Sarah Fejfar 0:00
If you haven't gotten on the virtual bandwagon yet or you haven't grown beyond small retreats and Masterminds because the tech stuff freaks you out, well listen up. Today, I'm gonna break down all of it for you. I'm gonna pull back the curtain, so that you're ready to jump in with both feet. Confidence is such a beautiful thing. And you've worked too hard to create a thriving business, thriving cashflow thriving community to let tech get in between you and your path of purpose.
Sarah Fejfar 0:34
Inquiring minds want to know, how are entrepreneurs like us daring bravely to build a stage ditch the sweat pants and step up to the mic? How do we create our own transformative events? So we can get our message out into the world in a bigger way if it's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud of? That's the question. And the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar. Welcome to greenroom Central.
Sarah Fejfar 1:08
Hey, it's Sarah, I have an invitation for you right now. You can join entrepreneurs from across the globe who share a passion for hosting their own events become part of the community that inspires and cheers Elon over at greenroom central.com. I want you to know that curiosity is what got me so darn excited and so darn good. At this part of events. My reward for Curiosity has been understanding. And understanding how the wizard behind the curtain works is such a freeing feeling. It helps you serve your guests better, it helps you save money, it helps you show up as your highest and your best self in front of a live audience. And I want all of that for you.
Sarah Fejfar 1:56
Today, I'm going to break down your options when it comes down to event tech. Okay, so I want you to know that you have three options. First, you can bring in your own gear, you can DIY build it yourself, I don't recommend this more on this later. Number two, you can use the event venues AV provider. And number three, you can bring in an outside AV provider. Okay. Regardless of the venue you choose, for the most part, you have all of those three options, okay.
Sarah Fejfar 2:37
So it's kind of like you're going to order food for your wedding. Right? You can option one, you can go to the grocery store, you can buy stuff, you can make stuff and serve it at your wedding. Or option two, you can use the caterer that comes with the venue that you're hosting the event at. Or number three, put in a little bit more work in go hire an outside caterer one that specializes in the type of food that you like to eat and the size of wedding that you're having and serves the food and the way that you like it to be served.
Sarah Fejfar 3:18
So your job is to decide which option is the right fit for you. Okay. And more specifically, and this might show my bias to the answer that I'd like you to choose. But if it's option one, option two or option three, your job is to decide, are you is your job for this event? Being the AV provider or no? Okay, really let that question kind of sink in and roll around in your brain. All right.
Sarah Fejfar 3:55
If you decide yes. And that is 100%. Okay. If you decide, yes, the DIY option is for me. My advice for you is this. I want you to assign the task of AV to one of your team members. If you're gonna go rent an Airbnb and check it out with your own projector and screen and whiteboard. That is fine by me. But I want you to assign that job to one of your team members. You cannot show up as your highest and best self and serve if you're also monitoring the AV at the same time. Are you with me? Okay, good. I'm glad we agree on that.
Sarah Fejfar 4:42
So let's move on to option two. If you decide that option two is right for you. Maybe you rented space at a hotel and you want to press the easy button and use their in house a B team. Here is my advice. I want you to ask lots of questions. about not only what do they need from you, and what works, but also what equipment works best in their space, so that you get what you and your other speakers, speakers that you're bringing into the event need to show up and serve. But also, and most importantly, what is needed for your guests to be able to see and hear well, that's the goal, your guests need to see and hear. If they can't, they started checking out. And when they start checking out and getting distracted, you you lose them, they lose the opportunity to learn the great stuff that you're teaching, you don't make the impact that you're intending, they don't get the transformation they were hoping for. And I know this sounds so super simple, and perhaps even silly. But if people can't see in here, the checkout, and if you're gonna take anything from this conversation today, it would be that that's the whole point of AV, at your event is to make sure people can see and hear and really underline what you're teaching, make it more visible. Alright. So if you've decided to go with option two, you're going to ask lots of questions so that they can get the equipment that you need set up in the right way. Okay, really trust that they work in this space all the time, and that they've seen it set up a whole lot of different place ways. And that they know what is makes it successful and what doesn't. And so trust that advice that they can give you, but you need to ask for it, because they might not volunteer it.
Sarah Fejfar 6:56
Alright, so let's move on to option three. So if you decide option three is for you, you want expertise and you want to hire an AV team that specializes in the type of event you'll be running. Maybe you're running a virtual event, in a studio, maybe you're running a big conference in hotel ballroom. And you want to bring in somebody who can support that level of event, I want you to take this advice. Three things first, hire early, bring a production company into the conversation about your event as early in advance as possible. And we're talking months here, not weeks. I think that's a big mistake people make is that they forget that the vendors that they're hiring, they do this for a living. And they've seen lots and lots of events. And they can offer advice, they can be a trusted partner and confidant and sounding board and help you brainstorm. But they can't, if you don't bring them in until the last minute. And then all the time that's available has to be dedicated to execution, you follow? So hire early. Next, I want you to be disciplined in your search, I don't want you to make the mistake of just hiring the first company that you hear about. So ask for recommendations, check them out online, narrow your list down to three and then start conversations and get proposals. You'll be surprised the differences that you see when you take that approach. And then third, I want you to trust your gut. You might be wondering, at the end of the day, how do you pick because you've never done this before. And so how would you know, but it may come down to trusting your gut. And please know that you're not looking for a best friend here. You're you're looking for a partner that you trust that you think you can work with. And that has the time for you of all the partners that you're hiring, to support your event. Your AV partner is one of if not the most important, the the vendor should be really interested in you really interested in your business, your goals and the objectives that you're trying to accomplish with your event. And if they aren't past events are a fun puzzle to solve. And it should feel like wherever you're hiring is anxious to get to know all that they can so that they can provide you with a rocking awesome solution.
Sarah Fejfar 9:42
If we've just moved too fast, please know all of this is inside of live that Academy with detailed checklists and question the questions that you should be asking and what you should be putting in a request for proposal. But I wanted to give you a little bit of a primer here are so that you can kind of move past that sense of feeling stuck, right? Because remember, you're on a path of purpose, you're growing your business, you're using events to fuel that growth. And so you're not going to let yourself stay stuck in this whole, you know, tech is hard business. And so you're going to kind of get back into that sense of momentum on this event dream, by not tolerating a lack of understanding about tech, holding you back on this path of purpose.
Sarah Fejfar 10:46
Okay. I hope this was helpful. If you have questions, drop them into my DMs on Instagram, and I'll help you or drop them into the linchpin nation community. Remember, it's totally free. And therefore, you 24/7 to be getting support and your questions answered. So remember, linchpin, nation.com. And that's that you're not on, you're no longer stuck. You have the answers, and the resources you need to get unstuck about event tack, and you're on your way, I'm so excited for you and for what you're planning, and for your community, because they are just going to love what you're planning. Alright, take care.
Sarah Fejfar 11:33
Thank you for listening to this episode of the greenroom central podcast. If you love this episode about event tech, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram and be sure to tag at zero favor. And let me know why you liked it and what you'd like to hear or who you'd like to hear from in the future. That'll help me know what to create for you.
Sarah Fejfar 11:56
Also, I've been hearing a lot of business owners say that people are tired of virtual events. And that's just not true. Which is why I created a brand new five day challenge called the virtual event lab. I want to show you how to make your next virtual event profitable and engaging and most importantly, how to make it happen. And the best part is this five day challenge is absolutely free. To register right now simply go to green room central.com. And we can get started today.
Sarah Fejfar 12:28
In case you're curious, this podcast is built on Kajabi. I am loving how easy it's been to set things up. But more so I'm thrilled that my entire business is run within one platform, from my emails to my pages to my courses. And now to my podcast. It's all under one roof. If you love simplicity and scalability as much as I do, then go to green room central.com to get a free 14 day trial from Kajabi.
Sarah Fejfar 12:58
I appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning the mindset and the strategies of live events. Keep going. Keep learning. If you want more, head over to greenroom central.com For show notes and all the links from today's episode.
