[Participation Report] Tarao-ga-Zoom: The case where the unexpected "chat" exceeded the main event.
I participated in "Tarao-ga-Zoom," held on Saturday, July 18th at 20:00, for the second time, following my previous attendance.
As for participation condition number 3, "Please write an article about your experience within 3 days, without including spoilers," I will be sure to write it this time as well.
The main event, extended as usual this time too
Although the announcement stated "Duration: about 30 minutes [may be extended up to about 60 minutes depending on the situation]," when it actually happened, it was extended well past 21:30.
Since it was 80 minutes last time, this is faithfully updating the record.
The content was practical advice for those who want to create a monetized account on note. The eligibility criteria were more relaxed than last time, making it easier for more people to participate. I won't write about the specific details as that would be a spoiler, but it was a fulfilling and substantial time where we were taught thoroughly from the basics of account design.
The unexpected development that awaited after the main event
The main event ended just after 21:30. Originally, we were supposed to disperse here.
Actually, in the announcement article, Hito-Tarao added this one comment:
"If anyone wants to chat, please let me know... well, I don't think anyone will, though 😅"
This chat session, which was supposed to be announced with skepticism, ended up continuing past midnight until 0:37.
That's 3 hours.
The chat was longer than the main event. It's becoming unclear which one is the "main event" anymore.
Soon after entering the chat, the gap in voice became a topic again
The incident I wrote about in my previous article: "Hito-Tarao's voice was cuter than I imagined."
It seems I wasn't the only "victim." As soon as the chat started, before I knew it, these words came out of my own mouth:
"I thought you'd have a sexier voice."
Then, other participants followed with comments like, "I imagined a voice like Hiroshi Abe or Koichi Iwaki."
Hiroshi Abe is setting the bar way too high.
With a highball in hand, Hito-Tarao becomes increasingly talkative.
A while after entering the small talk session, a highball was in Hito-Tarao-san's hand.
With each refill, his voice tone seemed to become noticeably lighter.
And then, the participants all started saying the same thing.
"The small talk is several times more substantial."
"This is high-value consulting time."
"This is marketing itself, really."
From how to create sub-accounts, to traffic-driving techniques using other media, to creating inflow paths using images as a hook, what should have been the main theme was being dug into deeper and deeper under the influence of alcohol.
I'll omit the numbers, but in-depth discussions about pricing strategies and ways to present things were unfolding with the density of a private consultation disguised as small talk.
Voice teasing, this time the target is Chinpan-san
While Hito-Tarao-san's voice teasing is becoming a staple, a new target was born this time.
Chinpan-san.
At the first sound of his voice in response to Hito-Tarao-san, a chorus of "You have a voice like a handsome guy," "Your voice is cool," and "That's too good of a voice 🤤" erupted.
He seemed bewildered the whole time, but the chat section had completely turned into a fan club.
A divine summary by Amane-san
Around midnight, Amane-san summarized the day's content like this.
Starting with how to create sub-accounts, talk about attracting customers, account reviews, Q&A time, and sandwiching a lunch break (also known as small talk), to talk about new customer attraction methods that didn't come up in the main session, it was such a packed content that it felt like I had been taking classes for a whole day.
Now that I think about it, it certainly had the amount of information of a "full school day."
The MVP is undoubtedly Azunaburu-san
The MVP that everyone acknowledged in this small talk session was Azunaburu-san.
She threw out precise questions one after another, naturally steered the flow of the conversation, and before we knew it, she was handling the role of moderator single-handedly.
"Azunaburu-san, you're god-like!"
"You're the one running this!"
It was impressive that while those voices were flying around, she was trying to pass the microphone to other participants.
A surprise return after dropping out midway
Having left once midway through, COOL-san returned, saying, "Since no one had posted an article yet, I figured you were all still talking."
That intuition was spot on.
A welcoming door even for latecomers
At 11:51 PM, Mogutan Mama-san made a long-awaited appearance.
Her greeting, "I'm late, good evening!" was met with a warm, welcoming atmosphere, as if everyone had been waiting for her.
The atmosphere is so good that one can join a chat session that has been going on for three and a half hours even at this late hour.
And, my "phantom greeting"
From here on, I would like to talk about my own experience.
This time, since my baby was sleeping next to me, my microphone was off the entire time. I basically stuck to participating via the chat box.
However, hearing everyone having such a fun conversation, I just couldn't help but want to say one thing.
In a super whisper, I said this:
"Good evening, it's Umeboshi."
It was a whisper with all my might, so as not to wake the baby.
And, this is the part I most wanted to share this time: at this moment, Hitotarao-san had just stepped away from his seat to get a refill of his highball.
In other words, my desperate greeting did not reach him at all.
Hitotarao-san, you are finding out about this for the first time in this article.
I'm sorry, and also, good evening.
When it was all over, it had been four and a half hours
The main event, which started at 8:00 PM, ended just after 9:30 PM, and the small talk that followed lasted until 12:37 AM, past midnight.
A total of four and a half hours.
The comment in the chat box saying, "I can't believe it went over four hours 🤣," tells the whole story of that day.
In my previous article, I wrote that they "extended the limit of the extension," but this time, the very concept of a limit had vanished.
Even so, no one looked (or sounded) the least bit dissatisfied, and the fact that it wrapped up with everyone saying "that was fun" and "I want to do it again" speaks volumes about the positive atmosphere of this community.
If there is a next time, I definitely want to participate with my mic on.