Session sneak peek and the call for volunteers!

We have loads of big questions about participation capacity (mostly theoretical and wishful thinking around capacity and too many attendees), but those are our only blockers at the moment. (i.e. in an event focused on conversation, can you really talk with 100 people in a zoom? And what if 14,000 people register... then what do we do?) These are problems we'll worry about when we get there. For now, let's just get our first 100 people to register!

For those of you following along on this journey, I'll also start giving you the registration numbers. As of 11pm on August 12th, we're at 57 registrants, and I think about half of them are our staff and volunteers. We have a long way to go to hit our 2,000-person goal, hence the ramp of marketing this week. And we all know that Audience Acquisition is the HARDEST part of events!

Beyond those numbers, here's what we have solved this week so far: The content train has left the station and we have SO MANY amazing conversations lined up for September 9th.

We've anchored on the content having a 90s throwback theme by all named in a Friends naming style "The one about..." but each description will start with "How To" because all sessions should have a problem/solution construct.

For example:

The one where we talk about ROI: How to prove the efficiency of the events and speak the same language as your sales team; a.k.a. Revenue metrics every event marketer should know. This live roundtable will be a conversation filled with ways to advance your event program with your sales and marketing team.

The one where you Grow your Career while Growing Your Family: Randi Braun loves seeing working mothers thrive. She knows first-hand that, like parenting itself, working motherhood is both incredibly rewarding and filled with tough days. Join Randi, an executive coach and the Founder of Something Major, for an inspiring conversation about how you can achieve your career aspirations and your personal goals. You can expect to leave this dynamic conversation with new tactics and more confidence for growing your career while growing your family. https://www.somethingmajorcoaching.com/

The one where you learn that being a podcast guest can drive business: How to increase your visibility with podcast interviews. Have you wondered how your competitors or colleagues end up as expert guests on podcasts? Julie Fry shares all the secrets, including:

• Learn why it's time to bring your conversation to Podcasts and increase your marketing ROI
• During this 30-Minute Live Zoom Session You'll Learn:
• The benefits of appearing on podcasts as a guest
• Examples of lead generation and how you can apply these strategies to your business
• How to get booked on perfect fit podcasts to reach your target audience

So after determining the sessions and the content (which is still ongoing, by the way, so if you want to lead a conversation, please reach out! We can use more conversations!), we now know that we need at least 14 "room moms and dads" to be our session room hosts. If you are looking to join in the fun, please let us know!

I also want to invite the industry associations (MPI, PCMA, CEMA, AWE, SPIN, SGMP, and any others!) who might want to have their local chapters host an in-person coffee hour on September 10th to reach out and let us know. The goal is 10 or fewer people gathering IN PERSON at a venue to have a one-hour conversation (coffee, lunch, or happy hour!), following all safety protocols. This could be an opportunity for hotels to show off how they have changed to care for guests, or restaurants to showcase how they are supporting the distance guidelines. This is totally optional, but we thought it would be a cool addition for those who wish to partake.

So that's it for today - hard to believe it's already the end of Wednesday. Please join in the conversation on Slack and register for the event. Join the Conversation one way or another! :-)

Here's how you can get involved in this journey with us:

• Watch our progress: Daily LinkedIn updates (like a journal!)
• See it get created: You can watch our twice-weekly planning meetings live on our YouTube Channel (subscribe to get notified when we go live)
• Join in the process: You can join the Age of Conversation Slack channel and be part of the creation of this event
• Register for the event: The Age of Conversation Summit, September 9th!
• JOIN THE 6-WEEK CHALLENGE: What will you accomplish over the next 6 weeks? (join the Slack channel to make your commitment!)

Liz Lathan, CMP is co-founder and CEO of Haute Dokimazo, a "spontaneous think tank” company that empowers participants to solve their business challenges through conversation fueled by the wisdom of peers. Haute Dokimazo is part of Haute Companies, a family of companies anchored in human connection, from events to media (podcasts, videos, and more) to direct mail to swag to entertainment talent management to strategy session facilitation.

Haute Dokimazo is partnering with QiqoChat to create The Age of Conversation Summit on September 9, 2020 to bring conversation back to the digital world.