And a template to plan your next virtual or in-person event

In the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election, the LGBTQ+ journalists and publishers of the News is Out collaborative knew there were a lot of questions needing answers for their communities if the results of the election at the presidential level went a certain way. 

In about 3 weeks, the collaborative created a live, virtual event that the group live streamed on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. The event garnered hundreds of views across multiple channels. Activists, legal experts, and LGBTQ+ elected officials shared with the moderators the impact Project 2025 would have on the community. The first-ever event for the collaborative was a success, and members are planning to launch an event series in 2025. 

Getting back into events

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person events were mostly shut down. Events had been a growing revenue stream for publishers, but those efforts were mostly put on hold. While many pivoted to virtual events, the results for engagement and revenue were mixed.

This year, more and more publishers have revisited events in earnest, and are seeing results both in the virtual and in-person space.

Solving Sacramento, a collaborative made up of a diverse group of publishers in the Sacramento region, found success in launching two in-person events series — one focused on their city’s housing crisis and the other on local music.

One of their collaboration members, Vanessa Richardson, who previously worked for California Groundbreakers, helped organize the affordable housing series. So far, they have hosted five of these “Suds & Solutions” events, which launched in September 2023. They were mainly held at local breweries, with one held at an art gallery in a gentrifying part of town. Suds & Solutions featured panel discussions with housing experts, and were free and open to the public. Most of these events averaged around 25-30 people, but the event at the art gallery had more than 50 attendees. 

Solving Sacramento later launched a second event series called “Hangout Gigs: Live.” Two of these have been organized since October 2024, with both taking place at a historic music venue in Sacramento that opens up just for these shows. Hangout Gigs: Live includes first a live interview recording with the featured Sacramento band and the host of Solving Sacramento’s arts and culture podcast in front of the audience. Then the band performs a handful of songs. Solving Sacramento produces a podcast episode and a music video for its YouTube channel as a result of the event. 

The collaborative charges for Hangout Gigs: Live (so far they have tried out $15 and $12 ticket prices), and have raised about $700 in funds from ticket sales from the first two events. They consider these micro-fundraisers a great way to generate some revenue, while also creating unique editorial products and engaging with community members.

Word In Black, a collaboration including 10 Black newspaper publishers across the U.S., hosted a virtual event on the night that Vice President Kamala Harris debated president-elect Donald Trump. Moderators interviewed Black politicians and prominent leaders about what they hoped to see that night.

Make your event launch plan

If you are looking to launch an events plan, here is some advice on how to get started:

1. Decide if the events will be virtual or in-person. If you are a geographic-based, in-person events can be a benefit for engagement and revenue. If you are identity-based or topic-based, you can easily do virtual events. 

2. Decide on a topic. Don’t shy away from hard news topics, or topics that are relevant to your community. News is Out’s first event in 2025 will likely focus on the impact of the incoming Trump administration’s policies on the LGBTQ+ community. The group will also do several events on health. 

3. For both in-person and virtual events, planning a script and run-of-show is a good idea. Here is a copy of the script for News is Out’s virtual event. You should also schedule a tech run-through and dry run with any moderators. 

4. Decide on a revenue route.
   1. Can you raise money through ticket sales, even small amounts? 
   2. Can this event be sponsored by a community organization who cares about this topic, or a company? 
   3. Can you grow your first-party data and email list by requiring registration for the event? News is Out set up virtual registration for its event and brought in more than 100 new emails. 

For more resources on how to manage events, here is a decision-making chart with a list of steps you can take to plan for your first event.

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Cite this article

Riordan, Penny (2024, Dec. 19). How virtual and in-person events can grow collaborative revenueive journalism projects. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/how-virtual-and-in-person-events-can-grow-collaborative-revenue/