Sarah Fejfar 0:00
So I wanted to take a moment today on the podcast to talk about international events and give you a little what you need to know. Before you jump in and host your own event overseas, it can be so exciting.
Sarah Fejfar 0:18
The thought of hosting an event overseas, especially if it's a bucket list location for ourselves, and I would encourage everyone to host events in locations here in the US and also internationally where you've always wanted to go, because why not? Right? Why not build a little time on the front of the back end? To enjoy a place that you've always wanted to go and US hosting an event for your community as the excuse to check that item off your list?
Sarah Fejfar 0:53
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. It's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud of.
Sarah Fejfar 1:14
That's the question. And the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar. Welcome to greenroom Central.
Sarah Fejfar 1:22
Alright, Straight Talk, y'all. I went overseas for two weeks to help a client produce an event in Athens and then do a site visit in Istanbul for next year's event. And I came home with some really stunning wooden spoons from Greece. There, olive wood and a Turkish cotton tablecloth for fancy occasions, and also COVID. It's the first time I've had it in two and a half years of the pandemic and it kicked my butt.
Sarah Fejfar 2:03
I was definitely in bed not getting out for five days and thought the world was ending. Well, not really. But it was it was tough. Y'all fever and chills and a cough and. But I am feeling so much better. Now. Even though I don't sound like it. I feel like a million bucks compared to where I was a couple of weeks ago. And so I wanted to take a moment today on the podcast to talk about international events and give you a little what you need to know.
Sarah Fejfar 2:44
Before you jump in and host your own event overseas, it can be so exciting. The thought of hosting an event overseas, especially if it's a bucket list location for ourselves. And I, I would encourage everyone to host events in locations here in the US and also internationally where you've always wanted to go, because why not? Right? Why not build a little time on the front of the back end, to enjoy a place that you've always wanted to go and use hosting an event for your community as the excuse to check that item off your list.
Sarah Fejfar 3:26
So I want to talk about five different things today that I think will make your life infinitely easier when you're planning an international event. And this may some of this stuff may be stuff that you just like you know how to do. And some of it, I hope is stuff that you're like, gosh, that's awesome. I'm glad I know that. And I feel so much more confident about doing the thing now that I know.
Sarah Fejfar 3:57
So first thing I want to talk about is hiring a translator, and a guide. So for this particular event, we were going between a couple of different cities in Greece, one of which was rural. We're using lots of different drivers eating at lots of different restaurants, staying at a couple of different hotels. So a lot of moving around and having a translator someone who could speak the local language with us for most of the trip was so extremely valuable
Sarah Fejfar 4:40
in order to be able to explain, perhaps, for example, dietary concerns, like for me, I have a tree nut allergy that's very severe. So being able to have someone there to explain that to the restaurant and make sure that I'm selecting Something that's safe for me to eat was like really good peace of mind.
Sarah Fejfar 5:04
But also, when it comes to our guests and their dietary needs when it comes to our schedule needs like overseas in Athens, it's common to have very long drawn out meals. But obviously here in the US, we're not accustomed to that. And we like fast service, being able to have someone with you who can explain that is really helpful. Having I just cannot underscore enough, how paying somebody to be with you for your entire event that knows the local language will help you so so so much.
Sarah Fejfar 5:49
So I would say invest in that. And I think you're probably looking at maybe two or $300 a day to do that. And I think that's worth worth it from a budget standpoint. The other thing is a guide. So I highly recommend hiring a local to guide you through any places that you're going that need a little interpretation, whether it's a walk in the local woods, or going through a historical building, or just walking around town, having someone with you, that is a trained guide is so awesome.
Sarah Fejfar 6:39
Because not only do they know the history of the place that you're in, but they also know where the best coffee shop is along the way, where it might be faster if we just hopped on the train versus waiting for our car to pick us up and take us to the next stop. Or, like where the fastest route is to get from point A to point B like this is just what they do all day every day is walk around their favorite city and share it with people.
Sarah Fejfar 7:14
And when you can invest in having someone like that with you. It will dramatically enhance the trip. And you can always either go and meet the guide in advance on a site visit, or you can have a zoom call with them in advance. Just make sure it's a good fit. I highly recommend it. And you're probably looking in the range of like three to $500 a day to have someone with you.
Sarah Fejfar 7:48
That's a trained guide. I think it's super worth it. Especially for days when you're kind of out and about adventuring. So that's translators and guides. The cool thing is a guide can double as your translator for the day. Because they not only will speak your language, but the local language as well. The second thing that I would say is invaluable is hiring local support. So we talked about hiring a translator and hiring a guide.
Sarah Fejfar 8:26
Well, how do you how do you find them? So in the event space, there are companies called destination management companies in most major cities around the world. Just google the name of the city are going to and destination management company. And these they're called DMCs for short.
Sarah Fejfar 8:52
And these companies are your connectors to a local guide to a translator to let's say you want flowers to a florist. Let's say you want a car service. Let's say you want restaurant reservations or help making your home arranging your hotel contracts, or help buying umbrellas for all of your guests because it's going to rain and no one's prepared. All anything that you can possibly think of.
Sarah Fejfar 9:31
For example, for me, I needed to get my laundry done because it was a long trip a couple of weeks and it was I didn't bring clothes for the whole time. So I could carry on and I was able to have them send me a map of how to get to a local laundromat. So having a destination management company help you is a really savvy move because it is your connection to the local economy and all of the things that you would want to access there.
Sarah Fejfar 10:10
So I highly recommend hiring somebody. And the price for that really varies based on what you'll have them arrange for you, I would say, to budget that perhaps, whatever you're going to spend with them, they would charge maybe about 10 to 20% of that as their fee to help you to help you arrange things like, again, transportation, hotel, flowers, restaurants, guides, all the things. So that's hiring local support.
Sarah Fejfar 10:45
And Google is your best friend there to find one in the area that you're going to. And I recommend interviewing two to three if you can. The next thing I want to talk about is tools. And I would say that most of us don't have cell phones that can just make an international call. And so putting the Skype app on your phone, while you're in the US planning for your event, makes it so easy to be able to call local numbers around the world and be able to talk to the hotel be able to call a restaurant.
Sarah Fejfar 11:33
And what I would recommend you do is start with perhaps a hotel, that is higher ed, and call their concierge. And they'll be able to connect you with perhaps like a local DMC and give you recommendations there. And I think that's a great start. But sometimes it just takes making a phone call. And that case, I like to recommend Skype because it's just easy. Other thing I recommend is WhatsApp.
Sarah Fejfar 12:09
So WhatsApp is an app you can put on your phone, and then you can select your country code and enter in the phone number of someone in the foreign country and be able to text back and forth and call back and forth. And that was so valuable, especially once we were on the ground, because then we could have our guides and our drivers and our destination management company contacts, all right in our phone to be able to message back and forth.
Sarah Fejfar 12:50
So I highly recommend using Skype and WhatsApp for tools. Fourth thing I wanted to talk about is communication. I think that communication is key in any event, but if you are traveling overseas, I want you to really pay close attention to your your communication before, during and after the event to really ensure that everyone's so crystal clear on what the plan is.
Sarah Fejfar 13:21
When are they getting picked up from the airport by who? How will they know it's the right person? Where's the hotel? What's their emergency contact information? When's breakfast? Where is it? Stuff like that. And you can be communicating via WhatsApp with a group to your whole all of your event guests, you can create
Sarah Fejfar 13:53
emails highly recommend that just really detailed and advanced to the event with all of the information that they would need, not only for themselves, so they can get ready for the event but to leave with their their loved ones in case they need to be contacted during the trip.
Sarah Fejfar 14:13
But things like communicating reminders to them about talking to their phone provider or their bank card providers. They're ensuring their passport is not expiring within six months of traveling, talking about the weather and how to dress. It's a big deal to pack to go overseas. So the more information that you can provide along those lines, the better.
Sarah Fejfar 14:46
So just definitely plan some time and assign a team member to be in charge of that for your guests. Then the last thing I would want to talk about with you is schedule. So I think if you're Traveling. So for example, we were 10 hours off of my home timezone. That's a big jump and giving your guests an acclamation day.
Sarah Fejfar 15:15
It's like not doing anything that they they arrive, and perhaps maybe not even doing anything until dinner the following day to give them a full 24 hours to acclimate to the timezone and get their body able to, to be on, you know, a regular kind of nine to five, meeting schedule, that's really helpful. So plan for that in your schedule.
Sarah Fejfar 15:40
And then also plan for time to experience the local culture. And if that's not part of your agenda, make sure you're clear and setting expectations up front and then maybe leaving extra time on the front or the in the back end of the trip for guests to go out and explore on their own. Because just like you, they probably have always had it on their hearts to travel and perhaps see this place.
Sarah Fejfar 16:07
And so it's nice if you can leave time in the schedule to do that. And even better if you can add an adventurer day into the agenda or some half days, to be able to experience that local culture and see things that they wouldn't have seen on their own. I think that's fabulous, but definitely want to underline that acclamation day, and making sure that you work that into your agenda if the time don't shift is significant for people.
Sarah Fejfar 16:41
And if you're you're entertaining a mix of folks from all over the world, then you might just recommend that to them that they fly in on, you know, and have at least 24 hours to acclimate instead of building into your own agenda. All right. Thanks for hanging out with me today and enduring this voice that school crazy given the recovery time period from COVID.
Sarah Fejfar 17:13
And anyhow, it's made me grateful for all the freedoms that I have. After being in isolation for so long. I am so grateful to have to be out and to be on the mend and be able to hug my loved ones again. It's a good thing. All right, take care make it an outstanding rest today. Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast.
Sarah Fejfar 17:38
If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram. Be sure to tag out 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'll help me know what to create for you.
Sarah Fejfar 17:55
Also, if it's on your heart to host your first or next event in 2022 or 2023 and you need a jumpstart. Let's connect for a strategy session. Just go to green room central.com and a two hour intensive private session. I can help you pivot scale or start your event vision from scratch. Together, we will build an actionable plan so that you feel confident and clear on your next steps. Go to greenroom central.com right now to sign up.
Sarah Fejfar 18:23
This podcast is built on Kajabi I loved how easy it was to get things set up but more so I'm thrilled that my entire business is one within one platform. From emails to pages to courses and my podcast two 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 18:49
We appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning your mindset strategy 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.
