Two weeks ago, we kicked off our very first live conference: Retain Live 2019.
It's the first time we've run an event of this scale, and to say it was a new, interesting and challenging experience would be a major understatement!
While the event itself was a huge success and we've had overwhelmingly positive feedback – getting there certainly wasn't smooth sailing.
In the first of our two-part debrief, Callie joins me on the show to discuss the weeks leading up to the event – as the workload (and stress levels) ramp up.
In this episode…
- Why we hated the whole process of selling tickets for our event, and the reason we ended ticket sales early
- The big discovery we made about ourselves while preparing for the conference and working with our event team
- Unexpected challenges and frustrating obstacles that led to us hitting breaking point the week before the event
- Our biggest lessons and top takeaways for anyone thinking of running an event like Retain Live
Related Links
- Planning a Conference: Behind The Scenes Of Retain 2019
- Chris Ducker on Running Live Events to Grow Your Membership
Rehearsing for our opening keynote – our first time as a double-act on stage
Figuring out the agenda was a lot more challenging than we'd realised it would be!
Callie's office (and most of our house downstairs) was overtaken by deliveries of stuff for the event
Things started to feel VERY real when we received namebadges for our attendees and speakers
Definite goosebumps when we visited our AV teams workshop and saw them working on the logo for our stage
One of my totally unnecessary 1am purchases – bottles of water for speakers (as though the venue wouldn't have some!)
Thank You For Listening
We really appreciate you chosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in iTunes. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!
Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes to make sure that you never miss an episode
