The Virtual Handbags for Housing Premiered on September 17, 2020

The premier event in Bellingham, Handbags for Housing deserved the VIP treatment.

When Lydia Place came to us to solve the problem of how to make their premier fundraising event possible during COVID-19, we got creative and asked ourselves, “what could we do to engage their donors, maintain the ethos of the original event, and still raise a bunch of money for a great cause?”

After some workshopping and decisions about what was possible and how to make the most out of their budget, we decided that with the number of moving pieces, this event didn’t make sense to do a live stream, as we had done for Art for Housing. We ended up opting for a hybrid event where the full program was pre-produced and set to Premiere on YouTube, however, event VIPs got access to an exclusive Zoom experience where they could interact with the emcee, watch the show together, and play games with other attendees.

With some lights, a dolly, some fantastic Candy Land inspired decorations and some talented local models the fashion show commenced!

The VIP Experience

Lydia Place is known for being masterful creators of fundraising events, and this year’s Handbags for Housing was no exception. To give their most passionate followers an experience they wouldn’t forget, they invited their VIPs to purchase a VIP pass. With the pass, they’d get a VIP box hand-delivered by Lydia Place volunteers with all kinds of goodies that was unboxed together in the pre-event VIP Zoom room.

Shannon Day reacts to organic conversation happening in the VIP Zoom feed.

On the Veritas side, we set Lydia Place up with a comfortable set for their emcee, Shannon Day, to host the VIP feed from. She could see the over 75 attendees in the VIP Zoom room and carry on a two-way conversation with any of them. Her image was piped into Zoom using our broadcast equipment and professional cameras and microphones.

The Veritas Team controlled what the rest of the Zoom attendees would see, while a remote Lydia Place volunteer managed the Zoom meeting.

At the end of the day the event was an incredible success and Lydia Place was able to raise a lot of money to support their organization. We look forward to partnering together on other virtual and in-person events in the future! Learn more about Lydia Place and the work they do in our community at LydiaPlace.org.

Are you considering putting on your own virtual event? Check out our Virtual Events page for more information.