First $1,000: City Government Staffer Leads Virtual Events

Hi, this is Victoria, here to tell you about the time I accidentally started my virtual event planning side hustle. It all started with my friend's birthday party. She wanted to have a virtual celebration due to the pandemic, and being the tech-savvy person I am, I offered to help her set it up.

I had so much fun planning and organizing the event that I started to think about how I could do this for other people too. I started promoting my services on social media, and before I knew it, I had my first client!

The client was a small business that wanted to hold a virtual networking event for their employees. I was thrilled, but I quickly realized that there were a lot of differences between planning a virtual event and an in-person event.

One of the biggest differences was the technology involved. I had to make sure that everyone had access to the right software and knew how to use it. I also had to test everything beforehand to make sure there were no technical difficulties during the event.

Another difference was the atmosphere. With an in-person event, you can create a certain ambiance with decorations, lighting, and music. With a virtual event, you have to rely on the technology to create that atmosphere.

But despite these differences, I was determined to make the virtual event just as engaging and fun as an in-person event. I came up with some interactive activities that would keep everyone engaged and connected, and it was a huge success!

In the end, I earned my first $1,000 from that small business event, and I was hooked. I continued to promote my services and landed more clients who wanted to hold virtual events. And the best part? I was able to do it all while still working my full-time job with the city government.

My funniest moment so far is when I was planning a virtual baby shower for a client, and we had organized a game where the guests had to guess the baby's gender. Each guest had to hold up a sign with their guess, and we were going to count the votes to determine the winner.

But as we were getting ready to start the game, one of the guests accidentally held up a sign with a completely different message. Instead of guessing the baby's gender, the guest's sign read "I love cheese!"

We all burst out laughing, and the guest was so embarrassed that she tried to hide her face from the camera. But we turned it into a joke and decided to count her "I love cheese" vote as a write-in candidate.

In the end, it turned out to be a hilarious moment that made everyone feel more relaxed and connected. And who knows, maybe the baby will grow up to be a cheese lover!

My advice to anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps is to start small and build up your experience. Be sure to test things out and learn as you go. And most importantly, have fun with it! Virtual events can be just as exciting and engaging as in-person events if you're creative and willing to think outside the box.

Listen to today's episode to learn more...