when it comes to produce and catering.

There is no judgement for buying strawberries in the middle of December or including meat on the menu, just education around the little and big ways that a menu has the power to be more sustainable.

1. Favor produce that is locally grown and seasonal

While there is no universal definition of what constitutes ‘locally produced food’, the intention is to purchase goods that have been grown as close as possible to the place where it will be consumed.

The first benefit of going as local as possible is a reduction in carbon emissions. On average, produce that is transported over long distances will, of course, create more carbon emissions than food that is transported over a shorter distance.

By now we should all be familiar with the fact that high rates of carbon emissions are contributing to climate change. We are talking about a loss of biodiversity, extreme weather conditions, rising sea levels, loss of coastal habitat and the spread of tropical diseases. All of this has serious and deadly effects on our society, economy, environment, and daily lives.

A good indicator to ensure that food is not travelling further than it needs to, is to favor produce that are in-season in your area. A local farmer’s market can be a great source of wealth for local and in-season produce.

What are in-season foods?

By ‘in-season foods’ we mean vegetables and fruits that are grown naturally in a specific location at a particular time of the year. If you are buying a food that is not in-season for your part of the world, then it has travelled very far from another part of the country or globe to arrive at your local grocer. The transportation and storage of imported foods greatly contributes to a larger carbon footprint, as well as chemical usage to prolong shelf-life.

The second benefit of favoring local produce is that you are supporting your local farmers and economy - whether that be your community, your state or your country.

Image: A chart of the general growing seasons for fruit and vegetables in the US

2. Choose food produced by eco-friendly production methods

Not all foods are grown equal. There are different methods of food production that will directly impact the environment in various degrees. Conventional farming can be connected with biodiversity loss, soil erosion, as well as other negative impacts on the environment.

The sustainable choice here is to favor food that has been produced by environmentally friendly production methods, for example, organic farming.

What does organic farming mean?

If a food product is certified with an organic label, then it means that it has been grown with organic agriculture or organic farming methods. Organic foods are either completely produced or involved production without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial chemicals. The goal of organic farming is to conserve soils, to enhance biodiversity, to reduce pollution and to minimize the input of agricultural chemicals.

How do you know if a product is organic?

In the US a product needs to be organically certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to trust that it is indeed an organic food. The USDA certification uses many detailed processes to examine how a food was planted, grown, raised, and handled, and can be applied to many various types of produce including vegetables, fruits, eggs, dairy and meat.

Image: Here is a quick explainer on the official USDA Organic label via the USDA

3. Minimize animal products

The most resource intensive foods to produce are animal products. The reasons for this are complex and there are a number of factors that lead to animal products being so resource intensive. This includes the various necessary uses of land, farming, water, processing and transportation.

Here are some general examples of the resources that are needed to bring animal products to our grocery stores:

Large amounts of grain need to be grown to result in relatively small amounts of meat, milk and eggs Forests and land are often cleared for grain production or grazing land for animals, and less forest area results in less natural ways that excessive greenhouse gases can be absorbed Animal products are often transported over long distances in refrigerated conditions

Sustainability is all about making sure that we are not senselessly overusing the environmental resources that we have been given. The necessary huge amounts of water, farming and land used to produce beef make it the least sustainable animal product, as the graphs below will illustrate.

What does a sustainable menu look like?

A vegan menu is the most extreme end for those seeking a catering menu that is as sustainable as possible. However, a sustainable choice is also simply to minimize the amount of animal products that we consume, and selecting ingredients accordingly. A hint; simply switching beef out for chicken or fish is a huge step towards sustainability.

If animal products are to be used in a catering menu, organic certified produce should be sought out. A certified organic product will ensure that the production methods were as environmentally-friendly as possible, and will also indicate high animal welfare standards.

Image: Food Footprints via Our World Data

4. Minimize as much waste as possible

Wherever food is made, served and consumed there is potential for large amounts of unnecessary wastage. This could come from the food preparation in the kitchen, the packaging of ingredients, the serving methods or excessive food amounts.

Here are some general ways to minimize food related waste at an event:

• Purchase foods with minimal packaging
• Maximize recyclable or biodegradable packaging
• Favor tap water or drinking stations instead of bottles of water
• Frozen foods require a lot of energy to refrigerate, favor using fresh rather than frozen ingredients
• Using non-disposable plates, cups and others utensils for serving
• Serve appropriate portion sizes to prevent uneaten food
• Try to avoid providing more perishable food than estimated and have a plan for excess
• Reuse or donate any food leftovers to avoid wasting edible produce

Video: Yalmaz Siddiqui, the Vice President of Corporate Sustainability at MGM Resorts International, spoke with us about food waste management at our TEDxHappily Countdown Summit

5. Choose sustainable seafood

The degradation of marine habitats and overexploitation of marine resources have been a result of conventional fishing practices.

Of the world’s fish stocks, about 80% is considered fully exploited, overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion. Sea turtles, marine mammals, sharks and seabirds populations have declined due to being incidentally caught by fishing vessels. Fishing gear can also have a physical impact on the denigration of the marine ecosystem.

How to know if seafood is sustainable

When it comes to purchasing sustainable seafood the things that should be taken into account are the level of overfishing of that type of seafood or species, and environmental impacts of the methods that the brand or fishery caught the seafood.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international nonprofit organization whose standards assess the sustainability of fisheries that catch marine or freshwater organisms in the wild.

A MSC blue fish label on a seafood product means that the amount of seafood that was caught does not threaten the long-term health of the population, and any negative effects to the surrounding wildlife and ecosystem were minimized. Also that the seafood was sourced from the ocean, lakes, or rivers from wild and plentiful populations.

Image: The correct logos from Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to indicate seasfood that meet their standards

6. Choose fair trade products

If a product has a Fairtrade certification, it indicates that its production or the ingredients used have been measured against a mix of social, economic and environmental criteria.

The main goal is to support the ethical sustainable development of small producer organizations and prevent foreign exploitation of agricultural workers in lower-income countries. The global farming industry is the largest employer in the world and Fairtrade ensures a fair deal for the farmers and workers who provide the food, the ingredients and the materials that go into products we buy. This in turn prevents poverty, protects workers' rights, combats child labor / forced labor, promotes gender equality and fights climate change.

Common foods to look out for a Fairtrade certification is:

• Chocolate
• Coffee
• Tea
• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Ice cream
• Wine

Framework for the Metaverse, by Matthew Ball, Jun 29, 2021

It is important to remember that how the internet was understood in the 90s is a lot different than it is understood by us today. Despite all this talk about the Metaverse, it doesn't technically exist yet. We don’t know what it is because the technology is still advancing in its direction, and we as a society are still learning how to use the Metaverse through our familiarity with social technologies.

By that last part we are referring to the idea that as a society we are not fully capable of using and embracing the Metaverse just yet. To summarize an example by Matthew Ball, the very first Apple iPhone did not need to have a dedicated ‘home button’ at the bottom. Having it there was not about technology capabilities - it was about our user capabilities at the time. It was not till a decade later that we were ready to adapt to having no dedicated ‘home button’ on our smartphones.

Is the Metaverse augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR)?

The short answer to that is both. AR is an interactive experience of a real world environment with those real world objects enhanced by computer-generated information and graphics. The game Pokémon GO really helped to bring the concept of AR into the mainstream all over the globe.

On the other hand, VR is a completely simulated and enveloping experience into a computer generated environment, that can be either similar to or completely different from the real world. VR tech companies such as Oculus, as well as the gaming industry, are again leading the way on our understanding of virtual reality.

The Metaverse will likely be a communal cyberspace, which connects augmented reality and virtual reality. This combination is referred to as mixed reality (MR).

Video: Microsoft Mesh is an example of an emerging mixed reality product.

What the Metaverse is not...

• The Metaverse is not a user-generated virtual world or virtual world platform. For example, Facebook is a social network focused on user-generated content (UGC). The Metaverse will not be solely driven by UGC experiences and it is not a social network.

• The Metaverse is not a video game. Of course, there will be games in the Metaverse, but it is not the Metaverse itself.

• The Metaverse is not software like Unreal, Unity, WebXR or WebGPU. This is similar to the internet being more than just TCP/IP, HTTP, or a web browser.

Will there be avatars in the Metaverse?

Yes, you will be able to enter the Metaverse as an avatar. Thanks to the gaming industry, we have become increasingly familiar with the idea of an avatar that represents our physical presence in a digital space. Those avatars may look a little different than we think of at the moment. Perhaps they will be a more realistic representation of our physical appearance and less cartoonish. Or maybe your avatar will look any way you want it to.

When will the Metaverse be here?

The evolution of the Metaverse is ever growing and all the components have been slowly - and then very rapidly - coming together for years now. The first mention of the idea of the Metaverse was in the early ‘90s, and the ‘00s - ‘10s have seen an increasing rate of developments and milestones within the space - even if some of them barely got off the ground.

Over the last few years there have been many platforms and innovations that have been constantly trailblazing and pushing the boundaries to bring the real world and virtual reality spaces together, and thus, organically forming the Metaverse.

Together with crypto-currency, NFTs are making way for a revenue model for Metaverse. Non-fungible tokens, aka NFTs, are rapidly increasing in popularity and social acceptance. NFTs are collectible digital assets that can be owned in that digital form. Anything that exists in a digital form can be sold as an NFT; like digital art, video, music, even Tweets and more. And just as it were a real-life object, the value of an NFTs can go up in time. The same way that Bitcoin is ‘digital money’, NFTs are ‘digital objects’.

The wildly popular virtual reality game Fortnite by Epic Games, hosted a concert experience of rapper Travis Scott in April 2020. It was attended live by approximately 12 million Fortnite players, with a further 3 million viewing it via stream. This empathizes how the gaming industry has been and continues to bring virtual reality experiences to the mainstream.

Video: Trailer for Travis Scott’s Astronomical on Fortnite

We have also seen the rise of ‘ubiquitous computing’. This brought about the ability to access the internet through everyday objects such as speakers, refrigerators, watches or a pair of glasses. Back in 2013 ‘Google Glass’ tried to show us how to access the internet hands-free with smart glasses. However, as a society, perhaps we weren’t ready to embrace it. Same goes for the launch of Snapchat’s ‘Spectacles’ in 2016. Fast forward to 2021, and the launch of Facebook and Ray Ban’s ‘Stories’ smart glasses. Although it is not there yet, these glasses are seen as taking another step towards augmented reality glasses that seamlessly overlay graphics onto the real world. The development of this tech will be important for the Metaverse.

Video: Marketing campaign for Facebook and Ray Ban’s ‘Stories’ smart glasses.

This is all to say that the Metaverse is being formed and introduced all around us. In 2021, so called ‘big tech’ such as Epic Games, Microsoft and Facebook have all announced their intention to actively develop towards the Metaverse. In the next few years we can expect some big strides to be made towards it. However, when will society at large fully embrace and understand the Metaverse? That may take a little longer.

What will it be like to experience an event in the Metaverse?

At Happily we anticipate that the Metaverse will enable the ultimate experience of a hybrid event as the real world and the digital space will harmoniously meet inside the Metaverse. The onsite attendees will have a seamless augmented reality experience, and the virtual attendees will have a truly amazing virtual reality experience.

• Virtual sets and costumes are going to be bigger and better than ever. We can all flyyyy now!

• Collaboration will be easier. We won’t just be sharing ideas and data, we’ll be building and playing with them in real-time, from anywhere with digital projection and natural language processing combined.

• Physical demonstrations of products will be more enhanced with added layers of information. You’ll be able to see inside the tiniest products, put heavy objects in motion with ease, and test products in a variety of environments.

Here are some more readings for anyone interested in digging a little deeper into this topic:

• Framework for the Metaverse, Written by Matthew Ball, Jun 29, 2021

• Mark Zuckerberg Metaverse Interview with The Verge

• The Metaverse Is Coming And It’s A Very Big Deal, Written by Cathy Hackl, via Forbes

• Big Tech wants to build the ‘metaverse.’ What on Earth does that mean?, Written by Dalvin Brown, via The Washington Post

• Are We in the Metaverse Yet?, Written by John Herrman and Kellen Browning, via The New York Times

Have you noticed how realistic sci-fi movies are becoming? Or the immersive performances of the 2020 MTV VMAs? That is because they are filmed virtual-first using XR. And basically it means that green screens are so 2019.

Image: A behind-the-scenes shots of Billie Eilish's WHERE DO WE GO? virtual concert performed live from the company, XR Studios LA.

So, What is XR?

XR is part of the augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) world of evolving technologies. XR stands for extended reality and combines virtual with a real-world environment. This means that a human can exist within a virtual space, directly feeding into their own experience of that pre-designed environment. So, again, no uninspiring green screens here.

XR technology means that the virtual space is designed first, and then the filming of the talent is done within that extended reality environment. Not the other way around. The talent can then see the virtual extended reality environment they are in, allowing them to work within that space and fully perform and be present in the moment. It also allows for more integrated lightning, camera movements, object placement, and all those little filming details that make a shot feel 1000% more realistic.

Video: Katy Perry on American Idol performing live with a custom XR experience from Silent Partner Studios, with set designed by Yellow Studio. Discover the behind-the-scenes into Katy's XR performance here.

How Does a XR Studio Work?

XR borrows and adapts technologies and software developed by the gaming industry. Software such as Unreal Engine, which allows a complete animated 3D world to be designed.

This custom 3D environment is then placed in real-time on large LED screens that make up the film set and studio. Using cutting-edge camera tracking technologies from companies such as Stype, the movement of the camera is directly connected to the 3D environment on the LED screen. The camera becomes a view into this 360° space, similar to the perspective experienced by a player in a game.

Here is a great little explainer with a behind-the-scenes look into the filming of The Mandalorian with a virtual-first XR studio.

Video: ‘Why 'The Mandalorian' Uses Virtual Sets Over Green Screen’ via Insider

Control your brand’s narrative by bringing a little XR into your work life

For the future of events, XR has many exciting possibilities for our clients As an events company that thrives in the space where technology and creativity meet, here at Happily we are excited to bring this ‘Hollywood magic’ of XR to our virtual and hybrid events, and make this tech accessible to our clients.

Depending on whether you are looking to go ‘Full Mandalorian' or something a little more low-key, Happily can help you take advantage of the virtual-first wonder of XR.

The future of work will mean transforming underutilized physical spaces into the foundation of your remote office environment. So basically, if your office has a conference room that is barely used these days, why not turn it into something way more useful and practical - like, your own custom broadcast studio.

With your own Happily XR Studio you could professionally film and broadcast from your office at a moment’s notice. This will give your brand full control over the production environment to generate better creative, increased content and enriched storytelling.

As a Happily XR Studio is fully customizable to the space, goals and budget of an organization, each one will be unique. We would love to chat to you about what a Happily XR Studio could look like in your office space, as well as our Happily team of specialists for on demand support, so get in touch with us today.

Our Happily Creative Team are video content creators. Our video editors, scriptwriters, artistic directors, animators, producers, music composers - and so many more that make up our on demand services - are at your disposal. So if any of the video types catch your eye, reach out to us and together we can make it happen!

Here are 16 popular types of video content and video content ideas for events and marketing strategies.

1. The ‘This Event Was Awesome’ Video aka The Sizzle Reel

A ‘sizzle reel’ is a quick summary and visual story of an event, encapsulating the mood, motive and the resulting outcome of it. When an organization produces an event - no matter the type - there is a lot of work, resources and money that goes into it. So it makes sense that they should brag about their event and how successful it was.

The Objective: To summarize an event by showcasing the highlights in a way that is entertaining and informative to watch.

What They Could Look Like: As a ‘sizzle reel’ has a lot of information to convey, they are best edited to a fast-pace, and a 60 second maximum is a good duration for viewers' attention tolerance and to be published on social media. If necessary, there can be an extended version of a ‘sizzle reel’.

Side Note: For a multiple-day event or summit, we often make a ‘sizzle reel’ for each day, as well as for the event as a whole.

Why They Are Impactful: They allow a brand to continue to drive brand awareness through an event, even if the event is already over. A ‘sizzle reel’ expresses the level of energy and engagement that the event had, connecting that energy and engagement to the brand. However, to achieve this the ‘sizzle reel’ should be edited and distributed as soon as possible for maximum impact while the energy of an event still lingers.

Where They Can Be Used: They serve as ideal visual assets for any media outlets reporting on the event, allowing you to control the narrative of your event. The footage from the ‘sizzle reel’ will be valuable when promoting and marketing similar events in the future.

2. The ‘From the Live Stage to Online Content’ aka The TED Talk Concept

While a ‘sizzle reel’ is very general and focuses on the event as an event, the ‘TED Talk concept’ zooms in on the content and adapts it for an online audience. This we refer to as the ‘TED Talk’ because TED Conferences really popularized and perfected the transition of a live keynote presentation into polished online learning content.

Instead of simply allowing filmed content from a summit, workshop or virtual event to only exist within a livestream, the ‘TED Talk concept’ takes that raw live footage of that juicy content and edits it before publishing it online.

The Objective: Add a higher production value to footage of live learning content through the editing process to make the final result more engaging for an online audience.

What They Could Look Like: In the editing process you are able to cut out anything that may disrupt the flow of a presentation for an online audience. The ”um” “so” “like”, for instance. We are also able to edit in different camera angles and build a more dynamic viewing experience, as well as make sure the footage and audio are respectfully looking and sounding their best. Cutaways to slides, graphs or video from the presentation can also spruce up a dense information session.

Furthermore, and most importantly, you are able to professionally and fully brand the video with an opening sequence, a watermarked logo and include any credits that should be mentioned. This is valuable if the video is shared, embedded or downloaded by someone else to ensure that your brand (or your sponsor’s) is not lost.

3. The ‘You Have 30 Seconds to Make An Impact’ Video aka The Spot

This is the most classic 30- or 60-second marketing video. The details and breakdown of a product are not the focus, but rather using emotion and storytelling to generate brand awareness and intrigue to learn more. Apple’s livestreams make beautiful spots that get dual purposed in their event to cue up a new product unveil, as well as in product pages on their website.

The Objective: To spark interest in your brand or product through immediate engagement.

4. The ‘Let Us Walk You Through This’ Video aka The Explainer

In a world of YouTube ‘How-To’ videos and turning to Google for answers to all questions, an ‘explainer’ video is familiar, breaking down and exploring the service or product. It can be more general, or it can go in a more instructional direction.

The Objective: Teach the consumer how you want them to interact with your brand or product by showing a user-friendly experience, through language and messaging that is accessible, clear and casual.

5. The ‘Show Them Why They Need This’ Video aka The Product Demonstration

While an ‘explainer’ video focuses on explaining the ‘how to use it’, the ‘product demonstration’ is more centered around ‘how it will change your life’. This usually includes placing the product in an ‘everyday’ situation that allows them to instantly understand how that product will positively impact them.

The Objective: Demonstrate a benefit (or multiple benefits) of a product in a way that is relatable to your target audience.

6. The ‘Our Company Is a Cool Place to Work’ Video aka The Company Culture

A ‘company culture’ video isn’t really about a particular product, but is rather focused on establishing your brand identity from the inside out. Typically it could answer questions like; what your brand stands for, your mission, what drives you, and what your brand cares about. It is like the ‘LinkedIn’ of video content; talking about your brand as a company first.

The Objective: There are really two. The first is to highlight the ethos of your brand to potential customers, building brand trust through transparency and personal connection. The second is to establish the brand as a modern, inclusive workplace. This will capture the interest of new talent to grow the company, and also enable a deeper connection between the brand and the consumer.

Why They Are Impactful: More than ever consumers want to know who they are giving their money to, and want to support brands that believe in the same things they do; such as equal opportunity, social issues, climate action, LGBTQI+ rights, mental health, women’s rights, fairtrade etc. The power of a ‘company culture’ video is saying ‘we care about the same things you do and our brand is an active force of good’.

What They Look Like: The most straightforward examples will center the employees as the stars. Netflix even created a whole brand around this idea called ‘We Are Netflix’, which has its own content and social channels on YouTube and Instagram.

7. The ‘How We Make Our Product’ aka The Product Development

In general, people just love to experience new and interesting things, and that can mean learning about processes that go into what you make or do. Through the lens of storytelling, this could be anything from showcasing the craftsmanship, creative development, the manufacturing, or distribution of your goods or services.

The Objective: Connect quality, expertise and trustworthiness with your brand and product.

Why They Are Impactful: The more an audience feels involved and knowledgeable of the processes, the more invested they will be in your product or service.

8. The ‘Peek Behind the Curtains’ aka The Behind-The-Scenes

People love to feel like they are getting an exclusive look into a brand or company. The ‘behind-the-scenes’ concept has always been popular, and that is because it works so well. It can be a video that is simply filmed behind-the-scenes and casually shows the office spaces. Or it can be more of a direct exploration and tour of the behind-the-scenes.

The Objective: Create a closer and more familiar relationship between the creator and the consumer.

Why They Are Impactful: Just like a ‘product development’ video, people will connect more with a brand that they have a fuller understanding of - even if it is something as trivial as seeing the office spaces, the product warehouse, design workshop or whatever it may be.

9. The ‘Here Are Our Consumers' Video aka The Customer Testimonial

This is all about connecting satisfied customers with your brand and product. These customers could be people of influence, other brands, or simply a member of the public.

The Objective: Showcase how your brand has created success stories and that it is trusted by other people outside of the company.

Why They Are Impactful: By associating success stories and satisfied customers with your brand, people are more likely to feel secure in their decision to engage with your products.

10. The ‘We Are Human’ Video aka The Employee Portrait

People are social creatures. We connect deeply to the emotions and personal stories of other humans who are ‘just like us’. This type of video takes the power of storytelling, generates strong emotions and then directly connects those feelings back to your brand.

The Objective: Show the ‘heart and soul’ of the company, allowing viewers to connect with and relate to the brand through human-to-human empathy, compassion and shared experiences.

Why They Are Impactful: Viewers can engage with you on the most human of levels, by bringing your brand ‘down to earth’ and away from values of money and profit. It says ‘you can trust us, because this business is made up of passionate, genuine and hard-working people’. The ‘employee portrait’ video is also notably appropriate for nonprofits that are rooted in local communities, to strengthen their ties and trustworthiness in the community.

11. The ‘We’re In This Together’ Video aka The Community

Feeling connected in a workplace, in a community - to other people in general - is important and powerful. A ‘community’ video showcases an array of faces, emotions and greetings that brings people together with a shared experience and team. These people could be employees, or a group of people united in a common goal. It could be grids of faces saying a message in unison, individual greetings, or a group filmed together. There is a lot of room for creativity in this video.

The Objective: Create a sense of interconnectedness and family by seeing and/or hearing from everyone in it.

What They Could Look Like: The most straightforward example of a ‘community’ video is each local team, branch or department of a national or international brand, recording little videos that are then edited all together. This type of video can also be particularly relevant for remote workplaces as well, bringing together people who may otherwise be separated by distance or offices.

Where They Can Be Used: It is ideal for more inward-facing purposes - that’s to say, not for external marketing content. They are perfect for virtual events, onsite summits or communal gatherings where the brand itself is being celebrated.

12. The ‘This Needs Exploring’ Video aka The Web Series

Producing a web series is an ever growing popular way for brands to create a collection of video content that is unified in a common goal or message. You can think of them as short videos that take place in or orbit around your brand. These days, ‘web series’ can be more commonly attributed to a Playlist on a brand’s YouTube account, or on IGTV.

The Objective: Create continuous or evolving content that explores a single idea or theme that is advantageous for the brand to be associated with, or to be giving a voice to.

What They Could Look Like: The content could be a continuous story or a series of one-off episodes, with each video having a standardized template and aesthetic to unify them. It could focus on something a little more trivial, such as showcase standard questions with each episode featuring a different guest answering them. Or it could be something a little more instructional, such as training or cooking videos.

The creative ideas for the concept of a ‘web series’ are endless, however, no matter what, they should be entertaining and engaging for your audience. This should be done not only with the content, but also with a high production value, with motion graphics and professional editing.

13. The ‘We Are Highly Invested In This’ aka The Branded Mini-Documentary

This is like the ‘company culture’ and ‘web series’ joining forces to create an extended film that feels and is produced much more like a cinema experience. It would typically take a company value and use the storytelling style of a documentary to deep-dive into it. Although the content may not focus on the company or product, the film and its message is directly associated with ‘being important’ to the brand.

The Objective: Give resources and a platform to a topic that a brand wants to be positively connected to, and be seen as a thought-leader or advocate in that space.

Where They Can Be Used: This would be treated much more as a feature film, then a video. A brand could build and host a premiere event around releasing the mini-documentary, with accompanying branded panel discussions or Q&As. This is an ideal opportunity to continue connecting your brand with being a thought-leader or advocate of the topic of the mini-documentary.

14. The ‘Long Form Commercial’ aka The Branded Short Film

This is like an extension of the environments, moods and storylines that brands seek to create in a ‘spot’ video. In the same way that music videos can be extended into more ‘short film’ territory, so can a brand with a commercial. These films seek to turn a brand into a cinematic-worthy story - into a work of art.

The Objective: Use storytelling and the art of film to connect brand identity to an aesthetic, emotion or style.

Where They Can Be Used: Just like the ‘mini-documentary’, a ‘branded short film’ should have a premiere event and be treated like the piece of art that it is. It could also be screened as part of an onsite summit or virtual event. Once it is premiered, it can then be made available on social platforms, such as YouTube, to be actively engaged with by your audience through shares and comments.

15. The ‘Shout Out To Some Amazing People’ aka The Exhibitors

As marketeers and event planners, we know how vital exhibitors are to a summit event. Attracting and securing exhibitors is easier when you are able to offer them creative, engaging and worthwhile exposure during your event. Video content can create that offering for you to bring to a potential exhibitor.

The Objective: Use video content to craft more brand mentions for exhibitors.

What They Could Look Like: There are many ways that you get creative and incorporate an exhibitor into any of the video types mentioned above. For example, adapting the ‘employee portrait’ into an ‘exhibitor portrait’.

For a virtual event, something closer to the ‘community’ video that edits together messages from all exhibitors works really well. The idea could be that exhibitors send in a 15 second video that introduces themself, their brand and their product or service. It is then all edited together, or into several smaller videos, and played between program items and used as little ‘breaks’ throughout the broadcast.

16. The ‘Social Media Friendly’ aka The Instagram

This is less of a ‘video type’ as we have described throughout this blog post. However, social media still needs a separate mention and a little examination as viewing video content via Instagram is different than it is on YouTube.

The rules of thumb when it comes to editing a video for Instagram is a 60 second maximum duration and a 1:1 or 4:5 ratio for the Feed and 9:16 for IGTV or Stories. Bonus points for including text captions for any speech, which is ideal for accessibility and viewing without sound.

The Objective: Adapt content to be optimized for viewing on Instagram.

What They Could Look Like: A prime example of what adapting content for Instagram looks like is the ‘sizzle reel’. It should be edited primarily in a 16:9 ratio for a standard screen size and for YouTube. However, an adapted 1:1 or 4:5 ratio version should be used for sharing on Instagram.

When it comes to longer form content - which in the case of Instagram is content more than 60 seconds - you have two options; publish the whole thing on IGTV, or ‘slice it up’.

For example, let’s look at a 15 minute keynote presentation from a live event (aka the ‘TED Talk concept’). On YouTube it would be published in its full cinematic 16:9 ratio. However, that is not optimal for Instagram. So one option is to edit a vertical 9:16 version and upload it to IGTV for people to watch the entirety without leaving Instagram. On the other hand - or maybe both? - that learning content can be ‘sliced up’ into a 60 second, 1:1 or 4:5 ratio ‘golden nugget of information’ from the presentation. It functions both as a taster for people to want more, and as a standalone piece for viewers to feel that they just learnt something new.

As we explored in ‘What is a Hybrid Experience?’, harnessing the power and potential of broadcasting is the magic ingredient for hybrid online-offline interactions. Today, we are going to think through what a virtual-first program looks like, and explain how critical this approach has already become to modern productions for events and any kind of content.

Image: The Portal room at AREA15, Las Vegas. A 6,584-square-foot space with floor-to-ceiling projection mapping. Can you imagine digital attendees mapped along the walls?

A virtual audience is larger than any onsite one could ever be

If you focus on an onsite audience and leave the online audience as an afterthought, you are not directly communicating and engaging with as many people as you could be.

An online audience lives in the present, and they also live in the future. A virtual-first event can be fully experienced by a virtual audience long after the studio lights have been turned off. It can be shared and replayed across the country and around the globe, and there won’t be any feeling of having ‘missed out’ on something.

However, if you create a hybrid experience for an onsite audience, it is more likely to live and die in that moment. It was a ‘you had to be there’ thing.

Image: Virtual Audience Wall on Britain's Got Talent

Virtual participation stimulates conversations

By planning virtual-first, your fresh ideas and creativity for audience engagement will pour into the places that most leave as an afterthought. Live chat can be a fun and powerful experience that onsite guests will actually miss. Some of our favorite moments of a talk happened in the audience comments, not on the stage.

Take a little extra time to creatively leverage the capabilities of technology - both familiar like chat and fringe like augmented reality - to spark more conversation both onsite and online.

Imagine how much more interesting an onsite experience can be with virtual community participation:

• Express the collective conscious with real-time polling data surfaced as art pieces
• Stimulate critical thinking by surfacing hilarious or insightful chat comments during a talk
• Cross-pollinate research and ideas from anywhere with shared whiteboards

Build better, longer-lasting outcomes with your sponsors

At Happily, we’ll work on both sides of the fence. Sometimes we are helping event organizers develop their sponsorship product strategy and other times we are helping sponsors make a splash and get the most out of their sponsorship dollars.

In either case, the secrets to a great partnership for a hybrid event are:

• a deep understanding of how to capture the interest of target audiences
• a laser focus on conversions for the call to action
• a post-event strategy that extends the ROI and shelf-life of the sponsor product

A virtual-first hybrid model allows us to offer strategic value for our partners with evergreen content products, tailored to their brand and target audiences.

While this does take more effort from producers and event hosts to understand a brand and curate content, there is tremendous upside for sponsors and organizations

1. Reduced operating expenses on virtual products
2. More likelihood to achieve or increase partner ROI with targeted evergreen content
3. A more collaborative, meaningful partner engagement reduces churn

Exclusive sponsor content can have endless uses for remarketing, future promotional material, community engagement and allow your event to live on well beyond the day.

The opportunities in these VIP and sponsorship spaces is really tailor for the hybrid event or hybrid summit, however, here are some examples:

• Sponsors can have an interview opportunity with a VIP guest, record it without them having to worry about all the tech side. The result would be a shareable video with a high production value and the event’s logo branded all over
• Keynote speakers and influencers can record a quick video optimized as ‘ready-to-go’ content for social media (30 - 60 secs) that can be quickly uploaded and shared. Eg. a ‘thank you message’; answering a quick and relevant question; providing expert advice as an extension of their presentation
• Have a ‘media wall’ filled with the logos of sponsors that would be used as the backdrop for these videos, meaning their brands would be given enduring exposure
• Sponsors each are able to record content promoting their service or product in a professional space that can be broadcasted on a screen at the venue, used for web content, remarketing material ect.

Image: Inspiration of a VIP room? This is a Instagramable room from Winky Lux, a NYC cosmetics brand, designed for customers who enjoy creating social media content. Source: Beautycounter.

The venue selection process needs to include virtual criteria

Just like any onsite production, the venue is selected, designed and planned to achieve the goals and accommodate all the various elements of the event. A hybrid event that puts virtual first will certainly reflect this as well.

The venue of a virtual-first hybrid event will combine your stage, space and studio all in one. The location should offer a visually appealing backdrop and ample open space for a stage that can be equipped for sound recording, lights, and cameras to move easily across the space.

The layout of the room and placement of all the AV tech should allow panning shots of the audience, as well as what is happening on stage. Just like a TV set, these audience shots will allow virtual attendees to connect to the onsite experience.

And, don’t forget to ask about the wifi - both the cost and the speed. The higher the upload speed, the better the quality of your live broadcast will be. We recommend two dedicated lines for every tech table - one for comms and one for broadcast with a minimum upload speed of 100mbps.

You’ll also need to consider how many dedicated lines will be required for any hybrid exhibits or activations. We’ve seen costs for wifi quickly surpass the cost of renting the venue! So make sure to get your wifi quote before signing your deal.

Customize your own virtual-first hybrid event with Happily

Going virtual-first will look differently, for different events and clients. So let’s chat about what it could look like for you!

Each of our Happily productions is unique to your brand. Whether you’re looking to host a hybrid fundraiser, a hybrid webinar, a hybrid summit or even a hybrid podcast live event! You are soooo close to making it happen.

Here is an example of event marketing from one of our Happily Case Studies with Louis Vuitton.

What is an Event Marketing Manager?

In general, an Event Marketing Manager will lead a brand’s event marketing plan. They can work directly with marketing and sales leadership to outline key events, marketing messaging and event goals. As well as determine the return on investments, coordinate the registration process, and develop ideas for promotional initiatives.

They can also build relationships with customers and sponsors, as well as negotiate and execute contracts with vendors, and all pre- and post-event communications.

An Event Marketing Manager can develop strategies with leadership based on brand objectives, and be responsible for ordering and tracking event collateral. They can also analyze, track, and report ROIs and MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) metrics, as well as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems such as email marketing.

Ways a Happily Event Marketing Manager can support nonprofits and corporations

Here are some benefits of an Event Marketing Manager:

• Build strong affinity for your brand so people associate positive vibes and trustworthiness with your company
• Increase brand awareness through connecting brand with other trustworthy influencers, festivals, brands and events
• Grow sales through nurturing more personable relationships with audience by harnessing the power of storytelling and experiences
• Advance database and lead generation by optimizing attendee registration and management
• Develop niche and personalized marketing strategies to reach targeted audiences
• Generate detailed reports analyzing return of investment prior to an event
• Track and interpret the results metrics following an event eg. new social media followers, RSVPs, revenue, media mentions ect.
• Create a centralized and focused event marketing strategy customized for specific objectives and KPIs
• Craft smooth and clear lines of communication to attendees and guests surrounding an event for ongoing interactions

Need an Event Marketing Manager? Tag Happily in!

Hire our specialists on-demand to help with ongoing experiential marketing and media production tasks that don’t require a full-time employee. For a low monthly fee Happily makes it easy to expand your team with friendly, talented, and responsible team members just in time.

There are over 50 different types of specialists roles across Happily’s five studios - Strategy, Creative, Web, Broadcast, Experiential - that you can tag in. Such as a Event Marketing Manager, Program Manager, Producer, Sponsorship Strategist, Video Editor, Technical Director or Web Developer.

Find more information here.

Looking for freelance jobs?

If you're an Event Marketing Manager join Team Happily to be a part of the award-winning network that puts on the best in events.

Create an account here to get started.

Image: Still from Jason Wishnow's 'The Sand Storm (沙尘暴)', starting Ai WeiWei. Find more info and watch it here.

‘The Sand Storm (沙尘暴)’ is “low-fi sci-fi” art-house short film about a mysterious smuggler navigating a dystopian city where water is as scarce as honest communication. It was made in China - in secret(!) - is one of the most successful short films in Kickstarter history.

Jason is also the latest addition to Happily's stellar group of advisors. He brings his vision and talent to make learning content interesting and interactive for online audiences.

For the full discussion, listen to Jason on Happily Live with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily.

Want more?

Here are links to resources and things mentioned in this Happily Live

• Find more about Jason Wishnow on his official website
• Follow him on Twitter
• Find him on Instagram
• Read his IMDB profile
• Watch his Talk with TEDx@TEDGlobal ‘How To Shoot a TEDTalk’
• Watch his Talk with TEDxBerlin ‘Life after TED’

Onsite productions are (cautiously) becoming an option again, and these days the benefits of a virtual production are more widely understood and experienced by both the industry and the general public. So hybrid experiences, it is your time to shine.

Image: Worre Studios in Las Vegas. Photo by Jerry Metellus.

A hybrid event is not the same thing as a hybrid experience

Simply put, most hybrid events at best will connect in person and virtual audiences to a stage but will fail to connect virtual and onsite audiences with each other.

In a hybrid event, the onsite audience might see interactions from the virtual audience, but they can’t engage unless they log into a virtual platform to interact in the same environment that the virtual audience exists. Technically, once you log into a virtual platform, you are a virtual attendee. This ultimately disrupts - not enhances - the onsite experience.

In order to move from a hybrid event to a hybrid experience, we need to create ways for onsite attendees to stay out of platforms and hands-free from their devices. And we also need to find ways for virtual attendees to more freely navigate online to build ideas and relationships that emotionally tie them to the community.

Is that even possible?! Yes, with the right technology for broadcasting in place.

Why broadcasting is the magic ingredient

In the diagram above, the happy face in the circle represents the audience at an onsite event, and the rectangular faces are a virtual audience.

At an onsite event, it is much easier for an attendee to build a shared experience. They can navigate through spaces with more fluidity, host an unofficial event on the fly, and have more sensory inputs to feel connected to the people around them who are sharing the same time and space. If you’ve ever sat around a firepit to hear someone tell their story, you’ll know that things just hit differently. The glow of the light, the smell of the flames, the heat warming your skin, the tiny vibrations you hear in the narrator’s voice… All of this contributes to really experiencing a story.

With virtual events, technology reduces our ability to create shared narratives to a ‘call and response’ format. Sure, you might be able to hop from breakout room to breakout room or you may be able to spin up a new Discord channel to kick-up a new interest-based conversation, but you are dependent on a bunch of 0s and 1s to get you there. And, oftentimes, in a virtual space you are reduced to a username in a chat box.

Adding a virtual event platform as an offering to your onsite event will technically make a hybrid event, but you’d be still very far from developing a colorful hybrid experience. Virtual guests in a platform are simply never seen and heard by an onsite guest unless the onsite person logs in (effectively making them another virtual attendee) OR we bring the virtual attendee to life in the physical space.

Happily adds an interactive layer to broadcasting to join the onsite and virtual audiences together in the same room - whether that’s online or onsite. This fixes issues on both sides of the platform: virtual guests are now visible to onsite guests without requiring those in-person to glue their eyeballs to a personal device.

Broadcasting is the critical component that closes the loop and can turn a one-directional hybrid event into a multi-dimensional hybrid experience. So let’s first break it down a little into the basic kinds of broadcasts.

A Studio Broadcast happens in a controlled, indoor space, and with the possibility to have a live audience who can be heard clapping and laughing, etc. The content is being made in and broadcasted from the Studio.

A Field Broadcast is brought to where the content is, and broadcasted from that location. For example, a live sports event, a festival, summit etc.

A Virtual Broadcast is where the entirety of the production - the audience, the team, and the talent - all meet in the digital space. The production is not exactly broadcasting from an anchored location in the way that Studio and Field do. Virtual broadcasting and livestreaming is the most recent innovation in the industry.

A Hybrid Broadcast pulls from any number of these broadcast studios.

This is a hybrid experience

A hybrid experience allows the embodiment of everyone in the same space. Video games like Fortnite are wildly successful experiences because everyone is together, roaming free to express themselves. Of course not everyone is willing or able to fire up a gaming console or put on a VR headset and show up to a professional event as an avatar. And the technology to allow thousands of individuals to stably show up in HD camera quality at once exists primarily in Zoom.

Virtual guests are going to be ok - maybe even prefer - not to be seen by onsite attendees, but churn will slowly rise the more that they are not engaged. Event organizers who partner with creative production teams like Happily who are testing the latest interactive video technologies and programmatically know how to evoke social behaviors across media platforms will be the most successful at turning hybrid events into hybrid experiences.

The immediate future of hybrid productions lies in our ability to embody both virtual and onsite participants in the room. This can be either onstage, with large screens behind a presenter but it can also be on the sidelines with screens in the room perimeter.

Image render by Happily

In the diagram above, the stars represent the talent, the happy faces in the circles represent the onsite audience, and the rectangular faces are a virtual audience. The boxes are the broadcast as a whole; the solid one is the Studio and the hollow one is the virtual, both working in sync. By bringing everybody together in that same place, built around and feeding into and out of the broadcast, is when a hybrid experience can happen.

Talent is also able to come in either virtually, or into a studio and onto the main stage. The talent, onsite audience and virtual audience are all able to see each other and feed off each other's reactions. For example, there would be chats, comments, faces and emojis from the virtual audience brought into the physical space, via screens curated into the set design. This would all be seen and interacted with by the onsite audience and talent. That is when we actually are starting to have a high rate experience again and the central broadcast element is vital for that.

Happily brings the best of being online and onsite together

We’ve already learned the hard way on hybrid events so you don’t have to. For more on producing a hybrid experience with Happily, please reach out to us below click here.

With the recent release of the IPCC report, a summary of all the climate research done in the last 10 years, we know that immediate action towards reducing carbon emissions needs to be a part of everyone’s work and life.

When it comes to producing an event and sustainable event management, there are so many things that can be done to lessen the carbon footprint and reduce the impact on the environment. Productions come in all shapes, sizes and budgets, so making whatever changes to combat the climate crisis that are possible for you is something to be commended and to be proud of.

Here are some considerations, tips and advice for anyone looking to make their event more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

1. Think virtual-first and avoid air travel

Air travel is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, and it is the biggest contributor to an event’s carbon emissions. Out of all the types of transportation, and all the components of an event, if guests, talent, and shipping are flying in to attend, the carbon footprint will increase by about 95%.

If a lot of the audience is interstate and/or international, there are a few simplified ways to decrease or eliminate air travel.

The first option is to go completely virtual. The second is to have a virtual component and go hybrid, allowing the audience to be a mix of onsite and online. The third is to have smaller and more localized events, instead of one major event.

Virtual events have a very small carbon footprint. At Happily we make them carbon neutral by measuring the carbon emissions of a Happily event and offsetting any emissions from computers or tech by planting the corresponding number of trees in our Happily Forest.

For more, check out these Happily Virtual Case Study.

Image: Graph adapted from this original article by Shawna McKinley.

2. No plastic water bottles, switch to water stations

Having drinking water readily available for attendees is important, especially for long, onsite summits.

Traditionally the most convenient way is to hand out plastic water bottles. Even though plastic water bottles are recyclable, the majority still end up in landfill. It will take about 1,000 years for them to break down, and not to mention the devastation it can have on marine life if found in the ocean.

Rethinking how attendees access water during the event can be a big step towards sustainability. We suggest having multiple water stations (no one likes to wait in a long line) with biodegradable cups, or use it as an opportunity to have some cool, branded bottles as swag that attendees can take home and reuse as well.

3. Clearly labeled recycling bins

Wherever the event may be, make the recycling bins a point of pride.

Make them clearly labeled for people to understand what they can put into it, with a rubbish bin right next to it for everything else. Have them easily accessible and brightly colored so they are not difficult to spot.

4. Eliminate paper, go digital

Decreasing the amount of paper that is handed out to attendees or used by staff is a good step in reducing the carbon footprint of the event. Plus, converting to tech can create a better experience for attendees and a more streamlined process for staff.

Building a custom event app or microsite can create a place where attendees can access all the event resources and information that they could need; eg. schedules, registering, downloadable PDFs, venue map, COVID-19 safety protocols, menus - whatever is appropriate.

The best thing about going digital is that it can serve every and all functions that you need it to. Whatever would normally be printed as a handout, or information pack, can be digitized and conveniently at the attendees' fingertips. Optimizing the use of QR codes will also contribute to the user experience.

For more, check out this Happily Case Study.

5. Promote public transportation

Travel in general is the biggest contributor to an event’s carbon footprint, and the less cars and the more carpooling, the better.

By clearly communicating any public routes that will take attendees to and from the venue, you will get them to consider public transport as a good and reliable transport option.

Image: Comparing NYC commuters Co2 emissions every year, compared to CLIP, a bike pedal assist via clip/bike.com

6. Have a shuttle service

If public transport isn’t available or the venue is a little out of the way, then consider offering a shuttle service.

If you can, go green with the vehicle. Electric cars and vehicles have zero harmful CO2 tailpipe emissions compared to regular gasoline-powered vehicles, which produce environmentally harmful CO2 emissions

The same goes for hybrid, as they are still better than gasoline-powered vehicles, and technology advancements have also made diesel a clean, green option for high-powered engines.

Think of it as a way to not only to get less cars on the road, but also to create a stress-free and more accessible experience for attendees.

7. Go veggie with a sustainable food and beverage vendor

If the event is catered, there are so many ways to ensure sustainability. Many catering companies are environmentally conscious and will do most of the sustainable work for you, if you find the right vendor.

At Happily we have a list of Sustainable Vendors throughout the country that include catering, and also other areas such as printing and fabrication. Just let us know and we’d happily connect you with some.

Some attributes of a sustainable catering vendor include:

• +50% of of the menu should be plant-based, as eating less meat can contribute to less emissions (One pound of meat uses up 2,400 gallons of water)
• Donate any leftover food to local communities and charities
• Use Fairtrade products (typically tea, coffee and chocolate)
• Use locally sourced ingredients and seasonal produce for the region, to avoid imported products
• Aim for zero food wastage. Do not make 10% more on food for guests. If we run out, we run out. That’s ok.
• Use compostable packaging and utensils for single serve take away boxes
• Fish sourced from sustainable supplies
• Composting food scraps
• Opt for real glassware, plates, etc. Happily has a ban on plastic bottles

Image: The Carbon Footprint of the Food Supply Chain via Visual Capitalist

8. Find alternatives to non-biodegradable materials

Where ever there is an opportunity to ditch single use plastics, use plant based recyclables and find an alternative to non-biodegradable materials, then take it.

Ask suppliers and vendors about the materials they use and how sustainable their products are. Usually suppliers and vendors will proudly display their eco-friendliness so it shouldn’t be difficult to find the right one for you.

Here are some things to think about when it comes to sustainable materials used to create them:

• ‘Swag bags’, including all packaging and the products themselves
• The paper and ink used to print any marketing collateral, hand outs, banners, signs ect.
• Any catering needs such as coffee cups, cutlery, napkins, plates ect.
• Name tags or lanyards
• Fabrication, such as booths or set designs

9. Find an event venue that is sustainability conscious

Venues come in all shapes and sizes and will depend on the needs of the event, like, if it is a massive multi-day summit, or a smaller workshop scenario.

Here are some things to take into consideration or ask of a venue:

• If they have a Green Policy
• Has a LEED certification
• The percentage of LED lights the building has (Hint! The more the better)
• Architectural design incorporates sustainable features, like the use of natural light
• Escalators are energy-efficient, running based on occupancy or event needs
• Near and accessible by public transport
• If catering is only done in-house, refer to ‘Hire a sustainable food vendor; above
• Water recycling and catchment system for minimal water wastage
• Air-conditioning controlled in each room, to minimize the excessive use
• Prefer venues powered by clean energy sources like solar and wind
• Use shore power, not generators
• Use large signs instead of paper

10. Tell people about the event’s eco-friendliness

Proudly explain and promote the elements that are sustainable and eco-friendly, and how it is contributing to the fight against climate change.

It will elevate the esteem of your event, and also advocate the importance of climate action in general, and encourage others to follow your lead.

There are over 50 different types of specialists roles across Happily’s five studios - Strategy, Creative, Web, Broadcast, Experiential - that you can tag in. Such as a Producer, Sponsorship Strategist, Video Editor, Technical director or Web Developer. For more about our On Demand click here.

Looking for producing jobs?

If you're a Producer, join Team Happily to be a part of the award-winning network that puts on the best in events. Create an account here to get started.

We live in a digital world where everything can be done online. Virtual events are not just a product of the pandemic; they have their place and can be really advantageous to any organization. You can read more about when and why virtual events are awesome here, and you can check out some of the virtual events produced by Happily here.

If you are a smaller business or startup with limited resources, don’t worry. We have some free ways that you can glow up a simple virtual event produced in house.

1. Embed livestream on to your website

There is no need to create an entire microsite just for a straightforward event, if you already have an established website. By placing the stream on your website, it makes it much more of a branded experience. Use Vimeo or YouTube as your broadcast platform to easily generate some embedding code to add to a page on your website.

By dedicating a whole page to the event, you can create more of a branded experience for your audience, with your org’s graphic line. It will allow you to have a single place to direct your audience, as well as any accompanying information and links right at their fingertips.

2. Create a storyboard and general script for your event

The most important element of a virtual event is to keep your audience engaged. By giving some thought to the layout and the flow of your event, it will allow you to find ways to keep the momentum going. We recommend taking your audience on a ‘journey’ with an introduction, middle and a conclusion.

Think about it as a talk show, with lots of “coming up soon”, “stay tuned because next up we have…” or “we have so much exciting stuff for you tonight…”. This is also where we strongly suggest a written script to accompany your storyboard. It is not meant to be a script that you stick to word-for-word, but rather a way to stagger information and ensure that you are using language that will keep your audience engaged.

3. Use Zoom Immersive View to create a custom view

If you have a Zoom Business account that you are using for your event, you can take advantage of Zoom’s Immersive View. With it you will be able to place a custom banner as a background, creating a more branded experience.

We have all the info you need on how to do this over here.

4. Have a full dress rehearsal

In the days before the event, have a full read-through with all the staff, behind-the-scenes people, and any guest speakers. This will ensure that any hiccups in the program are caught, that any wrinkles can be ironed out, and so everyone knows what to expect when the event comes around. It will allow the end result to feel more polished and professional.

5. Use Canva to step up your graphic assets

By using a platform like Canva you will have all the resources you need to easily create polished and chic designs for social media, presentation slides, banners ect. that you need for your event. There is a paid version that you can upgrade your Canva account to, however, the free version will certainly give you what you need as well.

6. Shine from behind the camera

The production quality of any virtual event will improve 1000% if the speaker is looking their best on the screen. We are talking about amazing lighting, a well composed background, clear audio, strong internet and a high quality camera.

Some of these things you might want to invest a little money in, however, there are also free things you can do. We have a whole separate post on this, that you can read here.

The Delta variant is still circulating in the United States and the globe. The COVID-19 vaccine is still being rolled out and the vaccination status of event attendees could vary dramatically. All of us in the public, as well as event organizers, should be keeping an eye on the current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations for Activities, Gatherings & Holidays.

We have some new normals that you can expect for anyone planning an onsite production that takes COVID measures into consideration.

1. All you can do is control the controllables.

With all the continued uncertainty brought upon by the pandemic, producers and the events industry must continue to do what we do best; take everything in our stride, and focus on what can be done. A strong level of understanding and communication of established safety protocols, is one thing that you can control.

2. Selecting an onsite venue for your event will take more careful consideration.

There will now be elements of a venue that you will have to understand that you didn’t need to before the pandemic. More detailed knowledge about outdoor spaces, capacities, traffic flow, air filtration systems (including MERV numbers) and cleaning processes, will need to be understood to fully align the event with the safety protocols.

3. You’ll start to understand what a MERV number is.

Basically, the higher the MERV rating (from 1 to 16) the better that filter is at catching certain types of particles. It will be a solid go-to number for understanding the quality of a buildings’ filtration system. MERV 13 or higher is recommended for viruses.

4. Minimizing contact will be done in smart ways, wherever possible.

These new contactless norms aren’t just about maximizing the safety of the attendees, they will also maximize the production process of the event and the overall guest experience.

Here are some examples:

• Pen and paper check-ins replaced with a QR code to a digital registration system.
• Hands-free soap and hand sanitizer dispensers provided throughout.
• Digital gifting and merch with drop shipping to guest’s homes.
• Any paper handouts will be available in digital form.
• Cashless payments with money transfers done by card only.
• Greater use of QR codes, such as menus and forms.
• Assigned seating and more distance between seats.
• A custom-built app where guests can find all the information that they could possibly need.

5. A production will have a comprehensive safety protocol.

Safety guidelines and standards should be created or updated to include an event’s official stance on COVID-19 measures, and how they should be handled.

Here are the main COVID-19 measures to outline:

• Testing and timing requirements
• Vaccination requirements
• Symptom and temperature checks
• Personal protective equipment usage, including masks
• Social distancing
• Reporting any illnesses (prior and post event)

6. Communication prior to an event will ramp up.

Safety measures will need to be way more accessible, distributed and visible than pre-pandemic. They should be given more prominence on event microsites, email invitations, social media ect.

7. Registration details will need to be updated.

You should include questions about the attendee being vaccinated (with proof provided) as well as them checking a box to indicate having read, understood and agreed to any new safety protocols for the event.

8. Onsite testing will require a signed HIPAA Release Form.

If the production will have onsite testing, in order for you to have access to those test results, each attendee and staff member taking a test must sign a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Release Form. Just something to consider for the registration and pre-event communications.

9. You’re responsible for communicating any relevant information post-event.

If it comes to your attention of a COVID case at the event - whether it was through onsite testing or elsewhere - making this known to all the attendees via an email blast is important. This way attendees know that they should go get tested.

10. Vaccine passes will be required more and more.

It is rapidly becoming a requirement that all attendees and staff need to be 100% vaccinated in order to be onsite. This will include providing proof of both vaccinations. Here at Happily, among the safety requirements for our staff working on onsite productions is that they must be 100% vaccinated.

Fatima is the Learning and Development Manager at She+ Geeks Out, which is based in Massachusetts. They take a holistic approach in providing education and support for organizations to build a strong foundation of diversity, equity and inclusivity within their workplace.

She created a short film, Stories of Black Motherhood (2018). It centers around three mothers in Boston as they talk about the ways in which their lives have been affected by race, class, and gender, and how those topics also influence their feelings and fears about motherhood and the healthcare system in the US.

Fatima received a Master of Public Health in Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation (CAPDIE) and Maternal and Child Health from Boston University School of Public Health. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and Anthropology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

For the complete discussion watch Fatima on Happily Live with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily, and read on for a teaser into some of the topics they touch on.

Some quick bites from Fatima

On being a diversity, equity and inclusion facilitator and what it means

I've been doing facilitation for close to a decade now, and so for those of you who aren't familiar with facilitation work it's basically a way to create space for folks to discuss any issue.

I specifically focus on diversity, equity and inclusion related issues and that's what I do at She+ Geeks Out and so part of me being a Learning and Development Manager is to critically think about what do our current programs look like, what's the content that we're offering, and how is that supporting not just individual contributors or our community members but also our client and companies. And so one of the key things we do at She+ Geeks Out is really thinking about how do we abolish inequity in the workplace?

We recognize that our workplace is our microcosms of the general society, right? And so whatever is happening in our world is probably also going to be showing up in our workplaces. One of the main issues we're helping to solve is ‘why aren't workplaces working?’ Why are they not working specifically and especially for marginalized identities or folks with marginalized identities. And what can we be thinking about, what can we be doing, what can we be changing to make sure that we're not just creating an inclusive culture, but we're also using an equity lens.

So what do our policies look like? Who's being supported, and who's not? Are we using language unintentionally or intentionally that might be making some employees feel marginalized? These are the questions that we help clients and companies answer and then provide them tips, tools and strategies to begin changing that culture.

On She+ Geeks Out, how they are expanding our understanding of gender and what the + means

When She+ Geeks Out was founded a lot of the work was supporting women in tech and tech adjacent. And so what would it look like to support these groups of people who are in tech spaces but aren't feeling as included or feeling like they're the only?

She+ Geeks Out has evolved to not just support women but anyone who identifies as a woman. But also really expanding beyond the binary when we talk about gender, right? And so She+ that plus is saying like ‘hey this is how we started out foundationally and we have expanded our understanding and idea of gender and are including brave and safe spaces for folks who might identify along the spectrum to come into our community events and spaces because we know that if we work on one type of inequality - like gender inequality - there's still so much more to do. We talk about this from an intersectional standpoint so we can't just talk about gender inequality without talking about homophobia, without talking about transphobia and racism and so forth so that plus really is bringing those concepts together and really you know highlighting intersectionality.

Image: Fatima Dainkey. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi.

On how DEI discussions differ for a virtual workplace

It's not the easiest to facilitate virtually, it's not. Because we are talking about topics that are both personal and professional and when we're talking about identities or topics, like, privilege, power, oppression - it's sometimes hard to see what's happening behind the screen. Sometimes videos aren't on, sometimes you don't know someone's actually paying attention and I'm saying that to use that lens as a way of thinking about just working virtually in general, especially if you weren't working virtually before.

And so one thing that we've been thinking about as it relates to culture and how it's changed over time, it's first building trust, right? We often talk about trust being a key component to creating and maintaining inclusive workplaces and if you just started working somewhere and let's say you weren't part of the company until after they became remote, it's really hard to build trust with your manager or to even build trust with your colleagues.

And so what can we do virtually is really think about ‘what can we have conversations about during our one-on-one meetings? For example, what does it look like to have check-in? I know it's so easy to jump into business and say ‘okay what have we done? List all the tasks. Check them off’ And I always say, okay sometimes you might not have an opportunity to check-in, but if you do and when you do, do so, because there's so many things that can be happening in our personal lives that we're not aware of and because we're not in person and because body language is sometimes hard to take note of virtually.

It's so important to take a step back, even if it's five minutes, to say ‘hey, how are you doing? How's it going? What do you need support with?’ and so forth.

On why people are trusting brands more than the government these days

Part of trust is also holding ourselves accountable when you mess up and what we know is that that hasn't always been the case within government structures - at least for folks who have marginalized identities and so when that has happened over time and nothing has been done or we don't feel like adequate measures have been taken, you can see how people begin to look at corporates or businesses because perhaps they feel like the language feels inclusive they've been really transparent about their commitments.

We saw that since summer of 2020 a lot of companies have committed to anti-racist practices. I think there was a recent article that came out this year that said ‘hey let's do a check-in and check on all these companies that said they were going to do x y and z. Let's see how much they've done so far?’ So building trust a lot of times people say you have to earn trust, right? But also you have to show what you're doing and when we think about doing these workshops or supporting our clients one of the things we say is being very clear and intentional with the language right and so whether that's verbal you're just having a meeting virtually or you're typing up that email or you're responding to a social event or unrest that's happening in our society. I'm gonna be able to trust you because I know that one you're paying attention, you care and so these are pillars of trust where it's like, ‘okay you care about who I am as a being, at least, and I'm seeing that messaging.

On her short film, Stories of Black Motherhood

I work with an awesome company named Envision Productions and basically I was in grad school focusing on maternal child health and really looking at health inequities. And being in the classroom hearing folks say ‘hey black mothers or black birthing folks are dying and their kids are dying’ is a lot to take on as someone who identifies as a birthing person but also as a black woman.

And so I wanted to really dig into the data. We always talk about the numbers and it feels so generalizing and it makes black folks look like a monolith and it's like ‘what's the story’, right? What's actually happening within communities? What's supporting, you know, black birthing folks? To support their children and family and what's not supporting them? And so that's sort of what I wanted to get into and using storytelling as a tool to really amplify those voices because they're always there. And so I’m just a really strong believer of ‘what questions are we asking folks?’. And the mothers in that video were so amazing and being open and sharing their experience of being a black mother in Boston.

On why it’s so important to really consider what a change in workplace model (virtual, in-person or hybrid) means for employees and how to best handle a transition

We have to ask ourselves ‘who is benefiting from going back to the workplace? And who's benefiting from a hybrid model? And who's benefiting from a virtual model? And let's be fair, virtual workplaces have always existed before the pandemic. Folks have been figuring out how to develop and build and maintain awesome cultures in virtual workplaces, so it's not brand new - it's been done, it's possible. And if you find that you weren't virtual and you're thinking about going back into the workplace, the first question that we often ask is ‘can you, sort of, first check in with your employees?

I have been in contact with so many of my friends who said ‘hey, we just got a message from the company that said we need - we're going back to work next week, there was no discussion about it or, at least, with my colleagues or with my friends, it was just like made at the top level and there was no transition.’ It was, like, 18 months you've been out of the office, next week you will start and you'll be in the office five days a week...

You just don't do something for 18 months and then drop people in and expect everything to go back the same. We are social creatures and it takes time for us to build habits, so if we've been, sort of, getting used to virtual working and we are parents, we're caregivers, we're trying to figure out what's happening in a virtual world. It's going to take time to be just as effective if we were effective virtually and to feel like we can engage in that in the workplace.

So one thing we say is ‘what does it look like to have a soft transition?’ Meaning ‘okay, can we do a quick survey? Or, a really, you know, focus group? And to just see who wants to go back and who doesn't. If we find that most people are around the hybrid model, well, let's do a soft transition maybe - twice a week people can come into the office.

On a hybrid workplace model and how to facilitate inclusion and engagement

There's so much to consider and I'd say, you know, for the hybrid model finding ways to make sure that people still feel engaged. One of the things that a lot of companies talk about, especially if they were remote before the pandemic and then they became hybrid later, is that the virtual group doesn't get as much love.

So if you're not going into the office it's, like, you're missing out on the water cooler conversations or you're not being able to hang out with your colleagues. And so how can you merge that? How can you do games online, for example. And then have, like, in-person so that folks who are comfortable going in-person can do so, and folks who aren't or have other priorities, can also engage. So there's so so much to consider. I just think it's really important to get a pulse with employees first before making a decision like that.

Want more on this topic?

Here are links to resources and podcasts mentioned in this Happily Live:

• Find out more about She+ Geeks Out
• Watch Fatima’s short film, Stories of Black Motherhood
• Read that Edelman report about brands being more trusted than the government that Sarah mentioned
• Watch that interview between Steve Case and Brian Chesky that Sarah mentioned
• Read more Q&As from Fatima

Recently we produced a webinar to release and discuss the findings of the American COVID-19 Vaccine Poll to national print and digital media outlets. At your leisure, you can read more about that case study here.

Even as the possibility of in-person events begin to appear on the horizon, going virtual with a press event has everlasting advantages.

Here are some real pros to producing a virtual press event to keep in mind.

1. Reach a wider amount and scope of media outlets

Your event can be attended by or shared with all media outlets that you need to target; local, national and international. There are no limits to where they are based.

Also, we love the accessibility that online events allows to smaller, community based and start-up digital or print media outlets.

2. A shareable recording is as easy as pressing a button

With an in-person event generating a quality video of the event - a video that you would be proud to send to the media and out into the public - will likely require hiring a videographer and will take time to be edited.

With a virtual event, the recording is done and ready the moment that event has ended. This means you will have it instantly to share in an email blast as a reference to attendees, and to anyone who could not attend live.

3. Little time commitment means journalists are more likely to tune in

The fact that journalists can tune into your virtual event from anywhere and that they don’t necessarily have to turn on their camera, means it is easier for them to find the time to attend live. A lot of people in the media are time poor, with rather busy daily schedules, and them having the option to multi-task can be welcomed.

4. You can have a short runway to the event

The planning and pre-production stage of a virtual event can be much more condensed than an in-person event. This is dependent on the complexity and scope of the virtual press event, of course, however, at Happily we know how to hustle and bring together an event asap.

5. Any keynote speakers, staff or experts can participate from anywhere across the country - or the world

You can curate a diverse panel of guests to contribute, as no travel is required for them, and they would have to commit less time to the event.

6. It can be a private or a public event

Depending on how you would like to gate or divide the event, there will be a way to do it in the digital space. For example, there can be a separate viewing platform for media outlets to allow them to interact and submit questions, and have a platform for the general public to enter and view the live broadcast.

7. A Q&A session can be robust and ordered

If you would like to have a Q&A element to the press event, there are various ways that can be produced depending on your needs. For example, a simple way is to have a chat box function in which journalists and media outlets submit a question, and they can be answered systematically at the end. Or we could craft a process to allow them to submit a question verbally with their audio and camera switched on.

8. They are economical, scalable and highly customizable

Just like any in-person event, a virtual press event can be as basic or as dynamic as you need it to be - or as your budget will allow. It can be a fully branded experience; from the registration roll-out to the event itself, and to any follow-up correspondence. We can keep it real simple and use Zoom as the viewing platform, or we can build a fully custom microsite for attendees to watch the event.

Pro Tip: When we say we are experts at event planning, we mean every aspect of it that you can think of - including marketing, registration, experience designers, IT security - so if you have a concern or need extra help in any area, just chat to us about it.

9. Going virtual does not mean you miss out on anything

Together we can craft a run of show that has all the elements that you need - maybe even more - for a press event.

We’re talking graphic presentations, video presentations, a pre-recorded message from someone who can’t attend, panel discussions, an open Q&A session, private interview breakout rooms with media outlets - whatever other element you need, we can find a way to make it happen.

10. The event can be translated live

Having any event translated into multiple languages and/or American Sign Language live during the broadcast is a must for accessibility and reaching more communities - and countries. If your press event needs to reach multiple language groups and audience, then that progress is straightforward when going virtual. We have a blog post all about the ways to have a spoken language translations, and another one for ASL translations.

We’ve managed VIP travel experiences for some big deal companies, such as YouTube, H&M, and TikTok’s Make Black History Summit 2020.

Here are some quick tips for arranging group travel as we ease into a new normal post-pandemic

1. First of all, make flying-in optional.

Not only are some people still not ready or able to prioritize work travel, you’ll be reducing carbon emissions by up to 97%. For flights you can’t avoid, we always book non-stop to reduce carbon and calculate our emissions to offset those in our Happily Forest.

2. Create clear criteria for where you feel safe to host your group.

For us at Happily, this means 70% of the city is fully vaccinated. Also that the venue has comfortable outdoor spaces, with clear guidelines on entry and exit.

3. Put extra care into communicating your safety protocols.

Create a dedicated space online to publish COVID safety requirements and updates local to the area, your venue, and your program. Use plain, even fun English to prepare folks to get temperature checks, wear masks indoors, and using hand sanitizer.

4. Buy travel insurance that includes COVID coverage (even if people are vaccinated).

This might sound extra, but we recommend it. Ideally, your travel insurance covers COVID related health expenses, flight changes and delays, and all the stuff that travel insurance should cover. (Pro Tip: book well in advance for that flexibility.)

5. Don’t bunk up.

In the (g)olden days, we used to save some money here and there by putting two staffers to a room, two guests in a car ect. and it just does not work out that way anymore. If you’re going to spring for an all-expenses event, just go for it.

There are no apps to download, it is all web browser based, and hosts and guests can find all they need at urnowhere.com. You create a ‘space’ with a ‘station’ (venue) and you can pick a templated ‘environment’. Similar to Zoom, you can invite people as a guest, or as a host.

Check out Sarah Shewey, our Happily CEO and Founder, explore NOWHERE with some of our specialists.

How many templated environments are there?

Currently there are 6; Blackbox, Cherry Clouds, The Base, Arco Santi Vaults, 6th Boro, Golden Pines. All the environments seem to be built with a certain type of event in mind (eg. a presentation, a reception, a party...).

Everyone has their own ‘Orbit’.

There are no avatars here. Your live video is streamed into a little pod-esque shape, like a wondrous floating head, and this is referred to as your Orbit. When a first time user is invited to a NOWHERE space, they will fill out an ‘Orbit Card’, which is basically their profile, with all their contact details ect. These ‘Orbit Cards’ act as digital business cards that are collected and stored away when you interact with someone.

NOWHERE has spatial audio. But what is spatial audio?

Just like in real life, the further someone is from you, the less you hear them. This happens in NOWHERE too. If you move your Orbit away from someone or a group of people, the less they can hear you, and the less you can hear them. At the same time, it does well to create that ‘conversation buzz’ of a room, and be able to approach a group engaged in conversation.

The rim around a person's Orbit will light up when they are talking, and there is a 'God Mic' function that enlarges a person's Orbit and has them clearly heard by all, no matter where the audience is in the environment. This allows a 'keynote speaker' feel and brings the focus to a person/s within the group.

Can you broadcast a video or share a screen in NOWHERE?

Yep! It will project into the sky like a hovering cinema screen for all to gather around and look up at. In NOWHERE this is referred to as a ‘Movie Screen’. It includes audio sharing which you can customize the audio range as ‘Near’, ‘Global’ or ‘Far’. Please note, only the host has access to this feature.

Can you alter the mobility of your Orbit?

Absolutely. There are some basic Mobility Settings that allow you to increase or decrease the speed in which you can move through the environment, as well as the speed in which you can turn around.

Some random notes to keep in mind.

• You can have multiple rooms / environments, however, currently there is a capacity of 25 people / Orbits per room
• Audio interactions are a priority in NOWHERE, and there is currently no text chat function
• Brand customization of an environment is limited

Some quick uses for the NOWHERE platform that we think will be awesome for virtual events!

• Breakout rooms and small group experiences (due to the current maxim of 25 people per environment)
• Presentations
• Watch parties
• Receptions or cocktail parties
• Concerts
• A Happily Hour
• The gamification-feel will be ideal for targeting a Millennial and/or Gen Z audience

Platforms that we love to use for the team to instantly message are Slack and Discord.

5. Have transparency about each person’s roles

There is no time for confusion about who is doing what in the team. Be as clear and open as possible about each team member's tasks, and their responsibilities for all to know. A basic spreadsheet of this information can be a great source for people to know exactly what is expected of them, and who to go to for what, if they have a question, or need something.

(GIF below) With a DoorDash event, we had ‘Waking up with gratitude’ with Sophia Li for a quick intro to gratitude journaling and writing prompts.

2. A game of ‘Never Have I Ever’

This popular game format is a perfect way to adapt the ‘never have I ever’s to your audience with quirky and specific things that only they could relate to as a collective.

(GIF below) For example, we recently included a ‘Never Have I Ever: Breast Cancer Edition’ for the Young Survival Coalition Summit and it was a big hit!

3. Getting that heart rate up

There are endless options for including a break that is a little higher energy, to get your attendees to their feet and shake out any restlessness. From classic workout classes, belly dancing, salsa, hip hop, or just a moment to dance along to some classic hits, we can bring to the table a teacher or DJ to make it happen.

4. Bring some (virtual) stand up comedy

How about a comedy night to conclude the day? Having a comedians that understand your audience, or perhaps can relate to them, is an absolute bonus.

(GIF below) For example, the YSC Summit had an all-female line-up of comedians, some of whose lives had been touched by breast cancer.

5. A much needed stretch with desk yoga

Chances are that your attendees are going to spend hours in the same position for your virtual summit - which is what you want! However, you do not want them to get stiff and sore. Some casual yoga stretches that can be done from the comfort of a desk or chair, will give your summit attendees a moment to ease any body stiffness.

(GIF below) We did this as part of an event with DoorDash with one of our Happily Wellness Leaders, Tommy Lucas.

6. The most adorable break at a fur baby cafe

This is a must for animal lovers. Hosted by a pet adoption center, attendees can meet and greet with some animals that need homes, and hear some heartwarming stories from people who are doing amazing work for animals-in-need within the community.

Also, it is a great opportunity for attendees to show off on camera their beloved dogs, cats, and pets (who are probably already hovering around their desk at home as they watch, let’s be honest).

(GIF below) We did this with an event for DoorDash with virtual pet adoption center, Wagmor Pets Dog Rescue. And just look at all those adorable animals!

7. A trivia moment

We all enjoy some quirky fun facts and to have our general knowledge challenged. Just like a classic bar trivia night, the questions can be as random or as specific to your audience as you like - just as long as they are also fun, of course. The key is to make it visual with some awesome slides.

(GIF below) Together with MJ Sieber, we had some Zoom Trivia for this event with DoorDash.

8. A live feed of… puppies

On the microsite (GIF below) for YSC’s 2021 Summit, attendees could at any time drop into the YouTube live feed of the Puppy Playroom at Warrior Canine Connection.

It was a huge success!

GIF from our 'Happily Hour with Jensen McRae'

2. Group lip sync battle

This performance game is stepping things up a level.

Teams break out into groups with an even number of people, whatever works for your event. They’ll have time to select a song and practice their performance to present to the whole group.

Ideal for themed parties, or high-energy gatherings.

GIF from HUMAN's (formerly White Ops) I Wanna Dance with Zoom-body.

3. Emoji pictionary

This is a modern spin on a timeless game.

It is played in the style of Pictionary where the host privately sends an emoji to a contestant, and then they have to ‘act out’ that emoji for all the others to guess. People then send the emoji that they think it is in the chat. The person who guesses correctly, is the next contestant.

Ideal for a quick icebreaker at a work meeting, in breakout rooms or a workshop.

4. Whose drink is this?

A party game based on the idea that what we drink can say something about our personality.

How it works is that guests privately message the host to tell them what they're drinking that evening. Guests can be as specific as they like. The host reads out the drink and asks the audience ‘whose drink is that?’

Ideal for social gatherings in a setting where alcoholic drinking is acceptable.

5. Who said that?

This is a trivia game that is based on quotes from famous philosophers, activists, world leaders, or whatever makes sense for your event.

It is played in the style of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ where if they get the question right, they can choose to carry on, or to take the prize and tap out. Contestants can win cash or gift cards or whatever prize you’d like to offer, with increasing value for consecutive correct answers.

Ideal for themed parties, or a lighthearted social get together.

GIF from Happily Hour with Brynn Elliott and LeoRising.

6. Mad Libs

This is a virtual spin on a classic linguistic game.

The original Mad Libs books are short stories with many keywords left blank. Beneath each blank is a specified category such as a noun, verb, place, celebrity, exclamation or a part of the body. You can either make up your own base Mad Libs short story or get your hands on an original book. Writing your own is an opportunity to personalize the game for your workplace, your audience or the theme of the virtual event. Also, an alternative is just Mad Libs sentences, instead of a full story.

Depending on how many attendees you have, they can either be broken up into rooms or kept all together. Then, without revealing the context for that word, the host asks the others to contribute a word as indicated with the category (eg. a noun, a place...) The host notes them down and finally, the completed story is read aloud. (Pro tip, make sure there are enough blank words with at least one for each attendee.) The result is usually a comical story or sentence that takes on a nonsensical tone.

Ideal for an icebreaker at smaller, social gatherings.

Quick note: We have a specific blog post about how to integrate an American Sign Language translation into a virtual event that you can read here, as it is a little different.

1. Satellite Zoom Rooms per Language

Language groups will each have their own Zoom link in which the broadcast will be streamed, and their language will be translated onto that stream.

This is ideal for translating a live broadcast into multiple languages and is a good way to bring niche-communities or cultural groups together within your audience and allow them to connect with each other. However, if you prefer to keep your community altogether in order to connect across languages, this may not be the option for you.

2. Live Captioning on Broadcast

You can have the translation captioned live onto the stream. This is an ideal option for translating your event into just 1 other language.

3. Widget Plug In

We can integrate an automated translation widget into the streaming platform that can provide captions in 50 languages. Attendees can simply select which language they would like the captions to be provided in.

We used this technology in the Survivor’s Summit 2020 which you can read more about in this case study.

Image from the 2020 Survivor’s Summit.

4. Audio Translations with Zoom’s Interpretation Feature

Zoom enables different audio channels to be created for language translations. The human interpreters on the other end then have their voice (and the translation) fed into that audio channel. The attendees can select which available language they would like to hear the event in, with the option to mute the original audio, or to hear it in a lower volume with their chosen language overlayed.

Image: Zoom's Interpretation Feature

Every Happily virtual event is unique and translation requirements vary.

Let’s chat about your upcoming event and how together we can craft a custom language translation method that works best for you.

If you’re ready to join team Happily, create an account and become a Happily specialist.

We believe that diversity is the reason we at Happily are able to produce the contemporary and dynamic events that we do. We are committed to our diversity goal of having at least 50% representation of women, 30% of black, indigenous, and people of color, and 10% of people from the LGBT community.

So we have some basic starting points for producing an event that is intentionally anti-racist.

1. Add anti-racism in your code of conduct

Clearly outline anti-racism into the proper practices, norms and expectations of an event. This way all those involved, including contractors, will be clearly aware what values the behind-the-scenes of your event should be built on.

2. BIPOC talent first

Do not leave black, indigenous and people of color talent as an afterthought. Start with booking them first and consciously lining up a diversity of talent. An event cannot have ‘too much diversity’.

3. Research your speakers

Do some basic googling and social media research to make sure any guest speakers are not publicly (or even privately) racist. Basically, do not give a racist a platform.

4. Donate a portion of your ticket sales to anti-racism groups and nonprofits

Good folks like The Bail Project, The Innocence Project, Black Lives Matter or Stop AAPI Hate, just to name a few.

5. Be accountable for your actions

If there is a mistake on your part, own it and apologize. Publish a plan to make changes, and publicly learn from a situation or issue. It’s ok, we are all learning and growing.

When Sarah and Colin’s wedding was abruptly cancelled due to COVID 19 in early 2020, the pivot to a virtual wedding was quick and mighty. Sarah describes how she fully embraced the challenge to create a truly unique experience and wondrous cyber wedding celebration unlike anything you would have thought possible. Plus, she explains how their story came to headline the Daily Mail in the UK, and why the experience helped her discover the power and potential of virtual events.

The creative process and the wonderful experience that I had with the cyber wedding helped me to commit to virtual and continue to rethink experiences in an online format.

Sarah Shewey, Founder and CEO, Happily

The benefits of Happily’s international network of independent event specialists

• Having a team across the world and in multiple time zones means there is always someone working and a project can progress quickly
• Happily prides itself on our ‘short runway’ to producing events and we are able to take advantage of varying time zones when a client comes to us at the 11th hour
• The diversity of people and cultures is what Happily is all about
• Our pool of talent is not restricted to any one country or culture
• There are more opportunities for event specialists that speak multiple languages, if our clients need

It’s great to be able to schedule people on different time zones, so we get assets and project direction on the west coast, it moves over to the east coast, moves over to Asia, moves over to Europe, and then you have a final pre-record edit that is ready the next morning.

Sarah Shewey, Founder and CEO, Happily

Happily is committed to sustainable and carbon zero events

• 90% of an event's carbon emissions come from flights and removing that need for travel (and going virtual) is the number one climate change solution when it comes to producing an event
• Happily offsets any virtual event carbon emissions (from computers, etc) by planting the corresponding amount of trees in our Happily Forest
• We produced a robust and informative TEDxHappily Countdown event that you should check out for much more on this topic and our mission

The benefits of virtual events even when in-person events are possible again

• Virtual events are here to stay!
• They are an important tool for event producers to sustain interaction and connection with an audience or community
• The minimal cost compared to in-person allows a higher frequency of interaction with an audience
• Communities can stay connected between large, tentpole in-person events with virtual events throughout the year
• The minimal cost compared to in-person allows opportunities for smaller, more niche events within a community

For anyone who did events before [the pandemic] you remember it was always ‘how do we keep our community together throughout the year’ and it was like ‘maybe a Facebook group?’ We all laugh now because of course we are just going to be doing lots of virtual events…

Sarah Shewey, Founder and CEO, Happily

More information coming right up

Here are links to resources and random stuff mentioned in this interview:

• Read more about Happily’s commitment to climate action
• Discover our DNC Case Study
• Read our 3 Ways to Create an Events Strategy that Saves the Planet
• Sarah and Colin’s cyber wedding that broke the internet ‘'We're showing people a path forward.' LA couple whose wedding was scrapped due to COVID-19 host futuristic cyber ceremony at their apartment with 1,500 guests tuning into their live stream’ via the Daily Mail
• Attend the latest Back of House LIVE from Hopin

A fast internet connection for high video quality is essential. To check your speed visit www.speedtest.net and run the test. It will give you two metrics; your download and your upload speed, in that order. In this case, what you need to focus on is your upload speed. 5Mbps is the absolute minimum for a video stream, and of course, the higher your upload speed the better.

Audio

We would argue that a smooth audio stream is the most important on a Zoom call, so if your internet upload is below 5Mbps (as mentioned above) just disable your video and keep all that upload for the audio.

1. Control your environment and make sure that you are signing into a Zoom call in the most quiet space possible.

2. Buy an external usb microphone to dramatically improve your sound quality. There will be a mic out there for all budgets, and even a basic one for as little as $30USD will be a huge improvement. If you are looking to level up your digital presence, we recommend an external mic as the first step.

Lighting

In this era of selfies, we have all come to understand the importance of ‘good lighting’ and how it can change how we look through the camera lens. If you are not looking to upgrade to an external camera, as we will come to below, by giving some attention to how you are lit you are sure to see some good results.

1. Natural lighting is always useful and a wonderful source, just as long as it is actually lighting you (the subject). This may mean you will have to move your desk or space so the window is in front of you and natural light is falling on you. If you are trying to light yourself with just natural lighting, don’t put the source behind you.

2. Use external key lighting to light your face. We know that ‘ring lights’ have become popular, but we recommend just any desk lamp or standing lamp that will provide a diffused, even light source across your face. You will have to experiment with the position of the lamp, but at an angle, above and slightly to the side is always a good start. You don’t want any dramatic or unflattering shadows across your face.

3. Use external accent lighting to light your background. This is an extra if you really want to get serious about how you look on Zoom. Using a smaller or softer light to illuminate your background will provide depth, create a warmer environment, eliminate any harsh contrast between the foreground and the background, and really allow your face to shine.

Camera

If you are not looking to buy an external camera, it is worth checking your Zoom and computer settings to ensure that your in-built computer camera is working at the best to its ability.

1. Check the camera settings on computer / laptop, and depending on what you have you may be able to adjust the quality

2. In Zoom follow zoom.us > Preferences > Video and make sure that the HD is ticked, and you can also use the ‘Touch up my appearance’ function, as well as the ‘Adjust for low light’

3. The ultimate upgrade is using an external camera or webcam. Zoom makes it really easy to change the ‘video source’ at any time. Just like with the microphones, there is a range of price points that you can find for external cameras, and in the end, even the cheaper ones will make a huge difference compared to your in-built computer camera. If you really want to upgrade your digital presence like an absolute pro, in the tutorial above, Sarah Shewey, our Founder and CEO, details the exact products, camera and whole set up that she uses everyday, all day for Zoom.

She has spent over a decade in digital media with a proven track record of developing, producing, and launching high-profile, editorial programs including TED Radio Hour on NPR, WorkLife with Adam Grant and Sincerely, X.

After 7 years with TED Conferences working her way up into different roles, Janet has now found herself in the world of podcast production. She was at Patreon as the Creator Partnerships Lead, and now is currently the Senior Production Manager at VICE. So, Janet knows a thing or two about what makes a successful podcast.

Listen to Janet on Happily Live with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily, and read on for some fast takeaways.

The power of audio content

• Audio feels intimate and the connections that listeners have to podcasts are deep
• There is much opportunity for in-depth storytelling, as there are no rules of duration with a podcast
• Producing an audio piece can be low-cost compared to a video medium, however, a polished, high-quality and professional podcast show still requires more energy, funds and preparation than most of us realise

Some quick economic stats about Asian American women in the US

Employment rates

Asian women reached a 20-year high of 4,827,000 in Sept 2019, however, dropped nearly 17% (that’s a loss of 787,000 jobs) due to the pandemic. This is compared to employment dropping 15% for women and 12% for men in general across America. Graph: 'The Economic Status of Asian American and Pacific Islander Women' via Center for American Progress

Earnings

1.4 million AAPI women in 2019 earned below $15 an hour. It is worth noting that there are wide differences of common occupations among AAPI subpopulations, driven by differences in culture, immigration patterns, generational wealth, and continual prejudices around gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and language. Graph: 'The Economic Status of Asian American and Pacific Islander Women' via Center for American Progress

Gender wage gap

AAPI women working full time, year-round earned 85c for every $1 given to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts in 2019. Graph: 'The Economic Status of Asian American and Pacific Islander Women' via Center for American Progress

Unemployment rates due to the pandemic

44% of Asian women over 16yrs who lost their jobs during the pandemic were out of work for at least 6 months as of December 2020. For Asian women 20+ yrs, the unemployment rate in 2020 jumped from 3% in Feb to 16.4% in May. As of Jan 2021 the unemployment rate for Asian women is 7.9%, compared to 5.2% of white women. Graph: 'The Economic Status of Asian American and Pacific Islander Women' via Center for American Progress

Are you looking for some new podcasts?

Here are links to resources and podcasts mentioned in this Happily Live:

• For more stats read The Economic Status of Asian American and Pacific Islander Women
• Discover all the podcasts produced by VICE
• Listen to TED Radio Hour on NPR
• Check out Mashup Americans
• Listen to They Call Us Bruce, for unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America
• Discover Time To Say Goodbye with Jay Caspian Kang, Tammy Kim, and Andy Liu, a podcast about Asia, Asian America, and life during the Coronavirus pandemic
• Read Asian Americans Are the Least Likely Group in the U.S. to Be Promoted to Management via Harvard Business Review

Pro tip: We have put together a really handy tool for calculating the ROI for a virtual event that you might find helpful.

Summary: Holding someone’s attention is the ultimate engagement success.

2. Build an event program that is worth sticking around for

Scripting an event is something we always do with our Happily virtual events. Looking at the whole event as a story, and storyboarding it as such, will allow you to craft those engaging moments for your audience and to build momentum, with the goal of keeping people watching for longer.

Once you have a detailed ROS (run of show) you can look at it, and identify moments you anticipate that the energy will drop, or people’s attention might drift, and edit the program accordingly. You want your attendees to feel like the event is constantly moving forward, and that there is so much more good stuff to come. It may not always matter how notable a guest speaker might be, the event around them needs to be packaged and teed up properly.

Summary: An event program needs to hold someone’s attention at every turn, just like a talk show.

3. Seat shadows to moderate and get the conversation going

Most of the time, no one wants to write the first comment in an empty chat box. So it is always a good idea to have people dedicated to adding comments and building some chatter in that space. This could be as simple as asking some of your staff members to create that energy in the chat, to add emojis, to make a basic comment, or agree with other people’s comments. It doesn’t have to be sophisticated sentences or questions. Most people will feel more comfortable contributing in the chat if they see other people doing it first.

Summary: Someone needs to be the one to break the ice and start the conversation.

4. Use a familiar platform that people already know how to engage with

Finding the right platform that people feel comfortable with talking in, commenting in and engaging in is really important. A digital space that is familiar and comforting to an attendee will naturally allow them to feel more confident to engage and chat, it’s that feeling of ‘I know how this works’. Which is why at Happily we utilize Zoom more than any other platform.

Summary: People will find it easier to engage in a way that is already familiar to them.

We recommend an ethernet connection (not wifi) to maintain a steady bitrate throughout the livestream. A 'bitrate' is the quality of the video and/or audio being uploaded to the chosen platform, and it is so important. Your internet speed will determine what bitrate options you have. Platforms such as Ookla Speed Test will tell you what your current internet speed is.

4. Pro tip: Have a desktop computer

Streaming through OBS is resource-intensive, and can be really hard work for a computer, or laptop. If your computer crashes, that would be disastrous for the live event. So, having a reliable desktop computer that can easily handle a complicated livestream with multiple programs running is e-ssen-tial.

5. Pro tip: Know the ROS like the back of your hand

The ROS (run of show) is basically your step-by-step, second-by-second manual of the livestream, and is your everything. In broad terms, your job is to follow the ROS to the T, and bring it to life. So, knowing, studying, clarifying and asking questions about the ROS of the event is crucial as a streaming engineer.

If you’re ready to join team Happily, create an account and become a Happily specialist.

Based on our experiences with Happily fundraiser events for Equality Now, 826 Valencia and LEAP, the answer is; ‘you can expect the same amount of money - if not more!’

GIF: From 826 Valencia's Bookeaters' Bash

Here are some pro tips on how to optimize donations for a virtual fundraiser

1. Start asking for funding commitments before the event

Think of the virtual fundraiser as a place where you can visibly recognize and celebrate those who give donations, and having a few pledges already helps others feel comfortable to donate online during the event, too

2. Silent auctions should start before the event

This will allow people to start bidding on them and raising money, and then you can close the silent auction right before the start of the event, encouraging people to show up for the live virtual fundraiser

3. Engage your donors with a live chat

Make sure to have a few staff on hand to bring the chat to life, to share comments to encourage others to do so, and, of course, thank people for coming. Also, if you have an audience larger than a few hundred, spring for even more engagement and consider dedicated viewing rooms where people can watch together.

4. Make sure the method of donating does not take away your audience's attention

Text to donate and opening donation windows in a new browser really helps keep attendees watching the screen while donations are happening. You do not want to move people completely from the platform of your virtual event, and lose the energy and momentum of the experience.

5. It is all about watching, donating, or joining

The user experience design of the website needs to be simple and draw attention to only one of three calls to action at a time; watch, donate, or join. Use a main stage broadcast for live auctions and give the live MC cues for what to do next, eg; donate or join an interactive networking space.

6. The secret sauce is storytelling

For the content of the virtual fundraiser experience, work with our Happily specialists to tell the story of your program. A good mixture of emotive stories, a few words from any notable guests, celebs, employees, and the constituents of your nonprofit, is a winning recipe.

7. Show all those donations

A rolling ticker at the bottom of the broadcast can help keep the focus of the event on your story, on the all important mission of your nonprofit, and connect the money given with what it is going towards. Plus, it will build excitement as donations flow in throughout the event, and the numbers tick closer and closer to your goal.

GIF: From 826 Valencia's Bookeaters' Bash

Now we’d love to hear about your nonprofit

Get in touch with us and let’s chat about your virtual gala, virtual fundraising event or any virtual fundraising ideas you may have. Together we can produce a Happily virtual event customized for your nonprofit.

Plus, he introduces us to his startup, CLIP, a revolutionary device that will be a must-have for the urban commuter and anyone wondering how they can help the environment in their daily life.

Image: CLIP Co-founders Somnath Ray and Clément de Alcala

Som Ray is re-designing the e-bike experience

Having grown up in India, Som understands just how bad air pollution and urban congestion can get. When he found himself living in New York City he decided to start using biking as his primary mode of transport. Biking is awesome for a daily commute. It is way better for the environment than cars and they do wonders for easing traffic congestion. However, biking every day is not always easy. It can get real physically taxing and motivations can wax and wan, so that is where the pedal assist of an electric bike makes all the difference.

As a concept, the pedal assist of e-bikes makes the biking experience easier, quicker and ensures you don’t arrive at your destination all puffed and sweaty. However, e-bikes are not accessible to most people; they are expensive, they are heavy and their value means they often get stolen. Also, as Som points out, most of us already have a bike; personalized, wonderful bikes with diverse designs that reflect us. This is where CLIP comes in.

CLIP is a clean mobility startup that is creating a portable e-motor device to easily attach to any bike, instantly turning it into an e-bike. Founded in 2018 by Som Ray and Clément de Alcala, they want to democratize access to the benefits of an e-bike, and build an option much more low-cost, user-friendly and accessible. Plus, empower urban commuters and city dwellers to take on biking and significantly slash our impact on climate change.

Listen to Som on Happily Live with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily, and read on for more.

It’s Earth Month so here are some stats for you!

By switching to biking, NYC commuters would:

• save approx. 1.5M gallons of gasoline every year
• eliminate approx. 12,900 metric tonnes of Co2 emissions every year

The Co2 emissions of transport in NYC are:

• Gasoline Car = 251.0g Co2 per passenger km
• Bus = 28.0g Co2 per passenger km
• Tesla model 3 = 46.7g Co2 per passenger km
• Subway / Metro = 36.4g Co2 per passenger km
• CLIP & bike = 1.52g Co2 per passenger km

Image: CLIP prototype on urban bike

Hungry for more?

Here are links to resources and things mentioned in this Happily Live:

• For more info on CLIP
• A NYSP2I Case Study on the Greenhouse Gas Impact of CLIP’s E-Bike Technology
• 3 Ways to Create an Events Strategy that Saves the Planet
• More on Happily's commitment to the environment
• TEDxHappily Countdown Case Study

As a sustainability conscious company ourselves, we loved that Apple products are now made with 100% recycled aluminum. Circular economy for the win! However, what we really wanted to highlight was the flawless event production of this 2021 Apple Event with so many beautifully executed best practices that we do here at Happily.

Here are our top 5 ideas for you to adapt and be inspired by for your own virtual product release event

1. Strong storyboard

Storytelling is emotive, powerful and a format that is universally understood. Crafting the flow of the entire event and consciously planning an overall arch will help you find opportunities to bring a story together, connect with your audience, and build a solid structure for the event. We have storyboard artists and scriptwriters at Happily who are experts at curating an event to bring that cinematic and polished feel.

For more on that, check out this past LinkedIn Live with Kevin Cohen, Creative Director, Stungun Productions.

2. Sleek motion graphics and stylish sets

Combining strong elements of motions graphics and curated sets enables you to seamlessly bridge the real world with the virtual. We do custom motion graphics for our Happily events, with this more and more becoming a standard. This also includes translations between presenters or items; static transition slides feel like a presentation, motion is cinematic! 

We love the rainbow!

This transition, though!

Something a little more simple, but still awesome.

3. Really clean website

By creating a simple one-way content website for your event and all the details, it can live their forever and feel timeless, acting as a base source for the product launch. When people watch the playback on the site it may kill that all important ‘this is something fresh, brand new and so exciting’ product launch buzz by including past comments and audience engagements that happened during the original live broadcast.

You don’t need a platform to create engagement around a broadcast, as chatter and conversation can happen on Twitter and other socials. Also, we can put YouTube live chat on a microsite so your comments can be consolidated in one place. 

4. Bookend live presentations

Each presentation sprinkled with short 30 - 60 second commercial-style videos to add more action, and successfully tease and recap product unveiling. This is also a really clever way to present the same information again in repetitive and refreshed ways for retention.

5. Bring employees in front of the camera!

We loved meeting Carolyn, Cindy, Navpreet (and all the other included Apple staff) as they enthusiastically spoke in technical detail. This gives you a chance to form a personal connection with the audience, showing off the passion of the people who have helped bring the product to life. Plus, it can be a great opportunity to proudly display the diversity in your company.

Of course we know that for most people, speaking in front of a camera is not as easy as the Apple employees made it look. At Happily we can bring in speaker coaches for the more camera shy folks who may not be familiar with presenting in a situation like this. The goal being to give people the confidence and personalized advice they need to shine. We did this for a fundraiser with 826 Valencia by bringing their program managers on camera. It was something they had never done before and absolutely loved it.

Got a virtual event that you wanna bring to life? Let's chat about it!

As part of our core values at Happily, we are actively dedicated to diversity in the workplace and all Happily events, as well as reinvesting in local and forgotten communities. This chat provides some practical advice and insights that all of us should listen to and be reminded of.

Yes kindness. Yes peace. Yes Equailty. Yes Love.

Chiriga "Zoe" Moore joins Sarah Shewey, Happily CEO and Founder, to chat about diversity, equity and inclusion in the events industry and how companies can be more intentional in their hiring practices.

What I see in the MICE industry - or what we call meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions and even local events that happen - is there is a lack of supplier diversity. So when you’re looking at the different venues, and the different professionals, speakers, and panelists, or chef and DJs, there isn’t diversity amongst those businesses that we go to.

Zoe Moore, MS, CDP

Zoe Moore is a powerhouse

She is an Army Veteran and a Certified Diversity Practitioner with an M.S. in Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism. Zoe engages with leaders to operationalize DEI assessments, resources and strategic action plans, and is an advocate for supplier diversity to encourage economic empowerment and sustainability.

Zoe is a former Event Resource Broker at LB Alliance, an event resource group that supports underrepresented professionals in the MICE industry. She is also the Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for Meeting Professionals International (MPI).

She co-founded CADAZO Consulting Group, a women and minority owned business that is evolving the meetings and events industry through DEI dialogue, coaching, workshops. She is currently developing courses, content and workshops to contribute to the 2030 Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This Happily Live is an oldie, but a goodie. To hear all the expert knowledge, watch Zoe in discussion with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily, and read on for some quick advice.

Some key notes and tips from their chat for businesses wanting to address and strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion in their workplace

Go local to support urban sustainability

If you’re putting together an event and will be needing to hire supporting staff, entertainment, catering, performers - whatever it may be - prioritize finding and supporting local talent.

You’ll go into a city and they’ll use national brands. A national company will come in. They will get paid and they’ll take their money right on out. But if you bring local businesses and freelancers, like Happily does, into those events, they make money, they spend it locally and then it does something I call ‘toughen urban sustainability’. Strengthen that local community because they’re part of these events that are happening and not excluded from them.

Zoe Moore, MS, CDP

Know your current workforce so you can set realistic goals

Do an honest and complete survey of the current demographic and diversity of employees. This detailed assessment will allow you to understand the relevant benchmarks you may need to set, any goals you may want to meet, and what areas you may need to focus on.

You have to acknowledge what the landscape of what the workforce looks like.

Zoe Moore, MS, CDP

Assess the inclusive atmosphere of the workplace

Hiring a diverse array of employees is not sustainable if the working environment they join is not inclusive. Only by actively fostering a culture of belonging can a business allow their staff to feel comfortable and let their diversity shine through and their voices be respected. That is when true representation, diversity, equity and inclusion happen.

Now you have to identify ‘what am I gonna do to make my organization or this place inclusive?’ because a lot of people are working backwards. They’re like ‘okay we want diversity. Hire this person. Hire that person’ and they get into the environment and it’s not inclusive and there is no upward mobility so the effort becomes stagnant because you have a high attrition rate.

Zoe Moore, MS, CDP

Be intentional with your hiring process and go to where the people are

Businesses have to be committed to diversifying staff, and not expect a diverse group of candients to come to them. Based on your goals around DEI, you need to be intentional by going into the community and places in which those underrepresented voices in the company can be recruited.

As you begin to hire it has to be intentional. You cannot post something on LinkedIn and say ‘hey, we’re hiring’ and expect people who have never seen your company as diverse or making any true effort. You have to be intentional. Go to the HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities]. Go to neighborhoods. Go to the community centres.

Zoe Moore, MS, CDP

Are you fascinated by this topic?

Here are links to resources and things mentioned in this Happily Live:

• Find Zoe on LinkedIn
• Discover more about the CADAZO Consulting Group
• Learn about the National Minority Supplier Development Council
• Read ‘Why Experiential Agencies and Clients Need to Be Honest and Intentional With Diversity Efforts’ via Adweek
• Read ‘Verb Agency Founders Want More Black Talent to Get a ‘Seat at the Table’’ via Adweek
• Hear more about Happily’s mission around representing diverse voices and reinvesting in local and forgotten communities

We care deeply about the future of our planet, and that is why we use technology to create unique and fun events that are carbon zero. Our core values as a company, include representing diverse voices, reinvesting in local and forgotten communities, and reducing waste. For the moment let’s focus on the latter, although you can find more on the others here.

Image: Graph adapted from this original article by Shawna McKinley.

We are environmentalists

When we say we’re committed to combating climate change, we mean it. After each Happily event, we calculate the carbon emitted from the desktops of talent, tech, team, and guests. Then we take a percentage from our profits to plant trees in the Happily Forest, which is located in Tanzania and stewarded by our reforestation partner, Forest Nation.

3 ways you can build an events strategy that reduces carbon emissions

1. Have virtual events lead your program

By fully embracing a virtual-first program, you can reduce emissions by 90% or more. Virtual events are a format that everyone is increasingly more comfortable with, and businesses now understand the lasting benefits of them, even beyond the pandemic. They can be easily scaled, they can fit any budget, a wider audience can be connected with, there is greater opportunity for accessibility, and they often mean less time commitment for attendees and speakers. All this allows a business to justify virtual events being held more often, enabling a thriving calendar of virtual summits, virtual galas and virtual gatherings.

On average, virtual events reduce 97% of carbon emissions compared to an in-person event. This is largely due to a lack of travel of people and goods to and from a city and/or venue. All that movement would usually account for 90% of an event's carbon emissions.

2. Form local clusters for in-person events

Local clustering of events can reduce emissions by 75% or more. An example of this would be, instead of a single major in-person event in which participants would fly to from all over the country, have several smaller events in relevant cities, collectively reducing the amount of travel required for attendees.

Other than a forest fire, air travel emits the most carbon emissions per hour than anything else. Incredibly, 1% of global frequent fliers are responsible for more than half of those emissions. Of course, we do not wish to vilify air travel, nor should anyone be shamed into flying less. However, decreasing a need for air travel is a very real way to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of your event, as over 90% of an event's carbon emissions come from flights.

3. Harness the power of an online community to reduce the frequency of in-person events

The benefits of community for a business is something that is understood and utilized more each year. Actively building, nurturing and guiding a community in line with your business goals means that you can consolidate in person tentpole events down to one time a year.

The power of community for businesses is a wonderfully immersive topic. So rather than go into all of it here, we are going to guide you to some recent Happily Live interviews with experts in this field. For more on the benefits of community for your business, you must check out this chat with David Spinks. And this conversation with Gina Bianchini is essential for learning how to build a community online for your business.

Reduce emissions, virtually

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Smiley has advised heads of state and foreign leaders about millennial talent, multigenerational engagement, and fostering belonging in the digital age. He has also spoken in front of 50,000 people in 20 countries, and his video ‘Refusing to Settle: The Quarter-Life Crisis’ for TEDx Talks has over 1.5m views.

In 2017 he launched The Women/Womxn, BIPOC, and Inclusivity Speaker Initiative, which has grown to over 4,000 members. Its goal is to increase opportunities for women and other underrepresented keynote speakers, as well as ensure that they are paid competitively.

He is the author of 3 inspirational books, The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters (2014), The Breakthrough Speaker: How to Build a Public Speaking Career (2018), and Friendship in the Age of Loneliness: An Optimist's Guide to Connection (2021).

For all the enlightening insights you must listen to Smiley on Happily Live with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily, and you can also read on for a super quick summary.

Some takeaways from their discussion

Loneliness is an epidemic

For the past 20 years our daily lives have been fundamentally changing along with the rise of technology. A shift in how we socialize has happened, and it no longer prioritizes in-person, real life, regular meetups with like-minded people in your community. Loneliness has grown along with this shift. 80% of Gen Z’ers, 70% of Millennials and nearly two thirds of Americans (of all ages) are lonely.

We used to have bowling leagues, we used to meet up with people at the local church, or the VFW, or the town hall, or these Elks Clubs, having kind of these neighborhood-based places where you would just see people and regularly talk.

Smiley Poswolsky, Millennial Workplace Expert, Keynote Speaker, Author

Our current relationship with social media is not healthy

The ability to connect with like-minded people that technology has allowed us is truly wonderful. However, we need to be more conscious of how we use it. Only when we use social media as a facilitator can it enable us to nurture or create friendships. Think of it more as a wayfinder; the means in which you can easily find direction, to organize and meet up for conversations and interactions in real life.

Social media can contribute to your wellbeing, but if it’s just the end place, if it’s just like ‘I’m on here and I’m on here’ and I never get off the hamster wheel, it’s really really unhealthy for you.

Smiley Poswolsky, Millennial Workplace Expert, Keynote Speaker, Author

We all need a work-wife, work-hubby or a best friend at work

If you have at least 1 close friend at your workplace, you will be 7x more engaged. Friendships in the workplace are so important, especially as we increasingly use technology more and more to communicate and collaborate. Casual conversations as you both make coffee in the staff kitchen, or exchanging ‘good morning’ smiles in the hallway is something we are experiencing less as the world moves away from traditional office spaces.

Here are 3 simple tips for companies and employees to encourage that all important social spirit in the digital space:

1. Enable moments for people’s uniqueness and individuality to shine through in conversation. For example, spend the first 10 or 15 minutes of a Zoom call just chatting before getting into the meeting agenda.

Allowing people to bring their full selves to work, allowing people to share who they are, allowing people to have these moments talking about their hobbies, their passions, things that they’re working on, so people get a sense of who their colleagues are.

Smiley Poswolsky, Millennial Workplace Expert, Keynote Speaker, Author

2. Don’t shy away from smaller sized and more personable conversations and meetings.

I also think facilitating more one-on-ones is important, it’s hard to develop a best friend when you are 20 people on a Zoom.

Smiley Poswolsky, Millennial Workplace Expert, Keynote Speaker, Author

3. Celebrate each other and lift each other up. Everybody feels good when they feel seen, heard and appreciated, and as a result, the team as a whole will feel more connected. There are even platforms such as tribute.co that have made it super simple to create a collaborative video montage.

Affirmation and celebration and praise is really important especially right now during the pandemic. Feedback is always important, but right now having channels where people can give praise, give gratitude, celebrate their people is really remarkable.

Smiley Poswolsky, Millennial Workplace Expert, Keynote Speaker, Author

Are you fascinated by this topic?

Here are links to resources and things mentioned in this Happily Live:

• Get yourself a copy of Smiley’s latest book Friendship in the Age of Loneliness: An Optimist's Guide to Connection via Amazon
• Check out Smiley’s website
• Learn more about Smiley’s public speaking and how to book him
• Follow him at Instagram and Twitter @whatsupsmiley
• Learn more about Camp Grounded: Summer Camp for Adults where Smiley is a 13-time camp counselor and advisory board member for Digital Detox
• Read more about The Women/Womxn, BIPOC, and Inclusivity Speaker Initiative
• The Tribute website that was mentioned

The RespectAbility website is a wealth of knowledge on how we can all contribute to advancing opportunities for those with disabilities.

They are a nonprofit that works collaboratively with organizations to educate and guide them on ways that people with disabilities in communities can be included. Here is a practical guide they have for creating virtual events that are accessible for all.

We are the couturiers of the virtual events world

In whichever way your Happily virtual event needs to be more accessible, together we can design tailor-made UX experiences and custom-built digital platforms for your Happily event and your attendees.

Contact Team Happily to chat about any requirements and let’s create something truly special.

If you’re ready to join team Happily, create an account and become a Happily specialist.

In 2014 he co-founded CMX, an international hub for community professionals to support each other through education, and events. Bevy, an enterprise software to power community-driven events, acquired CMX in 2019. David now serves as the Vice President of Community at Bevy to assist companies launch and scale event-driven community programs.

David is now an author with the release of his book, The Business of Belonging, How to Make Community your Competitive Advantage, which is the #1 New Release in Direct Marketing on Amazon! He shares all he has learnt about what makes a winning community strategy, from the fundamental concepts to practical engagement techniques.

For more on his book and for all the expert insights listen to David on Happily Live with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily, and read on for a quick summary.

A few fundamental notes from their chat

There is a difference between building an audience vs a community

Instead of constantly explaining or showing the value of your business or product to people, a strong community will allow members to create and share that value for you.

Traditional businesses have always been about marketing and building an audience and to build an audience you essentially just help people, you create value, a product, something that they consume. To build a community you help people help each other. You create spaces and platforms for them to create value for each other rather than you, the business, having to create all the value for them.

David Spinks, Co-Founder of CMX and Vice President of Community at Bevy

Success lives where business and belonging overlap

The sweet spot to build a community is the place where the value to the business and the value for the members balance. It is the space where they overlap that opportunity and success can be found.

If you go into building community and you are only optimizing for profit you’re not really focusing on how you serve members and really give them a true sense of connection and belong and value, then your community is not going to have engagement...

David Spinks, Co-Founder of CMX and Vice President of Community at Bevy

Have clear business objectives for your community

By their very nature, a community grows towards a level of self-sustainability. Starting with a solid foundation of business goals for the community, and a clear understanding of the ways in which you want community to benefit the business, is essential in knowing how and where to guide this ship once it leaves the dock.

If you only focus on creating engagement and you’re not starting with an understanding with what is the business objective you’re trying to drive, how it will ultimately result in ROI, you’ll end up having a community that is engaged but you can’t justify the investment, you don’t know what the return is…

David Spinks, Co-Founder of CMX and Vice President of Community at Bevy

Some stats and figures for you

• Companies with a Vice President of Community have grown to approx. 50 - 100 around the world
• Globally companies with a Chief Community Officer role have grown to approx. 10
• Only 12% of community teams feel confident in their ability to measure the business value of community
• 88% of communities have at least one dedicated community manager
• 86% of business say community is critical to their mission
• Community saw more investment through the COVID-19 pandemic with 56% of companies now viewing community as more essential

Have a framework to calculate the ROI of community

Being able to clearly see the value of your community to your business will give you the confidence and information you need to justify and invest more in it. Although gathering these metrics can be tricky, David has developed a framework he refers to as The SPACES Model; Support Product Acquisition Contribution Engagement Success. He dives deep into that in his new book, and has a summary here via the CMX website.

Virtual events are considered more valuable and powerful than ever before

Largely due to the pandemic, virtual events are a format that both companies and participants are now more comfortable with. Businesses have seen the lasting benefits of virtual events; they are highly scalable, they are more affordable, more people can be reached, it has much greater accessibility, and they can be held more frequently than in-person events.

I think virtual events themselves are here to stay because they provide a really scaleable balance to the very time and cost intensive in-person events.”

David Spinks, Co-Founder of CMX and Vice President of Community at Bevy

Hybrid event programs will become more popular

Moving forward event programs for communities will be a mix of virtual and in-person events. There will always be a certain sense of magic that happens when a group of people meet in the same physical space, and so, in-person events are important to communities. Ideally the yearly events calendar for a community would have some events as 100% virtual, and others as 100% in-person.

The reality is that virtual tools do not give you the same sense of proximity, connection and serendipity that you get in-person.

David Spinks, Co-Founder of CMX and Vice President of Community at Bevy

David is sceptical of hybrid events

The idea of a hybrid event that simultaneously creates an equal sense of connectivity for both the virtual and in-person participants is not something we are likely to see a rise in. They are really two separate events happening at once with two separate experiences for those participating. If the goal of an event is to nurture connections between members, it is ideal to separately utilize the strengths of in-person and virtual events.

[A hybrid event is] a lot harder to do than people think, it’s a lot more expensive to do than people think, it’s not an ideal experience for people because people who are watching online generally just feel left out from the in-person experience, people in-person feel overwhelmed by all the online people and they just wanna talk to the people there in-person.

David Spinks, Co-Founder of CMX and Vice President of Community at Bevy

Would you like some more?

Here are links to resources and things mentioned in this Happily Live:

• Get a copy of David’s book ‘The Business of Belonging’ via Amazon
• Visit David’s official website
• Follow David on Twitter
• Check out the CMX website
• Discover the Bevy website
• Read The Community Industry Report 2021 by CMX
• More on The SPACES Model
• A case study of a virutal event Happily worked with CMX on
• Listen to David's weekly podcast, Masters of Community

You can read all about the challenges, solutions and results in this LEAP Case Study, as well as a video summary of the event.

Now we’d love to hear about your nonprofit

Get in touch with us and let’s chat about your virtual gala, virtual fundraising event or any virtual fundraising ideas you may have. Together we can produce a Happily virtual event customized for your nonprofit.

She is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Mighty Networks, a flexible web platform and community management tool that ‘brands with purpose’ can use to embrace and nurture their community via online courses, events, memberships and subscription content all in one spot. Their mission is to guide in a new era of digital businesses that are built on the power of community.

The precursor to Mighty Networks was the 2004 pioneering social networking website, NING, which Gina is the founder of NING with Marc Andreessen. It is a platform which allows an online presence and community to be built from the ground up.

For all the juicy expert knowledge listen to Gina on Happily Live with Sarah Shewey, CEO and Founder of Happily, and read on for a quick summary.

Some inspiring takeaways from the chat

Be the ultimate dinner party host

Think about building a community like hosting a dinner party. Not all your guests know each other, but you know all of them. You know what they have in common and what makes each one of them amazing human beings.

So as the ultimate host you would carefully craft an environment in which organic conversations can be fostered, in which your guests feel comfortable and especially in which connections can grow independently of you - so the party can continue even while you step away into the kitchen to check on dinner.

What is our ultimate goal? It is to create a community or a network of people that gets more valuable to every member with each new person that joins and contributes and we are gonna use many different tools in our toolbox to make that network as valuable to as many people as possible.

Gina Bianchini, CEO and Founder, Mighty Networks

Social media is for gaining followers, not for building interconnected communities

Platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are, as Gina describes, ‘moving in the opposite direction’ to building communities. They are certainly powerful digital marketing tools and important for brand awareness.

However, they are mostly one sided conversations without much significant relationship building happening. If your business goal is to build a thriving community with a sense of belonging, social media platforms are wonderful tools in your box, but they are not the best ones for this job.

So if you think about DMs and the fact that you have Stories and DMs, that’s actually, ‘I talk out at you, you talk back at me’, but nobody's meeting or building relationships with each other. The comments sections, people continue to try to build communities in comments sections but the reality is, it’s really hard.

Gina Bianchini, CEO and Founder, Mighty Networks

A simply recipe for a mighty powerful community

All successful communities, as Gina explains, have cultivated the same sort of environment and culture for strong online community engagement and connecting members. Here are some common threads:

• People feel part of something bigger than themselves
• There is an overarching common goal or objective
• Everyone is learning something new together
• It is a safe space and a support network

Communities are built online before they can also be successful in the real world

A community with intention blossoms in the digital space, and in-person events are just another way for members to connect with each other through their common interests. By saying ‘online community’ we are focusing on ways in which a community stays connected and interacts in the digital space, in-between or in spite of real life events.

When you focus primarily on the online interactions of the community you are cultivating lasting connections by establishing strong patterns of communications for long after an in-person conference or event has passed.

When you’re thinking about a conference you are better off thinking about how you get people before they come. Before they come. The energy around joining something online that is digital, is before the event, not after.

Gina Bianchini, CEO and Founder, Mighty Networks

Did something spark your interest?

Here are links to resources and other stuff mentioned in this Happily Live:

• The Mighty Networks Website to create a Mighty Network (They have a 14-day free trial!)
• The Community Design Masterclass that Gina teaches
• NING

By offering on-demand video content, organizers can experiment with new revenue models including advertising, sponsored virtual events, and subscription video on demand. Read on to learn how Learnit, a global education conference based in the UK, quickly launched an MVP of their new custom web platform in less than a month with the help of Happily’s digital community strategists and web developers.

Before Happily On Wordpress

After Happily With custom code

Step One

Custom or out of the box?

The first step is to decide whether or not a custom web platform is right for you. If you are planning to regularly host a variety of content on multiple platforms, then a custom website may be the right fit.

Learnit, for example, wanted their users’ data to be seamlessly transferred between their on-demand content platform to an external platform called Jublia, which specializes in scheduled networking meetings. Happily and Jublia’s web developers worked together to leverage Jublia’s matchmaking and scheduling API with Learnit’s expanded profile data.

In the end, owning your data allows you to create a single sign-on experience that reduces the friction for your user to convert into an action that takes place on other websites.

Step Two

Assemble your team

After committing to the process of re-building your site, it’s now time to assemble a team who can help you strategize around the new business opportunities, design the new version of the site, and put it to code.

For Learnit, we decided to go with an executive-level backend web developer and project manager with a senior level front end designer. While hourly rates may be higher on the executive levels, the time saved in reduced errors can be invaluable for projects with a tight turn-around time.

In the future, we can always save money later by reducing down to a lower level developer once the site is launched. Spending a little more upfront for expertise in the architecture stage though, can truly by invaluable.

Step Three

Build user personas and workflows

Now it’s time to begin to create user personas. This exercise greatly helps the entire team to built empathy for your users and get clarity on the experience design. It will also shine a light on assumptions about your user’s motivations and needs that should be tested before writing code.

In Learnit’s case, we spent two hours getting to understand the organization’s mission, objectives, and core revenue-generating products as well as mapping out the workflow for their two main user personas. This exercise helped us all to determine priorities for building the site and communicating the nuanced interactions that create a Learnit brand experience.

User personas and workflows are critical steps to the start of any new product feature and most definitely for the launch of a new website with your team!

Step Four

Create a sitemap

With a greater understanding for the desired user workflow, we can then layout a visual representation of how the pages on the website will come interact with each other. Like user personas, the sitemap is an essential part of helping everyone on the team know exactly what they’re building.

Moving too fast can get you into trouble sometimes. With a deadline of 10 business days to launch a fully rebuilt website, we made a sitemap only once at the proposal / scoping phase of the project and didn’t get a chance to update it during the sprint.

Lesson learned: a sitemap is truly a living document and, no matter what the time pressures may be, the small time it takes to maintain clean documentation as you go can save hours in confusion.

Step Five

Wireframe and code

Now, the fun part. Design and code! A wireframe is a document that shows where visual elements will go and code is a language by which you can tell the computer how you want it to function.

For the Learnit project timeline, we went straight to high fidelity wireframes presented through Invision so their team could give feedback on their own time. We worked through two different time zones (UK & LA/West Coast), so the ability to communicate asynchronously on designs this way was crucial.

Regular check-ins and good project management software are critical to rapidly iterating on websites during sprint.

Lastly

QA, QA, and release

With everything ready to go, it’s time to test and test again. And again if you need. Oftentimes we will spend more time in QA than we will in actually creating the website. Seeing your vision come to life can often visualize gaps in thinking from all members of the team.

For the Learnit project, we barely had enough time to test properly enough before their desired deadline of Friday morning so we delayed the re-launch announcement to Sunday.

The process often takes longer than you think, so make sure to pad the time and stay close to the updates to help steer the ship!

Interested in having Happily help you level up? Schedule A Call

Every Tuesday at 10am PST on Instagram Live, our founder has coffee via @teamhappily with folks in our network about what they learned from a project they recently worked on.

Today, Cynthia shared about her experience working as a backstage manager of a virtual wine tasting experience in Zoom.

Pre-event prep;

• AppsFlyer sent wine and a recipe card for guests to have the same experience
• Happily worked with AppsFlyer IT, marketing, and speakers in tech rehearsals
• Happily sent audio-video kits to improve the sound and video quality of AppsFlyer team

The program;

• Opening remarks from executives
• Wine tasting experience led by a sommelier
• Hang out, unscripted time

Steal these ideas;

• Mail a personalized bottle of wine to VIPs and then have the sommelier talk about the wine straight from the barrel room
• Put a welcome slide up that shows an agenda and housekeeping notes
• Let the dogs out when you’re ready to make your networking playful!

Some #ProTips on virtual event management;

• Rehearse your cues in real time, don’t rush through those. Transitions might not be as fast or slow as you think they will be, and every second counts in cyberspace!
• Can’t talk a speaker or client through a setting? Use the remote control feature to take over

In last week’s installment of the Happily’s Learning Series, our CEO, Sarah Shewey, sits down with Ryanne Riley Waters of the US Green Building Council.

USGBC are the guardians of the LEED certification, which is respected worldwide as the best in class among sustainable building and structure oversight. To date, they are responsible for having certified over 100,000 projects across 176 countries. LEED is a system and set of guidelines that help people understand how to build and operate buildings and communities in a more sustainable way.

“Sustainability is ensuring the needs of today are being met, while also making sure you’re not compromising the needs of tomorrow. It’s trying to increase the good and decrease the negative consequences of your actions and inactions.”

In this conversation, Sarah and Ryanne discussed how the USGBC’s international conference and expo, Greenbuild, is measured for sustainability and adapted to suit countries around the world. Greenbuild uses its events as a way to reach the market, provide education, and connect people with one another. As Ryanne puts it: “Events bring people together to help solve global problems.” Climate change and economic and social sustainability are the global challenges that Greenbuild was developed to help address.

They now operate events in America, China, India, Europe, and Mexico, and have had to learn to adapt their conference to the needs of each market. They do this by enlisting teams of people in those regions who are intimately familiar with the cultural differences, definitions, expectations, and resources in the area so they can tailor the events accordingly.

As an event producer, you might not always have the benefit of staff on the ground in different regions who know everything there is to know about sustainability. But what you can do is put together a team of really trusted friends and colleagues to help you localize your event.

Ryanne credits a lot of Greenbuild’s success to having a core set of concepts on which their events are built - a kind of framework that can then be adapted as necessary for each market in which they plan and host events. And this method can be applied to any industry. Ryanne suggests:

"Relate it back to your core mission. If you're working for a healthcare organization, or an entertainment industry event, or a non-profit that fights hunger and homelessness - there's always some sort of social or environmental (or both) initiative that you can start thinking about. Just start there and then build on it.”

Here are Ryanne’s recommended basic concepts about sustainability that you can apply to the various aspects of your events.

Consider the lifecycle of a material or product before purchasing:

- Where did it come from/how was it made?

• What am I using it for?
• Is there an alternative?
• What will happen to it once I am done with it?

To help you understand how to source event materials safely, here is Ryanne’s list of preferred material content from best to worst:

1. Domestically Sourced Recycled Content (ie. 100% post-consumer recycled paper, recycled plastic, etc.)
2. Domestically Sourced Organic Material
3. Domestically Sourced Virgin Material
4. Internationally Sourced Recycled Material
5. Internationally Sourced Organic Material (ie. 100% organic cotton from India for US show)

“There are a lot of things that go into the recycling stream that aren't recyclable.”

It may surprise you to hear that recycling isn’t necessarily the best solution to our waste woes. Ryanne advises to focus on the forgotten R: Reduce.

• Reduce first. Think, “do I need this, can we make it digital, can we redesign this process and eliminate the need for this material?”
• Then Reuse. Think, “do we have something in inventory we can reuse, can we design something that is evergreen (i.e.: lanyards with generic show logo, no dates)?”
• if you have to produce something new, make sure it is made in an environmentally and socially preferred way and can be recycled, reused, or donated.
• For more information on waste, visit the TRUE (Zero Waste) website

When it comes to knowing your impact, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. It can seem daunting to find ways that measure the impact of an event on a community, but for example: hiring local labor, businesses, or ordering supplies locally, puts dollars directly back into that area’s economy, and you can measure that. Pounds of leftover material that are donated to the community can be tracked. Get this information in writing, even in a contract if you can.

"You can reduce the amount of your printed program guide by a certain number of pages, and that's great, and you can say that. But what's the impact of that? What's the total number of pages you save, or the total number of trees you save, or the pounds of wood that you saved?”

Whatever you measure, don’t make up your own standards or definitions. Ryanne recommends that you follow credible sources’ guidelines like EPA, United Nations, USGBC, Green Seal, etc.

Remember, communication and stakeholder engagement in your sustainability mission is key. Be clear with everyone along the way about what your goals and needs are. Be sure to communicate it up your event supply chain, and all the way down to your end-users, attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, etc. for transparency and accountability.

For a quick summary of the inspiring scope of Greenbuild’s events, and a peek into their sustainability report, check out these Post-Show Reports from some of their events in various parts of the world last year.

1. Mexico 2019
2. Europe 2019
3. GSCExIMPACT 2019
4. Rocky Mountain Green

Whew! We learned so much in this fascinating conversation - this summary is just the tip of the iceberg!

Check out the video for more details from Ryanne and Sarah, and be sure to visit the USGBC and Greenbuild websites for more information.

Thanks again, Ryanne!

Watch the chat from our Learning Center at happily.io/learning, and read on for key takeaways from what Amy Jo shared with us.

1. Re-format the workshop into sprints

Turn your all-day workshops into a sprint: a dedicated period of time with a key focus that has a beginning and an end. During a sprint, independent work is supported by daily touchpoints with the group. Sprints help big goals feel less overwhelming and empowers participants to feel confident that the outcome of one sprint will lead to the foundation of the next. It takes a bit more upfront work to layout all the content, but ultimately a sprint achieves better results and is much easier to fit into busy workdays for your executives.

"No one wants to be online all day… With sprints, you meet for one hour every day for a week or two, and you’ll see much better results."

2. Know when to broadcast and when to discuss

Be clear on which parts of your event are in broadcast mode (eg. one presenter to many listeners) vs discussion mode (eg. small group sessions with participation). A helpful exercise is to think about the interactions you want participants to experience with each “Aha!” moment and then decide whether or not you want that to be open for broadcast or discussion.

"Unless there’s a live performance, a 45-minute talk doesn’t work."

3. Prepare for the screen

With workshops, broadcast mode is often much better delivered in pre-recorded, micro-learning segments of no more than five minutes made available for replay. Discussions are also best when done in groups of four to eight, so that everyone can have a chance to speak up. Be sure to design your docs and templates for the screen rather than a printed page, taking aspect ratio into account when you layout your slides.

Want to learn more about Game Thinking?

As Amy Jo explains, game thinking is “developing the right products for the right people and having it drive engagement with a coherent customer journey.”

She cites 3 primary practices that make Game Thinking work:

1. Leveraging super fans to speed up iteration and innovation in the early days,

2. Creating a high-level vision for mastery path/customer journey that you can test and refine to get the right mental model, and

3. Creating a compelling learning loop that empowers your customers to get better at something rather than manipulating behavior.

You can learn more about the concept in her book, Game Thinking.

Sign up her free online course, “Create Your Next Hit Service With a Compelling Customer Journey” here.

Thanks again to Amy Jo Kim for sharing her insights with us!

This year, Reforge teamed up with Happily to source a customer service and online support specialist during the registration and preparation process for their upcoming Spring Growth workshop series.

However, when it became clear to both parties that the person they hired wasn’t quite the perfect fit for the role, they needed to find a suitable replacement quickly.

The Happily team sprang into action to help, giving them free Enterprise-level service.

We posted online to a system-filtered list of 811 specialists and had over 250 people respond almost immediately that they were available and interested in the role.

We narrowed down that pool of applicants and conducted a pre-screening and group interview with 12 people to identify a shortlist of talent who were the most qualified and up to the challenge of the role. We presented our shortlist to Reforge, and after conducting a final round of interviews, they ended up hiring not just 1, but 2 people from Happily. Within a matter of hours, Reforge had replaced their staff, confident that they were in the very best hands possible.

We spoke with Rachael Soares, one of the Happily specialists hired by Reforge, who shared:

“The group interview process was interesting, I’ve never done one like that before. This is my first gig through Happily, and I’m really excited about it. The opportunity is great, and so far, I’m really enjoying my time with Reforge and grateful to Happily for facilitating that connection.”

Of course, we always hope for a great experience right out of the gate, but solving unforeseen problems like this, and ensuring our client’s satisfaction and success, is one of the hallmarks of Happily’s own customer service experience. We are so proud to offer this level of access and service in a pinch!

Originally published on TechCrunch

Events have increasingly become an important channel in the marketing mix, despite how notoriously “impossible” it is to measure the ROI, or return on investment.

When people show up to your event, they are willingly giving you their attention for hours on end - not trying to avoid attention-grabbing ads.

A well produced experience provides a great way to reach outside of your existing networks, build a pipeline of new customers, transform existing customers into superfans, and position your brand as a thought leader. In 2017, only 7% of marketers said that events were their most important marketing channel. Last year, that number rose to 41% according to a survey done by Bizzabo.

As the founder of Happily, the largest network of event producers in the United States, I’ve had backstage access to thousands of events - some wildly successful like TED and others that didn’t ever get traction in building an engaged community.

What has defined the successful ones?

The experiential marketing industry has long struggled to measure success in a meaningful way. They propose all the same KPIs (key performance indicators), but rarely do those KPIs provide a benchmark to determine if an event is successful or give marketers the ability to tell what worked and what didn’t. They especially fall down when customers aren’t won until months after an event.

While increasingly important, events require a lot of time, resources, and exhausting weekly meetings to do them well. The per person cost for a modest conference with lots of donated services will cost around $350 and an upscale conference experience costs about $1,500. For one day. Per Person. So how do you know when putting on an event is worth the effort?

I started kicking around this question with one of the members of Happily’s network of executives called the Braintrust. Dustin Varty, who led experiential marketing campaigns at Impossible Foods and Samsung. Together, we came up with an ROI calculator to help you determine the efficacy of launching an event marketing campaign. Read on to step through our top line thinking behind the numbers.

Start with LTV

Events engage customers, creating an environment to build a relationship that can last for years.

How many people do you know who have met a co-founder, employee, or even life partner at events? Now, how many of those have you met through an ad? Probably very, very few.

So we start to quantify the value of events by measuring the lifetime value (LTV) of a customer.

A simple way to calculate this is take the average purchase size and multiply that by both the frequency rate of purchase and customer lifespan.

So, if your customer usually spends an average of $1,000 once a month on your product and stays loyal for 6 months, your LTV will be $6,000.

Convert your NPS score

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is historically the most accurate measure of a consumer's perception of an experiential event. A high NPS score of 10 means that a customer is extremely likely to recommend your experience to someone else, increasing network efforts that contribute to organic growth and reduce your cost of acquiring new customers.

NPS measures customer experience and predicts business growth in a very effective way, but what it doesn’t do is take into account your event’s performance relative to cost.

For a successful event where your average NPS score is 10, we know from industry research that 85% of people are likely to purchase your product.

Let’s take a conservative estimate that actually only 10% of these people will spend the LTV we calculated above:

$6,000 LTV x 10% conversion x 1,000 attendees = $600,000

This suggests that your well-received event would yield $600,000 in increased revenues in the future.

Sum up your expenses

When calculating expenses, we add up these costs:

• Production costs like venue fees, catering invoices, services and goods.
• Marketing costs such as paid ads, social media content creation, PR fees.
• Employee time being spent on the event.

Most people don’t take this third factor into consideration, but we caution against that. One of the most expensive parts of an event is the time to plan. At Happily we’ll see an average of 100+ hours of planning time for every 1 hour of event time.

Bringing it all together

To calculate the final ROI, you’ll divide the net profit from the total expenses.

1. Net Profit = Total Revenue - Total Expenses
2. ROI = Net Profit / Total Expenses

So for example if you made $600,000 in revenue and spend $350,000 on production, marketing, and staff hours then your net profit would equal $250,000. Your ROI would then be $250,000 / $350,000 = 71.4%

We’ve created a free Event ROI calculator online for you to make things a bit easier for yourself at happily.io/roi.

The simple calculations above are also supplemented with logic around any social and PR media impressions earned as well as weighted by the duration of your event. Try it out and let us know your feedback!