I Hosted My First Public Event! #CTCCX2016

I can’t believe it’s done! I’ve hosted my first public event and it was A LOT of hard work, cost quite a bit of money BUUUUTTT was a great success!

What was I thinking?! Well…

You may have seen the #CTCCX2016 hashtag floating around my page lately as it represents the my first event: the Content Creator’s End of Year party.

What is Content Creation?

For those of you who aren’t aware, ‘content creator’ is the term used for people who make content for digital publication. So people who blog, people who take photographs for Instagram, people who make infographics for content marketing on websites, people who make YouTube videos, etc. It all falls under the blanket term of “content creation”.

So how the hell did I end up hosting an event? Here’s how…

At the end of 2016 I went away, to Langebaan, for my day job end of year staff party. We are really spoilt at my day job and it made me realise how content creators don’t get a 13th cheque or Xmas party for their hard work. So I thought to myself, “Why not have a blogging party!?” Then I can celebrate all the successes of my own hard work and the successes of my fellow content creators! Next problem – WHERE?

Enter One Up

My friend recently opened a rooftop garden bar that is really lovely especially because it’s (sorta) made for the older crowd (those of us who still want to visit the city and have a few toots without being obliged to hit the dancefloor until 4 in the morning!). I was wondering to myself, “How can I share how pretty One Up is? Some kind of party? But, it’s not my birthday so, what next?” PING! Content Creator’s End of Year Party, whoop whoop!

CTCCX Was Born

And that’s how #CTCCX2016 was born.

Why CTCCX2016? CT = Cape Town, CC = Content Creators, X = Christmas Party BUT! My focus is on community and inclusivity so instead of saying Christmas party I just made it an X-perience so that everyone was welcome.

Here’s what went down:

CAPE TOWN’S FIRST CONTENT CREATORS’ END OF YEAR PARTY

On Wednesday the 7^th of December 2016, Cape Town’s bloggers, YouTubers and online photographers gathered for the first ever Cape Town Content Creators’ End of Year Party (#CTCCX2016), hosted by Boring Cape Town Chick.

Held at Long Street’s newest rooftop bar One Up, a garden balcony offering beautiful views of Table Mountain, the Mother City’s content creators gathered to take stock of the year’s work and celebrate achievements amongst the digital content creation community.

“INFLUENCER” MEET UP

Most creators are reliant on brand events to meet and touch base – until now. #CTCCX2016 welcomed all influencers, of any audience size, to join the free event and celebrate the achievements of others.

Megan Peta, creator of the event and blogger for Boring Cape Town Chick, says of #CTCCX2016, “Content creators know that the success of their work depends heavily on the feedback of their audiences. Having support for one’s work is vital and I believe this needs to start at ‘home’. The purpose of #CTCCX2016 was to allow content creators to meet one another and celebrate the lessons, challenges and successes of 2016.”

(Here’s me doing a speech, I was so nervous!)

TRENDING

Content creators from a variety of digital platforms joined on the evening, including award winning bloggers Cindy Alfino from 3 Kids, 2 Dogs and 1 Old House, Katherine Rossiter from Becoming You and Vaughn and Lauren from the Travel Manuel. Instagrammers included Sabine and Benike Palfi from I Love Foodies, Dean Horwitz and Francis Gersbach from InstaEats and Tracey-Lee Lusty from Fitness Girl. YouTubers included Phillip Black from I Am Phill Black, Terence Mentor from Afro Daddy and Siv Greyson from Ich Bin Siv.

The event trended within Cape Town for a few hours, reaching nearly 100 000 Twitter accounts and creating nearly half a million impressions (429 084) – TweetReach 2016.

PARTICIPATING SPONSORS

The content creators were not only able to have a good chin wag, but the evening started with a welcome drink from Mokai and Peachee, followed by snacks provided by some of Cape Town’s leading eateries including, Dunkin Donuts, Butlers Pizza, The Eatery Woodfired Grill and Wheyo Protein Ice Cream.

One of the sponsors for the evening, Stuart Black from Wheyo, comments, “Our involvement with the Content Creators party was our little way of saying thank you for all the effort they put in this year. It was great meeting everyone in person and we hope that our healthy guilt-free ice-cream went down a treat and added to everyone’s night.”

HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON

Upon arrival, each content creator was able to draw a ‘Christmas present’ from a lucky draw. Sponsors on the evening included Sweep South, Darling Brew, The Entertainer, Galileo Open Air Cinema, Crazy Store’s Thingamajig, Catrice Nail Polish, Four Cousins, Origin Coffee, Sugar & Vice. (Here’s my friend Shane from Raw Love for your Pets with all the logos behind us.)

CONTENT CREATION IN 2017…

Building an audience and retaining existing followers is one of the most difficult parts of any online brand strategy. It’s also what motivates influencers to sit up late and at night editing their photographs for Instagram, posting their words on blogs and uploading their videos to YouTube.

Content creation is a form of self-expression, as well as a service to readers who are keen to stay in touch with ‘what’s new’ around their cities. By acknowledging and celebrating the work of others, support starts at the grassroots level and directs the industry in a positive direction. #CTCCX2016 has created a sense of community within the content creator’s industry and hopes to see it ripple through the greater industry in 2017.

AND THAT’S THAT!

And that’s that friends! Thanks for putting up with any traffic you may have seen from this event. I appreciate your continued support. And THANK YOU to my awesome friends in content creation who supported my event on the night – without you none of this would have been possible, really.

Goodbye 2016

I will try my very best to keep blogging more consistently in 2017. I do, however, want to YouTube a bit more, check out my channel here if you’ve never seen any of my videos: www.youtube.com/boringcapetownchick

If you don’t manage to stop by again before the end of 2016, THANK YOU for reading my blog. I appreciate your support! If you want to see more of a particular topic, please leave me a comment below so that I can try add that in 🙂

Have a wonderful festive season and catch you soon! – Meg

IF YOU’D LIKE TO WORK WITH #CTCCX2017

If you’d like to work with content creators in 2017, please complete this survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/L9RRHM8

If you’d like to attend #CTCCX2017, please complete this survey:

www.surveymonkey.com/r/LW8MYDY

THANK YOU