Q&A with a nonprofit: Planning a virtual festival
SeekHealing is a young, but powerful organization located in Asheville, North Carolina. Their goal is to liberate human beings from addiction through authentic connection.
SeekHealing takes a fresh approach to preventing addiction relapse and overdose patterns by empowering people to find true healing after detox. The premise of their model was inspired by the most recent research in neuroscience indicating that authentic, non-shaming experiences of connection are the cornerstone of successful recovery.
In the face of the pandemic and social isolation, SeekHealing staff saw a need to gather and support one another more than ever before. Say hello to the We Are the Medicine Festival.
Joey Moore, Fundraising Coordinator for SeekHealing, shared with us the organization’s experiences coordinating their first virtual festival.
Sarah: Can you give us a brief history of We Are the Medicine Festival? Is this an event you have done in the past?
Joey: This event was our first publicly available online event and festival as an organization. The idea behind it was to showcase what SeekHealing is up to whether it be the actual programming in regards to authentic relating, shared self-expression and community, or the clinically-grounded science behind our approach to recovery and trauma management.
Why did you decide to move forward with a virtual event versus waiting to do something in person?
In mid-March we had most of an in-person experience planned for early May and were about to finalize the activities when the COVID pandemic’s response shut down most of reality. As our spring fundraiser, we chose to pivot to an online experience to continue with the intentions we had set for this event.
When you decided to plan a virtual event, what were your first steps?
Choosing a date, style, and title of the event. Creating the schedule of our presenters coinciding with their availability. Activating any available media promotion.
What were your goals? Were those different from an in-person event?
Both events were meant as a fundraiser and chance to highlight our organization and its ongoing mission to reduce drug overdoses and heal trauma linked with the loneliness epidemic.
What did you do to capture the spirit and the intention of the event when attendees were at their own homes?
We wanted to offer scientifically-validated evidence through renowned speakers such as our Director of Science, Dr. Rachel Wurzman. She has given a TED Talk and is rooted in academic research regarding the neuroscience of connection and its effects on addiction. We also wanted a chance for people to practice what we offer as an essential part of our programming whether that be Connection Practice and Authentic Relating or Yoga or a super funky movement session where people can lose themselves to dance in a shared, distanced experience.
Who were your essential partners? How did you connect with them? Were these existing partners or new ones?
Our primary community partners were Western North Carolina AIDS Project and Harmonia. The on-going partnerships with these area 501(c)3 organizations was founded on our shared trajectory of harm reduction, substance use education, and connection-oriented services for our collectives.
How did you promote the event?
We primarily focused on free media marketing for this event as it was put together in about six weeks from inception to completion. This included the Mountain Xpress, Asheville FM, and other community boards for event posting, along with networking newsletters and outreach from our facilitators. We also used paid social media posts and multiple platforms to reach folks in the digital ether.
Did your audience differ from an in-person event?
There was a wide range of individuals from all over the world who joined us for some of the sessions we offered. Very different from the local in-person meetings and conferences we have been privy to or hosted.
What platforms did you use? Why?
We chose Zoom to host our conferencing sessions. It seemed like the most versatile for what we were trying to accomplish.
What challenges did you encounter?
Having never hosted a Zoom meeting before personally, I (Joey Moore) got a healthy realization of over-complicating the process. Thankfully I was able to shift things to simplify. Directing participants to the areas you want them to visit as part of their experience was also challenging as a first time virtual event.
What surprised you?
How much people resonated with our work and our approach to the societal-level issues of recovery and trauma-related healing and how needed this type of work truly is.
What were your biggest takeaways?
How much we have to learn about virtual events!
What does this mean for the potential of future virtual events?
As our first virtual event, there was a very curvaceous learning trajectory with creating an event of this caliber. However, the team here at SeekHealing (with the guidance of our chief tech officer and co-founder Joshua Ginsberg) understands the potential for online events to harness outreach beyond our traditional marketing areas. According to Eventbrite, which we used to track ticket sales (although the event was free to attend), our top three ticket sales locations were Asheville and Weaverville, NC and New York City, NY which was a surprising reminder of the limitless receptivity beyond our usual audience. We will be using this information to target our marketing for the second edition of this event in early December. Our hope is to include additional community partners to add their programming and audiences and expand visibility.
Any tips for others who are considering a virtual event?
Plan and prep at least three months in advance. Take the time to familiarize yourself and other event organizers with the technical capabilities of whatever platform you are hosting with. Create a clear, long-term path for promotion with a heavy push ~two weeks leading up to the event. Get creative!
Tell us a little about the schedule.
Our schedule revolved around informative seminars such as Sarah Peyton’s discussion on ‘Healing Loneliness and Avoidant Attachment’ and accessible interactive sessions such as authentic relating, meditation/yoga, and tunes to reflect upon or dance to from our various musical contributors.
Were there interactive elements for attendees?
We had a variety of interactive sessions available for participants including Authentic Relating, Open-Hearted Open Mic, a ‘Constellations’ session, and much more.
Would you consider doing virtual events in the future?
Yes, we are already brainstorming a 2.0 of ‘We Are The Medicine’ for early December.
What might you do differently in the future?
No overlapping sessions unless absolutely necessary. It will allow for a more intimate and less rushed experience for participants. More planning/execution time to create additional sponsorship within the community and outreach to prospective participants.
Will this change how you approach in-person events in the future? If so, how?
We will probably have an in-person event and a digital event each year moving forward. The in-person event will focus on our local outreach while the digital event can land with folks outside of our primary programming area (and still be attended by our local affiliates).
What were the results of the fundraising effort? If you’re willing to share!
Combining donations and our Local Love Auction sales, we raised a little over $13,000 over the course of the weekend-long event.
Learn more about SeekHealing and the important work that they do.
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