I have organised many client events over the years, but this was my debut virtual one and when we starting to discuss it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Three colleagues and I decided to take the plunge with direction from our website and marketing associate, Danny.
We work with a wonderful Japanese specialist - InsideJapan - and I wanted to make sure that appropriate and interested guests were involved in the event and that the evening was entertaining and engaging for them.
My own trip has been moved from last year to this autumn so I’m pretty obsessed with all things Japan at the moment.
A comprehensive advance training session with Matt, InsideJapan’s Agency Sales Manager, was set up. We discussed his presentation and received a top up to our Japanese knowledge - there is a lot to know!
Matt was brilliant - so knowledgeable, easy to listen to and I just knew the event would be relaxed, informative and fun.
The guys worked hard to help us make the event as special as possible, creating a colourful invite for us to send to prospective guests; and once these had been confirmed, collating and posting out lovely packs in advance to be opened on the day of the event.
These contained Japanese tea and crackers, some origami to be completed during the event, recipe cards and lots of information on the InsideJapan tours - all housed in a lovely tote bag.
Matt made the evening incredibly informative and great fun. His personal stories from his time living there and subsequent visits were brilliant and really added to the presentation, which concluded with an enthusiastically received prize draw for a lovely bottle of Japanese gin.
We had a maximum guest attendance, and it was so lovely to see some of my clients online. All said how useful the presentation was and that they are now extremely keen to visit Japan.
The event was nicely summed up by Gordon and Ann, who sent me this kind feedback:
"We have always had a notion to go so when we heard about the Japan evening, we immediately asked for a place as it was a great opportunity to find out more. The presentation was brilliant, well prepared and a great insight into the traditions, culture and all aspects of the country. We are now excitedly in the process of arranging a trip with Gillian's help."
All in all, my first online client event was definitely a big success, and we are already debating which destination should be next - so get your votes in!
Thanks so much to Matt and Danny, and of course my clients for joining and supporting me.
