During 2020, government officials across the world announced nationwide lockdowns and enforced social distancing guidelines to curb the spread of Covid-19. These circumstances caused the live events industry to witness a major downfall, with some of the top businesses in the game reporting all-time low revenues.
From movie theatres to sport stadiums, many businesses have been negatively impacted, and as a result, multiple businesses have had to shut down their operations entirely.
In September, one of the most popular New York retailers Century 21 announced its shutdown due to the insurers’ denial over covering their losses due to the pandemic. In the end, the company had no other choice than to declare bankruptcy.
While face-to-face interactions are priceless, we saw virtual events take over this year. Forbes reported that virtual events were up 1,000% since Covid-19 struck. And whilst it sounds simple, hosting live events isn’t limited to broadcasting main-stage live events on YouTube or rolling out Zoom links.
Instead, we have been investing in delivering the perfect virtual experience, while this has always been part of our everyday business model, this year we have pivoted events for thousands upon thousands of participants in short timeframes amidst a global health crisis. Hosting a virtual event requires the same care and attention as an in-person event, including promotion, engaging the attendees, creating those memorable moments and making sure each event is a success.
At Dreamtek, we have been running virtual events for many years. We can capture the live elements of any event. Our specialist #dreamteam production crew will direct and film to record those essential keynote presentations, the bustling exhibition arena, the nominees and winners at the awards ceremony and the team tactics at the sporting event, needed for post match analysis. We can capture all different scenarios and film in numerous environments to provide powerful post event material.
For example, we delivered a truly hybrid event in October 2020, when we helped the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts & Culture Centre make a grand return to live events.
Dreamtek delivered a truly hybrid event to bring a live performance of Rum Ragged, a band native to Newfoundland, to their fans both at home and to those who were physically able to attend the event, during the pandemic. The collaboration between Dreamtek and our sister company The Virtual Forge helped the ACC reach a part capacity live audience and a virtual contingent joining online for the first time via a bespoke Virtual Forge platform.
The concert was organised and run in Newfoundland Arts and Culture Centre (ACC). As Newfoundland reported no Covid-19 cases, residents were able to move around freely to run and attend concerts. The ACC team setup and produced the event from the venue, and as no visitors were allowed into the area, the #dreamteam delivered their support remotely, including consultancy, kit, platform and live streaming. Our remote workflows enabled us to run this entire event from the UK and we support any virtual or hybrid event, wherever it is in the world.
While hybrid events have been the talk of the town for quite some time, we believe that the hybrid model is going to be common within the tech industry and also begin to emerge within the general business landscape.
Hybrid events allow businesses to reach a broader audience with pre- and post-event activities to keep the conversation going long after your event ends, including on-demand content, and hybrid events allow attendees to safely interact in-person and practice social distancing while others can attend the event online from the comfort of their remote location.
The #dreamteam provided the following support during the Rum Ragged Hybrid event:
- Pre-scheduling the live stream notified Rum Ragged followers to be first in line to bag a ticket to this exclusive event.
- Brought together a physical and virtual Rum Ragged fanbase to view this exclusive event.
- Dreamtek provided the end-to-end solution to bring this event to life.
- Dreamtek worked closely with the on-site production team.
- Dreamtek produced a show in Newfoundland, from the UK. Our remote workflows enable us to support any business with a virtual or hybrid event, wherever they are in the world.
- A lower than optimum internet and no on-site streaming skill is not a limiting factor and Dreamtek is set up for assisting those specific needs.
Right from the get-go, event organisers need to start building a plan, that includes on-site filming and editing for live streaming plus on-demand content after the event.
And that’s not it.
Reaching out to their global audience is equally important, which is why they also need to provide the much-needed support to stream their events to a digital audience.
And that’s where we come in.
When it comes to live virtual or hybrid events, our team are the experts. From running large-scale multi-session virtual events to top-notch editing, managing internal event space, providing integrated AV solutions & broadcast studios to offering solutions for different systems, we are the #dreamteam and all you’ll ever need to make your event a major success.
