So you want to film your corporate event?

Your company is holding a conference or event and key stakeholders, clients or potential customers will all be in one place, at the same time.

Seems like the perfect opportunity to create some video content? Yes, but only if it's well thought through, has a focused purpose, delivers on key messages and is strong both creatively and technically.

The event may be exciting and relevant for attendees, but will it be just as engaging and relevant on film? Or, if you want to grab filming opportunities but not cover the event itself, will the subsequent video be successful?

Here are some top tips

?Practical considerations abound when filming at an event. You want minimum disruption to your guests' experience. Whilst getting what you need from your filming. This means pre event permission to film any key stakeholders and blanket permissions for the day. Ensure all contributors sign release films after they've been filmed. And importantly, ensuring that all health and safety risks have been taken into consideration.

?Think about behind the scenes footage you can capture to make a more interesting story. The event being set up, guests arriving, people preparing for their speeches.

?Pre empt technical challenges. Even the most beautiful conference venue can appear predictable on film. So you need to find the stories, and shoot them well to ensure visuals are exciting. Audio can also be an issue. So make sure you have an experienced sound recordist or camera operator, and the correct approach to audio recording has been discussed and any potential problems solved in advance.

?An event or conference isn't the place to conduct lengthy interviews with senior team members, unless you can take them off to a separate, quieter room, if there's enough time.

?It is a great opportunity to get short, focused stakeholder soundbites and client testimonials from attendees. These can be used within a highlights piece such as this film which we produced for The Barton Partnership recently. The client understood the importance of not only showing off the event itself, but also of demonstrating the benefits to attendees. Nick Barton, Founder and CEO said:

"Vanilla Films produced our 10 Year Anniversary promotional video this year and the results were fantastic. It’s really helped us to showcase our brand and values across our market"

?If a broader question is asked to attendees about your company or a particular product or service, the answers can be cut into standalone mini endorsements or responses, for use online / on your website later on.

?Capture speaker's content so clips and insights can be cut together after the event. But make sure you have enough cameras to cover staged events, and you've patched through sound to your camera, so it's crystal clear.

?Consider sending out a short montage video to attendees post event, capturing the buzz. Add a clear call to action at the end, to keep them engaged. And think about reversioning the film into a trailer for marketing future events to encourage ongoing attendance.

?Post on your website and across social media as a good marketing tool

Overall, planning beforehand will ensure you gain maximum mileage out of any footage shot, and that any videos produced will mean your event has lasting impact. And crucially, that you're telling the big story about your event, and have a clear reason for filming it at all.