Sarah Fejfar 0:00
It is okay to reschedule. It is not fun to be on a boat in bad weather. So don't push it. 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 offense? 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 0:30
That's the question. And the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar. Welcome to greenroom Central.
Sarah Fejfar 0:37
Have you ever thought, wouldn't it be cool if we rented a yacht for our next event? Well, awesome, because I've got five mistakes to share with you that I want you to avoid, so that your event feels bougie which is I think the effect you're going for and doesn't bomb. So fun fact, for you. I actually watch your videos like the promo kind on Instagram. As a way to wind down. I'm laughing because not only does that sound silly, but seriously, like DM me, and I'll send you a couple accounts that have just the most fabulous yacht reels.
Sarah Fejfar 1:31
But I'm also laughing because I do think it's hilarious that I'm doing a podcast episode for you right now on mistakes to avoid when renting a yacht. But this is because I have your best interest in mind. I'm passionate about excellence, you know that otherwise, you and I wouldn't be hanging out together here excellence wins. Go read that that book if you haven't already, seriously, it's amazing. But really, I see people post about I see influencers and you know, experts who host their events, and then go and rent a yacht for them. And I see them post about it. And sometimes I cringe because I'm like, Oh my gosh, they didn't do their research.
Sarah Fejfar 2:22
Or and that's number one. I want you doing your research. Because a yacht and I'm doing air quotes here. A yacht can be can go from like boozy to bomb, like in a hot minute. If you don't pay attention to a few things. And the first thing is rent is doing your research at the beginning and figuring out what you're renting. Because a yacht doesn't feel fancy. If it's old and tired, and has like bad decor and hasn't been taken care of. And has is isn't clean, or the bathrooms just look totally yucky. It it, there's a whole bunch of yachts that you can rent from an age that's so long ago, and haven't been updated.
Sarah Fejfar 3:27
And I swear to you, when you bring a guest onto a yacht that looks tired and old. It will deflate the energy and excitement of Yay, we're going to spend the evening on a yacht, like you know, in a minute. So fast, less than a minute, it'll take seconds. So I want you to remedy that by getting a tour. And it can be a FaceTime tour. But I feel really passionate about kind of not believing all of the photos on the yachts promo website and asking them to take you on a live FaceTime tour of the boat. Because I want you to know what you're getting. I want you to know what you're paying for.
Sarah Fejfar 4:26
And I want it to feel fancy for you and your guests. So don't skip this step. Like get a FaceTime tour. We're in the day and age where that is totally acceptable and expected. So do it have like make your integrator ask your integrator your Pm whoever your event planner to take that extra step okay. And it can also be reading reviews too, but I think that FaceTime tour is gonna really help. Second thing is, where will you embark and disembark? So where are you getting on getting off the boat? Because some harbors are nicer than others.
Sarah Fejfar 5:14
And you can you can be prescriptive here and ask that the boat pick you up somewhere other than where it's in its harbor normally that might be more convenient and comfortable for your guests to get on and off. So during that FaceTime tour, like ask to see well, what is the what does it look like? Where do we were? Would we be parking and? Or we would be having our bus drop our guests off and and can you can you make that walk with me sit while we're live on FaceTime here so I can see. Because it might not be fancy enough for you.
Sarah Fejfar 5:53
And you might want to decide to work with the captain and the team to say, Hey, I think it would be even better if we got on. You know, the This restaurant has an amazing bar and patio with a dock? And how about everyone meets for drinks? And then we get on the boat there. So think about that. Okay. Third thing is staff. Have I told you about that time when I hired dancers in Florida to go with like a Calypso kind of style band to open up a conference. And I just forgot this one tiny detail of asking like, how are they going to be dressed?
Sarah Fejfar 6:43
And are they going to be all females are all males or males and females in my head, they had really beautiful, full length, full coverage costumes. And they were male female pairs that were going to be dancing kind of picture Dancing with the Stars to go with this great Calypso band, but it ended up being all female scantily dressed. And you know, it didn't really create the feeling and in the moment that we were going for. And so I would ask you like about the staff to ask the boat company about the staffing.
Sarah Fejfar 7:23
And what can you expect? Are we thinking like, you know, knee length shorts and like polo shirts that are embroidered with the yacht logo or tuxedos or what what are we what can we expect? And I just think that's important so that you know that this kind of staff this yacht comes with, and I'm gonna leave it at that, because I think you can picture where I would be going there. It just wanted to feel professional and fun, or whatever the vibe is that you're going for. And I don't want you to be surprised. So we talked about doing your research, we talked about talking about what that disembark meant Embarkment kind of process, about the where and the when we talked about staffing, food.
Sarah Fejfar 8:15
So I really believe in high quality food ingredients presentation. And I really think that it's unlikely that the boat company is going to be partnered with a catering company that's of the caliber that you are going to want for your guests. And so I'd like for you to ask to see if you can either get the name of their caterer or do your research to make sure it's a good fit. Or use your own caterer because there's nothing there's nothing worse than getting on a fancy pants boat, but then having them serve your guests on in like shabby plastic cups and paper plates and have the presentation of the food just terrible.
Sarah Fejfar 9:09
And it just there's the details again, the details matter. And I want this to feel like a classy affair. And food and beverage is such a huge component of being on a yacht so I want it to feel fancy. Same goes with flowers. I've been I've rented boats where they've had floral on board that was like multiple days old. You could just tell it was used event over event and it didn't feel fancy or classy. And it was embarrassing, in fact, so I want you to think about those details of what kind of decor flower floral details what kind of catering details that you can attend to yourself so that you're just not leaving it all up.
Sarah Fejfar 10:00
To the boat company, because like the boat company, their expertise really is the boat and making sure it's nice and doesn't sink and goes where it needs to go and comes back safely. And their job really isn't food and beverage decor. So own that. Okay. And then fifth is whether it is okay to reschedule. It is not fun to be on a boat in bad weather. So don't push it. This goes back to that whole. I'm sure I've told you about this, like the pool event where I wanted to have it outside. And I was just dead set on a pool party outside at a hotel in Florida.
Sarah Fejfar 10:45
And they kept telling me no, oh, the weather's gonna be bad. And I ended up listening, thank goodness and rescheduling it to inside. And thank goodness because it was downpouring. And it would have been an horrible experience to be standing outside by the pool in pouring down rain, so people wouldn't have showed up. But when they're on a boat, they're a captive audience. And yes, I'm on a soapbox. But it's just so important that guests feel comfortable and safe. And because I again, on a boat, you can't leave at a pool party you can.
Sarah Fejfar 11:26
And so I want your guests to feel just so in love with being there. And a huge component is going to be the weather. And yes, you might have to eat some expense. But I just encourage you that it's better to cancel and pivot to do something else that day or that night, then push it and go and have ever everybody be miserable because they're not going to have the right clothing, they're not going to be warm enough or dry enough. And again, they're not going to be able to leave this is just a real sensitive type of event it all like just the stars need to align.
Sarah Fejfar 12:07
And I'm not trying to turn you off from renting a yacht, but I am saying don't push it if the day is not right then make the call and and do something different. And to that end, I want you to know what the something different is. I want you to know what the backup plan is before like weeks before and I want you to have it planned out in in a fair amount of detail so that the pivot isn't difficult. Okay. I recently got to buy tickets to a waterpark. I was just so busy. And I was taking my kiddo and a friend.
Sarah Fejfar 12:50
The waterpark is more than an hour away. We get there. It's a holiday weekend. They are sold out, we can't go in. I got on my phone in about like 20 seconds, I was able to locate a nearby city pool and within another 10 seconds I was on the phone with them confirming that we could come and it was open right now ended up turning up the amazing rope swing. They had a diving board, they had two pools, hot tub ended up being pretty cool. But I felt like the worst mom ever, but I was able to pivot really fast. And it's only because not because I had a plan in place which you will have because you're dealing with guests have, like come to see you.
Sarah Fejfar 13:42
But it's because I'm experienced at planning things and my brain like spins way too fast and most of the time, but I don't want you to be in a situation where you don't know what Plan B is in you have 10 People 20 People 200 People looking at you going, Okay, Sarah, what do we do? Because I had two very, very sad puppy by looking children children's staring at me in that moment. And I felt the pressure. Thankfully, I delivered. And within 10 minutes, we read a new location and it was fabulous. And then we went back the next day. But I digress.
Sarah Fejfar 14:30
I hope that this was fun. I hope this was helpful. I hope that you're now going to go make it happen because yes, a Bucha yacht makes for great Instagrammable moments and in fact, pro tip hire off professional photographer to join you because you're gonna want this magical footage to promote your next event and create fear of missing out Hi, on The socials, with your community members who were not able to make it this time, but are watching you intently. Alright, take care. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast.
Sarah Fejfar 15:14
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'll help me know what to create for you. The number one thing I'm asked by CEOs, whether it's their first event, or their 20th is Sarah, how do I get more butts in seats, and so I put together a guide for you head over to filling events.com For your free copy of 107 ways to grow.
Sarah Fejfar 15:47
I want to help you quickly master event marketing your events. Even if you've never done it before. I've scoured the online business world and found 107 of my favorite strategies working right now to fill your next in person or virtual event. Create the event promotion value from these easy to implement customizable strategies for free over at filling events.com.
Sarah Fejfar 16:14
I appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning the mindset and strategy of live events. Keep going, keep learning if you want more head over to Greenham central.com For show notes and all the links from today's episode
