As discussed in Part 1, planning makes a huge difference when producing a video and even more so when you’re covering a live event. There are several things to consider when you are covering a series of workshops, seminars, or meetings.

At times it may seem overwhelming, but paying attention to some of these details can really avoid a lot of potential problems.

It might be worth conducting a site visit with the video producer to walk-through the event and discuss potential production issues and concerns. This can solve a lot of issues before they become problems.

First would be to know and share your meeting agenda – and the sessions that need to be covered. Are all the meetings happening in one room? If there are concurrent meetings, do you need multiple camera crews? How long are the sessions? What is the general flow of activity within each session - #of presenters, podium only or panel discussion, PowerPoint, Q&A, etc.. All of these impact the logistics of the camera crew’s set-up, lighting and audio concerns, and ability to get from one event to another. You need to allow 2-4 hours for equipment to be set-up per location and in some cases, coming in the night before may be necessary. And don’t forget tear-down, you need to allow time to pull equipment out of the room(s) as well, which will take slightly less time than set-up.

Other things to consider: Will the presenters be using PowerPoint or other visual aids with their presentation? If the event is longer than an hour, you might want to consider multiple camera coverage to make the final record of the event more palatable to watch. How will this recorded material be used or seen? Is it just for a record or will it be distributed on DVD? Is it worth streaming the event and then having it available as video-on-demand for later viewing? By webcasting the event, you can establish a pre-registration of the event to gain an insight into your audience. You can also place video and PowerPoint in a side-by-side presentation. Additionally, you can make the event more engaging by taking questions from your on-line audience and asking the presenter(s) to address their specific concerns.

How is the room going to be set – theatre-style, classroom-style, or a board table? How big is the room? You want to make sure there is enough room to add the camera crew. You may need to setup a tech table in the back for audio or video engineers. What does the room look like? Are there big service doors, decorative sconces, wildly patterned wallpaper, or even an “Exit” sign right behind the presenters? These can be big distractions for your audience, not to mention, your TV audience. You might want to consider masking these areas off with pipe & drape or re-orient the room layout to avoid these distractions. If you are using a podium, you might want to consider covering the facility’s signage with your conference or company’s logo. Be sure to check with your video producer to make sure that your design is camera-friendly. Don’t forget electricity. If it is a large venue, you might have to set up lighting trees in all four corners of the room and that will require an electrical drop from the meeting center. Otherwise, the video production company will need basic electrical outlets to plug in equipment and lighting instruments. If you’re doing a webcast, you’ll need to make sure that you have a dedicated hard-wired internet connection for best connectivity. Some facilities charge significantly for this service, so don’t be shocked. However, careful contract negotiations can sometimes significantly reduce or eliminate this fee. Does the meeting room have windows, and if so, are there drapes/blinds that can be closed to block out the daylight? The mixing of tungsten, florescent and daylight can be a huge lighting challenge and create large white glowing areas on video. Is there any image magnification (big screen projection) as a part of this meeting? You will want to be clear what the in-house AV department is providing versus that of a video production company. While some may consider the services to overlap, you don’t want to create unintentional problems. For example, if the production company provides microphones they may only run directly to their cameras for good sound coverage and not necessarily to the site’s PA system which means that your in-room audience won’t hear the presenters. Another example, the production company might provide lighting for video purposes and then need to pull it to take to the next event which may leave your next presenters in the dark. So, careful arrangements need to be considered.

The thing about live events is that they can follow Murphy’s Law – anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. But with careful planning, attention to details, and a realistic production schedule & plan, the production will run a thousand times smoother. And what curveballs get thrown can usually be caught in time.