In the previous chapter, we mentioned that building anticipation is one of the benefits of early hub access. This chapter provides a few practical tips for doing just that.
Build out a gallery of short videos for folks to watch on-demand before the event, for example:
Previous event highlight reel or trailer for this event
Snippets from speakers' pre-recorded talks
Outtakes from presentations or test streams
Vlog style updates about the organizing process
Not only will this make your hub look more inviting and give your participants something to do when they get in, but it'll help get them excited about what's to come.
Vito hubs feature a rich discussion feed where you can post regular updates. For instance, you might want to let folks know you've just booked an exciting new speaker or that a sponsor has an amazing giveaway prize up for grabs. Or you may even want to put out a call for help in pulling off a certain aspect of the event. Who better to reach out to than the community your event is serving?
A daily digest email is sent out highlighting new hub updates within the last 24 hours, or you can post an important update as an Announcement to send it as an email instantly. Posts support rich media, so you can easily include images, videos and links to spice things up.
Even better, run a test stream ahead of time and just hang out for a bit! This gives you a low-stakes-while-still-being-exciting opportunity to get acquainted with the streaming process, plus it provides some extra content for your participants and helps them connect with you on a human level. In this context, mistakes and technical hiccups are all part of the charm…
Here are a few ideas if you're not sure what you'd talk about:
Share the behind-the-scenes story of the event
Bring on one of the speakers as a guest and interview them
Answer any questions people share in the feed
Announce in advance that you'll be going live, or else just run an impromptu stream and it'll be a nice surprise for anyone who happens to be in the hub at the time.
🎬 Watch this tutorial if you're new to streaming.
There's no need to wait to the day of the event to start having some fun with your audience, and hopefully this chapter has given you a bit of inspiration for how to do that.