When the UK went into lock-down in March 2020 there was only one thing you could be sure of – the events industry would be on hold for a little while. But as the lock-down was extended and virtually everyone was in quarantine, the industry had to start coming up with clever ways of interacting with their audience. Live streaming events aren’t brand new since Covid-19, but they’re becoming incredibly popular methods of getting social while maintaining social distancing. If you’re looking to organise your first live streaming event, look no further than Canvas. We’re here to help you from idea conception to choosing a venue.
Hire a venue
Some event organisers assume that hosting a live streamed event might mean they don’t have to hire a venue. This can definitely be the case for low-key events between colleagues – if you don’t require a slick and smart presentation, you can save some money hosting from your home or office. But if you’re sharing your event on social media, or if it’s ticketed, you’ll want to hire a venue and work together to create your event. Your venue manager will be experienced with the technology required, and can help you set up your live streaming event to make it as successful as possible, even if you have limited knowledge of what to do.
The other benefit of hiring a venue is that it will be a relatively controlled environment. If you’ve ever been on a conference call you’ll know how distracting it can be when one person has a lot of noise in the background. By hiring a venue you’ll be secure in the knowledge that your background will be professional, you won’t have a lot of noise in your environment, and you’ll have all the technology and support that you’ll need.
Find a purpose
What’s the purpose of your live streaming event? Loads of different event types can work really well when streamed live, so the purpose will predominantly depend on what event you’re actually organising. If it’s a virtual wedding, it’s to celebrate with any loved ones who can’t be with you on your special day. If it’s a virtual product launch, it’s to share new ideas with a large audience.
When it comes to corporate live streaming events, if you have your audience in mind, why not send them a survey to find out what they’d like to see at your live streaming event? Have a think about what outcome you’d like from the event as well. Are your goals financial or more about exposure? They’re probably both, but it’s a good idea to take some time to think about what would need to happen for you to consider your new live streaming event a success.
Choose a live streaming platform
There are lots of live streaming platforms out there, so it can be a bit overwhelming to start deciding which one is right for you. Firstly, who is your audience? Do you work together and tend to use the same video conferencing platform for every meeting? Or are you hoping to attract outside viewers? If so, it’s a good idea to choose a platform that they can download for free or better yet, that they already have on their devices. If you’re not sure what platforms are popular currently, ask your survey recipients which platform they’d prefer to use. Some are totally free and some aren’t, so make sure your budget has space for any costs you’ll need to pay.
If you’re working with a venue for your live streaming event, ask the venue manager about the live streaming platform they tend to use. In the case that you’re using their technology and staff, it’s a good idea to stick to their preferred platform as well, to avoid technical difficulties on the day.
Get your technology ready
Whether you’re accustomed to hosting live streaming events or if this is your first, there are some basic pieces of equipment you’ll need. Depending on whether you’re hosting something elaborate like a live streamed concert, or more along the lines of a virtual meeting, your requirements will be different. Working with an experienced venue is a really good way to make sure you’ll have all the right tech, so check in with your venue manager for advice on what technology will be useful. Remember if you have speakers or artists joining the live stream remotely, they’ll also need all the right equipment.
Make sure you talk to your venue manager about their wifi, as it will need to be super speedy to cope with live streaming at a high quality. There’s nothing more frustrating than watching an event online that lags or keeps cutting out, so high-speed internet is vital.
The of the amazing benefits of organising a live streaming event is it allows many people to join in the fun, including people who may not have been able to come to the event in person for accessibility reasons. Make the most of this by ensuring your live streaming event is accessible for people with varied requirements. There are several companies who can provide software that adds live captions or subtitles to live streamed events for deaf or hard of hearing guests. You can also include audio descriptions for blind and low vision attendees.
Practice, practice, practice!
Technical difficulties are the number one thing that are going to put your guests off, or encourage them to leave half-way through, so it’s always wise to do a demo or test run. Make sure you know how to work all of the equipment, and it’s good to have some back-up options if that’s possible. You’ll want to make sure the sound and video quality are both good, so have a friend join your test event on different devices to check it works across multiple technologies.
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