In 2020, a lot of businesses had to deal with many in-person event cancellations due to the ongoing pandemic, and it looks like the same thing is going to happen again in 2021. However, as we have now learned, we humans are resilient. When one door closes another one always opens. In this particular case, the door that opened was virtual events.
Live content that was usually produced for in-person events moved over to the virtual platform and became the new trend in tech, as people all over the world turned to it in order to keep their businesses booming.
The only question left to ask was - to pre-record, or go live? Well, the truth is, most of the virtual events you have attended already ARE pre-recorded. Whilst this doesn’t make sense in all situations, it does for a wide range of virtual event formats. So, why don’t we find out how each differs together?
In this article, we’re going to help you decide which is better for your business by discussing the difference between both pre-recorded content and live content.
Let’s face it, we know that there are some aspects of virtual events that will never be able to compete with live events. Things like audience participation, and in-person networking opportunities. With that being said though, virtual events are improving fast and there are still so many benefits to hosting virtual events, whether they’re live or pre-recorded.
So without further ado, let’s get started!
Live content streaming is now an extremely hot topic amongst many event planners. Some embrace it, some reject it, but overall - it’s a solid technique. As you may already be aware, live content streaming involves transmitting video and audio coverage of an event as it happens online. But what are the pros and cons of live content streaming? Let’s find out.
Believe it or not, live content streaming is actually relatively easy to set up. While there are so many ‘’premium’’ services available, you can make use of Youtube's free Hangouts on Air. In fact, most people claim that this is actually better than most paid services out there. When you start doing multiple live streams within one event, this is when it starts to get a bit complicated.
By live streaming your event, you can open your business up to a world of online users, all at once. It’s not unheard of for hundreds, sometimes even thousands of users to tune into your live content stream. Since virtual event content is online, you’re able to open your brand up to every corner of the globe, allowing anyone in the world to attend and learn about what you have to offer, all at the same time.
People love watching live content streamed from the comfort of their own home. However, some like being on camera even more. By using the simplicity of live content stream broadcasting, you’re able to allow everybody the opportunity to be their own TV star, which you’re then able to use to your own advantage to gain instant feedback or stream special audience events.
If you live stream your event, it may negatively impact your ticket sales. If you’re constantly offering free live streams, then you’re not making as much income as you usually would from in-person events.
As live streaming requires more bandwidth, you may run into some problems. If you have a limited amount of bandwidth available, you might not be able to go ahead with live streaming. You can get around this by simply not streaming in HD, but who really wants to watch that nowadays?
Live content streaming doesn’t work with everything. For example, things like roundtable discussions and technology demonstrations aren’t captured easily by streaming live. When you attempt to stream more active virtual events, you’ll find that it may not fully succeed, and could discourage those watching the stream.
Essentially, the pros of pre-recorded content for virtual events are the cons of live content virtual event streaming. Whilst pre-recorded content requires more planning and pre-production, it allows you to reduce your stress levels and costs, and bask in the glory of a successful virtual event as you get to spend more time on execution. Let’s find out what other advantages there are when it comes to pre-recorded content.
The biggest advantage of pre-recorded content is the unlimited amount of retakes you can do when trying to produce the perfect virtual event. That means you get unlimited screw-ups, and technical issues just won’t bother you. With this, you’re able to let go of all of the stress involved in the initial set up and purely focus on producing high-quality content for your audience to see.
When producing virtual events, control matters. With pre-recorded content, you’re granted much more control in how your virtual event content is presented than you would be with live content. Do you want your audience to see you and some fun animation at the same time? Do you want to interact with the animation? With pre-recorded content, you’re able to let your creativity run wild and our editors prefer it this way!
Pre-recorded content for virtual events provides you with the unique opportunity to merge the best elements of an in-person live event with a full slate of technical and creative broadcasting tools. You’re able to add the wow factor into your virtual event content as you include motion graphics, special effects, and the right music. Ultimately ending up with well-produced, polished content for your virtual event.
Pre-recorded events give you the ability to build up a content library. Very similar to live streaming, except that nobody has seen anything produced yet. This means that you’re able to build anticipation (aka hype) with your audience before the release date, ultimately also being backed by a huge audience each time.
When working with speakers, it can be very challenging and can either make or break your virtual event if communication is poor. Easily fixed, just make sure everybody is on the same page, and build a solid timeline that everybody sticks to. At Cloud Present we give your event a unique link to our recording platform, allowing your speakers to record their presentation virtually, at any time, for your event.
Pre-recorded content creation can be time-consuming, and has to be ready before your event. Things like scripts, graphics, and keynotes will have to be finalized earlier. However, you’re easily able to adjust your timeline in order to include lead time for post-production, or just talk to us and we can help you with your pre-recorded content. Pre-recorded content also allows you to review the presentations, to ensure they are of high quality, and re-recordings can take place if you are not satisfied with the end result.
All in all, live content streaming can be a great tool. However, it stands as a complicated and limited asset in some industries. For us, pre-recorded content rules all. With the addition of today’s technology leaping forward at an order of magnitude, what seemed unimaginable only a few years ago has now become a reality.
This means that you’re able to pre-record your virtual events and use the wonderful technology we have available at our fingertips in order to captivate your audience enough, that you’ll quickly find your virtual event shared around the world.
Combining pre-recorded content with a live Q&A session at the end of the presentation is the perfect compromise for most events. It will also ensure that attendees join the 'live ' session to ask their questions.
The decision, however, is yours to make. You will ultimately need to consider your audience, and the purpose of your virtual event to see if it will abide well by those watching.
If you are interested in the pre-recorded route, send us an email (hello@cloudpresent.co) and we’d be more than happy to give you a demo of our platform and what we can do for your company.
