8 Things to Know Before you Host an Online Experience
Last year, I became an online event host — a job that did not exist until then. I was filled with sadness and disappointment seeing my offline events start to get cancelled when the lockdown was announced in the previous year in Berlin. I might have continued mourning about it, but my tech-sophisticated partner pushed me to go online. I can not thank him enough for pushing me into this vast sea of possibilities.
When life gives you lemons, use the zest to style your food.
Napolean Hill has rightly said, “Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat.”
I have been running online experience events on Airbnb and other platforms since 2020, focusing on Indian spices and food ingredients. Over the past year, I have hosted thousands of people worldwide. I was able to host organisations like Facebook, MIT, Amazon, LinkedIn, Capital one, HP, Allbirds, Expedia, Lyft, Delivery Hero & many more.
Online events are here to stay. If you are considering online hosting or just wondering what it is like to be an online event host, my story of hosting will be helpful for you. Here is what I have learned in the past year hosting hundreds of events:
What works Offline may not apply to Virtual Events:
The structure of an online event needs to be different from an offline one. Online events can get tiring because of screen fatigue, so it is ideal to keep them short.
I started out doing 90-minute long events, but now unless there is a specific demand, I have kept the events to 60 minutes. In an offline event, the host has more control over the ingredients required for a cooking class, but it is all up to the participants and what they have in an online environment. So, I tend to make the event format simple and with limited instructions for the participants to follow.
A click from our Berlin Event
2. Take one step at a time
One can not develop a perfect experience from day one, and I know I need to refine my process with every event. So I make sure I keep practising with my friends and families. I ask for their honest feedback and try to incorporate improvements on every single point. Of course, bloopers do happen from time to time, but I have practised staying calm and incorporating a story or two while I let the blooper pass away.
Join my Ghee event to know more about Ghee, the Indian Superfood.
3. Start with a simple setup for hosting Online events
The technical setup for hosting the virtual meeting is crucial for the event's success. However, I realised I could not just copy someone else's setup and make it happen. Instead, I needed to start with a simple setup.
In my case, I or better say, my partner, did a lot of research on the pieces needed to make a flawless experience for the participants. Today, the setup looks very different from the one I had at the start. It is all about trial and error.
Turmeric as a spice is quite popular in my experience
4. Find and create your own league
Rolf Dobelli correctly said in his book “The Art of the Good Life” that if you find yourself in an arms race, get out of it.
I make sure that my team building events are different from what others are offering. One of the ways I do that is by playing with my core strengths. I focus on simplifying complex things by storytelling and sharing my knowledge of spices. In addition, I share my profound interest in food styling, healthy cooking, and dancing. By living outside my home country for so long, I have been able to empathise with people from all over the world, which helps me understand their perspectives and constraints. Also, I have a professional dressing style for the events.
Our Popular Butter Masala Curry, Do you appreciate the food presentation?
5. This work ain’t easy and burnout is real
It may look like an uncomplicated way of making money on the surface. But, in reality, it is not that easy. I went through a lot myself. My eyes stayed uncomfortable all winter because of the big studio lights I used. My sleep pattern got disturbed on many days for late-night work.
Colouring helps me to meditate and keep a check on the Stress
Reviews are crucial in this work; even if you do your best, you are still scared about the customer's feedback. One deducted star is so much of a disadvantage. Initially, I used to wake up in the middle of the night to ensure that I got five stars.
I recently got a 4-star review on Airbnb, and the surprising part of this is that the feedback was very positive. Getting 5-star reviews is quite crucial for Airbnb to keep hosting.
I was hurt and sad for a day. But, all my loved ones said that this would not matter in the long run.
6. Keep growing even after perfection.
I do not want to spend my entire life doing the same thing every day. I feel doing this would defeat my creativity and even my growth as a person. For me, no two events are alike. I tailor each event to the participants' needs. I let them choose the spices they want to talk about in every spice event or the menu if it is a cooking event. They even decide on the porcelain that I will serve my food in.
What say?
I take a lot of time to answer their questions as well. That keeps me on my toes. I am always reading to learn more about spices, constantly trying new ingredients, developing recipes, styling methods and dance moves.
My reviews are full of generous love from people.
7. You can only sustain doing this if you really love it
It can get very tiring if you are not passionate about event planning and hosting. Also, you require a bigger purpose to feel emotionally attached to it. I love every part of my work. It comprises communicating, educating, cooking, teaching, learning, designing and dancing. However, my bigger mission is to help motivate people to cook simple, healthy, delicious meals for themselves and their families.
8. It gives you the courage to dream big
As virtual events suddenly connect you to the whole world, you can dare to dream big.
My big dream is to be featured in Vogue magazine as a modern spice master.
I have hosted groups of up to 1000 people. I want to host even a bigger group now.
I want to do an offline event in New York City.
Host my dream companies SpaceX, Tesla, Netflix, NASA, Apple, Zoom and Google. I narrowly missed out on Google twice. I hope to host them very soon.
I also would love to host some celebrities: Warren Buffet (the wisest person I know. I mostly listen to him when I am cooking. I hope he becomes curious about online events and spices, too), Jeff Bezos (the other times, I listen to him), Tim Cook (I appreciate his voice and calm attitude in his interviews), Elon Musk (My husband's favourite person. He would go crazy if Elon Musk attended one of my events), Jim Parson (Oh, Sheldon), Sia (I listen to 'Unstoppable' for high vibes), Anna Wintour (I took a lot of decisions after watching her Masterclass) and Obama (my favourite orator).
The last person could be Susan Jeffers, whose book "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" had urged me to remodel my craft into a real business.
So that is what I have learned so far, and I am sure I have more to discover in the future. If you are stuck, let me tell you, it is easier and sexier than you think to find and do the work you love.