Workshop planning for the Playing Outside festival (PO)
- We were told we could do 3 workshops for 20 people each throughout a festival day
- Since we’ve done a workshop now, I was less concerned about how it could work, but suggested doing Self-Care Zine workshops since it’s something we’re familiar with = founder said this was a great idea
- We later scheduled a meeting with the Festival host:
- She explained the venue and I noticed I was very uninformed (which was a shock as I usually research thoroughly). Initial conversations were between the founder and PO, and so I realised my research wasn’t in the right places. Next time I’ll ask if I’ve missed anything
- We decided on times that worked for us, and that we needed to send workshop photos and descriptions soon
- I was surprised at the workshop suggestion, as it was different to what we initially agreed. My cohost and I said we’d get back to confirm this and we made further refinements
- PO confirmed our refinements but there was no break mentioned, which was not what was discussed
- I then noticed:
- Promotion for the workshops were out before our deadline
- Unconfirmed timings were used
- The workshop title and description was wrong
- Prices were different
- I was surprised and told the team who were too, but after emailing about this, these changes were made
- Despite being a very chaotic situation, I learnt a lot about communication and the importance of considering the needs of small communities (like when collaborating), to ensure collaborations are fair on both sides = furthered my knowledge about this sector and connectivity skills
Content
- With content changes, I asked the founder again if we could make a content calendar to organise our posts. I felt this really improved my workflow to schedule future ideas and know exactly what I’m making
- She requested I make a Tokyo Reel for their past Galentines event. She was unsure how to compile footage since this event incorporated multiple workshops simultaneously with few videos
- I looked at the footage, remembering a trend I’d noticed and agreed
- I wanted to use a Capcut template, but as the content was mainly photos and the template wasn’t flexible, I decided to make it myself
- I split the video into 3 titled sections of each workshop which was useful
Feedback:
Sounds perfect for Galentines, you did it so fast
Text should move slightly [to fit into reel formats]
Add another clip of the books [since it was their main collaborator’s shop]
These were good points and I made these adjustments
She commented:
Obsessed with it
So I’m glad the idea worked
Galentines video:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVr_SRRChbF/?igsh=MTg4Z2U5bnV0NmNwOQ==
- The founder also came up with a plan of which dates promotional content, tickets and emails should be out. This is helpful to know when to start preparing and have collaborator information by
- While balancing IH with an ACP course, I did struggle to keep up with what was happening with IH
- The founder asked if I’m posting a video on the calendar. However, I understood the calendar to be flexible based on a prior conversation and her earlier missed post = I realised that expectations can easily be unaligned without explicit confirmation
- I said I could post it on the next available day and didn’t receive a response, but a comment she made elsewhere reminded me that miscommunication can create the wrong impression, so I followed up
- We came to a resolution and I was able to post in good timing = the importance of proactive communication and also keeping things professional
Matcha Whisking & Journaling event:
- This event sold out as our first paid sold out event, which was motivating
- The event itself was successful, but I did have some concerns:
- Especially in accordance with our aims, we promoted the event as relaxing. This wasn’t necessarily the case as I think EM may have brought in a different kind of audience
- I noticed an uncomfortable attendee who said she expected it to be relaxing. Other people, however, said they loved it and had a lot of fun, and while I agree, I think our audiences must have clashed, reminding me of the importance of being aligned. I informed the IH team, but am unsure what exactly we could’ve done to prevent it
- It showed me that not all collaborations will be completely balanced
- I also wasn’t able to get all the content I needed since there were a lot of moving parts, understanding that sometimes content doesn’t always go to plan
CT and PO preparation
- Since I felt behind, I told my cohost that we could catch up and this was really beneficial
- With 2 events next month, we discussed materials, schedules and made documents
- We also thought of making QR code posters for PO and that we needed to buy lots of new supplies = helpful to be stocked up and have more promotional material for future events
- I made post captions and the ticketing page using my new templates to help, which was useful, especially as there were lots of captions to make. I sent the Eventbrite to CT who confirmed it’s useability
- I think communication over the group chat has been helpful and professional e.g. we also discussed other reel promotions to make etc., so I will continue to do this for collaborations