Behind the Scenes Event Recap of Teach Me How To Summit
In March of 2023, I finally launched TheSummitHost.com!
It was a year in the making and well overdue as someone who should have spread my knowledge and love of virtual summits with fellow online creators long before! I mean even if not on the scale I ended up doing things, I definitely regret waiting so long to actually teach people something so impactful that I'm really good at.
So while launching the website felt good...
Launching the website with a virtual summit felt amazing!
In this blog post, we will take you behind the scenes of Teach Me How To Summit [TMHTS], a remarkable event that brought together 22 industry-leading speakers to produce 50 video sessions and shared a wealth of knowledge and inspiration with over 1300 attendees.
Join us as we recap the transformative 5-day event, which I used to launch The Summit Host brand, website, and products to the online business community. It included 22 speakers, 50 videos sessions (both live & pre-recorded), a free and paid ticket upgrade, as well as 1 sponsor!
đ¨ This blog is over 2000 words long! But it does cover quite a bit plus offers some personal insights on the areas below:
22 Speakers: Expertise at Its Finest
Teach Me How To Summit boasted an impressive lineup of 22 speakers, each a master in their respective fields and 100% capable of teaching their agreed-upon topic to what was gearing up to be over 1000 attendees.
From virtual business owners to online course creators, membership owners, and coaches, these industry visionaries shared their insights, strategies, and success stories to help participants scale their businesses.
The diversity of expertise ensured that attendees gained valuable knowledge from various perspectives, while I would also say the diversity in the lineup was pretty great as well.
Pitching, Onboarding & Management
Since I was brand spanking new to this niche, and quite frankly came from an industry where less than 1/2 a percent of my contacts would fit the bill for Speakers, I had to start from scratch! This meant doing all the work and much more research than I had been accustomed to.
I started with Instagram & Facebook.
I researched tags and topics, finding active business owners who were creating content around the topics I'd identified as ones that I needed to cover, and then added them to my list of potential speakers. From here, I did some additional research on their websites to see if they might be a good fit before making a plan to start pitching speakers using a template I'd set up in Outlook.
From there, I added Speakers to my Flodesk automation which included some follow-up emails to make sure they had all the information, details, and due date reminders they needed.
This process worked pretty well, as it had in future events.
The only thing I wish I had been able to further customize is which speakers go to which emails, based on the items I already had from them. (I ended up switching my Speaker Onboarding to 17hats after his event to accomplish this without stressing about who needed what or who had already seen which pieces of information.
It was amazing. (Check out 17hats here for 50% off!)
5 Days of Immersive Learning
Over the course of five action-packed days, TMHTS provided a comprehensive learning experience for attendees.
Participants were immersed in access to a wealth of knowledge, practical tips, and actionable strategies, enabling them to take their businesses to new heights and really wrap their heads around the idea of planning a virtual event.
The Event Schedule:
For the schedule, we wanted to feature a mix of live and pre-recorded videos that would be released hourly and provide 24 hours of free replay access. It looked like this:
- 8am Live Welcome & Summit Stories
- 9am Live Summit Training
- 10am Live Email Training
- 11am Hey Summit Tutorial
- 12pm Pre-Recorded Sessions x2
- 1pm Pre-Recorded Sessions x2
- 2pm Live Panel
- 3pm Networking
With a well-thought-out schedule, attendees had the opportunity to explore a wide range of topics and delve into sessions that resonated with their specific needs, regardless of if they were looking to plan their first or their next virtual event.
- We asked Speakers to prepare 25-46 minute sessions
- We gave them the option to record on their own or sit down for a 1:1 interview.
- Very few Speakers chose the interview route, which meant I saved a ton of time since I didn't have many to do.
- We asked Speakers to do just a quick intro and then go straight into their topic to make sure attendees got the most information packed into each session.
- We required speakers not to pitch their products and services at the end of their sessions, to make sure attendees felt appreciated and not constantly sold to.
50 Sessions: A Deep Dive into Key Areas
The summit featured an impressive lineup of 50 sessions, covering everything from marketing and sales to content creation, technology, and personal development. Our lineup covered things like:
and so much more!
Each session was carefully curated to provide attendees with practical insights and actionable strategies they could implement immediately. Having a diverse range of topics ensured that participants left the summit equipped with a well-rounded skill set.
5 Live Panels: Engaging Discussions and Thought Leadership
Teach Me How To Summit also embraced the power of live panels, where experts came together to engage in thought-provoking discussions.
These panels offered a unique opportunity for attendees to witness the synergy that arises when brilliant minds collaborate. From exploring industry trends to sharing best practices, these panels provided a wealth of knowledge and inspiration, while allowing live attendees to ask their own questions directly!
My thoughts on having panels:
- With the exception of my first event back in 2018, I've always found a way to incorporate at least a few live panels in each event I've hosted.
- Lining up speakers for these sessions can be as easy as adding a checkbox with panel times, topics, and dates to your Speaker Intake Form.
- Sometimes there will be Speakers who miss the live recording, and while frustrating, as long as you have a few people to ask questions to, you'll be fine.
- I like to record the panels and allow all ticket holders to view the recordings as well as attend live if they can make it.
- I used Live Webinar for the Spring 2023 TMHTS panels but will use Zoom Webinar as we did for the Fall 2023 event moving forward.
- Always go into a panel with a few base questions to fill the time and any dead spots when live attendees are not actively submitting their own.
- Make sure you know how to pronounce your panelist's names and practice your intros a few times to make sure you're comfortable.
5 Live Welcome Calls + Summit Stories + Q&A: Connecting and Inspiring
To kick off each day of the summit, participants were treated to live welcome calls.
These calls set the tone for the day, energizing attendees and creating a sense of community. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to hear inspiring summit stories from my co-host and I, providing insights into our summit journeys and lessons learned.
We covered things like:
The Q&A sessions allowed attendees to ask us direct questions and gain further clarity on the topics discussed.
5 Live Summit Trainings + Q&A: Deepening Knowledge and Skill Development
The Teach Me How To Summit went beyond mere inspiration and offered five live summit trainings that I created and hosted daily myself.
These training sessions allowed participants to dive deeper into specific topics, equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to really wrap their heads around the process of creating a virtual summit event! I covered:
Diving deep into these topics, in addition to offering a separate 'pre-recorded summit training at the end of the day" made me feel great about the level of knowledge attendees would be walking away with. And the live Q&A sessions that followed provided an invaluable opportunity for attendees to have their burning questions answered immediately.
3 Live Email Trainings + Q&A: Mastering the Art of Effective Communication
To host a virtual summit about virtual summits, without focusing on the emails that are needed to host your own would have been a disservice to the attendees we were trying to help.
So for TMHTS, my cohost, Liz Wilcox dedicated three live sessions to email training. These sessions were focused on the before, during, and after emails that you'll need to host your event and her goal was to help participants craft compelling messages that resonate with their potential audience.
She covered everything from writing engaging subject lines to optimizing email copy for maximum impact, for your pre-event emails, your live event emails as well as the post-event emails that you'll want to send for each and every event.
And since her emails were included inside our paid ticket- it was great for attendees to get direct training from here on how and why to utilize them. If you have templates that are included in your paid tickets, it's great to do trainings like this during the event for the sake of training, but they also provide a great opportunity to mention the paid ticket!
And as always, the live Q&A sessions ensured that attendees received personalized guidance tailored to their specific needs and could ask her the questions they needed to know, to go on and produce the emails they'd need for their events.
4 Live HeySummit Tutorials + Q&A: Navigating the Summit Experience
To ensure participants could maximize their summit experience, Teach Me How To Summit also offered four live HeySummit tutorials.
Since I use HeySummit for a lot of my events and they agreed to come on board as our main sponsor, I wanted to showcase their platform and really let attendees see how easy it is to set up the event using their system. These tutorials were hosted by HeySummit Founder, Benjamin Dell and he guided attendees on how to navigate the event platform, build your landing page, set up your tickets, automate emails, and overall just how to make the most of the interactive features.
Ben covered some really in-depth training on how to use and navigate the HeySummit platform, including:
If you're thinking of pitching sponsors for your events, it's a great idea to give them time on the main stage to talk directly to attendees. The only word of caution is to make their session impactful instead of a sales pitch. Find topics that fit the event goals and will be helpful for your attendees and then take it from there.
Event Recap of Teach Me How To Summit
Teach Me How To Summit was an extraordinary event that brought together industry leaders, eager learners, and cutting-edge strategies.
With its 22 speakers, and 50 unique sessions featuring live panels, summit stories, trainings, and HeySummit tutorials, this virtual summit left a lasting impact on all who participated. The event's comprehensive schedule, engaging discussions, and personalized support truly unleashed the power of virtual learning and we were so thrilled to see how many attendees engaged with the videos, speakers, and even our sponsor, HeySummit!
There was so much to cover in this post, I'll have to write a few others on specific aspects as well as one of the Fall 2023 events and what we plan to do for 2024. So stay tuned for future behind-the-scenes, and event recap blogs about out summits and the things we've tested and learned!
