No audience, no speakers, no venue and no budget. Free events are easy to sign up for and easy to skip, so the real test was whether people turned up on a Tuesday night, rather than how many registered.
We set the format before anything else: short talks, no jargon, no expertise needed, a pub rather than a conference room. That decision made it easy to explain and easy for speakers to say yes to, because nobody was being asked to prepare a lecture.
We built the brand and the site ourselves, on the same stack we use for clients, with a sponsorship page and a speaker application form so the thing could grow without us chasing everyone individually. Tickets run through Eventbrite.
Then we found the speakers and told people. Direct approaches to people with something worth hearing, LinkedIn for the programme, and local press and radio interest in the idea itself.
The launch on 25 August 2026 filled 38 of 40 seats, with tickets close to sold out a week ahead and a BBC Radio Guernsey interview in the run-up. It now runs monthly at a different St Peter Port venue each time.
Think & Drink is free to attend and supported by sponsors. Opportunities are open for the current season, from a single night to a full four-event season. Details are at thinkanddrink.gg/sponsorship.