As businesses and individuals all over the world begin to host live, in-person events again, the question of how AV will work is at the top of a lot of people’s minds. There are a few things that will be different about how events are hosted and the way that event managers, audience members and presenters interact with technology. We’re entering a new era of ‘hybrid’ event management. Tech will still play a leading role in all events for the foreseeable future, but we do need to combine it with the resurfacing of old-school AV methods to cover the in-person aspects too.
Are live events going to be just like we remember them?
For the next little while at least, we will not see things go ‘back to normal’. An audience member should, and likely will, need to be provided the option to attend an event virtually. This would not just cover the viewing of the event itself, but the interaction of audience members with speakers, as if they were present.
The unpredictability of travel restrictions and the increased cautiousness around cold and flu symptoms and, of course, people who simply don’t want to leave the house, should not stop any event from going ahead or allowing everyone the opportunity to engage as normal…well, normal-ish.
And why shouldn’t event hosts offer a virtual option? It allows them to reach a broader audience, after all.
What do event hosts and organisers need to do to prepare for ‘hybrid’ events?
Moving into a new ‘hybrid’ era of the live event AV experience is all about making sure the entire audience feels included and able to interact – even if they’re not physically present at the venue.
So, what do event organisers need to do in order to ensure including a remote element in every event feels as normal as making sure your AV team gets a feed (we sure do appreciate the feed).
Well, event hosts will need to work with their AV supplier to include a few things in the setup. They need to make sure that…
- The audience can join remotely and watch, but also interact by asking questions, voting in polls, etc.
- The presenters can join remotely and share their presentations while being able to answer audience questions (either live or via text)
Two seemingly simple points, but it’s incredible the amount of time and effort that goes into making these things happen. Though these are not entirely new capabilities, they have evolved out of necessity over the past few years and have become far more commonly used.
As we move back to live events, how will the AV experience differ?
We see quite a few differences in the AV experience today than just a few years ago before Covid hit.
For instance, having a presenter “Skype in” was often a special request and required extra equipment and know-how to make it work properly. Now, almost every event needs to offer this kind of AV support (though the terminology has changed a little with the more generic “remote presenters” becoming the phrase of choice).
Similarly, what we used to refer to as “Webcasting” an event, was also a special request. These days, we use terminology like “live streaming” to refer to this kind of setup.
Incorporating these elements is now commonplace but they do increase the complexity (and in turn, the price) of the AV system for an event.
Here’s a bit of a rundown of the differences between live event AV pre-Covid and now (2022 onwards)…
AV requirements for a basic event 2 years ago generally consisted of:
- A few loud speakers
- A projector
- A basic sound desk
- 2 laptops with a basic switcher
- A single technician to operate during the show
A similarly planned event these days will usually require all of the above, PLUS:
- A computer to manage the remote presenters – if you have a panel of speakers or speakers who will be talking back to back then you might need a few
- A “Guest Manager” operator
- To manage the live stream elements you would need an additional computer with lots of power to support the stream
- A dedicated stream technician
- A more advanced sound desk to deal with the remote callers and stream requirements
- A camera or two – maybe a remote-controlled camera, maybe an operated one depending on circumstances
- A fast and reliable internet connection to avoid lag and other connectivity issues
When you look at all the additional requirements needed to run the AV for a ‘hybrid’ event, it’s easy to see that what used to take up 1 trestle table, now requires a small fort with 3 or 4 trestle tables (and a caffeine station, obviously).
Even though things are not going to return to ‘normal’ anytime soon, it’s exciting (and pretty heartwarming, to be honest) to see the different tech innovations we’re creating in order to keep people connected.
If you have any questions about the way things are going to run with live event AV moving forward, please feel free to reach out.
Phone: 1300.884.759
Email: info@smoothav.com.au
