Best Practices for Maximizing Your Video Assets at an Event

Alright! The production company has delivered your videos, and you’re ready to slot them into the schedule.

Not so fast.

As video professionals who have painstakingly crafted videos and then watched them not maximized at live events, we have some thoughts for your consideration.

1. Use the Right Video at the Right Time

A video asset is not a Swiss Army knife. A video that plays well on your website doesn’t necessarily play the same at a live event. Do you know why??

Attention and agency.?

When someone visits your website, they’ve chosen to navigate to a web address and watch your video. This is typically what they’re doing at that moment. They’ve utilized agency to navigate your website and dedicate their attention to your video.

At an event, it’s not exactly like that.?

Sure, they’ve bought tickets to a gala, but at the moment your video plays, they’re talking with someone, getting food, eating, looking at displays, etc. You need to ensure you’ve got the right type of video for the right moment. When everyone’s attention is dispersed, you need something that grabs them. When their attention has been given to the MC, then a story could be appropriate. When a keynote speaker has delivered an inspirational speech, a video that either summarizes thought or gives a concrete call to action or even an example of the speaker’s words lived out will help solidify the shared ideas.

A video should not be used as a standalone idea delivery vehicle. It can be so much more powerful when its location in the program has been carefully mapped out and how it complements what is being said or run before and after has been strategically considered. Where and how video gets used is part of the program's storytelling.

2. Treat the Video Like a Person

When an event is live, a video should be treated like a person. You would never let your keynote speaker just mosey on up to the microphone. You would give an introduction and call them up. Similarly, you could announce the ideas and message the video is conveying as a preamble and then let the video play. Your setup is super important and prepares people for what will come.

3. Make Sure it is Loud

This is a preparation thing, but it is biased, as sound crews tend to turn down a video during pre-show run-throughs as the levels seem too loud. They aren’t accounting for how human bodies absorb sound; not everyone has stopped talking, and their attention might be a bit scattered. A little “too loud” during pre-show is not loud enough during the show. This is where an experienced crew is super helpful and where the media partners have a good idea of how to maximize the assets they’ve been given.

4. Make the Action Clear

Once a video has been played, a follow-up is never a bad idea. A live event provides a golden opportunity to shape the audience’s thoughts and feelings toward the message. Giving the audience further food for thought, concrete actions to take, and connections to make is low-hanging fruit with an audience that has given you their attention after you’ve gotten it.

Maximizing video at a live event takes a shift in mentality as to what video is: a specific tool to be used WHEN attention has been given to the screens. That attention needs to be won, directed toward the video, and directed again after the video has been played. Video is a great tool, but it needs teammates to make it truly sing.