Over the past year, a lot of marketers have faced the challenges of taking what is usually an in-person event and re-creating it virtually. South by Southwest is no exception.
As the official video partner for the first-ever all-digital SXSW Online, Brightcove has been given a front-row look at what it takes to pull off a virtual event of this caliber.
So we sat down with SXSW’s Chief Innovation Officer, Scott Wilcox, to dig into the South by team’s strategy for virtually bringing to life the iconic experience the conference is known for.
So, how are they doing it?
The format? Five full days of non-stop content.
SXSW is streaming up to 650 hours of live and pre-recorded content, 24 hours a day, for 5 days – no small feat. And once the conference is over, a lot of that content will live on as on-demand video, extending the longevity of the event.
Priority #1 is attendee experience.
The combination of 5 different channels emulating the stages of years past will create a unique viewing experience for attendees and give them the flexibility to switch between channels in real-time.
It will be immersive: Each channel is specifically designed to provide the best experience for the type of content that will be shown on it – from musical showcases to films to thought leadership speakers to live script readings, and much more.
And each experience will be customized: Everyone attending SXSW can curate the custom experience that works for them. Attendees can jump in and out of the shared live experiences or go explore on-demand content on their own. If they miss something, they can immediately watch it whenever it’s convenient. And the best part?
Attendees can select their viewing experience based on what the content is: If attendees are watching a Brightcove Illumination Award-nominated film from the Film Festival, they can tune in on their connected TV after work. If they want to catch a live thought leadership session, viewers can watch from their computer during the work day. If viewers are looking to enjoy a musical performance while they’re cooking dinner, they can do that from their phone.
“We really feel like picking the right technology partner in Brightcove has really given us a leg up in being able to create this compelling, immersive, amazing experience,” says Wilcox.
Fans are getting global access like never before.
For the first time, access to all of the amazingness SXSW has to offer is available to viewers no matter where in the world they are. The virtual experience has opened up access – attendees can be anywhere, watching at any time of day. And it opened up the opportunity to work with unique talent around the world, too.
The real-time data is unparalleled.
The SXSW team plans to pay close attention to what their audience is watching and when – and then use that data to craft an even more customized experience.
And it’s all thanks to the power of video: “Video has become this really universal medium that everyone has relied on… it’s about connecting with other people. It’s a naturally powerful medium to be able to collapse time and distance for people,” says Wilcox.
Curious how Brightcove has brought other high-impact virtual events to life? Check out Dropkick Murphys’ Streaming Outta Fenway Concert, Freightwaves LIVE, and NAB Show®.
Brightcove is proud to be the official video partner for the all-digital SXSW Online and SXSW EDU Online events, which, for the first time, will be completely virtual and streamed to attendees around the globe on March 16–20, 2021.

To view our Partner blog, click here

Foster Forward is a nonprofit organization that supports foster children and the families that care for them. In years past, in-person fundraisers were the most effective way to generate the vital funding needed to continue day-to-day operations and help improve the lives of foster children. Without the option to host an in-person event, Foster Forward looked for some help to ensure their first virtual event fundraiser was a success.
For this particular challenge, Brightcove and Stagedge, one of our partner production agencies, teamed up to create a best-in-class experience and help raise as much money as possible.
Here’s how we did it: One 90-minute program produced by Stagedge, proudly streamed by Brightcove. The broadcast-quality, high-definition live stream was a success, raising nearly $1,000 for every minute of the show. But the best part? Additional fundraising outreach, supported by the on-demand event video, generated an additional $110,000 – exceeding giving expectations and securing $200,000 for Foster Forward.
If you’re planning a virtual gala or fundraiser, here are 10 Tips from Allison Vecchione, Account Executive at Stagedge, to ensure your event is just as successful.

KEEP IT CONCISE: Attention spans are much shorter in a virtual environment. Be sure to weave in the right narrative and content throughout the show and keep it concise so folks stay engaged.

ENLIST THE HELP OF AN EMCEE: Professional talent can add excitement and help move the show along with calls for giving. For Foster Forward, we brought in a local newscaster who was a familiar face and immediately connected with attendees.

CONSIDER A LIVE AUCTION: Consider an auction for people to bid on virtually, with an auctioneer to check-in throughout the show to replicate that sense of urgency at an in-person event.

PROVIDE ENTERTAINMENT: Foster Forward was lucky to secure musical superstar Sia to perform and also speak at the event. Leverage your network to find someone who will keep your audience entertained, and make sure to include your talent in event promotions.

TRACK REAL-TIME DONATIONS: Consider displaying a giving thermometer or running a fundraising ticker along the bottom of the screen. We partnered with Greater Giving to track live event donations.

ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR DONORS: Keep the energy and participation up by displaying donors’ names or having your emcee give them a shout-out to acknowledge their generosity.

FIND NEW WAYS TO ENGAGE: Look for opportunities to create interactions through things like polling or by offering a chat function for people to connect with each other.

GET SAVVY WITH SOCIAL: Use social media to its full extent, from Facebook events to “show us your selfie” campaigns – get creative to generate some buzz.

PEPPER IN SOME PRE-RECORDED CONTENT: Don’t feel like the entire show needs to be live. Add in some pre-recorded video content to provide a brief break and help with the overall pace of the show.

UNLEASH YOUR VIDEO ASSETS: Share video before, during, and after the event, especially via email and social. Brightcove video-on-demand was essential for helping Foster Forward actually raise more funds after the live show.

If you’re planning a virtual or hybrid event, we’d love to help. Get in touch with us here.
Nick Iuliano is Brightcove’s Senior Director of Content, helping to tell our best brand, product, customer, and partner stories across global marketing channels.

To view our Partner blog, click here

Virtual events have now become a driving force in the way that we gather and communicate.
In fact, virtual events last year exceeded the revenue target of physical events for the entire year. Our virtual panel discussion “ROI ASAP, Monetizing Virtual Events,” features four experienced pros who’ve been making the most of their virtual events:

Craig Fuller, Founder, and CEO of Freightwaves
Brian Gates, SVP of Marketing and Strategy at RainFocus
Christine Wood, VP Marketing and Communications, Seattle Symphony
Allison Vecchionne, Account Executive, Stagedge

No matter if your event is free, sponsored, or paid, this roundtable discussion highlights the opportunities to tap into revenue both during and after the event.
Here are three takeaways from our panelists on why you should monetize your virtual events.
BIGGER AUDIENCES = BIGGER PAYOUT
With the global reach of virtual events, you’ll far exceed the numbers you’d normally see for a physical event. And that impacts sales, sponsorships, and advertising.

Brian Gates of RainFocus reports that virtual events in 2020 helped his clients increase their audiences by almost 500%.
With larger audiences tuning in to your virtual event, you’ll get more qualified leads to convert into future sales.
Sponsors always want a big audience and will pay to appear with your content as it engages thousands of people.
Virtual trade show events often attract key industry players and audiences, so these events often function as a “release party” for a new product or service. That means higher ad revenue.
Beyond the four walls of a conference center or concert hall, you now have “unlimited seating,” which translates into more customers and more revenue opportunities.
Once you establish a robust video platform for your virtual events, you can partner with other organizations to join you in distributing and monetizing content.

__YOUR VIDEO CONTENT IS VALUABLE BEYOND THE EVENT __
In the not-so-distant past, you’d hold a performance or event that would be finished the minute people walked out the door. No longer. The content you now create for your virtual events should be considered valuable–and never disposable.

On-demand content extends far beyond the event, offering more opportunities to charge viewers for premium and exclusive content.

Advertisers and sponsors will pay for the opportunity to extend their message by aligning with your on-demand content that lives on indefinitely.

Virtual events can transform into opportunities to create OTT broadcast-like channels, offering further engagement with customers and revenue opportunities.

Content from your virtual event can be divided and packaged into smaller units, such as podcasts, social videos, case studies, and even advertising, creating new ways to stay connected with your audiences.

Creating subscription models, either monthly or yearly, gives customers or patrons access to prerecorded, live, and behind-the-scenes material.

VIRTUAL EVENTS ARE INCREDIBLY COST-EFFECTIVE
Once you add up all the costs of a conference center, travel, food, and more, the price of a virtual event outweighs all of that – not to mention delivering a far bigger audience than an in-person event.

For companies who can’t afford to send their employees to a trade show, the much smaller price of a virtual event ticket makes it possible to go, increasing your attendance at the event.

Virtual events can be incredibly targeted, reaching small and intensely-focused groups receptive to content from you and your advertisers.

Sponsors are fully embracing and finding tremendous value in virtual events, gaining qualified leads as they work with you to be part of your overall content strategy.

In the non-profit sector, where funds are limited for in-person events, donor and fundraising goals can be achieved through virtual experiences.

So, as we look at 2021 and beyond, what’s next with virtual events? Well, they’re only going to get bigger and better as they showcase their ability to be seen on any screen anywhere in the world. With the power of video, you can engage both audiences and advertisers with a high-quality experience that will open hearts, open minds….and yes, open wallets.
If you missed our virtual panel discussion “ROI ASAP, Monetizing Virtual Events,” you can check it out below:

If you’re planning a virtual or hybrid event, we’d love to help. Get in touch with us here.

To view our Partner blog, click here

Talkdesk exists to help companies build brand love and customer loyalty through exceptional services and experiences, all via a cloud-native contact center solution.
During 2020 planning, the Talkdesk team set an ambitious goal to launch “20 products in 20 weeks,” and then showcase these new products at their in-person customer conference in San Francisco. But we all know what happened next.
“We, like everybody else, had to convert it from an in-person to a virtual event,” says Kathie Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer of Talkdesk. “I just said to my team, ‘Folks, nobody can do this like marketers can. We are innovative, out-of-the-box, creative thinkers. If anybody can figure this out, we can.”
Despite the need to quickly pivot, Johnson kept her team’s focus on the event’s original objectives: announce new products, engage customers, and educate some new folks about Talkdesk.
OpenTalk 2020, proudly streamed by Brightcove, ultimately saw three times as many people attending compared to past in-person customer conferences. “We also saw participation coming from all around the globe,” says Johnson, “with people who may not have had that opportunity to attend before.”
For Johnson and her team, virtual events combine the urgency that live, in-person events are known for with the ability to stream valuable content on-demand, for others to watch any time they choose. Virtual events also create opportunities for pride. “Really, [a virtual event] is a time for your customers to come and be engaged, it’s the time for prospects to create a spark of interest in you, and it’s also a time for your employees to be incredibly proud of the company they work for.”
This year, Johnson plans to host even more virtual events. “If you think of the conference as the ‘one to many’ approach, we’re also really leaning into a ‘one to few’ approach for virtual events. So, creating a large number of very small intimate executive events,” she says.
If you’re planning a virtual event, here are three tips to consider:
DESIGN YOUR EVENT TO BE “PRODUCTION RICH”
“One of the things we decided to do is, let’s make this a production,” says Johnson. “If you’re like me, you’ve attended events where the production was really poor, and it was really hard to be engaged, and as a marketer, I just … oh my heart would sink thinking about the marketers who were involved in it.” So production was something she made sure to invest in right from the start. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean expensive,” she says. “It means to make it an event that people are happy to be at.” For Johnson, she wanted attendees to feel well taken care of. “Once people come they should feel that you’ve made that effort to make that connection with them and they want to be there.”
CREATE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY
“You also have to make sure there’s that community feel,” she says. “Make sure there’s a way to interact with each other and you’re not just talking at people, but really engaging with them.” Johnson felt strongly about fostering a human-to-human connection with embedded interactions within the Brightcove Virtual Events Experience. “We did a lot of polling, we did a lot of questioning, we did a lot of interaction and engagement during the event. I really felt that we created an environment where people wanted to stay and even come back again.”
KEEP CONTENT SNACKABLE, AND MAKE SURE TO REUSE IT
“You don’t achieve engagement with long monologues,” warns Johnson. “Your content can’t be so long people don’t want to come back.” And engagement doesn’t have to stop at the end of the event. “I wanted to really help our customers understand all about business transformation, all about these new solutions we were launching, and then have an opportunity for them to still learn and engage with us going forward,” she says. Inspired by Netflix and Ted Talks, Johnson made sure to look at their event content holistically so everything could be repurposed and live beyond the event itself. “We really wanted to think about, ‘How do we create content that’s not only critical in the moment but that we can also use later to continue to engage with customers on an ongoing basis?’ We took our event video and launched a whole new content series on different topics every week, Netflix style.”
If you’re planning a virtual or hybrid event, we’d love to help. Get in touch with us here.
Nick Iuliano is Brightcove’s Senior Director of Content, helping to tell our best brand, product, customer, and partner stories across global marketing channels.

To view our Partner blog, click here

The nature of virtual events has changed dramatically over the last year, and they’ll keep changing as audience expectations continue to rise and attention spans become more challenged.
I had the chance to connect with David Moricca, CEO of Socialive , a Brightcove partner company, to get his take on how virtual events will continue to evolve in 2021.
“I think being prescriptive in your virtual events is going to be key,” says Moricca. “Your virtual event is not a Zoom meeting. It has to be a prescriptive content experience where you’re sharing important information and also responding to the audience’s questions.”

According to Moricca, we’ll see virtual events shift in four areas throughout the year ahead.
WE’LL SEE SHORTER EVENTS AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES
“I think this idea that every event needs to be a full-day session is going away. In fact, I think what we’re going to see is this compression into shorter, more frequent segments. I think we might see more people switching to multiple sessions, but just two hours a day, or one thematic session over the course of several days. We all know people’s attention spans in a virtual environment are much shorter, especially with eight hours of Zoom calls a day, which is really requiring us to think about being a bit faster with content and not trying to overwhelm people with too much.”
*-PUT THIS IN ACTION: If you’re planning a full-day virtual event, consider compressing it into shorter sessions across several days if the content is intended to be sequential. Try to keep sessions to 20 – 30 minutes max so people stay engaged, and make sure to really land the three key messages you want your audience to think about or walk away with. *
WE’LL SEE MORE DYNAMIC VIDEO CONTENT EXPERIENCES
“I think audiences are also looking for more interactive, dynamic video environments, especially given what we’re finding with Zoom fatigue. People are expecting more of a CNN-level style broadcast for their virtual events, with more dynamic elements, like video, graphics, and split-screen formats. I also think the idea of a fireside chat or panel with multiple folks, who offer different viewpoints or come from different angles in the market, creates a more dynamic, interesting experience by nature.”
-PUT THIS IN ACTION: Whenever possible, find opportunities to infuse dynamic elements into a segment, like cutting to a video clip to break up a panel of talking heads, or building on-screen graphics with specific calls to action or a recap of key learnings.
WE’LL SEE NEW INNOVATIONS FOR AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
“I think we’re going to see more innovation from virtual events platforms, like Brightcove, in terms of how we can drive new forms of audience engagement. Breakout rooms with Chatroulette are interesting, but I think there will be more. I think engagement is going to be much more thoughtful, and we’re going to start seeing more intimate, engaging environments for folks that are more inter-participatory and bring people into the experience to make it more of a genuine, two-way experience.”
-PUT THIS IN ACTION: Look at your overall run of show and identify some key moments within the overall event when it might be helpful or interesting for your audience to open it up to participation, whether that’s a live chat, quick poll, or Q&A. Interactivity deepens engagement.
WE’LL SEE GREATER FOCUS ON POST-EVENT CONTENT STRATEGY
“For physical events, there has always been a heavy focus on the promotion of the event to drive registrations, and the event itself. But the post-event content strategy has been overlooked. I think it’s just as important when you’re building an event strategy to define, ‘What’s my content strategy after I’ve done the event?’ Especially in a virtual world, where you’re going to be producing and capturing all these great sessions with amazing nuggets that you can then repurpose and re-share. All of this content is very powerful when you distribute it across social, digital, and other organic channels. This is where you can actually get the largest segment of customer acquisition.”
*-PUT THIS IN ACTION: When you start planning your event, bring everyone together – people from sales, marketing, content, and events – to determine what each team wants to accomplish before, during, and after the event. Then methodically map out the sales enablement and marketing materials that can be leveraged after the fact for email follow-ups, outbound sales, social media, and digital marketing. *
If you’re planning a virtual or hybrid event, make sure to download our Definitive Guide to Virtual Events.
Nick Iuliano is Brightcove’s Senior Director of Content, helping to tell our best brand, product, customer, and partner stories across global marketing channels.

To view our Partner blog, click here

Earlier this week, I had the chance to catch up with Candice Boaz at Hartmann Studios, one of Brightcove’s event production partners. I wanted to get Candice’s take on how virtual events will continue to evolve, and learn how the Hartmann Studios team is helping to move their clients one step closer to hybrid events.
Check out our conversation below to learn more.
NICK: Candice, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me. Why don’t we start by having you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and Hartmann Studios.
CANDICE: Great, thanks Nick. I’m Candice Boaz and I lead account development here at Hartmann Studios. We’ve been in the events industry for more than 35 years now and started producing events with significant and complex virtual components well before 2020, when our clients were forced to pivot their in-person events to virtual. We offer end-to-end production services, everything from strategy to execution, for companies like Oracle, Samsung, and The Home Depot. What I love most about the events industry is that there’s alway some sort of new creative challenge to tackle.
NICK: …and let’s be honest, 2020 was full of challenges and many lessons learned! I’m always curious to hear what new things our partners are learning and the attendee engagement strategies that are working. Because at this point, we all know screen fatigue is real. How does Hartmann Studios tackle this?
CANDICE: You’re absolutely right, and I will tell you that we are always testing and learning and optimizing for this. What it really all boils down to is effective agenda planning and short bursts of information.
One of the benefits of in-person events is that you have a captive audience over a finite period of time. With a virtual event, this couldn’t be further from the truth, and your audience can lose interest a lot sooner.
At Hartmann Studios, we approach agenda planning and building for virtual events as ‘total time.’ The idea is that you should be delivering short bursts of compelling content, and then give your audience time to internalize—or act as a group—on the information while away from their screens, before delivering the next burst of messaging.
For example, The Climate Reality Project’s global virtual event that Brightcove and Hartmann Studios collaborated on, we made the decision to turn their typical 3-day intensive in-person training and spread it out over the course of 9 days with a few hours of targeted video programming each day so we didn’t exhaust people through the process.
NICK: “Content bursts.” I love that. You are speaking my language. We’ve been hearing more and more requests from our customers who are already planning for hybrid events. What is Hartmann’s philosophy or approach when it comes to planning for these?
CANDICE: It’s a great question, and one we often get asked as well. At Hartmann Studios, we believe memorable and impactful events – virtual and hybrid – must always include 5 key elements:
1. Design a highly engaging experience for the audience and presenters
2. Create opportunities for people to make authentic, meaningful connections
3. Infuse personalized touches that make the audience feel like active participants
4. Develop a vision for repurposing content in a meaningful way to drive ROI beyond the event itself
5. Employ a solid measurement plan—virtual events provide rich analytics with some careful pre-planning
The biggest thing to remember for a hybrid event that is often overlooked is that you are working with two different audiences – people at home and people in the room – and the biggest challenge is to make them feel like they’re one audience.
NICK: I know the Hartmann Studios team is working on some exciting new technology that will help bring hybrid events to fruition. What can you share with us?
CANDICE: Yes, absolutely. I think the feeling that comes from being face-to-face with a live audience is truly something special, and it drives our team to constantly raise the bar for engagement, entertainment, and connection in the virtual events and conferences we produce. We are thrilled to finally be able to share our latest Smart Stage technology, which … well, I think the video says it all!

NICK: It’s so exciting. And I think we’re really starting to see that as expectations for these events get higher and higher, video is enabling limitless possibilities.
CANDICE: Yes, and high-quality, fail-safe video is essential and one of the many reasons we often recommend Brightcove to our clients. One of the most crucial aspects of any virtual event and conference is the technology that’s distributing our client’s content, which ultimately affects the production decisions we need to make. The foundational event technology has to integrate well with other technologies, and Brightcove does just that.
NICK: Candice, anything else to add on hybrid events or what’s happening over at Hartmann Studios?
CANDICE: One tip I will leave your readers with is this: virtual events should really begin before the scheduled programming. For example, what content can you share with registered attendees before the event that will get them excited? Better yet, how can you give people a head start to connect with each other? Try hosting a pre-program gathering where the host and perhaps one of the speakers can do an informal session to prep attendees on what to expect, how to get the most out of the event, and gather questions from attendees to inform some of your content. I think it’s our responsibility as event professionals and program producers to innovate and adapt to help foster authentic human connection. It’s really all about bringing people together and making them feel connected to others during a time when people need it most.
If you’re planning a virtual or hybrid event, we’d love to help. Get in touch with us here.
Nick Iuliano is Brightcove’s Senior Director of Content, helping to tell our best brand, product, customer, and partner stories across global marketing channels.

To view our Partner blog, click here