At first, there was SKYPE

By Paul Davison

We all have our war stories of how we adapted during the pandemic, and, somehow managed to keep some semblance of order and normality - for some of us that was shifting from live face-to-face events to the new world of streaming events.

There are any number of examples where organisations wanted to (or had to) continue engaging with their stakeholders, their clients, their staff and the general public. And there was no shortage of businesses putting up their hand to supply those streaming services.

AV companies and their warehouses became production studios with their own backlots, venues transformed into streaming studios and managed to keep their clients coming back in under the guise of 'essential' work and importantly, staff got shifts. JB HiFi stocks went through the roof with streaming camera sales and Zoom, Teams, Vimeo and others became standard workplace vernacular. Board meetings were attended from the kitchen table at home and we got on with the job. 

And it wasn’t only the events sector that employed the new whiz-bang technology - the cultural industries adapted just as quickly and streamed all genres of music, theatre, performance, and sometimes outspoken opinions (aka podcasts), to their audiences who lapped up everything on offer.

As restrictions started to ease we were 'allowed' to meet again under strict 1 per 4sqm, then 1 per 2 sqm, then 1 to 1 rules and then ultimately no restrictions. Yet we kept on streaming. Initially because at 1 person per 4sqm you simply were not reaching enough of our audience, but then maybe because 'we streamed it last time' we should stream again. Now half of the workforce is still WFH, and the only way to meet en masse for Town Halls or staff briefings is online!

So are online streamed events discretionary, a yet-to-pass fad or here to stay? Back in the day, to broadcast an event you needed untold amounts of technology and support services, and it needed to be a mega event to warrant the expense. Outside broadcast vans in the loading dock, high-end live production services, fibre optic cabling direct to TOC and a venue on the other side of the world capable of receiving the signals and projecting them onto large screens to their LIVE audience. No thought of beaming it into someone's kitchen! 

Now an individual can stream (nee broadcast) from their office desk to thousands of kitchens relatively easily. Or similarly, they can be on a conference stage delivering to their live audience AND stream to thousands of kitchens. There will always be scaled levels of production you can apply to any event - it may be a simple one locked off camera pointing at the lectern set up, or it could be a multi-camera shoot with audience cameras, intelligent lighting, remote streams coming in, tagged, flagged and recorded for later consumption. The point is, anything is possible and now it is far more accessible than ever.    

Most events have some degree of audio-visual support. Once you get to the point where you have a lectern, a microphone and an internet connection, you can podcast! Scale up by adding your slide presentation and a simple camera on a tripod and you're broadcasting (sorry, streaming, and then the sky is the limit.

My point is, it isn't a big leap from your basic AV equipment in a low to mid-tech style event, to add the streaming components and go live to the world. And, it shouldn't cost you the earth. As I mentioned you can always scale up to the mega event level, with super high production values - and pay for the privilege, however at the other end of the scale, by tacking on some reasonably priced equipment and some pre-production you are live!

Venues with in-house AV teams should be able to offer the services ,.AV, production and streaming companies can certainly offer the services and the back end of managing your audiences is getting easier and more user-friendly with every update of your streaming software.

So yes, I think streaming events is here to stay - it's now just part of the mix that is AV and event production. What you do with it in the other end is up to you. I am glad, however, that I cannot see my favourite band, the latest hit musical, a classical concert or a theatre performance online - or even if I can, I won’t. Just as photographs often don’t do a given moment full justice, online will never deliver the atmosphere experienced by in-person attendance.