In the modern time, conferences, trade shows, and large-scale gatherings have become an industry in itself and innovators, experts, journalists, and trendsetters look up to such events for advancements in design and technology. Therefore, it is natural for venues to be full to capacity. In order to overcome the space constraint, businesses and organizers opt for conference live video streaming solutions to connect with audiences globally. Live video streaming services have enabled businesses to convert the missed opportunities into extra revenue, thereby adding value for presenters. It also gives an opportunity to capitalize on people who are unable to attend and to make the video available on-demand after the event.
Why Opt For Live Video Streaming Solutions for Events?
It has been observed that around 30 per cent of people who view the event on an online video platform will attend in person the following year. With the decrease in costs and hassle-free live video streaming services, there is no reason why one should not opt to go for it. Conference CDN live streaming not just maximizes the audience, creates more impact and generates more revenue, but it also has the ability to do the following
- Highlights the sponsors’ products in videos or interviews with exhibitors’ executives.
- It leads to premium content spending and generates interest with the help of sample videos
- Heightens community interest with the help of broadcast pre-show material
- Boosts event relevance and reach by the globalizing and broadening audience
- Provides access to presentations and past events for on-demand viewing to supplement live broadcasting
- Offer a value-rich and comprehensive service to presenters and companies
- Stream key parts of the sold-out venue to extra viewers
Read: 5 Best Streaming Apps For Android in 2019
Live Webcasting Conferences
It is a must to have a multi-camera setup for conference settings which can be linked to a central production/ switching hub. The consumer-grade cameras use HDMI, while the pro-grade cameras use SDI for these connections. The capture cards/ devices are used to connect the camera to the switcher. The mixing is done through live streaming software being run on computers as the software encoders allow more flexibility as compared to the hardware encoders. Also, software encoders include features for adding titles, graphics, image overlays, special effects, transitions, etc. Live stream encoding software also encodes the video stream to prepare it for online delivery using the RTMP protocol. The advanced conference streaming solutions, on the other hand, uses HLS for minimum latency. After encoding, the video can be delivered to the online video platform and then to the audience.
Online Video Platform (OVP) Features
In conference streaming solutions, OVP happens to be the key element. Conference live streams can be monetized in either of the two ways- with a one-time fee or advertising. So be sure to opt for conference streaming solutions that supports advertising and transactional monetization.
API Access and SDKs for Custom Projects
Application Programming Interface (API) is a computer language that enables you to ‘programmatically’ control a live video streaming provider and helps you build a video streaming solution of your own. The Software Development Kit (SDK), is a package of sample code and tools that helps coders to use APIs easily. API and SDK can also be used for automating streaming and VOD publishing/ categorization and creating custom apps for fans and conference attendees.
Custom Branding and White-Label Streaming
Through the white-label live streaming platform, your video will not include any branding except for what you specify. This means you can choose to have your own colours front, centre and logo.
Security Controls
In order to stay safe from hacking, piracy and other digital attacks, conference streaming solutions must support the following security features-
- Referrer restrictions
- Geographic (IP) restrictions
- Password protection
- SSL payment security
Read: What is an EV (Extended Validation) SSL Certificate and How it Works?
Chapter Markers
These are VOD feature that enables you to characterize the videos. It is a great feature to facilitate user ease when one chooses to navigate around longer forms of content. The chapters can be named with the help of appropriate terms which will help the users to view and navigate to the appropriate segment by placing the mouse over the seek bar in the video player. This proves to be beneficial in case of a lengthy conference video as it maximizes audience engagement as well as the number of views.
Analytics to Track The Performance
Analytics track data about the audience, like the number of people watching and the place where they are turning from. This will be beneficial in assessing the success of keynotes, individual sessions, and the whole conference. Knowing what material is popular will reveal your strength as well as weakness and will help you in taking care of them as well. It is, therefore, best to opt for a conference streaming solution that has a full analytics dashboard so that you can monitor your content conveniently.
