{"id":19780,"date":"2019-07-30T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/honeybook.site.strattic.io\/?p=19780"},"modified":"2022-07-14T14:26:07","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T21:26:07","slug":"how-to-create-a-virtual-summit-that-profits-and-builds-community-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honeybook.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-virtual-summit-that-profits-and-builds-community-2","title":{"rendered":"How to Create a Virtual Summit that Profits and Builds Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Photo by Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Enthusiasm Builds Believers<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The week that our first summit went live, I don\u2019t think I posted a single thing on Instagram or Facebook because of how many other plates I had spinning.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I was the tech support, the chat box enthusiast, the sales person reminding people to buy the All-Access Pass. I was the website manager, the email provider, the stage director. I was also all of the other hat-wearing people who assist in the whirlwind of hosting a conference, whether online or in-person.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I figured I\u2019d done as much marketing as I could up to that point \u2014 we\u2019d created a FREE online event which had made us (us meaning my husband and me) $10,000 dollars and brought in over a thousand email list subscribers (both of which would continue to increase over the next few days).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Now I\u2019d needed to focus on the execution and to nurture those people who were already attending.<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Yet, after feeling like I was hit by a bus at the end of Day 1 (of 4), I went to check out Instagram because\u2026 well, do I need a reason? (Just because, okay!<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I. Was. Floored. <\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

My feed was FILLED with people attending the 100% online Creative Brand Summit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Creatives showing off the pages full of notes they were taking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Attendees posting screenshots of their computer with the current-at-the-time speaker they were watching.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Messy-haired, yoga pants-wearing, MacBook, and notebook-clad women posting photos of their groups of friends sitting around tiny Starbucks tables across the world. With their headphones in and their faces scrunched in concentration, they were watching the current-at-the-time speakers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

People showing off MY website! MY efforts! ALL over Instagram! What was happening?!<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

People tagging ME and raving to their audience about how much they were getting out of the presentations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

All-Access Pass sale after sale after sale, email subscriber after email subscriber, all flowing in to watch this event. AND they were bringing with them those they love, follow, and engage with in the creative industry.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And I don\u2019t think I posted a thing that week.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you look today, you\u2019ll find over 160 #creativebrandsummit Instagram posts and those are only the ones that were actually hashtagged.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Was it a super viral thing that turned us into instant celebrities? No.<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Was it one of the most heartwarming, validating, self-esteem boosting moments ever? Absolutely.<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This, my friends, is the power of creating a truly engaging event <\/em>in the online space.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is what we\u2019re calling The Modern Conference.<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Let\u2019s Back that Thang Up:<\/strong> Raise your hand if you\u2019ve ever been personally victimized by a Virtual Summit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You know the kind: online, sometimes free, sometimes available for a low price, no real engagement with speakers or fellow attendees, you probably forget to even go to a couple (or all of the?) sessions, etc.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You get lured in by the \u201cIT\u2019S FREE!\u201d price tag, but end up walking away subscribed to 20+ email lists that you didn\u2019t know you were being given to and the content is stuff you could have found on Pinterest or in other, free, evergreen webinars and that you could have consumed in 5-10 minutes, rather than 5 days.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sound familiar?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But how about those of you who have been to an in person conference?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Especially those conferences that totally blow you away \u2014 where the speakers engage with attendees like they\u2019re not just <\/em>celebrities who you\u2019ve looked up to for the past two years (no big deal \u2014 it\u2019s whatever \u2014 it\u2019s not like I just SHOOK MY FAVORITE PERSON\u2019S HAND EVER OMG I\u2019m never washing this hand, can I frame it?!?! I die!)<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At these wonderful events, you get:<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n