Robbie Samuels 0:00
And I also describe anything I'm new I'm doing, I don't talk about it as being new. I talk about it as something that we're doing. So I don't talk with hesitancy or passive voice, like, Hey, we're doing this. Are you missing it? What's going on? You're gonna be there. Like, instead of, you know, I'm hoping it will be great to. I'm not sure if it'll work out. But like that's, that makes people hesitate. They want to be part of a sure thing.
Sarah Fejfar 0:28
How are entrepreneurs like us during bravely to deviled 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. It's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud of.
Sarah Fejfar 0:48
That's the question and the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar. Welcome to Green Room Central.
Sarah Fejfar 0:56
Today brought into green room center studios Robbie Samuels, a virtual event design consultant, and executive zoom producer. Recognized as an industry expert in the field of digital event design, Robbie helps his clients reimagine, rather than replicate their in person events to create a powerful virtual experience. Since March 13 2020. Robbie has hosted No more bad zoom virtual happy hours, national and statewide nonprofits and associations hire him to help them bring their events online with less stress and greater participant engagement.
Sarah Fejfar 1:30
Hey, Robbie, welcome to Green Room Central Studio say hello to linchpin nation,
Robbie Samuels 1:35
hello linchpin Nation.
Sarah Fejfar 1:37
I'm so excited you're here. We had such like the absolute best conversation last time we chatted and, and and then again on your podcast. And so I'm just thrilled that I get to bring you on here. So that linchpin nation can learn from you and just hear all of your excitement about virtual and just like your extreme depth of knowledge on that topic. So I want to get right into the conversation by asking you what your superpower is, when it comes to virtual events?
Robbie Samuels 2:09
Well, I think my superpower is both on line and in person. It's to convene people. And I didn't realize is a superpower i years ago, like 20 years ago, I was having a conversation with a local politician. And he said that his her power was that he could convene people that because he was a politician, he was a councilman, that if he said, Hey, folks, we're gonna have a meeting about blank people showed up. And I thought, I do that all the time. I don't have to run for office. So I can gather people around an activity, ideal a value. And I love sort of creating the experience once they they arrive.
Sarah Fejfar 2:57
Do you think my hunch is is your energy like you're just like enthusiasm and your zest for life comes through and just how you present yourself and everything that you do. And I'm wondering if that enthusiasm is what a lot is, like part of your gift to convene people, like people need to get on a bandwagon and follow someone when you're going into an event scenario, whether it's in person or virtual. And I'm just wondering what the secret sauce is you think, around convening for you?
Robbie Samuels 3:29
Well, years later, I think the answer I would give is more based on what I learned as a business growth strategy coach, and that's that I have learned to use the language of the people I'm hoping to attract. And so they see themselves in what I'm describing what the event will be. And I also describe anything, I'm new I'm doing, I don't talk about it as being new. I talk about it as something we're doing. So I don't talk with hesitancy or passive voice, like, Hey, we're doing this, are you missing it? What's going on? You're gonna be there. Like, instead of, you know, I'm hoping it will be great too. I'm not sure if it'll work out. But like that's, that makes people hesitate. They want to be part of a sure thing in the world. They're early adopters, but not many percentage wise, for any kind of space. The majority people will fall in the next wave. They want to go to some and it's been proven. And this point I have confidence because I can not just attract people, but create an experience for when they get there that will help them realize whatever outcome they were hoping for.
Sarah Fejfar 4:39
Okay, lynchpin nation I want you to write down what the the line that caught my eye or my ear was people want to be a part of a sure thing. So I hope you like underline that and start that in your journal because that is the golden nugget right there like you saying, Robbie, that you do As you remove hesitancy you remove uncertainty from your voice from your messaging. That is the key there. I think so many people, when they're starting events in their business, they do have that hesitancy because perhaps they haven't even sold themselves yet. On the what's where we're going the vision, and not only do you have to enroll yourself in the vision, but your your team has to be enrolled in the vision and, and when you have those two things enrolled in the vision, it makes it so much easier to enroll your guests in the vision right.
Robbie Samuels 5:34
Now, my background is fundraising, I used to be a fundraiser and I used to teach fundraising. And a rule of fundraising is to make a gift to the organization first. Because if you aren't comfortable making gift of any amount, it doesn't have to be like a major gift. But if you're not comfortable making a gift, then you need to examine that. Because it's going to show when you try to ask others for money, you will not be in integrity. So I think talking about what you just said, it's the same thing. Like if you're not really committed to this vision for this event, you don't have full confidence. And I'm not saying it won't be, you know, it'd be perfect from the get go. I'm all about growth and learning and continuous improvement. And if anything, I often have said, Judge me on my last three attempts at something that my first three, you'd leave are vastly different if I've done it, right.
Sarah Fejfar 6:23
Yeah. And I think, Gosh, it's just so important that we get our messaging rights they get with people in the door. And I think you're that like just as an absolute gem that just analyze if you have any sort of hesitancy so good. You've been creating virtual happy hours since the pandemic started, that have been going really, really well for you. What, tell us about them and tell us about what knead it was trying to fill.
Robbie Samuels 6:55
So prior to the pandemic, I'd spent over a decade teaching people how to network at conferences, and I had a talk that I was doing. Art of the schmooze did it for about 11 years, half the time employed and half the time as an entrepreneur. And that led to a book. My first book was ons versus bagels, strategic, effective and inclusive networking at conferences, which led to a group coaching program about networking, which led to a TEDx talk. And I was poised to be an overnight success. 10 years in the making, march 2020, no one needed any of the skills and expertise that I had acquired. No one needed to know iContact, business card shaking hands or body language. So my mantra became show up and add value. And I was really fortunate that I, a couple of friends sent me right that networking was not something I thought it was happening only in person, I had developed a global network in the previous five years. So March 12 2020, I wrote and shared nine ways to network in a pandemic. And at the end of the day, after it was really well received, I looked at the list and I thought, Okay, I need to do one of these things right away. And on that list was hosting a virtual happy hour. I had never done that. But I had hosted many dinners in relation to conferences. I had hosted dinners in my town, just to gather, you know, entrepreneurs and local area. So the idea of hosting was very much my power, like I knew how to do that. But I've never done something on zoom that was purely social. And I posted a note in a Facebook group, I was active in saying, hey, if I do this thing tomorrow, would anyone come and got some yeses. And the next day, I did some marketing for it and 20 people came. And the reason that I host a No more bad zoom virtual happy hour, five o'clock Eastern on Fridays, is because I got the idea 8pm on Thursday. And that was the next time that I was open to doing it. And I ran that event weekly, it got branded a month later, but I ran that event weekly for two plus years. It's now a free monthly event. And the other Fridays are available as part of membership to my content and connection club. And so it's changed a bit in the last like three or so months. But it it I mean, we were had 5060 People coming at the height of it. And then in 2020 I mean we did Christmas together the day after Thanksgiving together. I mean, I've only missed three Fridays ever. Two of them were this year because I was traveling and I have now team members who can run it. And so I realized like I didn't have to stress myself out like I'm I could just go and do it and let someone else manage it. So the first desire was just to bring people together. And that first one, it wasn't about building a business. It wasn't trying to create something that would last it was just, I can do this, and I think we need it. And people responded really well. And I discovered I discovered Sarah that I had hidden talent, or hidden to me talent. I had skills that I wasn't appreciating and I think that's true for a lot of us. I didn't realized that I was an MC, I actually had felt like a fraud. When I had sort of joined this MC group the previous couple of years. I didn't realize just how adept online facilitation I already was. And I didn't realize how much value there was in the improv that I did, even though I had never been trained in it. And so those three skills gave me the ability to take what was a very boring format, everyone going around to room to introduce themselves and do it with levity and humor and confidence, the technology and everyone knowing who was up next. And so people were really excited, and I got the end. And I thought, I'm never doing that format. Again, that's awful. And that led me to really start looking under the hood of zoom and discovering that I actually had access to breakout rooms. I mean, I had been using zoom for like four years or more at that point. And that led to a journey of discovery. And by mid April, I had launched a pilot of a four week program that was starting in May, to help people become more competent, competent using Zoom, and 15 people $500 piece signed up for that. And that was a four week program. I ran it for months in a row by the third month, it became a certification program. And then some of those people who went through the certification, I then ended up so contracting to by the end of the year, so they could help me help my clients run their events. And I don't know eight months in to all this, I had a thriving six figure company based on all new revenue streams. Wow.
Sarah Fejfar 11:33
And it all came from you taking something that you did in person and having the pandemic throw up a wall between us. And you deciding, like how could I virtualize this. And then just stepping in filling the need, not asking for permission and not even charging, just doing it for free. And then look what it all led to from a business standpoint. But just starting from a place of service.
Robbie Samuels 12:04
I had this belief pre pandemic, that events are about content and connection. And if you know if you think about all the effort it takes to get on a plane the cost to pay for things. So for us to like leave her house to do all that traveling, we're not just leaving her house to get content because we have access to content, even pre pandemic, we have access to content from home, podcasts, webinars, books, right, like we had a lot of ways YouTube, we had so many ways to get content. So if we were going to leave our house and make that effort, we were also going for the possibility of amazing connections, building relationships. So I just thought that virtual could no longer be an exception. Because pre pandemic virtual events were primarily webinars. You know, the format was 45 minutes of death by PowerPoint, followed by ineffectual q&a And no one moderating chat. And I just didn't think that could continue if if we were suddenly not on the occasional zoom, but on the every day all day zoom. And that Zoom had to meet needs in a different way than it had pre pandemic. So I was really trying to figure out experiment with how to create that kind of experience online. And while I wasn't charging, but it was a community that was built was helping me figure it out. I'll even tell you that early on. I didn't know everything about zoom. I still don't, but I know a lot more than they used to. But I would have people write questions in chat and then set them to a breakout room for 10 minutes while I then scoured the internet for answers to their questions on Zoom Ws, on YouTube on Google. And then I would save the links in a document when they came back, I'd give a high level answer and say if you want to dig more into this, here's a resource. And then over time, I like dug into the resources myself and figure things out.
Sarah Fejfar 13:54
That's so good. And I love that your comment that the community built it, like they helped you decide and form what it was going to become. And I wonder if those of us who are sitting on the sidelines waiting to add events into our businesses might take a page from your book and say, Okay, well what if I wanted to kind of release the pressure for myself of putting on something paid or something that's in person, which those things inevitably bring up? A lot of resistance? What if I gave myself permission to do something like Robbie and say it was free and just not have expectations on myself of what it was going to be? Allow it to become something just
Robbie Samuels 14:44
just I ran. I ran a meetup group for 11 years that hosted two events a month. And for that entire time I also worked for organization in the Special Events Manager and eventually the Longer titles, Senior Manager events and donor engagement, running about 25 events a year. And because I like events so much, I would voluntarily run on conferences and conferences. So, I mean, a lot of this is just you get better at doing something by doing it thinking about a thing is just going to make it scarier. So if someone really wants to try and in person, I would I would look at a meetup model, I would think, Okay, where can I get a free space to gather, and then look at what other people are using on meetup in your local area. And maybe you don't want to library maybe you'd rather be in the back of a bar, maybe you don't want to have alcohol, maybe you want to find this really cool cafe that has board games, like, look at what other people are doing. Go to some of those events to check out the scene and the venue and how they treat group large groups, people that show up. I wasn't paying for venues, I ended up striking up great relationships with with various venues that let us come in because we brought a bar tab, I worked it out. So we didn't have minimums. So it lowered my own stress. We did like a, you know pay as you can type thing at the door. I then learned that if you ask people for money, and you make it a specific dollar amount and give them change, you'll make more money than if you have people put money in a jar. So much trial and error. Sara, so much trial there.
Sarah Fejfar 16:21
But I what I'm hearing is that you tried, right, yeah, and I think so when we're inviting people to come to an event, we're, we're essentially asking them to open themselves up to learning again, open themselves up to getting out of their house or out of, you know, a different zoom and come join us live in something. And sometimes, you know, people have stopped the learning process or stop the going out process. And so our invitation to the event is an invitation open themselves up to that again, and I wonder hearing from you is if we need to perhaps use that reminder on ourselves to is like go and put yourself out there, put yourself into the virtual events, put yourself into the in person meetups or conferences, again, it will inspire you with ideas. And also just I think the energy that you get from being in those scenarios will naturally want you to create that for your community and do what it takes to make that happen.
Robbie Samuels 17:29
Some of the things that work really well are almost invisible to the people attending. And that's when you know, it's real skill. So I think for in person, it's even more important to focus on the experience that they have as they come in the door. And this is something I put a lot of energy into when we're doing these meetup groups years ago. But, you know, right now, I you and I were talking off air that I had like 60 Speaker strategy sessions over about three weeks. Yep. And to the events of the same client, two events were for in person conferences. And one was for an online event, they were hosting online conference. And I just keep remembering which was which, which was the hard part. But for in person. I want them to think about as people come into the room, what is the experience of first few people are going to come in and sit as far as they can from each other and get on their phones. So how do we disrupt that silence, that that sort of rubs the glands in the room. So having a greeter, say hello, having maybe table assignments by topic or interest or anything like that, just so that people know this, it was like minded people with similar interests and values, similar concerns, icebreaker question on the table are up on the screen. All this is before the session even begins. And then I walk them through again for whether this is in person or online purpose, first strategy, purpose first design, really thinking about the outcome? How do you want people to feel Think or Do Differently at the end of your session? And then design with that in mind, that will say like, what exercises, how long people should speak? What kind of guests you want on your panel, how you want to design your panel, you know, is there going to be a group exercise do want to do dyads two people at a time leaving, like how much time for questions or like just just really digging in and then leaving time the end to really dig into like next steps. First Steps? How are you gonna take this back to your organization like if action is part of what you really want me to do like giving people time to think about that. And I think all this is true for the virtual space as well. I think welcome people into a virtual space. Also something that I'm very thoughtful of. I play music, I have a countdown clock. I don't do that. Just because it's fun and I know how to do it. I do it because I want curtains closed until I want curtains open. And those first few people who come in I don't want them to unmute and start chatting with each other because then the rest of us are going Create a fishbowl around them watching that conversation. And people coming in, who are on time are gonna think they're running late, like they're missing something. And it's an awkward way to come into a Zoom Room. So instead, I want to, I want to like use chat during that time, I want to welcome people in chat, I want to give them instructions about updating their name to include their location, the pronouns that they like, or their organization or whatever we want to have on their quote unquote, name tag. And then when it's time, I want to remove the countdown clock and turn off the music and welcome them, right, because then it's like curtains open. So for me, it's, it's a lot of I mean, I have a whole bunch of videos, I've done over 70 videos on how to use Zoom more effectively. But I focus a lot on the why, you know, like, it's not just about having Breakout Rooms enabled. It's about what kind of question how many people how many minutes? Well, that all depends on what you're trying to achieve. And in the facilitation matters, so much like giving correct instructions will help avoid some of that Zoom fatigue that we've all been experiencing. You know, when people point up to the right corner, but they're really pointing to your top left, and they're saying go to your top right, and you're like, that's not my type, right? And your brains all like what. So there's just a lot of things that I think we can do in the virtual space and in person to create just more memorable and more intentionally engaging experiences.
Sarah Fejfar 21:23
And everything you said Robbie is. So it seems so common sense. But it's not common practice. That's, that's the first thing I gather. Second thing that caught me is everything that you said, feels doable and simple. Like, there isn't anything that you said to me that rose up some resistance inside of me that was like, I don't know, if I can do that, too, right? Everything that you're saying is something that we're capable of, it's just like, we just need to be reminded of those. I don't, I don't know details is the right word,
Robbie Samuels 22:01
you're making me laugh a little bit, because I have this on my desk. And it's a it's a little six button stream stream deck thing I have never plugged it in. I bought it December last year, with a very specific intent to use it, after putting off buying it. And then decided in the end, you know what I'm not I don't need that. Like I, I thought I needed it because I had this like multi 1000 person event that I was presenting in front of. And I got it in my head that I needed to do something extra fancy. And then in the end, I was like good facilitation wins or extra fancy over time. And so I think that early in the pandemic, a lot of people who were trying to shift to events online, bought a lot of tech. And I think technique over tech is what leads to intentional design, and intentional engagement and, and quality outcomes. And that, you know, you it's not about I mean, if people want that and create amazing astute home studios like power to you. But the people I work with, that's not they're not starting with a $30,000 budget to go by everything and get a hair lamp, like I don't have a hair lamp, people still see my head, it's fine, you know, like, but that's just it, like, I just think that we think there's a zero to 60, we have to do all or nothing. And I'm like no, just get a little bit better every time. And there's little things we can do, both in the design of the runner show and in understanding the technology better. So I have a resource, Robbie samuels.com forward slash VIDEOS, which has a zoom settings, checklists and over 30 videos to help people just DIY their way through getting a little bit better at using Zoom. And it's like you don't need to do all of it all at once. But if each event you do you just get a little bit better, I think it'll boost your confidence and your competence. And that will make it easier for you to think, oh, I can do this. And one way, by the way is hosting free things on virtual is a great way to get to the point where you realize you can charge people on virtual. Like you don't just stand there free space. But like there's different reasons, a host for virtual events for free networking, community building marketing, like that could lead to paid clients attracting the right people practicing material. You don't have to wait for someone else to give you a stage to try out content. I mean, I ran a speaker series in person, half the year, half the monthly sessions were my content. So I'm used to this premise of like create a platform for yourself, do not wait for the stage to appear. And now it's easier than ever to do that.
Sarah Fejfar 24:53
And everything that you talked about all those super simple ways that we can just get a little bit better each Time. There's two things that caught me that I think if, if we kept this in mind, as we're going into our next events, it would help. First you talked about why. And I love starting with why and I love having to why's Why are you hosting the event for your business? And then why are you hosting the event for your community? I think when you get grounded in those two why's at the very beginning, it helps inform all of your decision making going forward. It really just helps kind of acts like a lighthouse tells you kind of which way to go, because you know, why? Why are we even doing this event in the first place? And then the second thing, I think, when you were talking about all those little things to do when people are coming into the room, or when they're, like, exiting, or all the things, I think that a simple, easy way to look at that is just, I call it mapping the customer journey where we're just going to take put ourselves in our guests shoes, and then we're just going to go through the entire process like in its much visualize as much detail as you can. And feel out. I loved how you're describing what if someone comes into a zoom, and a couple people are already talking now we've got like a fishbowl situation. Or if someone comes into an in person room, and they're sitting on opposite sides of the room. Feeling like feeling into what that feels for the guests, I think will help answer the question, well, what what should I do in that next step. And so if you can remember to take some time, and it does take a little time and intentionality, but I think it's so worth it to map that guest journey. I think you'll uncover a lot of little moments where you can level up your game like Robbie was talking about.
Robbie Samuels 26:56
For in person conferences, my clients have me do the strategy sessions ahead of time with their concurrent sessions, you know, the breakouts that are happening, yeah. And then on site, I'm the connections concierge. And there's a connections lounge. I know they gave it to me, I love it. Actually, I tend to get titles from my clients, executives and producers also from a client. So what I'm doing there is like I like I know the logistics of an event inside and out. I've run so many events. But I'm not in charge of logistics. Because if you're if you're in charge of logistics you're managing that you're worrying about. If the AV is in the right room, if if who's showing up at the right time, the coffee is run out, right, there's just plenty like an exhibitor has an issue. I'm thinking about the participant experience overall. And part of the way I figured that out was all the work I do pre event with those separate sessions, having agreed or thinking, you know, realistically about what they want that experience will be when people come into the room. I mean, then I created this whole, you're in, you're one of my five. So there was a video I made for the main stage. And then each of the sessions also started part of the welcome they said, Hey, write down. Anyone who's you know, says or asks something that catches your attention, because that's the person you're going to want to talk to during the breaks during lunch, during receptions and think about what you can do to be one of the people whose name gets written down. And hey, if you don't write down five names, you're just you're not paying attention, because we're gonna have an amazing conversation. And then later, during q&a, we should bring this up again and say, hey, you know, those people whose names you're writing down, guess what, you can go up to any of them at any point and say, Hey, you're one of my five as the best opening line ever, when you're hanging out in a crowded, chaotic, vibrant hallways,
Sarah Fejfar 28:50
a natural conversation starter, and that is so comforting for us introverts who have, perhaps a just time out there.
Robbie Samuels 28:59
Yeah, it just democratizes the connection possibilities. It's not just people who've been going five or more years, it's anybody can do this. And so it's hard to get to the point where you're thinking about that when you're just worrying about numbers of chairs in the room. And I say that because I've been that person who's tried to do both, and it's not easy. So I love that right now I get to have the role where like, some events, the team forgets to give me the FAQ, like list, you know, or like the schedule changes, but I am so proactively on it, because I understand like, oh, there's gonna be a change here. We're okay, there's a turn going here. Oh, people gonna be confused at this point. You know, oh, top of the escalator. I should stand there. I just self direct to be in the right place. And then whenever I see a team member, I'm like, Do you need anything and they never know what to ask me for. And then they'll mumble like oh, do you know if there's any like carts like oh, yeah, there's like a logical luggage cart. Like, oh, like do you want me to get one? Yes. And I'm like, be right back. You know, it's like little things like that, like being that person, I love it. And I'm getting to know the community, because I'm repeatedly going back. And now I've gotten to know a lot of those folks who are at those events. So that's the in person side, I think that that going forward, I said, this pre pandemic, but I think it's even more true. If you're going to run in person events, you have got to make it exceptionally abundantly clear why we had to be in person. Like there has to be some value add experience, that really would have been incredibly hard to pull off online, we never
Sarah Fejfar 30:37
had to find that before. 20 Oh,
Robbie Samuels 30:39
you just only wait for people to meet. But if you can do that, if you can really create the kind of quality experience where people get what they are hoping for out of it. Because, you know, there was a study by the International Association of exhibitions and events that found that 76% of people surveyed said that networking was a top driver for why they chose to attend an event. Yet, you and I both know that it's not like three quarters of the people who go to events leave having made the contacts they want to have, like our intentions high, our follow through is low. So my work pre pandemic was trying to close that gap. And now I'm like, if an organization can run an event that helps people follow through on those intentions, and meet and by the way, a lot of things I'm talking about, like all those small chit chats before the session starts, the group exercises during a session that you're one of my five, that is all the stuff that participants and guests need to find the people they're looking for. It's not longer receptions, because every event host ever has been set told, I wish there were more networking opportunities. So they add longer receptions, another snack break, I mean, that's fine. But most people don't know what to do with that time. And so they either hang with people they know they skip it entirely. Like they stand around awkward, they feel bad about themselves. I mean, it's just it's an uncomfortable thing as an adult, to just be like a loan in a space filled with people. But if you give them the tools so that they leave sessions with other people, if they've chatted people before, and they're chatting after and in the closing remarks, I always suggest, hey, if you want to have someone to have lunch with hang back and see who else hangs back, like I have them say those things. So that we end up in pairs in three days, even how people do q&a with the speakers, the very end, you know, they always stand up and they usually queue up at a line get on their phones. I'm like farmers semi circle, I have the speaker is like tell the guests how the participants form a semi circle. And then people are more likely to hang around and listen for each other's conversations and questions and leave together. Because if you leave you and I went together into the hallway, I'm not by myself. And if you know some people, I'll get introduced to them. That's how I get invited for drinks or for lunch. So this is micro adjustments. totally doable. But you got to say it out loud, you got to name it, you got to really make speakers be co hosts, you have to give them the identity of being a co host, you have to tell them what that means concretely, give them instructions for what that means. I point out to speakers that you have a speaker badge on. So wherever you go, you are a host. You see people in the elevator in the lobby, washing their hands in the bathroom. You are a host how's it going? What have you like so far? Oh is your first time? Like, what made you think to come here? Like all that? What are you looking forward to? You give them the tools. And now you don't just have one or two people from your team running around trying to make everyone feel welcome. You democratize the net, you're making a lot of people responsible for creating a welcoming and inclusive space. We do the effort to invite people, how do we welcome them? And then virtually it's similar. Like, I think the virtual equivalent is throwing people into a breakout room with either no instruction or confusing instructions are not the right setup. Like I had one seven people 15 minutes, three questions. Pause for that for a minute. Look what the first questions era was share a challenge you were facing a mic? Okay. So basically the first person who went we then tried to help them until I said three minutes or less. Let's do a round robin. Like, and then we we came back to the main room and we went back and then we did it again with seven people. I was like, I can't keep doing this. This is not like, not effective. And then the opposite is the lack of structure where there's just like people throw in a room and we come back and the person hosting is like, Oh, we had engagement. Yeah, you did. I mean, if you check boxing this somebody in the breakout room spoke probably the person with the most privilege. The most seniority the oldest, right? Like the whitest, like not the young, new queer black person. You know what I mean? Like, it's gonna be people who feel like they can. And then a lot of other people are in the room like, I don't know who's supposed to go, you know? And so everyone's weighing like, what's the cultural norm here? But if you can send them with a, here's the question. Here's someone who just gave an answer to the question. So we've now demonstrated got people thinking stories begets stories, right? And so Oh, and we're going to alphabetical by last name. But you just, you just give them that. Oh, and there's a countdown clock up in the top right. So you can keep track of the time. There's giving people the tools,
Sarah Fejfar 35:32
there's so much safe safety in, that's conveyed when the leader, the host of the event, gives people the instructions that they need, in order to because everyone's coming into the room going asking themselves how do I fit in. And when the host, the facilitator, the presenter is so very clear, with instructions on standing a semi circle or here's how you go into the Zoom breakout. Here's how much time here's who goes first, here's what the questions are. People feel safety when they know what is going on what to do, how to fit in your you're giving us so many great examples of how to do that both in the virtual in the in person environment. And I'm wondering, for anybody who might be feeling like overwhelmed right now like, gosh, well, it seems like there's a lot of stuff to think about when it comes to facilitation and hosting so that people feel the value of having gone to the thing. And what would you say is their first step is dedicating someone on their team to this role of thinking through connections and networking? What would you give them as a first step?
Robbie Samuels 36:58
If it's virtual, I would say it's all in how you design the run of show for that event. And that you don't use a tool just because you can don't don't use Poll Everywhere in person, when you could just as easily put four colors of index cards on the table. Right? Like sometimes we get enamored with technology. Yes. And there may be more connection with people in person grabbing all colors of squares on the table and holding them up and seeing who else hold them up. Then having people answer anonymously, on some online screen, plus, you're giving people permission to touch their phone, which is going to be a social contract that you then have a hard time breaking again, you just agree that we're putting our phones away, and then you're like, take your phone out. And then online, which is like all we're doing is competing with multitasking. It's giving people a reason to to remain focused. So acknowledging people by name, like saying their name when they copying questions and just separate document with their name. So you can say many things a material name for your question. And then reading the questions. They like hear their name, it pulled back in asking people to write things in chat, having a thoughtful debrief in chat. So it's not always people come raise your hand. Sometimes it's nominate someone from your breakout group. Sometimes I do this thing called a waterfall effect where people write something in chat, but don't hit enter until I tell them to. And then you have people kind of scroll through the answers and find people that have something in common with just being really thoughtful and having fun. And one thing I hadn't thought to mention before I came on here, but I actually am doing these live free strategy sessions with people running events and hosting hosting sessions. And I'm doing this as a like a LinkedIn Live series. And I will share the information to you I don't have a fancy link to tell you, but I'm gonna give you the link to share in the show notes. For people to do this, because I get like right now, the only way people get access to my brain is if they're paying me as part of a big company. Yeah. And I want to showcase what I do. And I'm writing a book right now about how purpose first design and quality facilitation leads to intentional engagement and memorable online experiences. And then the videos from these conversations are going to be part of the bonus content. And I'll probably be weaving stories into the book about what lessons we're learning as we're talking through all this. So I wanted to find a way to have some examples that we can share. And I knew people really need access to spaces where they can dive into this conversation.
Sarah Fejfar 39:34
Oh, that's awesome. Thank you. All right, well, your show notes. That would be so fun to have. Everyone spend more time with you. Do you mind if I asked you a few rapid fire questions before we dry up like just the first thing that comes to mind? When you are speaking at one of your Are events? What do you say to yourself backstage and onstage?
Robbie Samuels 40:06
I'm often not very prepped for my own life, because I'm emceeing and hosting. And so I'm always like trying to remember. All right, I'm going to be asking them a question about their wins. And I always get to that part, and I don't have one. So I'm always like, what's the exercise I'm asking them to do? Because I have to have an answer. So that's usually what's happening in my brain. And then right beforehand, if it's virtual, I'm scrambling to figure out what song because for whatever reason, I don't like picking it out in advance. I'm always like, what's the mood going to be like in the moment? And so the last like two minutes, my team knows that, like, if they're on with me, they're always like, Robert, do you have a song lined up? Rob, do you have a song lined up? And I'm like, Oh, yeah. So that's usually what's happening in the last moments before I start doing something.
Sarah Fejfar 40:53
I do love picking all the songs in advance. Because I feel like it's such a it's such a value add to have music playing and have the right music playing. And it's never been a gift of mine yet to like know, in the moment a song. And so I do you feel like it's value, time valuable. That's well spent. If I do it in advance,
Robbie Samuels 41:17
I am not a person who knows a lot about music. And I liked the song uptown funk. And I put Uptown Funk into Google and said songs like and it like gave me all these great video clips from YouTube. And that's how I built my first playlist. And then I've also, I'll ask people, different events, different demographics, I'll say, put your favorite pumpup song in chat. And then I'll surprise people by playing like a 10 second snippet of their favorite song, and they'll just lose it in chat and like people will get so excited. But that will help me also create I'll know like, which audience is kind of like, sometimes demographic like age even. You get certain songs that come up. And that's that's how I'm not like, I simply have this talent to DJ, it's another thing I never thought I'd be doing ever in my life was anything about music. But
Sarah Fejfar 42:12
to Google is what I'm hearing. resourcefulness is a gift.
Robbie Samuels 42:16
It is it is and asking what do you like, and then using that to guide? I try the hard part I will say about doing things on the fly. If it's not prevented song is you gotta be careful about lyrics. And so just, you know, if you're not sure of a song, like, don't, don't pick that one.
Sarah Fejfar 42:39
What's your best tip for filling events?
Robbie Samuels 42:42
Asking? I mean, this is true for anything I do. I don't assume I do a lot of Broadcast messaging. But if I really, really wanted people to come, I would have to do a lot of effort to like one on one invite. And I get lazy, like everybody about this. And I might people know they're getting the like the reminder email, you know, but if I want more people to come, I know that I have. I mean, I have a list of people, there's like 1700 people who have signed up for no more bad zoom or chop errs. I don't know all those people. But there are probably like 300, who have been pretty much regulars. And I actually have a birthday coming up. And I'm thinking about doing this. But I'm like, I want people to come. I'm like, that's the one I want people to show up to. So I think I'd have to put a little extra effort in and not just assume because people get busy their life moves on. People like events or cycles, like sometimes it's really high priority for someone to come sometimes it's not. But I just think if you want people to do something, you've got to ask you to be persistent. I believe in play persistence. And I also believe that when people say yes to doing a thing, they set an intention. And if we help them follow through, they will be happy and we will be happy. So we following up with people? When Yeah, do what we say we're gonna do, right? So even if you get like a lot of yeses to an event, don't assume this people are showing up like Do whatever you have to to make sure that you have made it clear that you're inviting them to come them personally, that might be PMS, text messages, figuring out how to use some sort of mail merge, like I use Yet Another Mail Merge, which works with Gmail. And I can send hyper personalized messages to 300 people at a time. The special PS notes or whatever I need to do, right. And I can track whether they've opened it, whether it clicked on something. I mean, I'm not saying that you have to spend your entire day writing your messages. You can find ways to leverage this with technology. But you do have to do more than just a broadcast message.
Sarah Fejfar 44:46
Agreed. Agreed. What's your favorite of them that what's your favorite moment at events that you host?
Robbie Samuels 44:55
Oh, God, there's so many I guess. I love when my participants become friends. I love like when you host something regularly enough that people start collaborating. And I love when they continue to come back. So you find out about the collaboration, they didn't just like meet and then like, go off and never talk to you again. Like they got what they needed. But they come back and they talk about their collaboration, or they are some of the people in my content and connection club formed a, an email accountability thread. And that led us creating a an online forum that included like, we have an online forum associated with the club. But they basically were like, we'd like to have a forum. That's for accountability. And it started because three people were like, emailing each other for several weeks. And then they were like, We want to invite everyone else. But we don't want to be like an annoying email lists. And then someone's like, why can't we just add it to the online forum? And I'm like, Thank you, I'll have that setup. Like, listen to what people tell you. And then that moment of like, when they take ownership is what I think I love about those moments is that people find what you're creating so valuable, that they want to enhance it, they want to make it better, they want to tell you that. And I am like I'm all for it. Let's let's figure out how to make that work for you.
Sarah Fejfar 46:11
Yes, co creation at its finest. Yeah. What's the best thing about hosting your own events, making building your own stage?
Robbie Samuels 46:21
Control? I mean, I like I like I can do whatever I want. I love producing events for my clients, and how can they create their vision? Yeah, but I get to show up my event, you know, I can dress how I want, say what I want. It's gonna either attract or repel the right people like it just works, right? You can try things out. You can play be playful, you can test things experiment. Like I get to experiment through my events, and then take what works to my clients. I don't want to experiment with my clients. But I can say, oh, no, I've tried this. This is the way we need to run this. And I can say with certainty, because I've tried two different ways. And this is what I found has gotten the best response best reaction best engagement. Yeah. And so I love the ability to trial that out. And that's why I'm still I'm hosting its weekly events since March 13 2020. It's just now I guess, for two and a half years. Yeah, we're about the two and a half years, Mark. I mean, it's amazing. I had no idea.
Sarah Fejfar 47:25
It was like a lifetime. What are you reading right now, Robbie.
Robbie Samuels 47:34
My wife actually is a huge audiobook fan. And I finally let her start loading up my Libby app. Libby is a Free Library app. And so we now I now have like 11 Libraries attached to that, which I didn't know you could do, which is a hint to those listening. And I've always library. So now she loads up my with all kinds of books. So tons of fiction, which I never was listened to before. But most recently, I read a book called unmasking autism. And that was really interesting. And I think it relates to this conversation, which is why I want to bring it up. I think about how to design for everyone. Yes. And there's a lot of reasons people process information differently. And mostly, I would thinking about introvert versus extrovert. But now I'm really expanding what that means and trying to have a much more wide understanding of like neurodiversity. So the cool thing about designing with neuro diversity in mind, is that it actually helps everyone having an agenda is something that everybody will appreciate. Sticking to the agenda is something everybody will appreciate. Ending meaning when you've come to a decision and don't really need to keep talking about it is something everyone will appreciate. And having clear instructions, everybody appreciates that. Right? Tell people what order to go into there's no social awkward moment, everyone. So what I love is the things that we do to be more welcoming actually helps everybody feel more welcomed, especially people who need it the oldest, the youngest, the the the demographic, outliers, right? Those people need it, especially the newcomers. But it's everyone feels part of it. And I think unmasking autism is written by an artistic trans person who is talking about their experience in the world, and about the effort to show up. And that people who are seen as being, quote, high functioning on the autism scale. You don't know how hard that was for them to show up in that way. And what if we could just make that a little easier? You know, what if we didn't make them jump through so many hoops? So I found it really interesting. And I think you know, books like that can help us broaden our understanding of the world.
Sarah Fejfar 49:52
Oh, thank you for sharing and I think that's another reason why I love that virtual is now in our tool bag because it offers so much, it's accessible, and to a lot of people who wouldn't have been able to make it into otherwise. And it's just one more way that we can be inclusive is to offer that as an option to our guests. But I love this book is intriguing, man. I want to check that out. Let's see here. Last question. What have you got going on right now that we should know about? And where should linchpin nation go find you?
Robbie Samuels 50:32
Well, in the next few months I'll be working on I've been working on a book about purchase versus design and facilitation and potential engagement. So stay tuned. I'll let you know when that comes to be no more bad. zoom.com is where you would find out about my free monthly, virtual happier happens the first Friday of every month, said 5pm. Eastern. And there's one coming up soon for us. And, yeah, Robbie Simon's dot com and Robbie Simons comm forward slash VIDEOS is where you'll get all the videos and the zoom settings. And I just, I'm a big fan of giving away content. So if you if you happen upon me at a networking events, or coming to my event, you asked me questions I'm going to share. I mean, that's one of the ways I network online is I go to networking events, and I share good resources. In chat like today I went to one and like I ended up giving away like a spreadsheet that I use to track expenses. I'm like, what doesn't matter what it is and like somebody could be find this useful, and we were talking about money. So I think that you should find me on LinkedIn, because that's one of the places I particularly like to post and I've been joined the kinds of conversations I've been having. So that'd be great. I'd love to help people connect and reach out.
Sarah Fejfar 51:50
I will link all that up in the show. Thank you so much. For station today you're such a joy I love your energy and like Sir I love your depth of experience in space. I really an area of opportunity. more intentional. I just I know I've benefited so much.
Sarah Fejfar 52:36
Get My pleasure. Thank you. Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram and be sure to tag at Sarah Fejfar. 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 will help me know what to create for you. And if right now you're thinking, Sarah Yes, an event is happening.
Sarah Fejfar 53:05
But here's the thing. I have a sizable team who can make this happen, but we need someone to teach us how then go to greenroom. central.com To book a private workshop, you'll get a customized two day virtual workshop for your team. During the workshop, everyone will learn a repeatable framework that can be used to start or scale events in your business. You'll then create a roadmap as a team so that everyone leaves the workshop with a shared vision for how to move forward with this podcast is built on Kajabi I loved how easy it was to get things set up.
Sarah Fejfar 53:38
But more so I'm thrilled that my entire business is one within one platform, from my emails to my pages to my courses, and my podcast to it's all under one roof. If you love simplicity and scalability as much as I do, then go to greenroom. central.com To get a free 14 day trial from Kajabi.
Sarah Fejfar 53:58
I appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning the mindset and the strategy of live events. Keep going, keep learning. If you want more, head over to green room central.com For show notes and all the links from today's episode.
