Case Studies//The Show Must Go On
With the pandemic looming dangerously over people's health, many conferences initially scheduled to be in-person gatherings were modified to become hybrid events. This is when a large portion of the presenters and the audience attend virtually, but the event still features live hosts and a few guests at a central physical location. The advantage of a hybrid event is you can reduce the possibility of Covid transmission or mitigate travel expenses but still offer the aesthetic of joining together in one place.
In March of 2021, PMMG was called to create a hybrid event for Rotary International that could combine the best of remote conference technology but still offer the feeling of being surrounded by teammates and friends. The event was held at the beautiful Trenton Village Theatre in Trenton, Michigan. There PMMG set up a mobile broadcast studio where we were able to record in-person hosts and connect them live in real-time with the virtual guests. Using four Birddog PTZ cameras with multiple playback monitors and teleprompters; we set up multiple smaller live “sets” where hosts and presenters could bounce between each other just like in a broadcast television studio. Using advanced video routing techniques, Zoom panels with 6+ participants could interact with live hosts and visa versa.
Even the virtual audience had an opportunity to make a “live” appearance via cardboard cut-outs placed in the empty theatre seats. Our video production and aerial photography skills were used to create an award-ceremony-style intro and outro video with sweeping fly-bys of the theatre's facade to start and end the broadcasts. Each of the in-person guests, virtual participants, premade video segments, and musical entertainment was live-streamed to thousands of at-home viewers watching over Vimeo. Although the Covid pandemic has largely subsided, the future of hybrid events is still bright, especially for organizations that wish to reduce their carbon footprint.
PMMG can help you with creative event solutions. Contact us today to learn more!
