Virtual Gala TV: Recent Episodes
BUTU
I was reading this book last week, "Flow" by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi
It's a book about optimal experience, a state of mind known as "Flow", AKA "being in the zone"
After studying everyone from chess masters to surgeons (who live for Flow), he explains how we are often wrong about how to have a great time.
We tend to chase after pleasurable experiences.
They tickle the senses, but they're also fleeting, and often expensive. And guess what? No Flow.
Turns out, it's only enjoyable experiences that create Flow.
Enjoyable experiences are experiences that tickle the soul.
They leave a lasting impression, are meaningful, and guess what... they're free.
Karl Lagerfeld was the King of Couture.
Creative Director of Chanel for 35 years, he took over in 1982 when it was a dying, moth-eaten brand up for bankruptcy.
And the rest is high fashion history.
But the Berlin Baron had another claim to fame that lives on in our wardrobes to this day:
He democratized high fashion.
It was 2004 and his collaboration with H&M that for the first time, made high fashion cuts available at high street prices.
H&M came up with the idea, the clever Swedes. They needed something to revitalize their brand, and a Stockholm brainstorming sesh birthed the idea of a high fashion collab.
They called up Karl, and it was like he'd been thinking the same thing.
“The future will only be about high and low... The high I already have with Chanel and this would be perfect to get the low."
And the rest is high street history.
Countdown campaigns. Collaborations. Pop-up concepts. Skinny jeans. Much of the last 15 years of fashion can be traced back to Karl's collection for H&M.
So why do I like this story?
Maybe because I'm a champagne socialist.
Maybe because I once met Karl in a nightclub and he's equally cool in person.
Or maybe because I wonder if something similar couldn't happen with galas.
What if you could get Chanel results for H&M prices?
Last week I watched a "Zoom-raiser" hosted by Miracle Messages, a charity that reunites homeless people with their families.
It was totally DIY, with head of charity Kevin hosting from his living room, basically like he was running a 100-person Zoom call but with some nice pre-rolled videos.
I'd been intro'd to them by a friend of a friend, and I gave them some "best practices" from the virtual galas I've been doing, which they applied.
And it seemed to go alright for them, given they were hoping to raise $50,000 and ended up with $70,000.
I'll admit, I was a bit "anti-Zoom" for virtual fundraisers.
My idea was that virtual galas needed to be as close to "TV quality" as possible.
And I still think, if you've got the budget, why not invest in top notch production and the works.
But if you don't?
I'm beginning to wonder if Zoom could be the ultimate democratizer of fundraising events.
It's easy to use. It can get a whole bunch of people together cheaply. And it's got more nifty tricks and tools (like the new "apps") that could make for a more immersive and fun experience.
H&M didn't replace Chanel.
Virtual and Zoom fundraisers won't replace in-person galas.
But they could be a way of bringing gala type moments to way more people.
And that could be good for everybody.
Ciao dahling 🕶
BUTU
P.S. For all the latest virtual gala jams join my mailing list at https://mailchi.mp/butu/email
Today we look at the story of Miracle Messages, who raised $70,000 on a "Zoomraiser" in December!
Why don't virtual galas have a check-in process? SAGE Events say it's a NON-NEGOTIABLE for the virtual events they produce in the for-profit space. So why don't we (generally) do this in the nonprofit event space? Maybe we should...
How d'ya get people to your virtual gala then, eh? SAGE Events, who've gotten 402,000 people to the 62 virtual events they've planned (generating $300+ of revenue) might know a thing or two, wethinks. Good intel here.
How do you get people to show up to your virtual gala? This is a question we've been exploring this week with the help of the great minds at SAGE, and the most-watched virtual gala on Youtube (we think).
Did you know the Golden Globes is technically a gala? (raising money for a nonprofit called the Hollywood Foreign Press Association). It's what we might now call a "hybrid" gala: an in-person event that's also broadcast out to the world. Before the pandemic, the Golden Globes was the only hybrid gala I'd ever heard of. But now, with that "in between" stage we're at as we gingerly plan in-person events again, a hybrid seems like a cost-effective way to manage costs and risk around your spring gala. Around a year ago I watched my first hybrid gala—hosted by Tara's Chance, a horse therapy charity—and was very excited by what I saw. And based on their success first time round, they did another hybrid recently. So I decided to share some of my notes from it with you, here, live. Ciao! - BUTU