Attending a first-class event, listening to amazing speakers, meeting with colleagues, sharing your thoughts via interactive ways and even broadening your networking opportunities are so much easier nowadays thanks to emerging technologies and bright entrepreneurs.
Online events and webinars are getting more and more popular due to several factors which also give us the opportunity to work remotely. Increase of high-speed and reliable internet, including 5G, high-end technological equipment for everyday use and online streaming platforms that allows us to create a seamless broadcast look event, make it possible to connect people and reach a global audience in a single event. Cooperate culture in many leading companies require routine online meetings as technology allows us to work borderless.
Everyone, everywhere, all at once
An online event allows speakers and attendees from all around the world to meet in one single platform. They can attend from the comfort of their home, or a hotel room, from their garden office studio or any workplace, even while travelling. You may be on a business trip far from the country you live in or even on a vacation but don’t want to miss such an informative event and speakers. The emerging technologies allow you to attend these virtual events easily, as long as you are aware of your time zone difference😊
Let’s take a look at the key advantages of hosting an online event.
It is cost effective — No need to travel, no need for huge production teams and rent a venue for the event. Mostly no printing material for promotion or any information. All done online.
It is interactive — You may be physically far away from others but attending an online event does not mean you cannot connect with each other. As a speaker you may ask questions to the attendees, even host an interactive survey or a game during your speech. Speakers may easily chat with the audience and answer their questions. Additionally, you may meet new people in virtual meeting rooms depending on the event you attend or contribute.
It is inclusive — You may reach out to a wider audience with the help of social media platforms, primarily as a marketing tool but also as hosting platforms for your online event. Most of the virtual event platforms allow you to stream your event live on various platforms simultaneously (your website, Youtube, Linkedin, Facebook and so on).
It is convenient — You do not need to spend your precious time organizing a venue, dealing with catering, production teams, even with security issues, deal with travel and accommodation for your speakers. You only need a computer, a fast broadband internet connection, a high-quality webcam and a microphone. That is where the magic begins. You only need your creative and organization skills to make this event a huge success. Also, you may share some of these responsibilities with an experienced webinar / online event producer, webinar director.
It looks great — With the rise of new and professional streaming platforms and experienced producers, online events look incredibly professional, which may feel like a live broadcast on a national TV station.
What to expect from a webinar director?
Although a webinar or an online event is not a big budget feature film or a nationwide broadcast, you still need a director to keep every aspect well organized and host a seamless online event. During a live event there are tons of issues you need to deal with as a host. Technical issues like video and audio qualities, connection issues, slides, chats, lower band graphics like the speaker names, session titles, info bars, social media accounts and so on. You also need to be sure that the upcoming speakers are ready to go live on time and they are off air when they need to leave.
Here are some of the common responsibilities of an experienced webinar director. Clearly these responsibilities vary depending on the complexity of the event and the needs of your particular event:
Seamless broadcast — A webinar director is responsible for a smooth flow of your event. From start to the end of the event the director will deal with all the aspects of live broadcast.
Logistics and support — The director will be responsible for scheduling the event, sending out invitations for speakers, organizing practice slots, providing training for the speakers to use the broadcast platform effectively, follow up with reminders and welcome all speakers on the day of the event.
Technical setup — The director is responsible for choosing and setting up the right platform for the event, testing audio and video equipment both for the host and the speakers and should be ready to deal with any technical issues that can interfere with the broadcast during the live event. Also the graphical aspects like the event logo, background image, plus any content related text like the names & titles, topics, upcoming sessions etc.. that should be ready to go live. All these need to be tested before the event.
Speaker coordination — Depending on the complexity of your event, the director needs to coordinate the speakers, support them at back stage when needed, share any last-minute changes, having their slides ready to present and be confident that the speakers are relaxed and have no confusion about the flow of the event.
Audience engagement — The director may be responsible for delivering any questions to the screen from the audience. However, as this is a live event, monitoring the chat and questions from the audience may need a wider team and assistance to keep the broadcast smooth and healthy.
Troubleshooting — This is a live event. There is always a last-minute crisis or technical issues that need to be resolved. During a live broadcast, you need someone to make decisions when in need. An experienced director will deal with these situations and keep the broadcast on track without any serious disruptions.
Post event — Closing the broadcast, providing the recording of the entire event, organizing some small edits if needed and sharing all with the host/client/organizers would be the latest step to finalize your event.
If you are planning to host an online event, do not hesitate to get in touch with an experienced webinar director/producer for the sake of your online broadcast. A professional online event needs a confident and experienced problem solver and decision maker during the live broadcast.
