If you think producing conference video is easy, then we have been doing our job .  In reality, it requires a high degree of planning and expertise to meet each client’s needs.  Let’s work through a typical production.

Not Pictured: The global audience attending remotely via our Live Stream

Qualify the Project

Each event begins with a set of questions that help us qualify the project:

• Where is the event?
• How many days and how many breakout sessions?
• What is your goal with the content?
• Is the broadcast for promotional viewing, to provide a paid live event experience, or record for viewing only after the event?

A client will typically have the answer to some questions and others we are able to provide consultation to round out the scope of the project.  This process is in place to ensure the basic project requirements are met before moving forward.

We translate the client’s business goals into production equipment and people to make it happen.  The end product of the qualification process is a written project summary and proposal for services.

Pre-Production

Time invested in pre-production creates a hassle free event day.  The following tasks are completed in pre-production leading up to the event:

1. The event web player is created.  This may include our paid attendance option, a landing page on the client’s website, or a simple embeddable player that can be used anywhere.  The event page is branded with the client’s graphics and event details.
2. Logistics.  Crew and equipment are scheduled for the day of the event.
3. Planning with the Venue.  It is important to reach out to the venue and confirm Internet and space requirements.  We speak directly with the Internet network contact to review their network topography and plan for our needs.  The venue contact also assists in our physical location in the room and power needs.  You do not want to show up on the day of the event and find your network drop on one side of the room and your work table on the other end.
4. Design graphic packages. Onscreen graphics for the event are prepared in advance.  This might include lower 3rd title graphics or sponsor mention slides.
5. Review with the client. A brief review of the event details with the client ensures expectations and planning are in sync between the production team and the event as a whole.

Production

On the day of the event we will arrive with plenty of time to setup and complete pre-event checklists.  Cameras are placed, power is sourced, lighting is adjusted, Internet is tested, and the audio is dialed in.  When the doors open, we are ready.

The director will be communicating with the cameramen during the event to provide an engaging broadcast.  The director will switch between cameras and computer input in time with your presentation.  Our goal is to convey your message clearly and with confidence.  Multiple cameras, title graphics, and professional audio allow the remote viewer to forget about the technology.

During the event we may also be moderating a chat tool and escalating questions from the remote audience to the speaker.  The entire broadcast is saved in a format for the internet and another for the creation of DVDs.

Our cameras do not leave you in the back of the room!

Post-Production

Video on demand is available for viewing immediately after the event.  We will often break up a day’s conference into sessions that include intro graphics that highlight the event and sponsorship.  DVDs can be made available as well.

Conclusion

Effective conference video requires planning, communication, and technical ability.  As producers we never forget the enormous trust a client places in us.  It is our pleasure to unite audiences to the events that are important in their life.

People are busy, but want to participate

A recent conference by TechCrunch featured 21 people attending remotely for every person onsite.

A client of ours has watched as their online attendance revenue becomes larger then traditional ticket sales.  Online attendance options are additive and does not detract from what the community already enjoys and expects from they event.

Offering a remote attendance option is about providing another opportunity for the community to join in the conference.  This can be done to increase revenue, capture revenue lost due to changing markets, or be offered for free to promote the event.

Should it be free?

An examination of your goals will determine the right decision.  Most conferences should charge for remote attendance.  The content is specialized, real time, would cost money to view in person, and the viewing option is saving the remote attendee travel expenses.

The key to paid remote attendance is that the online offering should be marketed alongside your other ticket packages.  Nothing special, no hype.  Just another option to be a part of the event.  It will be the right purchase for some and those people will gravitate to that selection.  Adding a paid remote attendance option later or marketing it differently than physical attendance will cause confusion among your community.  Live streams that are announced later tend to be offered for free.

Check out how the TED conference markets their livestream option.  $500 dollars for the luxury of not traveling.  Marvelous!  It all depends on how you market the option.

If your content is general interest and tickets will sell out regardless, offer a live stream for free.  Better yet, sell a live stream sponsorship to cover expenses.

The next post will cover what it takes to produce a conference livestream.  Subscribe to my RSS feed to never miss a post.

It was a pleasure to join with RMR Productions in the 1st ever outdoor commencement for the university of Montana.  It was also the first time that the event was available live to a global audience via the Internet.  We had viewers from all over the world.  Some  families must have gathered in the middle of the night to share in the accomplishments of loved ones. (I’m thinking of you Germany and Kazakhstan).

The live Internet stream was also used to provide viewing locations around campus that were out of the sun.

Blaze Streaming Media provided:

• Project Planning and documentation for the web broadcast
• Technical requirements review with the University’s IT department
• Onsite live encoding
• Video on Demand files published immediately after the event.

Another great event shared with people far beyond the venue.

Ignite is a community event that was started in Seattle, Wa and now occurs worldwide. Speakers have 5 minutes and 20 slides to say anything. The slides advance automatically every 20 seconds and the topics vary from educational to humorous. Often the talks are a mixture of both. Ignite Portland 6 took place at the Bagdad Theater on July 16, 2009.

Production Goals

I worked with the event organizers to plan and produce a live event stream.  The deliverables were:

• Multi-camera production including slides
• Live Stream to a web audience with chat and twitter integration
• Audio/video feed to the backstage bar
• High quality master files and web files saved to disk

Planning

The event started 2 months out with the reservation of dates and brief overview of the effort involved.  Major planning events were:

• 2 Months out:  Confirmation of event resources and general goals.
• 1 Month out: Site visit to review requirements for audio/video feed to BackStage Bar.
• 3 weeks out: Production meeting with sound, slides, and video teams.
• 1 week out: Onsite technical rehearsal.

Day of Event

The audio/visual teams arrived onsite at 12:00 to begin the setup.  This involves unloading gear, placing the equipment, and testing.  For the video requirements we laid over 1,000 feet of cable to the cameras, the projection booth, and to the BackStage Bar.  A clean source of audio was not available and we were forced to utilize an open wireless lav mic.  This is not the case at most events.

While I’m busy with the video requirements.  The other teams are busy building the last minute slide deck changes, testing sound, and all other requirements for the live performance.

This was the first Ignite were we fed audio/video to the backstage bar.  This provided a place for overflow crowds and also for people to attend in a setting where they can tune in or out while talking with friends.  We ended up feeding a projector and all the bar TV’s.

We were live from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm.  The live stream had 285 unique viewers with a constant audience of 110 people.  The online community switched between chat and twitter streams to connect with each other and the event as a whole.

By 11:30 pm we were packed up, tired, and ready to head home.

Day After

The master video file was edited into separate talks, encoded into a web format, and uploaded to Youtube.

OPEN SOURCE BRIDGE

This was a new conference for developers working with open source technologies and for people interested in learning about open source. It is not a typical technical conference. For instance:

• It was entirely volunteer-run, by developers, for developers.
• Session tracks were technology agnostic, based instead around shared community experiences and focused on similarities between projects, not differences.
• The geekery didn’t end with the sessions. There was also 24-hour hacker lounge for code sprints, bug bashes, session deep dives, bouncing ideas, starting new projects or just mingling and taking in the vibe.

Live Keynote Video

Session speakers included Ward Cunningham, Mayor Sam Adams, Amber Case, and Kurt von Finck. The keynote speech was streamed live and audience members tweeted the address to friends and co-workers. The online discussions were lively and full of praise from folks who could not make the event. One office even placed a projector in a conference room so that co-workers could watch together.

People are busy, but want to participate

Recorded Sessions

In addition to the live streamed keynote sessions, Blaze Streaming Media recorded all the sessions taking place in the keynote room. Ten diverse sessions were released online in the following year, building interest for the future year’s event. These sessions will fill up email boxes, blogs, and twitter streams long after the event is over.

photo credit: Igal Koshevoy

Open Source Bridge included topics on projects that have a world wide following and use. The community for open source software is large but spread out geographically. Providing a live stream and recorded content shines a light on the conference as the source of community.

It has been a pleasure to work with the volunteer run conference and I appreciate their vision in embracing new tools and technology.