In the unfortunate age of the pandemic, it was no easy decision for the OC team to postpone their annual retreat. Still, ingrained within the group is a strong spirit to champion positive change around the world, and this led to the exploration of webinars as their pivot. CEO Joshua Yap then began to join webinars to get a sense of what he was in for but soon realized that most of them tended to be too formal and disengaged. 

 

“It doesn’t help that I have a very short attention span. I started researching for webinars or channels that were educating and fun to watch at the same time – which then hit me that there weren’t many shows that did that,” said Yap.

 

There was clarity in what he wanted to manifest: webinars that were fun, light-hearted, and engaging, yet still as informational and inspiring. With that, the OC27 Live Stream Talk Show emerged. OC27 hence anchored itself in a vast plethora of thought-provoking topics spanning from AI in Entertainment to how gastronomical experts continue to flourish in the age of the pandemic. Moreover, the show features big names that others do not commonly engage with, such as desserts connoisseur Janice Wong, three-time Emmy award-winning producer, Bernie Su, and The Chainsmokers.

 

Each webinar is also released in support of Lions Befrienders. The audience is encouraged to donate, but are also primarily enticed by the activities that the hosts and speakers partake in at the end of the episodes. Activities range from dessert plating to pondering over seven questions asked by Yap’s 7-year-old brother, thus successfully fulfilling Yap’s goal of making the webinar unlike any other. The loser of these challenges is then required to donate to the chosen charity.

 

“The vision behind the show is to educate, inform, and inspire the audiences through a fun and interactive live stream, encouraging our audiences to be better leaders, entrepreneurs, and individuals,” reinforces Yap.

 

The obvious way is the popular way, which is to begin producing webinars. But as Yap began joining webinars, he ended up becoming fatigued because most of them tend to be a bit stuffy and too formal.

“It doesn’t help that I have a very short attention span,” he said. “I started researching for webinars or channels that were educating and fun to watch at the same time – which then hit me that there weren’t many shows that did that.”

Yap wanted to create a webinar that is fun, light-hearted, and enjoyable to watch without compromising the quality of content. With that, OC27 Live Stream Talk Show was born.

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A twist to the usual

There is no shortage of webinars now; how will OC27 stand out?

“We needed to have topics that were extremely interesting and strong speakers that other people may not have access to,” said Yap.

The first three episodes definitely fall into that description. Each one tackled a different topic and featured big names like Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, desserts superstar Janice Wong, and Theranos whistleblower Erika Cheung.

The script is curated to keep the show fun and exciting, but also to dive deep on issues – even controversial ones – that need to be discussed.

For example, in the third episode, the question about how unethical CEOs can redeem themselves went into an examination of why unethical leaders are expected to, while whistleblowers are understood to have ended their careers already.

“Our hosts are very important as well,” Yap added. “Because the hosts act as the energy drivers of the show, maintaining a high energy conversation.”

That high energy conversation doesn’t begin and end with the hosts and guests. Since the show launched, it has gained a following that participated, asking thought-provoking and oftentimes difficult questions that helped take the discussions deeper.
 

Learn, have fun, and do good

Each episode of OC27 is in support of a chosen charity. One of the things the audience looks forward to is the activity that the hosts and guests participate in at the end of the episodes, where the loser donates to the charity. From peanut catching, dessert plating, and two truths and a lie, these end-of-episode contests have upped the fun factor, all while doing good. Which is exactly what the show is aiming for, according to Yap.

“The vision behind the show is to educate, inform, and inspire the audiences, through a fun and interactive live stream, encouraging our audiences to be better leaders, entrepreneurs and individuals.”

OC27 Live Stream Talk Show happens every Wednesdays, 9:30PM SGT.

Catch the next episode with Tom Gruber, the inventor of the world’s most famous AI personality, Siri, and cofounder of LifeScore; and three-time Emmy award-winning producer, Bernie Su, known for his work on Artificial, a science fiction series influenced by live audiences. 

 

Article by
Lyra Reyes

Marketing Manager, Writer at e27
 

https://e27.co/theres-a-new-show-in-town-and-it-gets-people-talking-20200605/