Host a virtual happy hour

Introduction

Are you interested in talking to your listeners live, and giving them the chance to meet each other, without putting together an in-person show? We've built a playbook for how to host a virtual happy hour with your listeners. Glow will integrate with Zapier and Zoom to make it easier to invite people to a live group call and get it on their calendars. 

Why host a virtual happy hour?

So much of your relationship with your listeners is one-way. Creating a live forum to interact with them, and for them to meet other members of the community, empowers you to build a new layer of this relationship and strengthen it over time. 

Which apps does this work with?

Glow will integrate with Zapier and Zoom to make it easy to invite people to a live group call and get it on their calendars. The below are instructions for this integration. You can also choose not to do the integration, and simply share the link for a Zoom call (or your desired video conferencing app), trusting that people will add it to their calendars themselves. We've confirmed that the following video conferencing tools and calendar tools work for this setup:

• Zoom
• Google calendar

If your desired tool does not work here, there are other ways to find a solution. Reach out to us at hello@glow.fm.

How it works

General

There are four accounts you'll need:

• A  Glow account.  You'll be using this to collect RSVPs from attendees, so you can send them a calendar invite. See step 1 on how to set up a Glow page to collect RSVPs for your meetup. 
• A Zoom account or an account with another supported video conferencing or webinar software. 
  • To set up using Zoom you'll also need a Google account, which you'll use to link your calendar to Zoom and Zapier.
  • If you would like your conference call to last longer than 40 minutes, you will need a Zoom Pro account ($15/mo)
• A Zapier account
• A Google account, which you'll use to link your calendar to Zoom and Zapier

Once you have your four accounts set up, create a Zap to trigger calendar invites to your virtual happy hour. 

There are six steps to invite your listeners to your virtual happy hour:

1. Build your RSVP page in Glow

2. Create your call in Zoom

3. In Zapier, choose "Glow" as your App and "Listener Added" as your trigger event

4. Choose Google Calendars as your second App

5. Choose the action event, "Add Attendee/s to Event"

6. Turn on your Zap

Step 1: Build your RSVP page in Glow

You'll use your Glow page to capture email addresses from your listeners and then automatically send them calendar invites to your virtual happy hour. 

When setting up a Glow account, choose the following options (this is a bit confusing, so bare with us):

• Create "Exclusive Content"
• Enter your podcast's RSS feed
• "I want to offer exclusive content to my existing members"
• "No" I don't plan to integrate Glow with my existing membership software or app
• Draft the language to invite your listeners to your virtual happy hour, instead of enlisting them as a supporter. This will be the landing page where you collect RSVPs for your virtual happy hour (example below).

• Complete the rest of your landing page, and publish.
• *If you use Glow just to collect RSVPs for your virtual meetup, we will not charge you. Ignore the comments about pricing. 

Step 2: Create your virtual happy hour in Zoom

Create an account in Zoom and make sure to integrate your calendar (we'll be demonstrating with Google calendar). If you want your happy hour to last longer than 40 minutes, you'll need Zoom Pro, which costs $15/mo. Next, schedule a meeting.

In the settings of your new event, do the following:

• Set the title and date of your virtual happy hour
• Select Video "On" for both the host and participants
• Choose "Google Calendar" under "Calendar"
• If you want to send recordings to your listeners or add it to your podcast feed, select "Record the meeting automatically" under "Advanced Options"

Step 3: Create a zap

To create a Zap, click "Make a Zap" in Zapier. 

Step 4: Connect Glow

First, choose "Glow" for your App and "Listener Added" for your Trigger Event

Next, Zapier will prompt you to sign into your Glow account.

Next, click "Test and Review." You should see sample listeners. You should find your "test member": the member you created using your own email. 

Then, click "Done Editing."

Step 5: Connect Google Calendar

By integrating Google Calendar with Glow via Zapier, you'll automatically invite new members to the Calendar event for your recurring group coaching call.

First, choose "+" to add an action. Choose "Google Calendar" for your App and "Add Attendee/s to Event" for your Action.

Next, Zapier will prompt you to sign into your Google account.

Next, choose the email address associated with your calendar to add a "Calendar" and choose the name of your recurring event to add an "Event". Then, add "Listener Email" as your "Attendee/s".

Then, click "Test and Review". This will add your test contact to your virtual happy hour invite in Google Calendar. 

If Zapier returns a green success message, you're all set! Go ahead to your the inbox for your test member, and you should see an invitation for the virtual happy hour (in this case,a recurring coaching call) via Google Calendar.

Finally, back in Zapier click "Done Editing".

Step 6: Turn on your Zap 

This part is easy! Click Turn Zap On, and you're ready to roll. 

That's it! Now you've got Glow and Zoom hooked up to automatically take RSVPs and invite your listeners to your virtual happy hour.