worked on this book with me; without her we would not have made our deadline: you are so talented, and it was an honor to do this with you!
Most importantly my ride‐or‐die partner for life, my wife, Julie, and my inspirations, Rachel and Zachary, who taught me what unconditional love means.
Also, a special thanks to Dan Lotzof, Kathleen Alcorn, Scott Farb, Malcolm Lotzof, Lisa Davis, Erik Carlson, Simon Ball, Nancy Disman, John Whalen, Spiro Yulis, Dan Rehal, Mike McCauley, Bob Spass, Steve Manket, Sylvie Harton, Keith Barrett, Jim Phalen, Angelo Alduino, Adam Cohen, Christina Guthrie, and Michael Campbell.
FOREWORD
If you are reading this book, you are interested in either running your first virtual event or taking your existing virtual events to a new level. In either case, you have come to the right place.
There is no question that today with the physical event world temporarily ceasing to exist as a result of regional lockdowns from COVID‐19, the world of virtual events is thriving. However, virtual events themselves are not new. As CEO of INXPO, now part of Intrado, the leading online event platform, Ben and I have been delivering virtual events since 2004.
I originally met Ben, who at the time was CEO of Stream57, the leading video streaming platform, in early 2005. Even at that time we were both passionate believers that video delivered over the Internet was about to disrupt the event business. Ben was focused on video capture and streaming while we were focused on how to put a full event online. Combining our virtual event platform together with Ben's streaming services and technology, we have delivered some of the earliest high‐performing interactive virtual events for some of the world's largest organizations and have been doing so for over 15 years.
Since that time, Ben and I have collaborated on multiple projects culminating in the sale of our company, INXPO, to Ben, who is currently president of Intrado Digital Media. My respect for Ben's understanding of this space, and his passion for disruption in this space, goes without saying. Ben is also the consummate technology leader. His focus on positivity, humility, and honesty makes him a leader that people trust and follow, allowing him to have successfully built multiple technology companies.
If you are in the market to host a virtual event, there is no better source of information available to you than this book. It is based on many years of practical hard‐earned experience. Just because an event is online does not mean it's a no brainer to produce. Many components like organizing content, driving an audience, registration, and driving outcomes are the same in both physical and virtual events. However, technology plays a much larger role on the virtual side.
By reading this book you will have a much better appreciation for all the intricacies of hosting a successful virtual event. Your knowledge level will increase dramatically without ever having hosted your own virtual event, courtesy of Ben's hard‐earned experiences.
–Malcolm Lotzof
INTRODUCTION
I have been in the digital media space since 1999, and I now have the honor of leading 1,300 global professionals at Intrado Digital Media, where we are working with over 13,000 clients around the world helping them deliver mission‐critical communications to their employees, customers, media, and investors. I have always believed that virtual events add to any physical event and that all organizations should be taking most of their events hybrid; to me it's all about reaching your audience wherever they are, and on any device they choose.
So, let's get one thing straight: Virtual events do not cannibalize physical events; the world is what cannibalizes physical events. If you create meaningful and engaging virtual events, they're going to drive your audience to want to be there physically if they can.
I have had the honor to work with some of the most recognizable brands in the world and some of the most talented and creative people. We've helped an incredible number of organizations make the leap into the world of virtual events. Throughout this book we will not only tell you about going virtual, we will give you the tools and know‐how to help make your move into this exciting world that is needed now more than ever before. For those of you already creating virtual events we will give you some insight on what works and doesn't work, as well as plenty of checklists, best practices, and tips; consider this book your virtual events playbook!
Let's start with my journey into this world of streaming, hybrid, and virtual events so I can show you why I'm the guy that can successfully guide you through your virtual event journey.
My first hybrid event was for a major designer's fashion show at Grand Central Terminal in New York, where there was physical audience and a virtual audience.
The ask from this client was: How do you take the intimacy of a fashion show, with models walking down a runway, and make it exciting for the journalists, buyers, and customers who could not make it to NYC for Fashion Week and secure the hard‐to‐get ticket?
We were able to do this by giving the virtual audience the best seat in the house and incredible camera angles, but the key element was giving this audience more, which included a behind‐the‐scenes look at what goes on backstage to put on a fashion show. They were able to actually ask a designer questions before the show, and as a little sneak peek, the virtual attendees saw the new fashions a few moments before the actual live attendees did.
My second hybrid event that we produced was for one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Their ask was: How do we not only make the virtual audience feel like they are at the concert, but allow them to be the director of their version of the show wherever they were watching the concert?
This event was taking place at the then‐named Garden State Art Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, with 10,000‐plus screaming fans at the venue and tens of thousands watching via web who we not only gave the concert experience to but also allowed them to get involved in the show. In short, we got creative and this is how we did it:
1 We had a typical concert five‐camera production setup, with a camera set up for wide shots so you could see the entire band. There was another camera set up so you could see the lead singer, and an overhead camera so you could see the whole band from above. Lastly, we had an additional camera focused on the audience and a final mobile camera so you could get various closeups on stage.
2 To get creative we decided to give the virtual audience control of their camera views and also added three more lipstick cameras (they are called lipstick cameras because they are the size of a lipstick) so we could put one on the lead singer's microphone, put one around the neck of the drummer, and the last on the hat of the lead guitarist. While you were watching virtually you could either watch a mixed program feed that we directed or at any time you could click to the view that you wanted. Giving the controls to the audience gave them the ability to not only watch the concert but see the concert the way they wanted to.
3 We set up a pre‐concert virtual meet‐and‐greet with the band, where a few lucky virtual attendees got to ask the band questions before the concert.
4 We also enabled one lucky virtual attendee to request a song that the band would play at this concert.
End result, the virtual audience had a unique experience that they would not have had at the live concert.
Now let's fast‐forward to today and the reasons that have brought you to pick up this book. Where were you when the world changed forever and got you to this point? The point where virtual and hybrid events became a necessity in not only your event strategy but your overall business strategy.
