In order to keep calm and carry on, the creative industries need to learn how to adapt quickly, writes Kim French, Business Development Director at Cherryduck Productions.
Adaptation is the lifeblood of creativity. So, if your live event has been postponed or cancelled, rather than simply looking for a future date to reschedule, live streaming it could well be a solution.
There will be many brands and agencies who have never run a livestream before, who might feel daunted by the prospect of trying something new. With this in mind, here are the key things you need to know and ask yourself if you’re considering live streaming your event.
Creating a polished looking, broadcast quality live stream is very possible to turn around quickly but it does come at a cost, so firstly, ask yourself if you could use any number of conference calling platforms out there ensuring your audience, brand and guests would be happy with this? I would only encourage you to live stream professionally if the quality of broadcast is important, you want to share other content such as graphics, VTs animation or you have larger set pieces like a music or dance performance.
This really is the time now to make access to your events truly universal and available to all; introverts, extroverts, able-bodied and disabled.
Kim French
Just because it’s last minute doesn’t mean you can’t promote the hell out of it. You have the opportunity to harness two audiences now. The audience already attending your event and the potentially limitless online audience who could jump on board. In the past some events organisers have told us they fear people won’t attend if the event is live streamed. This is actually not the case and in fact according to data from livestream, 67% of audiences who watched a livestream purchased a ticket to a similar event the next time it occurred. This research suggests your live stream in 2020 could promote your event to be even larger in 2021.
Your audience isn’t there in person, but this doesn’t mean you can’t interact with them and create a sense of participation and fluid discussion. Ensure you have someone encouraging and moderating questions as part of your team. Being able to ask questions via a keyboard may even encourage those who wouldn’t normally put up their hand in a crowded room to have their voices heard. This really is the time now to make access to your events truly universal and available to all; introverts, extroverts, able-bodied and disabled. I would also suggest that you encourage your tuned in audience to network and connect with one another, perhaps having them type a short intro to themselves and to share their social profiles.
Your event may have been scheduled for 6:30pm taking into account the time it would take for people to reach your venue from the office. If you change to a livestream it’s worth considering this gap in time and that attendees may end up doing the nursery pick up or will be on the train home. You may want to consider a more sociable earlier or later time to schedule your live stream.
Live streaming is an opportunity for you to create a community and when times are so uncertain, that’s one thing we need the most.
Kim French
If you had organised an in person, audience-based event then you will likely have a strong structure in place. It’s important to consider how this may need to be adapted for an online audience. I recommend creating title cards that outline when the stream will be starting, perhaps graphics that count down to the start of the stream, an opportunity to reinforce your branding. You’ll need to take into account how any pre-recorded content may play out as part of the stream. You also have an opportunity to serve your hard of hearing audience who would benefit from live subtitling, an additional cost but worth considering, allowing you to again reach a broader audience and make your content more accessible.
You’ve filmed your event in full so now you have an opportunity to create content to exist beyond the event itself. Those nuggets of wisdom your guests shared, or those fantastic performance moments can make excellent, bitesize pieces of social content that will allow you more content to share than just the still photography you may have had planned. Plus, by recording your event in full people will be able to revisit it and stay engaged for extended periods of time, be it on your website or social channels.
There is no denying that the current climate makes business as usual a challenge. But live streaming is an opportunity for you to create a community and when times are so uncertain, that’s one thing we need the most.
Having started her career as a commercial film editor, Kim French is now Business Development Director at Cherryduck, a branded content production and live streaming company in East London. Kim values strong and authentic client relationships to produce brilliant video work in what she feels is a really exciting time for social and communication led video content. Kim has recently joined the Bloom UK leadership team as Head of Brand and Content. She is a mother to a charismatic 3-year-old called Yoyo and is an avid reader, particularly partial to a gothic horror novel.
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