Production
We were delighted to kick off 2022 with our first event of the year, helping carwow deliver a hybrid event – to an entirely virtual audience! For the two day event, we supplied an event platform, including build and management, alongside mobile studio production from the client offices for the in-person presenters.
Our first day saw us delivering presentations and interviews from the senior leadership team, live from the central London offices, in front of a custom branded, fully wrapped set for their backdrop, in fact they were so happy with what we provided they decided to keep the set afterwards to use in-house!
Being a hybrid event, the physical set wasn’t the only consideration we had to take into account – we also had the online design and branding element. Working to the clients branding guidelines we produced custom PiP’s for us to impose the presenters on, both in-person and virtual, as well as branded lower third and animated stinger transition to give the virtual element that extra (car)wow factor!
To bring the show to life we included a full lighting package, our 4K cameras with experienced camera operators to get the best shots for a top-quality stream, which was directly hardwired into to the office network with a comfortable 825mbps upload speed, more than enough for a fast high-resolution stream!
We also provided a dedicated presenter iPad that was connected to the platform to allow the presenters to moderate the Q&A feed from the virtual attendees, as well as launch polls for the online participants. This really helps with bringing the interactivity back to the events world and makes it feel more than just another webinar, bringing the interaction back between the presenters and the delegates and the return of the Q&A sessions.
Of course being a hybrid event, or more accurately an event during ‘the illness that shall not be named’, some of the presenters were unable to attend in person. Whether this was because they were based abroad or forced to isolate, it is something we’re all used to adapting to now. In order to bring in any virtual presenters we had a dedicated secure Zoom call set up for them to join the event.
To prepare the presenters for the day, we had test sessions arranged with each presenter to demonstrate how to use our remote clicker technology to advance their slides, as well as explain how the setup will work on the day including the return feed from the venue as well as checking their technical set up and talking them through their camera/microphone set up. We also made sure that they were connected to the internet in the most reliable way possible.
On the day, we had a speaker manager in Zoom who was able to welcome and recheck the virtual presenters before they went live. We then were able to capture each of the presenter’s video and audio and connect them straight into our stream mix, as well as allowing two-way communication between the virtual presenters and the presenters on-stage.
In preparation for the event and to ensure a seamlessly delivered show, we had a detailed production plan in place, with rehearsals the day before the event, including some in the morning to check over slide adjustments. We also had a dedicated graphics technician on the day of the event who was able to quickly adapt and change any late additions to the presentation content before the event went live.
The second day took place as a fully virtual event, where all of the presenters and delegates joined the Hopin platform remotely for a series of interactive workshop sessions, which you can read more about below!
Platform
When it came to selecting a virtual events platform for the client, we worked with them to determine their needs for the event. Their requirements included somewhere suitable that we could stream for the event on day one and somewhere that can work as an interactive online venue. Taking this into account we recommended using Hopin, a platform we’ve used for multiple events and once they’ve bought the licence, they can also reuse it for as many events as they like for the year!
Once the platform was decided on we then worked with the client who passed on their branding guidelines and assets, and had our virtual experts build a customised Hopin event, including the Main Stage, Breakout Sessions area (Hopin’s version of a breakout/seminar room) alongside implementing the agenda, and registering attendees for the event.
Our expert also made sure to brand and customise pre event emails, to streamline the process and simplify attendee registration through the use of ‘magic links’ to invitees.
Another useful addition to Hopin was the use of ‘Gamification’. This allowed the platform to track user engagement on the site to see which sessions were attended by the delegates, as well as what questions were asked and polls answered. User points are then automatically calculated and awarded to the attendees, depending on how active they were during the event. It’s a great addition to a lot of events and greatly increases attendee engagement – the top scorers were rewarded with prizes!
On the day of the fully virtual event, we had a full technical team in place to assist with the smooth running of the day. They were ensuring that all the presenters and attendees managed to easily access the platform and check that every session was recorded. The client is able to access the recordings post event and use the footage for further training within the company.
This is just one example of how we have been able to integrate a hybrid and virtual event to work seamlessly throughout each of the days. For further information on other Hybrid and Fully Virtual event options that we can offer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
