In the online world, video rules supreme when it comes to grabbing attention and engaging viewers. As a company hosting meetings, conferences, and other events, you want to make sure to find ways to include video elements, and this could mean adding live streaming services to your upcoming events.
Should you add live streaming, and if so, how do you go about it in order to optimize results? The right corporate event planning partner can help you to strategize appropriate uses of live streaming, as well as manage implementation. However, you should be aware of a few best practices going into the process.
- Select a High Quality Service
What’s the best avenue for live streaming your event? There are many to choose from and a misstep could leave you floundering in technical difficulties. In other words, you’ll need to ensure you have the right tools for the job. If you plan to do this more than once, spend the money and have your event management services partner help you choose the most appropriate, high-quality streaming service for the event type.
- Ask Event Management Services to Test Capabilities
Corporate event planning companies can not only advise you when it comes to choosing the right streaming service, but they can test to make sure everything is running smoothly in advance of your live streaming timetable. This is imperative if you want to avoid hiccups during your live event.
- Stick to Your Timetable
Video tends to be more engaging than print and static images, but that doesn’t give you free license to bore the heck out of your audience. You and your event management services pros need to tailor presentations to your audience, both in-person and online, and this means considering how planned content will play, sticking to a planned timetable as much as possible, and remaining somewhat flexible, since editing is not an option.
- Engage with Your Audience in Real Time
According to Nathan Von Garin, VP Account Management, “Engaging with two separate audiences simultaneously is no easy feat for event hosts and corporate event planning companies. You’ll need to strategize ways to interface with both your in-person and your online audience members, and this could mean asking questions, noting comments, and taking questions from both audiences throughout a presentation, panel, or workshop.”
- Make it Count
Let’s just be honest – not every event should be live streamed. Some presentations simply don’t lend themselves to the format. You need to consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of live streaming before you simply broadcast your event. Is there even an interest in watching aspects of your event live?
If you have a notable speaker or workshop in such high demand that there’s a waiting list for attendance, you probably have a built-in audience for live streaming content. The same could be true if prospective registrants complain that the remote location or expense of your event precludes them from attending. If, on the other hand, you’re struggling to round up attendees, live streaming may not be the solution.
