Tag Archives: webcast

XXV – A communication professional’s ‘secret’ webcast checklist

Posted on 16.03.2010 by Christine| Leave a comment

When you are working in a communication department, say of a publicly-traded multinational company, you are apt to be confronted with organizing a webcast at some point. And just maybe you feel a bit confused, overwhelmed, annoyed or whatever the emotion might be. Then it’s time for a pat on the back, a brief motivational talk and a little help from the expert: I herewith offer you my personal, fully-fledged communication-webcast checklist/questionnaire:

  • Select a suitable time and place; not early Monday morning or late Friday afternoon, not at 7 am or 4 pm, if you have an audience, give them time to arrive and find a seat before starting your event, inform all participants that there will be a webcast today and that the entire session will be recorded.
  • Find a location that is congenial for setting up electronic equipment, that is accessible via elevator or has a back entrance – nobody wants to carry heavy boxes of equipment up numerous flights of stairs.
  • When will the external streaming provider (e.g. Solutionpark) come by to set up the equipment? Is the room / auditorium / facility unlocked e.g. the evening before the event? What type of security access is necessary? Who has the key?
  • Have at least 2 tables and a couple chairs ready for your external streaming provider to set up their equipment. Where will their place be (in the back of the room, on the side)? Is there space for the camera tripod? Any pillars in the way? Or other obstacles?
  • Make sure there is a very good, reliable and strong power line as well as Internet access for live webcasts via satellite.
  • Do you have adapters for foreign speakers? Not all countries use the same electrical plugs. Make sure you have the necessary adapters available.
  • Is there enough lighting? Or are extra spotlights necessary?
  • Are a laptop and beamer already installed? Who knows how to operate the system?
  • What about electronic blinds to darken the room?
  • Microphones, microphones, microphones, have more than extra ones, test them, make sure the battery won’t die on you during the event. How are them mounted? What range do they have? Remember, if the speakers aren’t talking into the microphone, what they are saying will not be recorded.
  • Make sure the podium or stage is not slippery in any way. You don’t want your speakers crashing down and breaking a leg, right?
  • Is there a bottle of water for the speaker on the speaker’s desk? And a nice glass. Please no paper or plastic cups. That really looks cheap in a video.
  • Tell your speakers to bring or send their slide presentations as power point files, electronically, be it on their laptops or on a USB key or CD-ROM. Whatever they are bringing has to be compatible with the equipment onsite. Otherwise it won’t work.
  • Will the speakers be using a laser pointer, remote control or other such device? Please test it in advance, not 5 minutes before you start.
  • Make sure that your speakers get presentation training or media training and that they remove all key, coins etc from their pockets. There is nothing more annoying than a speaker rattling the stuff in his pockets.
  • Will you have simultaneous translators? What language will be recorded on the webcast?
  • How long will the webcast be? 10 minutes, over the course of 3 days? That makes a big difference for the encoding later on. So when you are briefing your external streaming provider (e.g. Solutionpark), don’t forget to tell them what time span you are planning on recording.
  • Are there any legal ramifications? Does your external streaming provider (e.g. Solutionpark) need to sign a confidentiality agreement?
  • Who is the responsible contact person onsite????

And finally

  • Who will upload the link to the (company) website?

I think this should be a good starting point…….

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XXIV – Don’t forget your assessment

Posted on 10.03.2010 by Christine| Leave a comment

As communication professionals we tend to ignore or forget, or whatever excuse you want to add, to conduct a thorough assessment following a significant communications task or project. Where this should actually be one of the most important parts of your communication work. In that respect, with webcasts and videos on the Internet, life’s a little easier.

What am I measuring?

There is the quantitative and the qualitative aspect to measuring a webcast: get the statistics from your streaming provider (like Soltionpark) or internal IT department and compare them with the figures from previous webcasts or your regular Internet user statistics. Or benchmark them against what other companies in your industry have. That’s the quantitative side. For the qualitative part you need to define what you are specifically looking for first: Is it that the audience understood the content of the presentations and speeches, is it that the public reacts positively to the message you sent out or is it that you want your employees to take a liking to your newly appointed COO?

In any case, the value of measuring and assessing the success of your webcast hit rate is not to be underestimated. The figures and feedback clearly show you what, when and how the audience likes to receive your content, i.e. video message and slide presentation. It also shows you what aspect or detail needs to be improved or changed in order to have even happier viewers. This might be a small thing such as insufficient lighting that becomes more apparent in a video. My advice is to use such insights for improving your preparation work and to help your company capitalize on a webcast’s benefits.

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XXIII – Traffic, tracking, statistics – evaluation made easy

Posted on 04.03.2010 by Christine| Leave a comment

The final item listed in a good communication concept is EVALUATION. Be it through assessments, survey, interviews, benchmarking etc. We want to know if we have reached our target audience, if the message arrived at the receiving end and if the money spent on the respective communication measures turned out to be a fruitful investment.

How will we know? And how can we evaluate the use of a webcast? As soon as your video is published on the Internet, be it Live or on Demand, your external streaming provider can begin logging the traffic generated, as well as the hits and clicks of the webcast watched.

Facts and figures

The good news is, you don’t have to do anything. Take a live webcast, for example. Instantaneously you can track the users on your webpage anonymously and report back what peaks, highs and lows there were during a specific time period. The tracking tools are so sophisticated, that you yourself don’t even need to install expensive software yourself. Leave it to those in charge on the technical side and they will deliver the results first hand while the event is ongoing or immediately thereafter. What more do you want?

Do statistics really tell the truth?

If you are working with an experienced and reliable streaming partner, such as Solutionpark, you can only expect top notch reporting on the facts and figures of your webcast. Every aspect is measured and recorded, tracked and identified – if you so wish. It actually is their general working procedure to observe the user’s movements on the Internet while one of their clients’ webcasts is taking place.

From a communication perspective such statistical information can only be helpful. How many people watched the webcast? At what time? For how long? All good information not simply for justifying the costs but also for explaining their necessity. Look at the cost per user: One can calculate that for an event with a live audience, for the extra cost of a webcast, up to double the number of people will watch it in the following month compared with the number of participants that attended the actual event. Imagine, double!! Most probably the extra cost for producing the webcast was a fraction of what the event cost anyway.

Feel at ease

I always found it helpful to know how many viewers had attended a live webcast session online and was always grateful for the respective evaluation and interpretation provided by Solutionpark. One thing I do want to add is that the technical support throughout the entire project is just as important as the analysis thereafter. I was definitely never left hanging throughout the whole communication-webcast process. And that was much appreciated.

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XXII – Time and speed is key: in communication and in technology

Posted on 25.02.2010 by Christine| Leave a comment

Who wouldn’t want to benefit from using new technologies and impressing your shareholders, clients, business partners and employees with a hands-on Internet presentation? Produced in no time and cost efficiently? From a communicator’s perspective, this sounds like a gift sent from heaven.

Let me give you some technical background: Webcasts are often used for synchronizing presentations (such as Powerpoint, websites, film, 3-D objects) with multiple audio sources while encoding them into one coherent stream. They provide an all-in-one solution for broadcasting your video and slides to a broad audience via the Internet.

Let it PLAY

In addition, you have the possibility to use the web-based production software «PLAY» which is an all-in-one production software, especially developed by Solutionpark for producing webcasts, that stores any kind of graphical screen design from your PC or Mac. As the «PLAY» software is installed on a web application server, you only need a web browser and internet access to run it. For recording and broadcasting audio-visual content, a Real Helix, Quicktime Streaming, Windows Media or Flash server is needed. «PLAY» enables video and audio to be joined into a recordable presentation. (All content is generated live).

Therefore presentations can either be broadcasted ‘live’ or ‘on demand’ over the Internet and then viewed with any standard web browser such as Windows Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari or Google Chrome – for which you might need a plugin.

Streaming technologies come to life

A LiveBox is an efficient piece of hardware that combines high quality TV satellite technology with the transmission and distribution of video and slides via Internet, while using the most modern video streaming technologies. By the way, a LiveBox offers an array of advantages compared to traditional streaming transmission possibilities such as ISDN networks, video conferencing technology or complex and costly installation of video streaming infrastructure on site.

The benefit of such technologies used for producing webcasts lies in the fact that you don’t have to buy any extra soft- or hardware or any other additional technical equipment yourself. No license fees, no distribution costs, no maintenance contracts. Sounds good?!

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XX – Webcast provider doesn’t equal webcast provider: Interpreting a proposal

Posted on 12.02.2010 by Christine| Leave a comment

As a communication professional we are often confronted with trying to interpret a proposal that has landed on our desks from one of our external providers. Ok we asked for one, but now it’s our job to check and see if what is being offered is what we really need and wanted in the first place. Does the price tag meet our expectations or is it way over budget?

We tend to be a bit skeptical, but if you want high quality, reliability and efficiency, it’s definitely worth paying an appropriate price.

Looking at a typical proposal

Assuming you are doing a “standard” webcast for video and slides on demand, for the Internet, this is what a proposal (from Solutionpark) looks like:

  • Briefing, planning and coordination – every external provider needs time to be briefed and set up a plan for the implementation of a webcast.
  • Set-up, installation, technical check at the event location – depending on where you are holding the event, interview, roundtable, training session, and depending on the number of participants, guests, people, speakers attending, the technical set-up and respective checks will take the appropriate time. Rather be sure everything is working properly in advance in order to avoid any mishaps, if possible. You will feel calmer and so will your external provider.
  • Cameraman and streaming engineer – these are the specialists behind the camera, in charge of directing, at the mixing desk and the computer making sure that the video and slides match. In addition this item includes encoding the video and sending the link for the Internet.
  • Software and hardware: usage of PLAY software, license and PLAY server utilization, LiveBox, streaming equipment, multiple encoder, backup, converter, slide control, cameras, tripods, hosting, delivery and distribution via Akamai network (content delivery network) – these are the basis for a high-quality webcast and I wouldn’t want to go with anything less.
  • Back-up of the video – for your records you might want to have a DVD.
  • Transport of equipment and expenses – your event might take place nearby, but the equipment needs to be lugged to the location no matter what.
  • Phone service helpline – in case you need a special helpline during the event itself, this is a useful option to consider.

All I can say is, good luck and hope you are successful and happy with your next webcast.

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XIX – CEO calling

Posted on 04.02.2010 by Christine| Leave a comment

Which communication professional doesn’t dread that early morning phone call on the way to work from the company CEO saying “we need to prepare some communication on a major announcement to be made today.” Ufffhhhhh. Run to the office and scramble to get the facts together. Try to keep the big picture in mind, the consequences, the impact and and and. Set priorities, make a plan, allocate resources, quick, think about what external partners need to get involved and need to be informed ASAP. Be aware of any legal issues, the stock exchange has its rulings too, forgotten. Crisis communication is always a hot topic and until you have done it, you don’t really know what it feels like. Keep your act together.

Being prepared for the worst

I can not tell you how glad I was to be able to pull my webcast binder from the shelf, look up Solutionpark’s phone number and flip to the scenario that said ‘webcast video and slides on demand.’ Months before I had listed all contacts and processes, described the steps of the ‘To Does’ and drafted template E-mails for just such occasions. The mailing groups had been saved in my Inbox and the only thing that needed to be added was the time and date.

From my own experience, I didn’t mind the excitement, the time constraints and the communication tasks, although every company crisis is emotionally challenging. My job was mostly on the internal communication side and we took great care in informing our employees as soon and as transparent as possible. It’s worse to say nothing than to say “I can’t give you more information at this point in time.”

Absorbing the news

That afternoon our CEO would stand up in front of all (local) staff and explain the situation in the best possible and most understandable way. Following a Q&A session, the employees piled out of the auditorium and went back to their desks, attempting to digest the news they had just heard.

Of course we webcast the information session, no question, as I felt it was too important not to share with staff in the local offices around the world. They have a right to know and learn about what’s going on now, just as much as those in the ‘ivory tower.’ And as always, we published the link an hour after the event on the intranet. No matter the event, this had simply become a routine.

Despite a crisis situation within your organization, communication thereof can be manageable, and the more experience you have using effective communication tools, the better.

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XV – Having a Strategy Day?

Posted on 05.01.2010 by Christine| Leave a comment

Want to communicate your business strategy to the lines of business responsibles, market leaders and those in charge of support functions? Taking either a top-down or bottom-up approach, it often falls to the communicators to spread the news. This can be comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on the content of 1-to-3-to-5-year plans to be presented and discussed.

Combining strategy and communication

At the yearly gathering of all lines of business heads, local office representatives and chiefs of support functions, everyone wants to be heard and seen. Trying to juggle everybody’s priorities and demands as a communication professional isn’t always easy. “Yes, your strategic input is valuable too.” “We should formulate some specific communication measures.” “But how will we communicate that to your clients? I’ll be glad to help pull some ideas together and write up a communication plan, you know,” I’d hear myself say.

No loose ends – wrapping up the day’s content

To keep track of all that is communicated on such a highly intense and fully packed day, we decided to record the presentation sessions as webcasts and send a link to all participants thereafter. This way, they could review the discussions leading up to the decisions taken and recap the day’s content. What was my role as a communication professional? I made sure that the internal technical set-up was ready, the recording was handled by Solutionpark and the link sent to participants the following day.

From a communication perspective I like to structure content, categorize it and create user-friendly download sections in my webcasts. This way, the viewer can easily navigate through the various subjects, especially if there are a number of different aspects or speakers involved. Explaining your company’s strategy, the ‘Whys and Why Nots’ is a valuable experience, and I find, an emotional topic that deserves to be documented on video.

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XII – Three criteria, one channel

Posted on 02.12.2009 by Christine| 2 Comments

I want to do a video, sure, cool thing, but what and who and where and how? And what for, for heaven sakes? As a communication professional I have been taught to think in structured, linear processes, in concepts and with project management as a guiding principle of my doings. On a side note: It’s not as creative as one might imagine. So, simply follow the basic steps of analysis and definition, implementation and evaluation. Super. By the way, I still believe in that method. So I’ve learned to ask the right questions, coach my counterparts and advise them on what I believe to be a valuable and successful communication path.

Here are the three most important criteria for producing a webcast:

  1. We want to reach a broad audience that goes beyond our immediate target audience
  2. We want people to be able to view the webcast independent of geographic location and time zone
  3. We want to use a video for bringing our communication messages across

Reaching out to a broader audience

Even though you have a specific target audience in mind, you automatically reach a much broader group of people including potential clients, interested investors and future employees that might be surfing your website. Exposure is imminent when placed on the landing page of your company website. You never know who will be attracted to your CEO’s video message, your product line responsibles’ statement, your market managers’ proposition or your business experts’ insights. Therefore it’s wise to draft your message carefully, take the time to prepare your script, select an appropriate location for the shooting and get your webmaster or web content editor on board early on. It’s important to place your video on a site that is easily accessible and quick to find – not buried in a corner of your website.

Giving your company a face on your website

Let your speaker do some media/camera training, with our without a teleprompter and discuss your expectations with your external provider – video, multimedia or web TV producer and streaming engineer. Your communication agency or Solutionpark can help you scout the location, draft the story board, write the script and organize the props. Be it as part of a full fledged integrated communications campaign or a single communication activity, it’s so easy to have so much exposure with only one small video.

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XI – One of the most important events of the year

Posted on 25.11.2009 by Christine| Leave a comment

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is always a highlight in a company’s yearly event calendar. So much preparation, so many things to think about, so much budget spent for a single half day. Nevertheless, it’s an important event for internal and external audiences such as the Executive and Board members, the legal department, investor relations, all shareholders and investors. Often the communications department is involved as well as an event agency, simultaneous translators and a streaming company in charge of the videotaping and broadcasting.

Keeping track of your target audiences

Leading up to the ‘big day’ I remember many arguments and discussions about all kinds of internal and external communication issues including ‘Shall we show it to employees?’, ‘Why should we show it to employees?’ ‘Do we put in on the Internet or not?’, ‘Does the public need to know?’ etc. The Annual General Meeting is THE event a company holds for its shareholders and includes the entire senior management and executive staff as well as the organization’s Board members. Employees and the general public sometimes get forgotten in the process. I find it just as relevant and significant to keep them in the loop of a company’s developments. And that is a communication departments job! So I can only plead for you to take on the responsibility, get a streaming provider such as Solutionpark on board, and get moving.

Employees first!

We webcast the Annual General Meeting on the intranet for all employees to see, i.e. for those who aren’t shareholders and for those who are but decided not to attend the AGM in person. It’s simple transparent information policy to keep everyone up-to-date and not to exclude internal resources whoever and wherever they may be. Besides, it’s a legal requirement to keep a copy of the recording anyway, so why not produce it as a webcast and put it on the web.

I find this a good example of using multimedia tools to create more transparency and inclusiveness. Don’t we hear too often: ‘Why wasn’t I informed?’, ‘How come I didn’t hear about this or that?’ The whole purpose of putting videos on the Internet is to reach a broad audience and make an event available to everyone. All of your shareholders and employees will be grateful to you.

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X – A typical day at the office – communication in action

Posted on 18.11.2009 by Christine| Leave a comment

On a typical day, when a publicly-traded company published their quarterly financial results, it all begins at 7 am with sending out the official press release and financial results presentation to the media, analysts and investors as well as publishing it all on the company website. An E-mail is sent out to all employees informing on the news while the internal communication specialist and internal services people get the auditorium ready for the upcoming employee information event.

Pulling it all together

The IT person responsible for helping with the webcast and the two streaming engineers from Solutionpark arrive and set up 2-3 cameras, hook up laptops and lay the necessary cables. I check the lighting and the sound (microphones) and upload the employee presentation onto the laptop next to the speaker’s desk. By 8 am staff piles into the auditorium – once again filled to the very last seat – and eagerly awaits the Executives Team’s explanations of the quarterly financial results. The session will be recorded including the slides and Q&A and is published on the intranet an hour following the staff event as a Video on Demand.DSC_0055

By 9 o’clock the Executive Team moves on to the boardroom where the investor call will be held shortly. The scripts are ready and so are the head of investor relations and the streaming engineers who will ensure that the slides are synchronized with the speeches from the CEO and CFO. This investor call will be broadcast live, i.e for everyone to see who logs on (and registers) on the company website. While the live webcast is in full swing in the boardroom, the auditorium is once again remodeled and set up for the onsite press conference.

Moving forward through the day

I remember the poor guys from the internal services department well who had to lug hundreds of chairs, shove around tables and prepare the information booth for the awaited financial analysts and business journalists. As employees, we were not allowed to participate in the press conferences, though we’d sneak through the hallway and try to get a glimpse of who had come. Are there photographers present? Has a journalist from a prestigious financial paper arrived? Have the analysts dressed in their sleek designer outfits again?

By noon, the show is over, the employee webcast published on the intranet, the investor webcast marked for download on the Internet, journalists’ and analysts’ questions answered. Oh well, just a typical day at the office.

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