How to pivot your events to livestreaming.

It’s no secret that COVID-19 temporarily wiped out events in New Zealand. High-profile cancelled events included the NZ Fitness & Health Expo, the Auckland Pasifika Festival, Beervana and all performances from the NZ Symphony Orchestra (NZSO). But digital technology has offered the industry a way out in the form of livestreaming. 

Prior to COVID-19, livestreaming was gathering momentum. It was an increasingly popular way to beam in international speakers without the hassle and expense of flying them across the globe, and using social channels like Facebook Live and YouTube helped companies create tighter linkages between these and the real world.

Clever events managers would often record these livestreams and use that recording to later produce a more polished video breakdown of the event.

Thanks to all the above benefits, livestreaming was once considered a promising support act behind physical events, but then, suddenly, COVID-19 killed the headliner. Livestreaming stepped into the newly-vacated spotlight, and now, just about all of us are merrily streaming our favourite events.

Creating a livestream of your event isn’t as simple as putting your iPhone on horizontal mode and hitting ‘Go’, however. To produce a professional-quality livestream, you’ll need to come up with the following.

• High-quality camera. You can get away with a top-of-the-line phone camera (minimum 1080p) if you’re going for an intimate, personal vibe, but you’ll need to accept that, to many people, the video will look as if it’s been filmed with a toaster. If you’re shooting a professional-level event, you’ll need a broadcast-standard camera which shoots in HD to 4k format.
  

• Microphones. It’s never a good idea to rely on your smartphone’s inbuilt microphones for any kind of professional-quality production. This is because positioning your smartphone to accurately capture video is directly incompatible with positioning it to accurately capture sound. You must choose one or the other, and smartphone cameras tend to be better-quality than smartphone microphones. Instead, tailor your microphone needs to your job. Seminar-style presentations will suit either a handheld microphone, a lapel, or a lectern. If it’s a sit-down interview, go with a carefully-positioned lapel.
  

• Technician. Behind the scenes as your event is running, the AV technician will wrangle the audio and video feeds as they come in. They’ll use a variety of interfaces and software to tidy the feeds up with colour-correction, graphic overlaps and watermarks; plus adding EQ, dynamics and levelling to the audio. When the inputs are suitably polished, the tech will then manage the outputs to your chosen livestreaming platforms as well as recording. 

An experienced audio technician will be able to handle all of the above for you. They can make it feel as easy as whipping out your iPhone, but the result will be as different to those fuzzy phone videos as the Oscars are to a TikTok.

PJ Audio has been handling the livestreaming for Auckland Council’s meetings throughout the lockdown period via Tandem Studios, and has now acquired the tech to expand these services to other clients.

Why a pro sound engineer is better value for your business.

Many people have folks with a bit of audio experience in their lives. When they’re planning an event, they might remember Uncle Fred, who helps set up the sound equipment at church, or that co-worker who used to be in a band, or a friend’s son who DJs, and ask themselves something like this: 

‘Uncle Fred says he’ll make it loud and all he wants for payment is a box of beers. Why would I bother with a professional?’

The answer is: Professionalism. 

Uncle Fred may be the right man for the job if producing some kind of sound is literally your only concern. He’s a great guy and he’ll do his best. But if you need to know that your event will go off without a hitch, you should look into getting a professional sound engineer. 

A pro soundie will be able to seamlessly pull off feats of audio strategy and management that Uncle Fred doesn’t even know are possible.

Working with an experienced audio professional will give you:

1. Better engagement from your audience. When they can clearly hear what you’re telling them and aren’t distracted by shrieking feedback, they’re able to focus on your messaging.
   

2. The ability to cleanly incorporate every piece of equipment you desire into the set-up. Want to play video in presentations? Yes. What about livestreaming to remote attendees? Absolutely. Multiple microphones? No problem. Giant wall of speakers to blast your audience into the next universe? Hell yeah.
   

3. Your preferred sound from whatever equipment you need to use. If your venue has a particular set-up that you’re required to use, Uncle Fred might not be familiar with it - but a professional sound engineer will be. A pro can walk into any situation and make the available equipment do just what you’d like it to do.
   

4. Safety on the stage. Uncle Fred has no incentive to keep his industry knowledge or his gear maintained to a best-practice standard. And when there’s 240V of electricity coursing through his fraying cables, you don’t want to risk him taking guesses. Professionals understand safety regulations, regularly refresh their industry knowledge, and make sure their gear is clean, up-to-date and well-maintained so that they can offer you certainty in safety.
   

5. A safety net for your event. A pro soundie can fix audio problems before they happen, so you can get on with running your event. They have the experience to expect the unexpected and the skills to sort issues out seamlessly, without interrupting the audience’s experience or stressing you out.

Audio hobbyists like Uncle Fred make fantastic volunteer contributions to dance recitals, house parties, backyard weddings and so many other small events that make people happy and bring communities together. But there’s limits to what they can and should be expected to do.

So do yourself a favour at your next business event: Invite Uncle Fred as a guest only, and let a professional sound engineer handle the audio.

Find out how I can help meet all of your audio needs here.