the first ever live laugh conf was both two weeks ago and a huge success
we did it, pals: on june 30th we launched a blog together and raised over $10,000 united states dollars for the women’s prison association.
if you’re wondering what the hell i’m talking about, well, it's complicated. i started this here blog in a very extra way and wanted to celebrate it's launch similarly. so i invited several friends to submit 5 minute lightning talks about anything that isn't work related, and they did! and then i asked friends and followers to join me during a live stream of me emceeing those talks, and you did!
well, maybe you did. if you didn't, you can watch the whole thing here:
let's do a mini retrospective together, yes?
was the event a success?
yes, 100%. these were my goals and we knocked it out of the park:
- my goal was to hit the $10,000 campaign goal, and we did at just the right moment of the event, too! and i got to show off my cheap disco ball light becasue we hit the goal. and it worked! now i must protect it forever since it's now officially live laugh canon.
- i wanted to start building a community around non-tech topics using tech community building tactics, as that's what i know best! the speakers really came through, some even surprising themselves - which is what a big part of the live laugh mentality is: being creative and surprising in positive ways. the event chat also was lively and friendly, and i really had a fun time revisiting it the next day (as i couldn't pay a lot of attention during the stream).
- my internet connection was :chef's kiss: stellar. it was probably the thing i was most terrified about, but my 28 foot ethernet cable (even though i was 4 feet from the router) really came through.
- folks actually used my extremely rushed photobooth app to post on social using the #livelaughconf hashtag. it was especially fun to see folks actually engaging with it, because i really threw that together super last minute as a manifestation of my pre-event nervous energy.
my last minute rush of stuff like that also falls into, and is the theme of, the next section:
what could i improve
- my equipment setup was amateur and, again, rushed! i was using a usb mic that's meant to be clipped to my computer but i couldn't get the sound loud enough unless i held it like a hand mic. i also used my macbook camera, which got the job done, but having an external camera would have been extremely convenient.
- i need to practice using streaming software more - i didn't realize i was muted at one point, and i forgot to use all the cool drops that chris bannon, one of the speakers, had given me. it was my first time doing a livestream with obs, so i know with more practice i'll have a better handle on those controls and feel/look more natural
- with better planning and more time (and a million dollars while i'm listing things i'll never have lmao), i would love to explore doing live q&as with speakers. i don't want to fly too close to the sun, but it's a goal for a future event!
thank you over 10,000 times to everyone involved!
i'm really excited to come up with and execute other fun things, including future livelaughconfs. i must admit, though, that with livelaughconf and this retrospective post now done, it will be nice to go back to simply livelaughblogging. get used to me prefixing everything with "live laugh" - it's called brand identity, love.
xoxo j$
