As a bit of background, AmbITion is a change programme now funded by the Arts Council Soctland that aims to facilitate the longer-term sustainability of cultural organisations by helping them make best use of IT and digital media. They run lots of events and webinars and there’s a wealth of recources on their site.

The report is full of advice on low-budget webcasting (kit, connectivity, platforms, etc) plus cost/quality considerations for higher budget productions. It also covers measuring ROI, planning content and curating audiences. A good read for anyone interested in live streaming events, training and communications.

twitter links:

@getambition
@hannahrudman

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I did a talk at Event UK a week or so ago and wrote up a few points that might be useful if you are thinking about webcasting or producing interactive online events. Some of these are about the concept of ‘beaming’ speakers into events and also using big screens to show webcasts. I should webcast my own presentation really so you can watch the whole thing. Hmm.

Anyway – for now here’s some tips that might get you thinking:

TIPS FOR ONLINE EVENTS & WEBCASTING

Download a PDF here if you prefer

Audience

• Who are your audiences? Where are they? (On twitter? Facebook? On devices?)
• The audience could be participating in the main venue, watching on a screen in a breakout room or a screen in a regional venue. What testing and logistics are involved? Have you budgeted for this?
• Think about the conversation around your event – before, during, afterwards. Who will manage this conversation?
• How will you record conversations on twitter or facebook or within a chat room?
• What data are you gathering about your viewers?
• How will I promote my webcast?

Using online tools

• Can you use skype or similar tools within your event? Make time to test and practice the link up on the big screen and the handover from the ‘real’ speakers to the speaker being introduced on screen – test, test and test again! And have backup pre-recorded (just in case)!
• If you are ‘beaming’ people in make sure they have decent webcams and decent microphones – and make sure they use the same kit in the real event as in the run-through.

Content and platforms

• What content are you generating? Are you recording high resolution video that can be reformatted, edited etc. Maybe you need to buy a hard-drive to move content about and store it. Back it up.
• Where are you putting your content? Your site? WebTV platforms like YouTube and Blip.tv? Facebook? What formats are best for these platforms?
• How will you time the release of any archived content? Do you need a fast-turnaround or do you want to ‘drip-feed’ video snippets over a few weeks/months?

Broadband Speed/ Connectivity

• Connectivity is key! What speed of bandwidth can the venue offer you and is the broadband being used by other people at the same time?

N.B. Kinura asks for a minimum of 1MB ‘upstream’ dedicated bandwidth. Your webcasting company should test the connectivity well in advance.

• Wifi please! Can the venue offer you decent wireless that would accommodate all your delegates at the same time?
• Will your delegates need plug points to charge their devices?

Budget

• What is my budget for the online elements of the event?
• Should I build in contingency for unknown quantities like installing additional bandwidth if needed?

Will We Ever Meet In Person Again (A Review of Virtual Events)

Our friends at muchosmedia have just put a new demo online of EventChat, the app Kinura uses for turning ordinary webcasts into interactive online events.

The app now has social media built in so you can log in from twitter, yahoo, LinkedIn and facebook. Check out the features and admin tools here and see the demo. It’s probably more fun if you get someone to log in and chat with you so you aren’t just talking to yourself!

We have some plans to integrate further with twitter so watch this space. You can now follow @kinura on twitter if you want to keep updated.

Someone asked “What are the benefits of live streaming vs. pre-recorded video”

- and quite a few people have answered, covering pros and cons, interactive options, audience engagement, moderating feedback and so on.

Check it out if you’re wondering about such things!

The event was chaired by hat-wearing Ed Gillespie from Futerra who kept the crowd amused throughout. He introduced Jonathon Porrit after a quick preamble reminding us all that we should try get ourselves, our clients and colleagues excited about low-carbon heaven rather than being scared about climate change doom, which makes sense – it pays to be positive, and as Mr Porrit re-affirmed, there is only one direction for the sustainability issue, and that is that it has to be more present and more compelling.

There were lots of sessions on waste, energy and social enterprise (as Porrit reminded us in the keynote, sustainability is also about workers’ rights and fair wages, it’s not just about environmental impact) – but I want to get straight to the part about doing meetings and events online. The session couldn’t have come at a better time really, as we were under the cloud of Eyjafjallajokull, so the answer to the question of the title of this session “Stay grounded or stay face to face?” had been answered for us to an extent. Sometimes there is no other option than to do it online. We all know that online communications makes sense. It’s just how we learn to use the technology we have alongside our real-life interactions.

The panel for the Stay grounded or stay face to face? session was James Alexander from Do The Green Thing, Paul Dickinson from Carbon Disclosure Project, Iziana Dowie from Eventia and Leanne Bell who writes for C&IT magazine.

This video from Do the Green Thing set the scene for the debate…

…and here’s a round up of the key points on both sides:

*It’s a bit crazy to say video meetings won’t work before we have really started using them (alot of people are basing their experience on out-dated clunky tech and poor connectivity)

*For most orgs and venues it takes a hell of a lot of set up and pre-event testing to make sure a reliable and high quality video feed is possible
*There are still a lot of issues with poor connectivity and complicated platforms
*It’s about normalisation of behaviour – people just aren’t so used to doing it online yet
*There may be competitive advantage in doing meetings online
*Cisco Telepresence is amazing but very expensive
*Cisco Telepresence has inbuilt clever stuff like picking up eye-colour for more real eye contact – so the experience is heightened and the tech becomes invisible
*Eventia’s White Paper says 84% of executives prefer face-to-face meetings
*Education is needed from tech companies and events associations about how to best use the technology (that was my own comment btw)!
*If the ‘real’ event is complex with multiple tracks over several days and loads of networking opportunities, then the online version will have difficulty to provide the same experience
*People should just have a go and experiment to find out what works and what doesn’t
*Extending the idea of beaming someone into a conference: i.e. after someone has done a live video link into an event they could become available for a workshop type discussion afterwards by simply having another room set up with a screen and two way audio link or chat room
*Rather than being swamped by available tech, event organisers should choose what to use according to audience demographic

Obviously this issue will continue to be debated. I know where I stand: I love meeting people, but given that 200,000 tonnes per a day of CO2 emissions have been prevented as a result of cancelled flights I might just do more meetings online when I can!

If you want more food for thought on Virtual Events, read Leanne Bell’s article on the C&IT site.

On 31st March 2010 at the Wellcome Collection in London, the first full day BectaX event will take place with an accompanying online event made up of a live webcast with some seriously interactive twitter and chatroom activity.

Schools from across the UK have been invited to join in, with their comments appearing on an interactive map as they tweet and chat whilst watching the live stream. The chat room has been provided by our genius friends at muchosmedia - with all the live vision mixing, archiving and global streaming delivered (of course) by Kinura.

BectaX is part of Becta’s “Fit for the Future” programme: the project is being produced by Just-b.

Follow BectaX

We’re webcasting the Future TV Advertising Forum on 11th December 2009.

“This one day conference, on 11th December in Portland Place, London will bring together broadcast and advertising to analyse and debate the evolution of TV advertising.”

EMI, Unilever, Channel4, itv and Discovery will be in residence (to name just a few). So if you have a vested interested in exploring PayTV, product placement, branded content, interactive ads, etc., then get yourself a ticket, put the webcast in your diary – oh and you can keep informed via the event producers, PointZero, on twitter at http://twitter.com/pointzeromedia

Yes! It’s that time of year again. We’re webcasting the wonderful Power to the Pixel Cross-Media Forum on 14th October from bfi Southbank in London .

If you want to get the lowdown on collaborative digital film-making and multi-platform storytelling, or hear about the latest models in film financing and distribution, then you can’t miss this groundbreaking event.

The conference will be streamed live and then archived for your laid-back viewing pleasure. We’re also working with ScreenWM to stream the webcast into a venue in Birmingham if you’re based in the midlands. Sign up to Power to the Pixel’s feeds to find out more and stay updated.

http://twitter.com/powertothepixel
http://powertothepixel.com/feed
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