Absolutely, you can have events with over 500 participants! …You just can’t congregate in the same place.
The scenario needs no introduction. Covid-19, isolation, panic and the government recommendation to ban all public gatherings over 500 people. It would seem every event and conference has shut up shop and businesses and event organizers alike are watching their customers and their livelihoods run out the door.
There is no point crying about it, let’s get on with learning how to live with it and get on with business as usual. Well… the new usual.
Time to decentralize.
I’m sure you’ve all heard this term before. It’s the driving force behind cloud based workflow and online platforms like O365. We recognized that our week to week organizational structure benefits from being able to work remotely and globally. The notion of needing to gather in a centralized location to conduct business is a thing of the past.
Yet when hosting events for our clients, organization members or general public, we are still very much in the mindset that large centralized gatherings are necessary. Now seems like a pretty good time to break that mindset.
Your content remains your content.
At the end of the day, your event consists of content that you wish to share with others. This can take many different forms. Products, demonstrations, performance, information, celebration, the list goes on. You still have your content; you still have a target audience. You just need to re-package your content in a way that it can be distributed to a decentralised audience.
Most of you will have already realized that the best tool at our disposal in this day and age is live streaming.
· Instant.
· Globally accessible.
· Easily packaged in a way that best represents your brand and your market.
Time to explore the best method of getting your content to the people instead of the people to the content.
Connection still matters.
Everybody puts their content on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and whatever else the kids are on these days. More content than they should if we’re being real about it. There is nothing special about being able to open up your browser and view whatever content you like.
The sense of “event” still has its place. Here are three key things that make an “event”.
· A shared experience with other like-minded people.
· A scheduled moment that you need to make time for and prioritize.
· Experiencing something that can’t be found elsewhere.
Now, here are a few methods of achieving this sense of event without a singular central meeting point.
· Organize the viewing, not just the streaming. Of course, use wisdom in this area at this time, but maybe organize small groups gathering to link into your stream. This could be in homes, offices or even setup a portable site with a bit a flair for people to come and interact with the event.
· Don’t just post content online on an “in demand” format. If people were prepared to put time aside for your event before, don’t devalue it now in the name of convenience. There is nothing special about watching a video in your own time on your own phone. That does not require participation. Make people actively engage.
· If your event structure was attendance by registration, so should your stream. While still bringing an element of inclusivity to encourage people to participate in your event, still have that one step of exclusiveness by means of login so people feel like they are engaging with something special, not just seeing it pop up on Facebook next to the video of a kitten playing a piano.
· Ensure your content and delivery is as targeted as ever. Avoid generic presentation formats. Think about breaking the mould of how you would present. Dynamic walk through tours, engage with the camera, build your stream into a website that allows people to interact with the product and other participants in different ways. Avoid looking like a person on a stage in an empty room at all costs. A person stands at a lectern in a live environment for many reasons. Reasons which don’t necessarily apply in the world of your stream. So, mix it up, but make sure every choice you make increases engagement with the viewer and does not create blockages.
What are the options and platforms available? …So glad you asked.
· Public streaming. At its most basic form, streaming to Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo channels etc is the most basic way to publicly broadcast your event. But based on the points above, consider how well this is really engaging your audience.
· Registered streaming. This can be either paid or unpaid viewing. Hosting a stream via a website but requiring an access code to login can help with confidentiality, payment or just be a nice touch as we mentioned before. Use individual codes, or bulk codes. Allow some codes to give access to go back and re watch content later. There are many useful options here.
· Pre recorded content. The idea of going “live” may not translate well for your event. You can always pre-record. Just because it’s pre-recorded doesn’t mean you can’t schedule a playout time though for people to tune in. Remember, it’s still an event. You can also look at multiple playout times to allow people in different time zones to tune in at a time suitable for them.
· Conference room calls. For best connection, make it interactive. Having a space setup with good video and audio quality for conference calls is going to become increasingly necessary for decentralised meetings. This is not a new concept, but are your facilities allowing you to get the most out of these sessions?
· Multi way venue linking. With fibre linking you can stream in multiple directions between multi-site setups. Allow presentations to occur from different locations, and switch which location people are tuning into. With the right setup, you can have conversation speed connection on a large scale for Q&A across the city, or across the country.
We would love to help you. In partnership with MCB Media, Production By Design has a strong and broad experience with live streaming at many levels. This includes management, provision of equipment, installation of streaming facilities, content hosting and even content producing.
For any enquiries on how we might be able to help your event or business in this time, please see out “Engage with us” page.
Please people, in all of this, stay calm, stay safe, stay wise but stay active.