Virtual events are a necessity in the time of COVID, but a challenge for teams to figure out how to adapt. Join Campus Greensboro Director Lizzy Tahsuda as she speaks with representatives from the Wyndham Championship and the North Carolina Folk Festival about adapting events, engaging audiences, and what we can learn from two of the biggest events in the Triad going virtual for the first time.
Thanks for joining us!
This episode is sponsored by Truliant Federal Credit Union
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Today’s host is Lizzy Tahsuda, the Director of Campus Greensboro, a program under Action Greensboro.
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00:57 - Lizzy welcomes listeners back to the podcast and introduces today’s guests, Amy Grossman with the NC Folk Festival, and Mark Brazill with the Wyndham Championship.
2:11 - Today’s topic is focused on virtual events and getting creative with how to engage audiences through their computer screens. Lizzy asks Mark how the Wyndham event looked this year, dealing with the effects and restrictions of COVID-19. Mark and the rest of the Wyndham team planned for multiple scenarios, from hosting a regular event, to one still in person but with restrictions, to a tournament that had no fans or sponsors.
7:50 - Mark discusses how the Wyndham team changed their plans to make the tournament a highly engaging and enjoyable experience for their huge audience and all the sponsors that weren’t able to be there in person.
9:10 - Lizzy asks how Wyndham utilized social media to heighten engagement with fans. Mark talks about how the fans are the soul of the event, so social media was critical in building excitement and interaction with supporters.
12:30 - Lizzy shifts the discussion to Amy to inquire about how the NC Folk Festival is planning for their event this year. Amy echoes a lot of what Mark said, in that there were versions of different plans to allow people to gather safely, and how to hold people accountable for the protection of the audiences, professional staff, and artists that are involved in the event. Amy explains that she and her team knew early on that a modified event would be necessary.
14:53 - Amy says that it was clear that the Folk Festival had to commit to a virtual event, so they made the choice and got to work with changing the program. The 2020 program will focus on North Carolina based artists, as travel is safer for them, and partnering with strategic local partners like 7Cinematics videography will still bring performances to life - just on our screens.
18:45 - Amy also speaks to the sponsorship side of these large events. Some sponsors really value the in-person events and are waiting until they can have face-to-face events again, while other sponsors jumped at the chance to participate in a virtual event that reaches a wider audience.
20:26 - If you’re interested in tuning in to the Folk Festival performances this year on September 11 and 12, there are so many ways you can watch live and on-demand after the event! Check out the Folk Festival YouTube channel and Facebook, the City of Greensboro will also broadcast through their channels, and GTN, the local TV network, will be showing the performances as well. Another concert platform, nugs.net, will also have the Folk Festival streaming for free!
22:20 - Lizzy asks the guest what advice they would give to other organizations that are planning events for the fall, and how to put on a really great virtual experience. Mark emphasizes fully virtual events for the rest of this year and to avoid gatherings of people, to simply adhere to safety guidelines. Virtual events have allowed event planners to flex outside of the box and get creative with how to engage audiences and create interesting events while avoiding Zoom fatigue.
27:30 - Amy adds that organizations have to reprioritize things in order to invest more funding and time into making events great. She had to redirect money into strong videography in order to make the musical performances just as amazing in person, but that doesn’t come without compromise elsewhere. Her team is also getting creative with different ways to generate revenue, with sales of merchandise and beverages from the Festival itself now not a feasible source of income.
31:30 - Lizzy asks her guests for any final thoughts before the end of the episode. Amy shares ways that community members can continue to help support local events, businesses, and restaurants, and encourages people to think of how they can amplify their local support!
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Make sure to follow impact. The Boro on social media!
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @gsochamber
Visit the Chamber website at greensboro.org.
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