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Live Streaming During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study

During the rapidly evolving crisis with COVID-19 we were contacted by Kim Jones, Executive Director of the Optometric Physicians of Washington. 

Her organization had been planning their 55th Post Graduate Seminar scheduled to take place 8 days from the time she reached out to us. We were able to collaborate with Kim and her organization to quickly find a new venue, figure out safe and sanitary practices for crew and presenters (including one immunocompromised individual), and get a custom viewing page set up with tabbed videos, embedded chat function, email capture for each session and linked quizzes for participants to earn their continuing education credits.

Thanks to this joint effort between our teams, the conference took place on time and around 600 doctors were able to get their continuing education credit from the safety of their home. 

Participants delighted at having free parking, no crowded hallways and other such light-hearted benefits from their devices. Many shared photos of them practicing social distancing at home while holding their babies, sharing a desk with their school-aged kids who are all home from schools, and enjoying the company of their furry family members.  

Some of the safety measures we took during the production and streaming were frequent hand washing, minimal crew, who did morning temperature checks for fever before coming into the closed-off hotel conference room that had only production crew (3 people) the OPW Executive producer, 1 moderator and 1-3 speakers safely spaced throughout the room. 

Our techs kept a minimum of 6 feet apart at their work stations and microphones, the presentation computer and clicker were all disinfected between each person’s use. In addition, we changed foam covers on lavalier mics after each presenter. 

Finally, we had our audio person, who would switch mics and disinfecting gloved and masked when coming into contact with speakers. 

Right now we serve many areas who are being affected by “shelter in place” orders or similar precautions.

As media professionals, our crews are small and carry press passes. We have also applied to have Varvid listed as an essential business in Washington state. 

Our hope is to continue to help create ways to keep people in corporate, education and community organizations connected through bringing meetings, classes and conferences together safely online. 

We also are offering consultations for individuals, groups and businesses who are sheltering in place and in need of a live streaming solution to meet their individual needs using existing gear they have on hand, and or by assisting them in making buying decisions.

Please reach out to us for your streaming and consulting needs. 

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Live Streaming Conference and Event Promotions

Facebook Live is accessible to 1.66 million users today, and a variety of businesses have adopted it as a tool to engage with their followers. Brands that live broadcast product launches, behind-the-scene event footage, and demos over Facebook increase their social-media-standing dramatically. One reason for increased engagement is that Facebook Live instantly notifies followers when the broadcast begins and a red “Live” logo is added to any live streaming videos.

Early last December, we helped our client, Scaling New Heights, promote their June conference by producing a live stream to their Facebook page. The SNH staff was visiting their venue (Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida) to do a walk through and plan their event, and the live stream offered their audience a preview of the venue and gave them an opportunity for a real-time Q&A session. Although Scaling New Heights started with nearly 40 real-time viewers, they gathered 1.4k views after airing their Facebook Live conference promotion broadcast, as all Facebook Live videos are recorded and available on demand after a broadcast. To add an element exclusivity, SNH offered their online audience code words for discounted rooms and flights as a way to encourage attendance.

Joe Woodard shows Disney World for Scaling New Heights promo

According to social media leaders, like those at SSW16, digital marketing is key to develop brand identity and trust. Online brand identity is created in a variety of ways -through blog posts and tweets, for example- and each social output reaps specialized benefits. In order to be successful, a business ought to use a wide array of social engagement tools, including live streaming which is growing in popularity.

With the largest social network on the internet, Facebook Live makes it easier than ever to engage with target audiences online. Want to learn more about the perks of Facebook live and key steps to starting your live stream? Take a look at our Facebook Live page, here.

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Why Live Streams Increase an Event’s Physical Attendance

To expand the reach of an event, more and more organizations are starting to use live streaming video as a way to engage their online audience and to provide content to people who aren’t able to attend in person. Most often these streams are free and easily accessible through social media, with Facebook Live now being one one the most effective ways of delivering live content. However, some still question the effectiveness of live streaming events, as they worry people will watch online rather than attending in person. So, if an organization wants to increase the physical attendance to their event (and thus their profit), why should they offer the event online for free?

Consider the reason why individuals attend conferences, concerts, or sporting events to begin with. For first-hand experiences, of course! For example, an EventBrite case study concluded that 67% of millennials that watch a live stream of a concert are driven to buy tickets for the next upcoming show. Although it can be entertaining and informative to watch an event from home, there are many aspects of the on site experience that just cannot be offered via live streaming.

Scaling New Heights Woodard 2016 Conference

For example, conference attendees purchase tickets to meet like-minded folks, engage with new tools, and to gather information from class sessions. Live streaming conferences does not give a remote viewer direct access to these experiences. While an online audience member is able to follow a presentation, their questions are less likely to be answered, they do not have access to resources, and they do not have the opportunity to shake hands and trade business cards with other attendees.

This is not to say that live streaming doesn’t have value, but the point we’re making is live streaming is not a replacement for the on-site experience, it’s a way to deliver your content to a wider audience and encourage them to attend your next event in person. Considering that individuals face different financial challenges, and work schedules, events available through live streams are a powerful way to connect with an audience that otherwise would be missed. From a marketing standpoint, however, growing an online audience is one of the most effective ways to generate a larger physical audience for your next event.

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Roland V-1SDI Video Switcher Demo

Rob Read, Business Development Manager at Roland Professional AV, often comes to the Varvid headquarters to demo new products. Recently, we filmed Rob’s demo of Roland’s V-1SDI to share with you all! 

The V-1SDI video switcher is flexible,versatile, and portable. Connecting and switching 3G-SDI cameras, playback sources, and HDMI sources (cameras, smartphones, computers, tablets, Blu-ray players) is made easy with the T-Fader and backlit buttons. The results are, certainly, nothing short of professional.

With support for 3G-SDI, the V-1SDI can operate at full 1080p resolution and can take advantage of the longer cable distance of SDI making this compact solution suitable for events and applications in even large spaces with the most professional level of SDI camera sources.

MAIN FEATURES OF THE V-1SDI

Support for SDI and HDMI cameras, smartphones, tablet computers and PCs etc.

Easy to operate with hardware controls

Compact and portable

Supports up to Full HD 1080p

3 x 3G-SDI and 2 x HDMI* inputs

2 x 3G-SDI and 1 x HDMI* output

Quad input multiviewer with source labeling and audio metering

Composition effects including DSK (Downstream Keyer), picture-in-picture etc.

Full 14 channel audio mixer included

Software control using V-1SDI RCS application for Mac and PC and remote control via RS-232 connection

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Technology’s Future, Webcasting and Varvid – It’s Friday, I’m in Love!

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Webcasting — it’s one of the first services Varvid initially offered and it continues to be a cornerstone to our overall success.  While most of our projects have us traveling to wonderful locations across the globe, we are pleased to be planning, preparing and testing for one right here our own backyard.  On Friday, January 18th, we’ll produce and live stream Technology Alliance Group Northwest’s (TAGNW)  Annual Predictions Luncheon from Syre Hall on the campus of Whatcom Community College.  Living in Bellingham is wonderful and working in Bellingham is even better!  We are honored to be part of what we expect to be a long running tradition.

[pullquote_right] Living in Bellingham is wonderful and working in Bellingham is even better![/pullquote_right]

The event and webcast gets underway around 11:45am with some formal introductions and organizational announcements.  Once the formalities are out of the way, the program moves right into tech-savvy prognosticator Mark Anderson’s predictions and some Q&A until about 1:30 or so.  After a little research, his ability to forecast the IT future is pretty darn good…  he’s been right more than 90% of the time over the last 10 years!

There are a couple things that make this webcast really cool:

  1. You can participate via our live chat feature. So if you have questions, we’ll ask them on your behalf.
  2. This is a great way to save on travel costs and time away from the office.
  3. If you are not in Bellingham but would like to attend, no problem.
  4. We’ll be broadcasting in H.264. So, it’ll work on your mobile device.

If you’d like to be part of the audience, either live or virtually, contact the good folks at TAGNW and they’ll set you up.  We’ll see you there or “there.”

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