On August 11, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of FASCA hosted a highly anticipated seminar in collaboration with OMG Entertainment.Nearly 200 attendees listened in to the Inquiry Session format webinar from across North America, a conversation hosted by FASCA SFBA Advisor Sandra Su and CEO of OMG Entertainment Peggy Hsieh. FASCA members, parents, teachers, and advisors from North America fifteen chapters tuned in from their respective time zones to gain some insight into how Peggy was able to turn her online presence into a business.

The webinar was kicked off with a speech from the Culture Center of Taipei Economic & Cultural Offices in San Francisco (Milpitas) Director Sophia Chuang. She highlighted the importance of media in the modern day and encouraged attendees to give content creation a go. FASCA SFBA Advisor Katy Wu helped organize the webinar, SFBA chapter advisors Tony Chen and Lily Liu were also in attendance.

Peggy started her media channel during the pandemic in an effort to help small businesses that were struggling with advertising. “Nobody is ugly,” everyone just needs to step out of their comfort zone and try. She suggested people start their content with a common theme, whether it be food, drinks, or entertainment. To encourage the audience, Peggy also stated that expensive equipment isn't needed. If you are not yet professional, personal phone cameras are sufficient for media upload sites. She stated that it is more economical to learn and grow as you go, using trial and error to hone personal preferences.

While social media may seem lucrative, it is important to note that without sponsorships, little money is made from monetized content.She says she is sometimes recognized on the street and cares deeply about what her fans think. In fact, the first dislike on a video made her upset for a week, and as a result, she deleted said video due to sadness and feeling of wasted efforts.

Given the content of her videos, a lot of money is spent on the content that is shot. Peggy came clean about the average budget of each of her channel’s videos: $100-200 each, most of which is self-funded. She claims that eatery features are chosen through internet research with standards such as price and popularity as key factors and that twenty percent of content filmed is discarded during the editing process due to expectations not meeting reality.

Sandra and Peggy discussed the necessity of captions. The advice that was given was a definite yes since people tend to speak fast in videos, and words with effects can highlight what was being said. Marking was emphasized, as it is something that helps with keyword search, allowing for greater audience exposure. In terms of content ideas, Peggy suggested that people just start with what they’re comfortable in, there is always an international audience for life in the States.

“Just do it”, filming and editing your videos initially looks hard but once you try, resources will come to your aid. Another tip shared was to not discard clips filmed and to upload them all regardless of how good or bad they are. The guest speaker said that it will be a good way to promote your content and to send them to friends and family as they are the best audience. Peggy told webinar attendees to be happy while venturing into content creation, as it shouldn’t be a source of stress. “If you’re not happy you’re just wasting your time.”

Despite her success, Peggy still had to face criticism from elders thinking social media and online work is not a stable actual career. Conservative thinking leads people to think that content creation means slacking off in life and not working hard. Peggy reassured everyone that once people understand what is content creation in the modern day, they will be proud and support those who choose that route.

This highly successful educational webinar was part one of two, planning for which is already underway. Attendees not only got to learn how they too, can start their content creation career but also heard stories from someone who was able to fight stereotypes to make her dreams come true!