This document is aimed at the novice client/production agency webcasting for the first time. Prices used are indicative only and vary widely from webcaster to webcaster as does the range of services offered. There are a variety of combinations of software and hardware for automation of live webcasting, this document illustrates basic techniques which will vary.
Ground Rules and Production management
For Conference and Lecture theatre style events a good webcast always starts with good event production. The audio and lighting should be of a good standard, policed by a trusted audio visual technician (who would be known as the production manager). If local suppliers are to be used, either supplied by the hotel/venue or sourced directly, then the production manager will oversee the project from a technical perspective and liase with them directly.
Once onsite the production manager would supervise the installation and operation of equipment as well as communication between the different ‘departments’ (sound, lighting, cameras, projection, Set, staging and venue). This approach works for events both large and small, for larger events you can specify a ‘head of each department’ who talk to the production manager, for small events the production manager communicates with crew directly.
A good production manager can cost from at least £350 per day, you should budget for 3 days pre-production and 2 working days onsite before the event.
Cameras and Cameramen
The webcast team usually shoot onto DVCAM 184 minute tapes from Sony DSR 500P Camera and change tapes during the coffee and lunch breaks so as to avoid breaks in the video for tape changes during presentations.
The cameras are timecode locked (sometimes called synchronised) so that all the tapes that are recorded share the same time of day timecode. The unmanned camera shoots a wideshot of the stage and screen (for recording the slide timings) and the manned camera(s) shoot closeups of the presenter and panel.
If one manned camera is used then the presenters should be briefed to either speak from the lecturn or from the panel but not interact between the two (or one camera has to pan backwards and forwards or zoom out too far).
A small webcast may use two cameras and one cameraman (circa £1050 per day) or larger event three cameras and two cameramen (£1800 per day).
Event URL
Your client will most likely have a content management system from which they will generate a link to the live webcast server. They will usually hand viewers off from their own site to a webcast server because their own dedicated and usually dynamic server will not be configured to handle the rush of visits from a popular webcast. They should be made aware of the microsite dimensions and be informed of the webcast URL. A holding page should be made available on the webcast server microsite (usually a waiting room for the webcast) and the client should point their event URL at this well before the webcast so that the link can be fully verified (there is nothing worse than finding that the client server can't be pointed at the webcast in a timely fashion just as the webcast is about to start!).
Pay to Display vs. Pay per View vs. Subscription
The majority of corporate webcasts benefit the producer of the content more than the audience and so Pay per View as a model, for one off events, in a corporate environment, tends to be unrealistic. Some webcasters have been successful with a subscription model although this is often subsidised with a fee paid by the corporation that is hosting the webcast. The majority of corporate webcasts tend to be Pay to Display.
Cost of a webcast
When pitching in a Pay to Display model it sometimes benefits the business case to liken the cost of the webcast to the logistics of moving delegates to the venue or the cost of phone calls on a conference call (i.e. divide the cost of the event by the number of viewers by the duration of the event in minutes and you have the cost per minute per viewer of the webcast).
When to live Webcast
One off live webcasting can be expensive for events which are not time critical such as medical lectures where the available audience may be in the room at the time of the webcast. Those who cannot attend may not be able to watch the presentation at that time but would appreciate the ability to view the presentation later. Obviously for timely presentations such as financial results and staged events it is be important that these are webcast live and the archive made available as quickly as possible.
Frequently the Q & A of a live financial results webcast is cut off, much to the chagrin of the analysts who are watching. Analysts generally obtain all the pertinent information from the press release and really all they are interested in are the thorny questions to the FD post event!
Live webcasting for a single event
Many people webcast live using Windows Media (the most popular format for viewers, in our experience 90% of people choose windows media for a live webcast). Powerpoint slides are often converted to JPEG, html or Flash for live broadcasting and you will need the approved slides in advance of the webcast (or you may be caught out by glitches in translation of your PPT files to the appropriote web format). A webcast can be ‘open’ requiring no login or ‘closed’ requiring viewers to register for the event or use a pre-provided username and password.
A webcast has three stages:
1. Pre-production
This involves liason with the venue/production manager to ensure that the necessary internet connection will be available onsite, production of an event microsite and liasing with the client’s IT staff to ensure this can be linked to their internet site, slide conversion, scripting, preparation of equipment, crew and logistics.
An important aspect of Pre-production which is frequently overlooked or mismanaged is the publicity for the event. Viewers need to be recruited prior to the event and frequently reminded that the event is happening. This can use eNewsletters, specialist mailings, banner adverts, links on the main site, use of the company sales force, company emails, flyers, newsgroups, discussion forums, mailing lists and any all means of communication! One of our clients forgot to send out her usual email to remind people of her webcast and sent it only 30 minutes before the event, this timely reminder actually doubled her audience! Previously they had simply filed and forgotten the message because it went out to early!
One should allow at least £650 for the event microsite and 3 days at £450 for event pre-production.
2. Event-production
Delivery & Installation of equipment, equipment and server checks, liason with event crew & venue, broadcast of the event (with count in and post event broadcast), derig and collection. Live questions can be handled in a number of ways, we have recently developed a system which presents moderated questions to the chairman during the event.
Allow for 3 crew to be onsite for the duration of the event plus 2 working days prior to the event at £350 per man day. For a live webcast with slides you need one crew to cue slides, one to monitor encoding and networking and one to be client liason (it's amazing how often someone asks a questions of the webcast crew during the production). Allow from £1050 in webcasting equipment cost.
Allow up to £3.50 per viewed hour with a minimum fee of £750 for server setup and the first 300 hours viewing.
3. Event Archive
The event can be archived using the files recorded at the event or edited from tapes recorded at the event and archived from these. The event archive should be planned prior to the event so as to minimise delay after the event production due to signoff and changes.
An archive can be chargeable at up to £25 per minute for video in low volumes (less than 3 hours). Longer events or a series of events will generally qualify for lower pricing.
Live webcasting for an ongoing series of events, such as a telephone briefing
As a low cost alternative to an onsite live production a webcast can be made using a telephone line or a video conference feed from each event. The webcast quality will be lower and this works best when presentations are scripted (so that we know when to change slide) or if the presenter says ‘slide 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on'.
This lower production cost type of webcast may be used for channel or internal briefings where the quality of the message may be less important than timeliness, content and cost.
Live webcasting using online tools
There are a number of online briefing tools for automated production of webcast using the clients own equipment. These work well for broadcasts from an office environment, again the production and presentation quality tends to be low unless the presentation is well rehearsed, the speaker has a good grasp of the subject and questions are well moderated.
Archive to CDROM
Whilst webcasting has many advantages some customers still like archive to cdrom for storage purposes, limited distribution or for use on an exhibition stand. As a rule of thumb, up to 30 hours of audio and slide based presentations can be archived to CDROM and up to 5 hours of video and slide based presentations.
The per minute charge can be the same as for archive only webcasting. An allowance of £850 should be made for a basic CDROM interface.
Unified website
A comprehensive event website may include delegate registration, document sharing and download, presentation preparation areas, discussion board, different therapy areas/events, Monographs and other support materials, reference database, Quiz’s and online CME. A webcasting company will have solutions for each of these. Pricing tends to be based on the individual client need.
These sites range from £6500 for a straightforward website and upwards of £40,000 for a full online CME solution.
