WEBCASTING
A live webcast is an online broadcast that takes place at a specific date and time. Just like live television, a live webcast happens in real time, with no ability to edit or correct footage. The spontaneity of a live webcast is one reason users enjoy attending them. It is also my belief that one of the keys to a successful virtual event is not only the webcast's functionality but also the quality of your webcasts.
A live webcast may include one or more of these elements: slides, live video, Q&A, polls, surveys, online chat, and social media integration. Organizers of live webcasts choose which of these elements to include.
Live webcasts are streamed over the internet via webcam, professional and prosumer video equipment, broadcast studios, satellite feeds, or videoconference units from physical event locations, to your home, office, or any location that you can get an internet connection. End users can experience live webcasts from any internet connected device and in browsers or mobile apps. Today, 96% of consumers rely on a smartphone to get things done. That means you need to ensure your content is viewable on a small screen!
The newest webcasting technology provides a WebRTC presenter panel. WebRTC is an open source web and mobile technology that allows for real‐time communications. What does that mean to your Webcast? It enables you to create a broadcast experience and bring other remote presenters into your webcast so that you can have real conversation live. This enables you to have a panel event or a one‐on‐one interview with each presenter in a different location. I have been streaming since the late 1990s and I think this is the biggest change and enhancement in the world of webcasting. It takes your webcast and turns it into a broadcast experience. My advice is when selecting a webcasting solution, make sure they have WebRTC presenter side capabilities. Speakers have access to a browser‐based “presentation console” of live webcast platforms. This console provides controls that are available exclusively to presenters: starting and stopping the broadcast, advancing slides, viewing audience metrics, launching polls, viewing poll results, viewing questions, moderating questions, and more.
End users access the “audience console,” which the live webcast platform makes available via browser or mobile app. The audience console enables users to view slides, hear audio, view video, participate in polls, submit questions, and access handouts.
An on‐demand archive of the live webcast is available as soon as the live webcast is over. Users who missed the live broadcast can return later to watch the webcast on demand. The most common uses of webcasts are for employee town halls, marketing events, educational programs, and to broadcast from a hybrid event. One of my favorite parts of a webcast is that you can handle audiences of any size while also delivering a higher‐quality program.
Going forward I think more and more physical events will also broadcast all or portions of their program to a virtual audience, creating a compelling hybrid viewing experience.
Note: The term “live webcast” is used synonymously with “live webinar” – just to clear up any confusion!
Use Cases
Corporate Announcement – Your CEO wants to address all of the employees with a quarterly town hall; some of the key elements are going to be an opening prerecorded video that the marketing team put together. Then the CEO will take the stage, and it could be his or her live video opening from an auditorium in front of employees at headquarters. After the opening, your CEO will incorporate slides and graphics to talk about quarterly results. The program will shift from graphics to one‐on‐one live interviews with a few key executives to congratulate them on their results, and to end the program there will be a panel of executives discussing the quarter, where they will take questions from employees. After the Q&A session is complete the webcast ends with a prerecorded montage of images of employees synced to music. The webcast can then be edited into smaller bitesize pieces of content to be shared internally or to the public. Also, this webcast can then be made available for employees to watch on‐demand. Most webcasting solutions today offer you the ability to edit your content, or you can download the content and your internal or external production team can edit it themselves.
Marketing Thought Leadership – You are going to have two or three industry experts discuss a topic for 30 to 40 minutes and then take questions from the live virtual audience. The moderator will open the program and introduce the panelists, who would be in different locations. The key elements here are that all panelists are being broadcast via webcam video so the audience can see them and hear their interactions with the other panelists. This program could consist of some slides, software demos, and polling as well. The biggest difference between this and a webinar is the use of video and the ability to take portions of this webcast and repackage it to share key takeaways on your website or via social media.
STREAMING
Streaming is the term we will use for a broadcast that is going to Social Media locations like Facebook Live, YouTube, Twitch, Periscope/Twitter, LinkedIn Live, OTT channels like Roku's Smart TV and Apple TV, or imbedded into a company's website or partner's website. Streaming is ideally for syndicating your content live and on demand to various locations. It is a great way to broadcast your event. Additionally, all of the locations I mentioned above offer their own live streaming technology that you don't usually have to pay for, plus there are a lot of streaming services available for your organization to use. It feels like every day a new streaming service comes online and a new solution is available.
What is OTT, you might ask? OTT stands for “over the top.” Traditionally, television was delivered via terrestrial broadcast and then moved to cable or satellite delivery. OTT is delivered directly to viewers via the internet, which is how all of the streaming networks are now delivered; think Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu to name a few.
You might be wondering why is it important for you to understand and know about OTT? It's because just like with virtual events and webcasting it is another avenue you might think of for delivering your event programing, and you now can integrate OTT programming in your virtual events. In other words, I can see the day when all associations, universities, and corporations have their own OTT channels in places like Apple TV, Roku, and Smart TVs, where the audience will go to get news and information from your organization, directly on their TV sets and conference room monitors. Your content can be delivered to any Smart TV or OTT device anywhere in the world. So technically anyone in the world could have access to your content if available on 50″, 60″, and larger television monitors with a click of their remote controls.
Use Cases
Marketing – A major announcement where your number‐one goal is to reach as many people as possible. You care more about the mass numbers you reach than actually knowing who is watching – think television. You want to make it easy for the audience to log in from anywhere. Instead of making the audience come to your destination and registering, you're bringing your content to the places that your audience likes to get their content. And you're not limited to one: you can syndicate your content to many locations at once, like Facebook Live, LinkedIn Live, Twitch, your partners' websites, etc. You're hoping that they will like what they see and then come to your website to engage or purchase.
Corporate Television – You're a large association and you want to create your own TV channel to launch at your annual event and run all year round with new programming segments broadcast multiple times a week. Your first program can be viewed by the audience live at the conference, on a hotel TV channel, and on conference monitors; their virtual audience could watch the content via the association's website, a virtual event platform, and via your very own Roku channel. Your goal is to debut your program everywhere
