Sold Out: Creating Events People Actually Want to Attend

As a tech company, we created Office Hours – a free interactive event series for NYC interns to learn from industry leaders – in order to give us an intimate, offline touchpoint with our users. Nine events and over 1,000 students signups later, I wanted to share what went into pulling off this event series, which not only gave college students insight into great industries (including Sports, Music, Tech, Fashion and more) but also provided connections to young leaders at top companies. Here’s how we were able to create an experience only WayUp could deliver.

Be the first, the best, and the only.

When we came up with the idea for Office Hours, we didn’t want to hold another boring panel event. We knew we would be at an advantage if we were the first, best or only company doing something different. To distinguish ourselves, we decided all events would be free (with free food, too) and wouldn’t be held in classrooms. Speakers would not sit behind a long, formal table. They would be young and relatable to students, and each event would have something “extra” for the attendees.

Our first Office Hours ever (Women in Business) was a perfect example of this. Held in an underground music venue with exposed brick walls, the event featured speakers from Facebook, L’Oreal, Christie’s and the Female Founders Fund. All 250 spots filled up in 2.5 hours! We followed the same model for our summer series, which not only featured amazing panels, but also a SoulCycle class after the Health & Wellness event, a service project after the Non-Profit event and a pitch competition at our Tech & Startups event, where the winner’s prize was a meeting with a real NYC-based VC.

Sh*t happens…

I love producing events because you get to see your hard work come to life. However, more often than not, something unexpected pops up that makes the job more than you bargained for. This summer, we had a panelist get stuck at Bonaroo (not too shabby…), a leak in the ceiling at our venue and our food delivery get stuck in traffic! The key here is to remain calm at all times when you are throwing events. If you get flustered, your team and –even worse– your attendees will notice. Plan for the most epic event and for the craziest hiccups. This means be alert, anticipate pitfalls and have backup plans when possible.

If you don’t shoot, you can’t score.

I swear I am usually pretty humble, but I must admit we had some kick ass panelists at our Office Hours events. To secure them, I looked through my phone, my connections and my Facebook friends, searching for people I knew would inspire our students. I asked my WayUp colleagues to do the same. We crafted thoughtful, genuine emails and more importantly, picked up the phone to let our contacts know we would be honored if they would be a panelist for Office Hours. As the “Great One,” Wayne Gretzky, once said, “If you don’t shoot, you can’t score.” In this case, that meant all we had to do was ask. We ended up with panelists from amazing companies including Red Bull, Facebook, NBA, ESPN, Twitter, YouTube, SoulCycle, Shake Shack, Unicef, Starwood Hotels, Venmo, Live Nation and more!

Don’t focus on self-promotion.

You know you have thrown a successful event when your attendees walk away feeling like they received value (even when your events are free). These events were not used to plug WayUp or to constantly talk about how our users could better utilize the platform. The focus of our events was simply to make sure the attendees felt inspired and received solid advice they couldn’t get anywhere else. Here are some things students said to us after the events:

• “I really appreciate all that WayUp is doing for us college students. I’ll see you at the next 2 events!”
• “If only you could have more office hours, you guys are doing a great job! I’m sure to come to every one.”
• “Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this event. I enjoyed learning from the panel about the sports marketing industry and how much is involved with the day to day operations. The experience of going to my first Red Bulls soccer game will always be remembered.”
• “What an amazing event last night! The whole panel was so inspiring.”

Every detail matters.

As I mentioned before, shit happens, and that’s why every detail matters. That includes everything from the venue, the way the chairs are set up, where the food will be placed, how many mics and staff members we need and so much more. Two of the most important details are timing and targeting. These two factors need to be decided very early on. When we were planning our summer series, we decided to do a 7-week series in NYC, where there are thousands of interns from all over the country. We also knew that the series needed to launch once all intern programs started and end before the students left to go back to school. We needed to make sure they were held at a time (6:45pm) when interns would be out of work, and end (8:15pm) before interns go do…what summer interns in NYC do after hours.

Because we put so much time and energy into creating an incredible event, we wanted to ensure each event was sold out, which meant targeting the right topics. Instead of doing guess work, we turned to our users to ask them what they would be interested in. The results included the Sports, Music, Tech, Health & Wellness, Non-Profit, Hospitality and Fashion industries. Guess what? Each event was sold out!

Office Hours was able to show our users that WayUp is not just a “job site.” We don’t have white pages with blue links, and we don’t do things the way other companies do. Our mission is “to connect students to awesome opportunities,” and that goes way beyond the job listings on WayUp. We are excited to start planning more Office Hours for 2016, including events in Boston and DC! Click here to be the first to find out when we announce our next event.