Lee Uehara, How to Stage a Successful Virtual Event – InnovaBuzz 370

Lee Uehara, Podthon

In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Lee Uehara, a former teacher and reporter, turned podcaster. Lee is the co-founder of Podthon, a virtual conference for podcasters, and the co-founder of the Asian American Podcasters Association. She also runs four podcasts herself and produces others for clients.

In our discussion, Lee talked to me about:

• The keys to staging a successful virtual event
• Keeping your vision in focus and taking action towards that vision
• An interesting anecdote about a fly and the lesson from that anecdote

Listen to the podcast to find out more.

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Show Notes from this episode with Lee Uehara, Co-founder of Podthon

Key points and takeaways from this episode include:

• Just get started. There is no better time than now. You can always fine-tune your show as you move along.
• Podthon is an annual virtual conference that highlights podcasters of colours as speakers. It provides a stage for them to present their amazing content and go to other bigger stages globally.
• You are always going to run into a NO somewhere, but put that aside and just keep going.
• When selecting speakers for your event, make sure that they have quality content. You also want a really good pitch and one that tells people what they are going to get from the presentation. 
• It’s good to have an attention-grabbing title for your talk. 
• Choosing quality over quantity is really important.
• If you’re looking to pivot or use your skillset, you have to figure out an outlet for it.
• Building a relationship upfront is crucial.
• Give yourself permission to hit stop or pause the recording, if you think that the conversation is not going as you think it should be as the host. If you think you’ve got a really interesting subject matter with a guest, but it turns out to be a book pitch or they’re just trying to sell their product, then stop. Pause the recording and let them know that you will give them time at the end where they can mention their offer. 
• Know your goal. Think about what your big picture goal is and whether continuing the conversation will meet and fit with that. 
• Even if you think something is unsalvageable or unusable, you can still find some gold nuggets. Go for those and share those. 
• Anyone can ride up a hill. You just have to be in the right gear at the right time always.
• Repurposing is great. You can do a lot of things with each content that you’ve created.
• Rejection is a double-edged sword. Rejection is protection but it also redirects us to something bigger and greater. 

The Buzz – Our Innovation Round

Here are Lee’s answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.

1. #1 thing to be more innovative – Be yourself. Be truly you and authentic.
2. Best thing for new ideas – Be yourself. Being yourself gives you the freedom to brainstorm and come up with the wackiest, craziest, awesome, and wonderful ideas.
3. Favourite tool for innovation – Ai Transcriptions.
4. Keep project/client on track – Accountability. Buddy up with someone or have a group of people and do co-working session pods.
5. Differentiate – Be yourself and take action on being yourself. When you have an inkling of an idea, go for it! Don’t sit on it, because you could regret it later or you might not develop an amazing opportunity because of it. Go for it and do it. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about getting it done.

To Be a Leader

Take action. Taking action doesn’t have to be a ginormous movement. It can be as simple as making a phone call or sending out an email. Always answer those inquiries and emails, even if you don’t know the answer, because you don’t always have to know the answer. 

Reach Out

You can reach out and thank Lee through her website.

Suggested Guest

Lee suggested we have a conversation with the other co-host of Podthon, Danielle Desir and Andy Wang, Managing Partner at Runnymede Capital Management and host of the Inspired Money Podcast. So Danielle and Andy, keep an eye on your inboxes for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz podcast, courtesy of Lee Uehara.

Links

• Podcast – House of Lee NYC
• Podthon
• Asian American Podcasters Association
• Twitter – @houseofleenyc
• Linkedin
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Clubhouse: @LeeUehara

Cool Things About Lee

• As a broadcast and print journalist, she has covered everything from September 11th and Hillary Clinton to the game of cricket and Japanese-character tattoos.
• She likes non-fiction and how-to books, making stuff, movies, good food, working on her YouTube channel, and cold weather.

Listen to the Podcast