Livestreaming Events

[laurelmcj]

Hello Moz Friends,

I'm curious to know what my fellow Mozzers are using (in-house or outsourced) for live streaming events. Our transit agency is hosting a public event at a convention center and we'd like to stream it online for those unable to attend and to have it available for sharing on social. I've done some initial recon as far a using Google Hangouts + YouTube, Livestream and the like. Is it possible to broadcast a quality video stream online in-house or is it better to outsource so I can focus on live-tweeting and other social outreach before, during and after the event? Your thoughts, please!

Much thanks,

Laurel McJannet, Community Transit Online Content Specialist

[KeriMorgret]

Hi Laurel,

I don't have an answer for your question, but I think you must be the one I often tweet with on Twitter when I tweet the Community Transit account. Good to see you in Q&A here at Moz!

I'll ask Erica from our team to chime in, as she may have some better advice (she does our webinars, and a lot of the work for MozCon).

[promotionsnow]

I am a massive fan of Ustream ( http://www.ustream.tv/) - I have been on both ends as a content provider and I use the service to watch a lot of streaming iPPV events. I've never had an issue with the video quality of the streams & the software is very simple to use.

[EricaMcGillivray]

Hi Laurel,

It really depends on the quality you want of the live stream. It can be incredibly difficult to get a great live stream for a high-quality event. That is the primary reason that we don't do live streams for MozCon is because we'd greatly have to up our budget and amount of a/v people to keep the MozCon-quality.

You also want to take in consideration of how many people are there and how big the room is. What kind of experience do you want to have? Who are they paying attention to? For small events, Usestream or even a G+ hangout/event can work well. You'll get the best audio and video if there's a microphone plugged in to the live streaming system and a video camera focused directly where you need it to be.

I'm a big fan of outsourcing the a/v and bringing in a professional. Especially since it sounds like you have lots of other things on your plate. Taking care of a/v is a full-time job at an event.