A few weeks ago Looking Glass Photo Booth hosted an event with our sister company Downriver Pro Painting. This event was a FREE small business networking event for people in the downriver community. The goal of hosting this was to help the community gain local connections with likeminded people. We went into this event blind with no expectations but lots of excitement. Most local networking events cost a free and then you spend money on drinks or food. Our event was not only free to attend, but also included free drinks and appetizers!
This all started when Brandon and I came up with the idea to host an event but first wanted to get a feel for how the community would engage with the event. I made a post in the Dowriver & Friends Facebook group asking other local small businesses if they’d be interested in attending the free small business networking event. The reaction from the local businesses were overwhelming! I was extremely excited based on the total headcount that just expressed interest alone. One of the people that expressed interest was this woman named Erica that messaged me stating she owned a venue downriver and would love to invite us to check it out. After googling her venue name, The Underground Event Venue, I was eager to do a walk through.
A few days later we scheduled a walk through with Erica at her venue and immediately fell in love. She was extremely kind and accommodating. After picking a date, we began preparing for event. We hired The Loosey Goosey mobile bar to offer our guests drinks.
When the day finally came, we were very nervous but hopeful for a good turn out. When you host a FREE event, it sounds more appealing, but if something else comes up, people are more likely not to show up because there is no risk to them. Our event was 3 hours and our first guest arrived a hair before the start time. This had me excited because I was super eager to meet the amazing small business owners that RSVP’d.
The entire event was filled with ENDLESS engagement. The Downriver News Network came to our event to get coverage and help us spread the word online. The overall headcount of the event was about half of those who RSVP’d but the people that showed up were extremely valuable. Since our event, I’ve noticed online that the people that came have since then followed/added each other on social media. I’ve seen them shouting one another out and I’ve also been contacted by other businesses that would like to attend the next event. We are very excited to host the next one. Stay tuned!
Commentaires