AVD’s experience and knowledge of the tools and technologies that help corporate meeting planners succeed is integral. As more companies gain the confidence to again bring staff together for in-person events, there remains the chance that circumstances can change or some individuals, including presenters, may not be able to attend as planned. That’s a hurdle AVD scales with ease.
Our Objective: An in-person feel with an out-of-town twist
Such was the case for a pharmaceutical client of AVDs who sought to bring together nearly 100 team members to a ballroom for a two-day meeting. The only caveat was one of the main speakers wasn’t able to travel to the event.
After two years producing in-person, hybrid, and virtual corporate meetings and conferences throughout the pandemic, AVD can seamlessly blend in-person and remote participants no matter how disparate their locations, or how complex the production requirements.
AVD has bridged the obstacles that curtailed full attendance with effective two-way virtual communications, making time and place immaterial.
AV Challenge: Erase event communications barriers between live and remote participants
Our client’s busy meeting planners recognized the challenge of bringing together the many disparate facets of this event, and the complexity of the elements involved.
An event of this nature poses communications and technological problems that require a skilled audio visual partner. For one, whether the presenters were a combination of remote, in-person or Zoom, our client wanted the interaction between the studio audience and the speakers to feel as close to in person as possible.
In addition to presentations, team members needed to move in and out of multiple breakout rooms – including remote participants – while a company vice president was slated to deliver a key message for the new year from another location.
Designing a seamless hybrid AV production
Producing global corporate meetings requires sophisticated technical audio visual capabilities and a dedicated team of professionals that is highly flexible. As with every project undertaken by AVD, we are keen on details and rehearsals so that speakers and panelists are prepared and presented in the most professional light to their audiences.
Our process began with the initial goal of relieving stress about technical execution for our client partners so they could focus on planning and personnel logistics for the conference. Next, we walked the planners and other key stakeholders through a visualization of the layout of the ballroom, including how and where everything would be positioned. We detailed the AV assets that would be utilized to facilitate a seamless presentation for in-person and remote participants. We also previewed how we would accommodate and assimilate the live and remote presenters, including the audience, into the meeting presentation.
To achieve the desired flow, AVD stations a specialized camera operator from our production team onsite. The operator manages a robotic camera to cover reverse angle audience shots so that speakers’ faces – not the backs of their heads – are projected on the monitors and in the Zoom windows.
Adding to the level of engagement, AVD added more access to microphones so that everyone in the room could be heard clearly. This allowed for a fluid dialogue between panelists and audience members, whether they were attending remotely or in the ballroom.
Virtual Greenroom Preps Remote Speakers Support
Putting state-of-the-art audiovisual technology to work for our clients is a key part of the hard assets we bring to every client project. But that’s not where our support ends. AVD made sure that every participant was fully prepped in advance whether they were in the room or via our virtual greenroom:
- AVD producers coached the speakers, tested sound levels, and adjusted lighting for more consistent balance.
- Remote speakers were tech-checked in advance for hardware and software, and on days of the event prepped in our virtual greenroom to ensure they were properly mic’d, positioned, and framed.
- Multiple cameras were placed in the ballroom, and audience members were instructed on how to engage with speakers, work with microphones, and where to look for cameras during Q&As, etc.
From entrance to exit, AVD’s experienced production teams helped manage the meeting agenda and keep the program moving.
AVD brings everyone together (even when they’re not)
With back and forth two-way communication, Q&A sessions and other audience participation segments can feel like face-to-face encounters. With these capabilities AVD leaves little room for anyone in client organizations to miss important corporate events.
“We were expecting the Hybrid component to add a lot of complexity and challenge the uniform meeting flow but AVD made it look easy, and it was truly a seamless experience” – Event Planner
Whether for sales meetings, corporate meetings, product launches, or other company business, nothing can surpass the level of engagement of in-person participation. However, since things can change often at a moment’s notice, clients can take a lot of comfort in knowing that robust digital engagement is here to stay in the corporate event space. And AVD is leading the way.