Event Live Streaming – How Digital Events Turned the Crisis Into an Opportunity
Event livestreaming was THE Covid trend in live communication. How digital events turned the crisis into an opportunity – and what they need to succeed.
Are you thinking about adding a livestream to your event, or even replacing it with one? One thing is clear: broadcasting live online lets you reach a far wider audience than traditional events – if you do it right. This article was written during the Covid pandemic; we show the advantages and opportunities of event livestreaming, but also possible obstacles.
The “event livestreaming” format is a TV-like broadcast of events online. An event is recorded with professional audio-video equipment from one or more camera angles and transmitted in real time to a website via a live production desk. Websites can be closed areas (e.g. a password-protected domain or a video conference) or public networks such as Facebook, YouTube or Twitch.
What is an event livestream?
An event livestream is a digital form of the classic event that offers even more ways of getting your message to a target group.
Because it doesn’t matter where your target group is: they can access it from anywhere at any time – live, or on demand later as a video.
Digital events serve as a virtual replacement for, or addition to, an offline event and are the interface between live communication and video. They are suitable for absolutely every kind of event.
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Advantages: the strengths of live events
Live events don’t depend on an audience on site. This creates several advantages for you as the organiser – especially during the Covid pandemic, when it wasn’t possible to gather large crowds in one room.
Among the many costs you save with digital events are catering, travel and venue costs. With large events in particular (and an uncertain number of participants), the price per head can become very high.
Your participants don’t have to travel long distances and save on hotel stays. Everyone can watch and interact comfortably and easily from home. The number of participants is unlimited, whether it is a public or private broadcast.
During a live broadcast, everything is of course recorded in the background in the highest quality. This means the event can still be marketed for a long time afterwards. You can use the recording one-to-one as a video, but it makes more sense to edit it into a format that works for secondary use. Unimportant passages, breaks, slips of the tongue and whole topics can easily be cut out.
An overview of costs, concepts and best-practice examples
Disadvantages: where “offline” events have the edge
What falls short at digital events is personal interaction between participants. There are no “chance” encounters where people exchange ideas. This means the classic networking character that so many people love is lost.
Although it is possible to interact with different participants via chat during livestreams, it is nowhere near as personal as on site. Depending on the type of your event, this aspect plays a smaller or larger role.
Video marketing in a nutshell: the decision-making aid for companies
You don’t need to know every technical detail, of course, because in the end you aren’t responsible for the production – an event agency or film production company is. The technical effort can be very high and requires special equipment. But a general idea of the basics of livestreaming can’t hurt when it comes to understanding which service provider is the right choice.
Let’s start with the most important equipment: the cameras, of course. Several cameras allow different angles and options for live direction. The cameras send the video signal to a control unit connected to a PC. At the same time, the control unit receives the sound from microphones. Everything is passed on to the PC and then broadcast live online. The control unit also lets you switch between different cameras. This is known as live direction.
If required, presentation slides, images or videos can of course also be broadcast.
Pay attention to quality!
What must never fall short in live events is a professional, appealing look for the stream – whether it’s the picture quality, the sound quality or professional presentation. Nothing should look like a cheaply produced product, because your participants expect the professionalism of traditional events. The fact that the event is now a livestream doesn’t lower expectations.
It is important not to underestimate the technology and to ensure a smooth, high-quality format. A good picture and good sound convey a strong impression of professionalism. In fact, 70% of the overall perception of quality comes from the sound.
A stable internet connection is extremely important for the quality to reach the viewer. A broadcast without a LAN connection is not recommended.
In most cases, live events have a presenter who guides viewers through the event and entertains them. The presenter is the face of your event and should be professional and likeable.
Quality through professionals
Quality comes through professionals. Experts with long experience and high standards ensure your event is broadcast smoothly, and a good presenter ensures a likeable appearance in front of the viewers. This lets you implement an all-round concept that will make you successful in the long run.
With Zoom you can control participants, which makes special formats possible – for example experts joining from home, or viewers’ questions answered live.
The platform also allows limited or exclusive access for selected people only, so that no unwanted viewers take part in your event. This also makes it possible to sell a kind of participant ticket to finance the event.
In Zoom you can create several rooms for different meeting sessions or presentations. This even makes interaction possible. To stop participants talking over each other, everyone can be muted at the same time.
An alternative to Zoom is GoToMeeting, which even provides useful statistics on the conference – for example, who minimised the window and when – so that you can analyse your livestream for future events.
YouTube
YouTube is somewhat less complex. On YouTube you can broadcast your livestream and communicate with viewers via chat. You can show your stream publicly to millions of users or privately, only to selected people.
With YouTube Analytics you can obtain useful statistics about your live event.
Facebook / Instagram
If you prefer social media and perhaps already have a larger following, Facebook or Instagram may be just the right platform. Livestreaming works on these two social media sites in a similar way to YouTube.
The main difference from YouTube is how long viewers stay. While YouTube viewers tend to watch for longer, users on Facebook and Instagram tend to have less time and on average don’t stay quite as long.
Other channels
Twitch / Mixer
Twitch and Mixer (Mixer has since been discontinued) are both channels created mainly for gaming, and most streams are people playing and commenting on a game.
What may be interesting for you as a company is that there are certain donation features via chat. Viewers can donate so-called Bits, which Twitch then pays out to you. The better what viewers see, the more is donated on average.
