Tonight was our second networking event on Zoom. Our first event was in March when I got to see how Zoom works in real-time. It’s one thing looking at a platform and going through and understanding the options, it’s another to actually being live. To ensure everything would run smoothly, I arranged for my IT hero, Luke Edge, to be on standby, particularly as I was using the breakout rooms for the very first time (they involve maths, not my strong point, especially under pressure).
The meeting was due to start at 6pm, so Luke and I were going to speak at 530 and ensure everything was ready to go. Unfortunately, Virgin crashed, and Luke couldn’t get online, nor could some of our other participants. Then the internet came back on so Luke Edge, Janet Efere and Alex Marks were there for a while but, unfortunately, Virgin went down again and they were again lost in cyberspace. There is currently a major Virgin broadband outage across the UK.
So that’s definitely the downside of live online events! I had planned for every eventuality, except not being able to get online!!!
However, I don’t think I’ve ever had so many messages from attendees after an event! Virtually everyone has sent me a message telling me how much they loved it and they’ll be back next month!
It’s really rather fun! We pitched at the beginning, then I placed everyone in breakout rooms for people to connect in smaller groups and then I moved everyone again into a different room to continue building and making new connections.
Lastly, everyone told us what businesses they’re looking to connect with.
We didn’t have to go out, we didn’t need to find a parking space, and you can grab a drink, pop to the loo and someone even ate their dinner whilst participating!!
So I hope you’ll join us next month as now, more than ever, it’s vital to keep your business in the limelight. It’s a real opportunity to make lasting connections, feel less isolated, and of course network but also feel and be supported during the most unusual of times.
Our next online event is on Thursday 28 May at 6pm and I’ll post the link in the next couple of days with more information. We have a superb speaker lined up, Janet Efere of Tadpole Training, and I hope to see you there.
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