SXSW Panels Round-Up!
NEWS
Austin s South by Southwest (March 13th -22nd) has become much more of a destination event for fans of music and film in recent years, but its conference remains critical for cutting edge takes on UX design, social technology and marketing. The schedule and abstracts for the conference panels are up and we ve spent the last couple of weeks browsing the amazing offerings. Here s just a handful of the super cool speaker and panel sessions we found that pertain to events.
1: CANNABIS & YOUR EVENT: ELEVATING YOUR EXPERIENCE
Abstract: The integration of legal cannabis into the live events industry is one of the fastest growing partnerships happening today. In a conversation about this fascinating relationship, panelists will discuss the current state and future of cannabis at events, and how to bring cannabis to your event, from music festivals to eSports tournaments and more.
With cannibas now legal in 11 states including the District of Columbia, it certainly stands to reason that there should be new above-the-books ways to professionally incorporate cannabis into your next event. I doubt anyone reading this article has a problem with an open bar is this really this much of a far cry from that? A lot of weight is added to the panel by the inclusion of Axiom Advisors. Axiom are renowned on the West Coast as consultants to major companies on public policy, technology, infrastructure, cannabis, you name it. If anyone is approaching this topic holistically and thoughtfully its them.
2: THE NEXT FRONTIER IN OMNICHANNEL MARKETING
Abstract: Your events create engagement, excitement, and connection. During this time, they are the most immersive and effective marketing channel your organization has. So why has it proven so difficult to integrate events into your omnichannel marketing strategy? New technologies are making it possible to provide a seamless, personalized brand experience at every customer touchpoint including your event experiences. In this session we will explore how event marketers can deliver more value by extending attendee engagement year-round and bringing events into their omnichannel strategy.
Here s an awesome speaker event hosted by Eventbase. Eventbase have the sickest multi-purpose events app in the industry. Whether you re pulling together a corporate event, tradeshow, or conference, Eventbase lets you assemble a unique app specifically tailored to help you and your audience keep track of everything and stay organized. As an event organizer you can even pull in some great data analytics on event traffic and user experiences as well, which is invaluable information to stay connected with your audience well after your live event wraps up. Omnichannel marketing is Eventbase s wheelhouse. We re looking forward to getting more info about seamlessly integrating digital and real-life event experiences for consumers from this session.
3: HOW TECHNOLOGY WILL ENHANCE LIVE EXPERIENCES
Abstract: Live events are at the eve of their digital disruption from augmented reality to virtual reality, in this session, David Johnson, COO of music tech startup PEEX, will examine how fans are wanting immersive live experiences more than ever, and how technology is driving this. Live events are the closest connection fans will ever experience with artists David will discuss how technology will help make that experience even more connected and personal. Although technology can t and shouldn t replace the emotional journey of the live experience, David will explain how it can and should serve to enhance and augment its reach, quality and impact.
This isn t the last time you ll hear about PEEX on this blog. We actually have a cool article on wearable technology in the works for next month that will go more in depth about their special gadget. Whereas many in the experiential events industry are focused on creating unique visual experiences, PEEX is focused on making the sound of your next conference or stadium rock show as personalized as possible. Their special earbuds not only stream audio directly from the stage to your ears without latency, they allow you to use a personal 5-band EQ to fiddle with the levels and make your own concert experience sound better than the real thing. We re looking forward to this unique audio-focused take on mass personalization.
4: MIND JOURNEYS: DESIGNING FOR COGNITIVE UX
Abstract: Our brains don t experience events objectively. Our brains filter everything we encounter through a lens of biases, needs, goals, feelings and prior experiences, creating an impassable chasm between the event and our conscious experience of it. While behavioral economics has attempted to understand the brain s filtering mechanisms, experience design has largely remained focused on documenting the practical and emotional journeys, ignoring our underlying mind journeys. We ll explore how principles of behavioral economics can be combined to recognize, and even nudge, a user s mind journey through Cognitive UX. We ll wrestle with dark patterns: when does nudging become hacking? We ll show how thoughtful Cognitive UX can help brands create deeper and more meaningful relationships with users.
This likely trippy panel is hosted by Huge Inc., a far-reaching but eccentric and trendy UX Design & Marketing Firm based in Brooklyn (surprised?). Consumer experience is a key focus of any event. We don t want our audiences to simply enjoy their experience, we want to leave a strong impression that can translate into a stronger consumer/brand relationship later on. Huge Inc. is at the forefront of experimenting with fresh ways to engage and retain consumers from opening their own special caf , to maintain their own publication on digital design. We can trust they can name check concepts like behavioral economics and have the chops to back it up.
Was this pretty far out? Keep track of SXSW s panels here for some bleeding-edge concepts to integrate into your next event. If you suddenly feel inspired for your next event, don t fight that feeling, get in touch with us to day and get those ideas rolling!
How to Make a Splash in Your Next Livestream
NEWS
The NFL s fully virtual 2020 draft wrapped up yesterday. For anyone who doesn t do sports, a pro draft is a lot like picking kickball teams in middle school gym class but instead of friendships there are multi-million-dollar contracts on the line. Under normal circumstances this event doesn t typically draw the same level of viewership as actual on-the-field competition. You can count on the die-hards, and football-starved fans who ll check in to get their fix.
But not this year. The 2020 NFL draft smashed all previous viewing records with 55 million viewers across various ESPNs, ABC, and the NFL network. Here is ESPN s stats flex:
Each day of the 2020 NFL draft set records, the league said. An average audience of more than 15.6 million viewers watched Round 1 on Thursday, up 37{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} over 2019. More than 8.2 million watched Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday, up 40{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} over 2019, and Saturday s coverage of Rounds 4-7 averaged more than 4.2 million viewers, up 32{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} over 2019.
This year the NFL fully embraced their lock-down circumstances and opted for an entirely virtual, completely unconventional media spectacle in the form of hundreds of live feeds from the homes of players, coaches, commentators, and fans across the United States.
This concept was so cool that the core of the event (the draft itself) were eclipsed by all the color of seeing everyone s quirky home war rooms. And there were hijinks! Bears GM Ryan Pace set up 7 monitors in his dining room and briefly lost his feeds when his wife vacuumed and pulled out all the cords. Seahawks GM John Schneider had walls in his house taken down to mount 25 monitors so he could view feeds and surveil Gotham s cell phone signals to locate The Joker at the same time. Patriot s head coach Bill Belichick said screw it and let his dog handle things because he has literally nothing left to prove:
Bill Belichick s House
Now that attempt at trading Tom Brady to the 49ers makes a lot more sense.
These types of hiccups were expected, and we suspect, actually counted on to make the draft memorable. Rather than detract from the event s goals they actually add a certain realness, variety and a human element that attracts people like me who watched despite having zero investment in the draft itself. It was all the more remarkable to watch live feeds from the homes of players and their families who crowded around webcams to celebrate picks.
So how in the hell did they pull this off? Which masterminds should receive all of our jealousy and admiration?
The NFL had been flirting with virtual in the lead up to the draft already. Even initial prospect player meetings, which normally take place in person, happened over Zoom for the past month. This presented new challenges for GM s who are trying to determine whether a potential player will be a huge pain.
The virtual draft required a big effort on the part of the NFL and event organizers, who had to outfit hundreds of homes with additional routers, generators, and other IT gadgetry to manage hundreds of simultaneous live feeds:
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced picks from a studio in his basement, with more than 600 camera feeds in the homes of 85 draft prospects, 32 head coaches and general managers, as well as fans and college football coaches.
The NFL shipped two iPhones one Interview camera running native apps like FaceTime for TV interviews and the congratulatory virtual hug with the commissioner and one Always On camera running the Larix Broadcaster app and coordinated by Amazon Web Services that will showed players and families waiting to be drafted and their reaction once their name was called. One big potential bottleneck was simply the bandwidth at the players homes. If they were in an area without reliable, high-speed Internet access, quality would suffer. Because of that, prospects were asked to get in touch with their internet provider to try to increase their bandwidth.
Among other fascinating details found in this behind the scenes video, we learned the NFL actually sent special mobile phone production kits to potential draft picks, coaches and GMs to set up at home. They look pretty similar to our own recommendations for home livestream setups that we shared earlier in the month:
The NFL even had 3 call centers set up to manage feeds from these mobile setups. Here s the chart they used to keep track of them all:
Video feeds
Clear as day, right?
In addition the NFL feeds, The Famous Group curated somewhere north of 1000 fan feeds which were displayed on background monitors to approximate the experience of a live in-person crowd. The Famous Group have been working with the NFL to produce the Super Bowl since Super Bowl 40 and have staged the in-person drafts for the past few years. These were the guys behind that totally wild augmented reality raven when the Ravens clinched the AFC North in December. It s no surprise to us they were involved here too.
So, are you organizing a draft? Get in touch with us today and we ll help you realize your dream of viewing live video feeds of all of your current and future employees in their homes!
We Accept Defeat: How to Gear Your Next Event Around Your Audience s Vertical Videos
NEWS
According to FBI estimates and the Netflix series Mindhunter, there are at any given time, around 50 active serial killers operating in the United States. According to my estimates, there are at any given time, thousands upon thousands of monsters uploading vertically oriented phone videos to social media platforms. Now, I m not trying to conflate these two demographics simply by invoking them back-to-back (that s not true, that s exactly what I m doing). I m trying to make an edgy opening hook here to remind you that are plenty of confounding realities we all have to come to terms with as members of a society and unfortunately vertical videos, among other things, are part of our modern social fabric.
Admittedly, that started off pretty dark so let s bring it back around. Look, it doesn t have to be all bad. What if you could account for this at your next corporate event and then maybe it ll be better? I guess? Here s what we think.
First of all, we found this amazing series of studies by Buffer on how social media users engage different video formats. If you hail from one of our agency clients, PR firms, or ad shops, you should NOT miss the insights here- you can view the whole thing here. In their case they studied the differences in views and shares between standard landscape videos and square videos (vertical videos with bars on the top and bottom).
There is a lot to digest from that link but here are the main takeaways:
92{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of all Facebook users in this study accessed content primarily via a mobile device, so when you re planning an event with the expectation people will capture and share content, plan for that content to be viewed on a phone or tablet.
Mobile users resoundingly preferred square videos so much so that on average square videos received 30-35{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} more views and an 80-100{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} increase in engagement against landscape videos that featured the exact same content.
It s tough to argue with that.
In some ways this makes sense though. When you look at a vertical video as opposed to a landscape video on your phone you re actually utilizing 78{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} more space on your screen. Now that is A LOT of extra room for content to be displayed and shared.
@subsign at medium.com
With that in mind, there are actually some new technologies that accommodate both landscape and vertical video displays, check this out:
More and more of our shared content is vertical (not necessarily a good thing), which makes our horizontal main screens ill-suited for viewing it. Samsung aims to fix this with the Sero. This 43-inch QLED display sits on a floor stand that allows it to rotate from horizontal to vertical as needed.
See, Samsung gets it. A few of these babies rotating around to display information or stream uploaded vertical content gives you the best of both worlds. Your audience can capture the most relevant information possible in frame as needed. Keep these in mind when you re planning your next event.
I m going to leave you with a final thought. I ve heard this urban legend attributed to both Disneyland and several University of California campuses but the underlying premise is relevant. According to legend, either a very clever architect or a Disney Imagineer neglected to construct sidewalks before opening a space to the public. Why? They instead watched how people moved from place to place and THEN built walkways to accommodate the natural flow of their audience. Simple, effective, brilliant.
Our consumers want flow, not obstacles. They d like to take the most efficient path to sharing or consuming content. Personal aesthetic aside, we need to accept the way our consumers want to engage content and change everything from poster orientation and event staging to marketing for the best results.
It should be said that any ambitious and enterprising event planners (oh, Decibel Management, for example) will understand how consumers want to engage and share content and are ready address these circumstances of engagement at your next corporate event. Reach out and get your vertically oriented event goals moving today!
Links:
YouTube now properly displays vertical videos on iOS
Square vs. Landscape Video $1.5K Worth of Experiments: Here s How They Compare
The NFL Went Big *and* Stayed Home
NEWS
The NFL s fully virtual 2020 draft wrapped up yesterday. For anyone who doesn t do sports, a pro draft is a lot like picking kickball teams in middle school gym class but instead of friendships there are multi-million-dollar contracts on the line. Under normal circumstances this event doesn t typically draw the same level of viewership as actual on-the-field competition. You can count on the die-hards, and football-starved fans who ll check in to get their fix.
But not this year. The 2020 NFL draft smashed all previous viewing records with 55 million viewers across various ESPNs, ABC, and the NFL network. Here is ESPN s stats flex:
Each day of the 2020 NFL draft set records, the league said. An average audience of more than 15.6 million viewers watched Round 1 on Thursday, up 37{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} over 2019. More than 8.2 million watched Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday, up 40{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} over 2019, and Saturday s coverage of Rounds 4-7 averaged more than 4.2 million viewers, up 32{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} over 2019.
This year the NFL fully embraced their lock-down circumstances and opted for an entirely virtual, completely unconventional media spectacle in the form of hundreds of live feeds from the homes of players, coaches, commentators, and fans across the United States.
This concept was so cool that the core of the event (the draft itself) were eclipsed by all the color of seeing everyone s quirky home war rooms. And there were hijinks! Bears GM Ryan Pace set up 7 monitors in his dining room and briefly lost his feeds when his wife vacuumed and pulled out all the cords. Seahawks GM John Schneider had walls in his house taken down to mount 25 monitors so he could view feeds and surveil Gotham s cell phone signals to locate The Joker at the same time. Patriot s head coach Bill Belichick said screw it and let his dog handle things because he has literally nothing left to prove:
Bill Belichick s House
Now that attempt at trading Tom Brady to the 49ers makes a lot more sense.
These types of hiccups were expected, and we suspect, actually counted on to make the draft memorable. Rather than detract from the event s goals they actually add a certain realness, variety and a human element that attracts people like me who watched despite having zero investment in the draft itself. It was all the more remarkable to watch live feeds from the homes of players and their families who crowded around webcams to celebrate picks.
So how in the hell did they pull this off? Which masterminds should receive all of our jealousy and admiration?
The NFL had been flirting with virtual in the lead up to the draft already. Even initial prospect player meetings, which normally take place in person, happened over Zoom for the past month. This presented new challenges for GM s who are trying to determine whether a potential player will be a huge pain.
The virtual draft required a big effort on the part of the NFL and event organizers, who had to outfit hundreds of homes with additional routers, generators, and other IT gadgetry to manage hundreds of simultaneous live feeds:
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced picks from a studio in his basement, with more than 600 camera feeds in the homes of 85 draft prospects, 32 head coaches and general managers, as well as fans and college football coaches.
The NFL shipped two iPhones one Interview camera running native apps like FaceTime for TV interviews and the congratulatory virtual hug with the commissioner and one Always On camera running the Larix Broadcaster app and coordinated by Amazon Web Services that will showed players and families waiting to be drafted and their reaction once their name was called. One big potential bottleneck was simply the bandwidth at the players homes. If they were in an area without reliable, high-speed Internet access, quality would suffer. Because of that, prospects were asked to get in touch with their internet provider to try to increase their bandwidth.
Among other fascinating details found in this behind the scenes video, we learned the NFL actually sent special mobile phone production kits to potential draft picks, coaches and GMs to set up at home. They look pretty similar to our own recommendations for home livestream setups that we shared earlier in the month:
The NFL even had 3 call centers set up to manage feeds from these mobile setups. Here s the chart they used to keep track of them all:
Video feeds
Clear as day, right?
In addition the NFL feeds, The Famous Group curated somewhere north of 1000 fan feeds which were displayed on background monitors to approximate the experience of a live in-person crowd. The Famous Group have been working with the NFL to produce the Super Bowl since Super Bowl 40 and have staged the in-person drafts for the past few years. These were the guys behind that totally wild augmented reality raven when the Ravens clinched the AFC North in December. It s no surprise to us they were involved here too.
So, are you organizing a draft? Get in touch with us today and we ll help you realize your dream of viewing live video feeds of all of your current and future employees in their homes!
Take A Look Behind The Most Exclusive Award Show Afterparties
NEWS
When you sit down to watch the Academy Awards or the Grammys what do you look out for?
See, we re the types of weirdos that have a group text during the Oscars with comments like, Did you catch that hot mic , or Who do you think they re using for those video back drops? or Why isn t there any love for Best Production Design?
Last week s Golden Globes kicked off the season of watching obscenely rich and attractive people congratulate each other for hours at a time on stage (see, Ricky Gervais s Golden Globes performance got to me). Mark your calendar- the Grammys are just around the corner on January 27th and the Academy Awards follow soon after on February 10th. There s not much time to rest here.
As you might imagine, the event planning scene in L.A. is in overdrive at the moment getting everything prepped for these two really high-profile events and their glitzy afterparties. Let s take a brief look at some of the event planners and event management companies, venues, and considerations involved in throwing afterparties at this caliber.
The Governor s Ball by Sequoia Productions
We know for a fact that The Governor s Ball is going to be thrown by Sequoia Productions who have been tricking out this exclusive event for the night s winners and nominees for nearly 30 years.
The ball is typically held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom, adjacent to the theatre where the main event is held. There are a handful of companies involved in making this event completely off-the-wall (see the above link) but in past years, the pastries and catering have been covered by such no-names as Wolfgang Puck and Gordon Ramsey. We re still looking out for how this year s ball is shaping up but, I mean, if there aren t 800 lobsters this year it just doesn t seem worth it. I may just turn down my invite and spend that night washing my hair.
The Vanity Fair Oscar Party by Cornucopia Events
According to Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair s Oscar Party is one of the longest standing and most exclusive afterparties for the evening. I m being snarky, but truthfully Vanity Fair always throws an opulent super-exclusive afterparty full of A-listers and other people of significant influence in Hollywood. This year s afterparty is organized by Cornucopia Events from the UK.
For a measly sum of $52,000 you too can attend the Vanity Fair after party. You just have to be willing to put on a tie (there s always a catch!).
The Grammys Official Afterparty by The Recording Academy
As far as the Grammys go the official party is an in-house production handled by the Recording Academy themselves. According to Branden Chapman, the overseer of all the major Recording Academy events prior to and immediately after the awards ceremony, the event will be hosted at the Los Angeles Convention Center for nominees, awards winners and other who s whos of the pop music world. The theme of this year s afterparty has yet to be officially announced, but last year s theme was French Masquerade. Admittedly it s tough to get a good look at the party because all these random celebrities get in the way.
We highly suggest you check out that interview of Branden Chapman to read about the planning procedures for the event. It s an interesting and deeply stressful read.
Are you planning a luxurious, exclusive event filled with wealthy people of influence and celebrities? Are you Joaquin Phoenix? Reach out and get in touch with our team we d absolutely LOVE to be your new best friends and get that event started for you!
The Search for a New Greetings
NEWS
Anthony Fauci recommends against handshaking ever again. He s got a good point. Handshakes aren t that much different from coughing into someone s mouth in terms of germ transmission. As part of our ongoing coverage of COVID-19 s effect on the events industry, this week we offer you a handful of substitute no-contact greetings for events this summer.
First, some background The handshake is a time traveler, believed to have originated in Greece around 500 B.C. (it s painted on a bunch of urns and stuff). These were simpler times when people were mostly concerned with keeping track of a lot of gods and when to wear dressy togas. Anthony Fauci was but a middle-aged man warning everyone at the forum about leprosy transmission AKA the Roman Flu. In ancient Greece, the handshake was gesture of peace between strangers. It allowed both parties to demonstrate they were not holding a weapon. This is of course, extremely cool.
But I mean come on it s been 2500 years and we haven t updated it? Handshakes actually came around before Hippocrates, father of the field of medicine, was even born. They re pre-medicine. It s time for handshakes to go the way of other things of the era like armless statues, Zeus, and functional democracy. We need handshake 2.0.
I don t think any of you understand just what a huge moment this is. We have an opportunity here to create a long-lasting legacy. Inventing a new handshake will outlive pretty much everything else we do in our lifetimes no matter how big. This is the time for innovation, to establish something greater than us that generations to come will be forced to comply with out of tradition and the pressures of social convention. Whatever we standardize now will in theory be the accepted form of greeting until at least 4520 A.D.
This is why we at Decibel Labs have been hard at work, tirelessly experimenting in my parents suburban basement for the better part of a weekday morning. We present, nay gift to you, peoples of the present and future, our top candidates for handshake 2.0.
Double Foot Tap
Beginning with your left foot, raise your foot and tap the inside of your foot with the inside of your partners. Then repeat the motion with your right foot. Consider incorporating a festive hacky sack to make a good impression.
Elbowing AKA Pencing
This example truly needs no demonstration from us because it would be difficult to improve upon the master:
Raise your elbow, touch it to your partners, then hold briefly while assuming a beleaguered expression like Mike Pence at a COVID-19 press conference when he hears someone say PPE.
Enthusiastic Double Hand-Wave (Handkerchief Optional)
Take cues from every silent film clip you ve ever seen of a passenger ship departing from a harbor. Wave wildly and without care like this is the greatest part of your day. Incorporate a festive handkerchief into your wave for a bit of variety. If you are Deborah Birx, just go ahead and use one of your many stylish scarves.
Finger Guns
Nothing says I m fun like finger guns. It s like closing an email with the word cheers. In a more formal setting, consider making pew pew sound effects to round out this modern handshake alternative.
Bow with Hand Flourish
We in the west seem to have lost the art of bowing, but it s time to bring it back. This is the double/full Windsor knot of greetings in the sense that it can communicate to an entire room how important you think you are without the need to say anything. It s ostentatious in the best way! Observe:
It should be low enough that you risk dislodging your monocle. For additional flair consider a wearing a dinner jacket with coattails, or a droopy Victorian mustache.
Voguing
Voguing, the unique 1980 s dance style made well-known by Madonna, in which one moves fluidly and gracefully between poses that resemble actor headshots from the golden age of cinema. It really holds up. Strike a pose!
If you d like to add a bit of flair, whisper-yell the word vogue while holding your final pose.
The Plan 9 Salute
The Gone with the Wind of poorly executed, plotted, and acted movies offers us this gem. Draw your arms up with your hands open and cross them on your chest. Your fingertips should come to rest roughly on your clavicles. This is one quick, swift motion. It communicates fealty but self-assuredness.
The Little Rascal
This one is pretty straightforward. Bring your right hand up under your chin and waggle your fingers coquettishly.
The Vulcan Salute
Star Trek. I am apparently physically incapable of doing this. I m gifted in other ways.
The Adam West Batusi
The infamous batman dance, reprised by John Travolta in the dance contest scene of Pulp Fiction. If you re introducing a companion, perform the Batusi first, then begin introductions by referring to them as Robin, my young ward, or old chum.
Wakanda Forever
Seeing as the U.S. government has already slipped the existence of Marvel s high-tech African nation of Wakanda to the public (we re trade partners!) , it stands to reason that our new no-contact greeting should serve a greater diplomatic purpose. We recommend performing this greeting in a full-body cat suit.
Do you have an alternative greeting that s better than our suggestions? We doubt it, but if you do the best way to make an impact on the now open field of no-contact greetings is to get an event started. Make your mark on history and get in touch with us today.
Click on the Handshake 2.0 to get the animate gif.
AGDQ 2020 Should Inspire Event Planners to Embrace New Tech and Audiences
NEWS
Speedrunning? It s not parkour s boring cousin.
It s how the AGDQ gaming event pulls in millions for charity each year.
As event management experts, we re always thinking about innovative event planning processes to keep up with the times. Back in 2018 we posted a little think piece about how live events can stay relevant in the digital era (click the link for a refresher). How did our conclusions stack up, were we right on the money and a savant-level mentalist prediction machine? Eh, kinda, but stay with us here. The major takeaways here are 1) that live events need to embrace new media technologies and data analytics in order to maintain relevance and know what s working 2) that events need to connect with an audience and produce content they will love to share endlessly on social media, even long after the event is concluded.
We thought it might be a great time to revisit the major themes of this article by providing an example of a live event that makes a killing through streaming services. And here s the fun part you can check it out from your phone or computer right now.
Photo by Brian, Provided by GDQ CC4.0
We re talking about AGDQ (Awesome Games Done Quick). AGDQ is a yearly charity event that runs 24-hours a day for a full week (January 5th to 12th). The event is all about speedrunning , a practice by which gamers challenge themselves to complete a game as quickly as possible by working out optimal paths of movement, exploiting glitches to avoid huge portions of a game, and through a deep knowledge of the coding structure of the software itself. It s mad cap. Check out the highlights from last year s event.
Photo by NotManda, Provided by GDQ CC4.0
While GDQ s summer event is always held in Minneapolis, AGDQ has bounced around a bit. This year s event is held at the illustrious Double Tree Hilton in Orlando, Florida. It s like, right by Universal Studios. You know the one.
At each AGDQ, nearly 200 gamers, as representatives of game-specific speedrunning communities are invited to come in and perform speedruns in front of a live audience. Commentary and explanations of each speedrun s tricks are supplied by additional experts on-site in real time. All the while, each run is streamed through Twitch and Youtube and viewers at home are invited to send donations for the event s chosen charity (Prevent Cancer Foundation). It s as much a thrill to watch the donation counter tick upwards throughout the week as it is to watch some guy smash Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom in 15 minutes on a Playstation 2. Really, you d be surprised.
Sounds lame? Well guess what, during GDQ s summer weeklong event SGDQ 2019 brought in just over 3 million dollars for Doctors Without Borders from over 51,000 donations. Since AGDQ began in 2010, they ve raised 22.3 million dollars for charities. Let that sink in. They could ve bought this sick yacht with a jacuzzi by now.
Photo by Arael, Provided by GDQ CC4.0
Photo by NotManda, Provided by GDQ CC4.0
As you might imagine, holding TWO events like this each year is an incredible undertaking. Just think of what an absolute nightmare the scheduling is! Video submissions from gamers are collected months prior to the event. From there, event planners Mike Uyama and Kasumi Yogi aren t just tasked with whittling through the submissions and choosing the best videos. Human error and even plain old bad luck on runs must be expected and taken into account. What if a speedrunner chokes and loses 3 minutes on their live run? Will it throw off the whole week? Keeping a non-stop event like this on schedule in spite of all the variables in play is an achievement. You can check out their scheduling and submission rules to see how they ve handled this challenge.
Photo by Arael, Provided by GDQ CC4.0
Events like AGDQ succeed because the organizers go through great lengths to make an event that accommodates and celebrates the eccentric skills and cultural milieus of its target audience. They re embracing technologies and online platforms their communities are already using year-round to hone their skills. AGDQ provides a key service it s a meeting ground where otherwise separate, niche communities come together and get the rockstar treatment despite having an otherwise pretty unmarketable skill. The loyalty and sense of belonging it inspires translates into donations participation in the community and event means kicking a few dollars to a charity to support your speedrunning comrades.
Keep these in mind while you set your event goals and reach out to the event management experts at Decibel Management we d love to partner with you to bring your event to the next level!
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
Check out the schedule to see when your favorite game is getting slayed:
https://gamesdonequick.com/schedule
Check out the action live here:
https://www.twitch.tv/gamesdonequick
Confused by the lingo? This glossary of speedrunning terms should help:
https://www.gamecrate.com/speedrunning-terminology-glossary/17892
Want to see how the internet is reacting to AGDQ? Hit up their subreddit:
THE EVENT HORIZON. What Happens Next?
NEWS
Is it too early to try and imagine what events will be like after the shelter-at-home orders have been lifted?
Probably. We re hoping that question doesn t age like milk. But there s no harm in doing a bit of informed speculation. What else is going on right? So, here s what we know:
1. We know that Los Angeles has extended shelter-at-home orders through May 15th as did the state of Vermont. Chicago and its home state of Illinois are poised to do so as well. The CDC s recommendation of no live events with more than 50 people stands until May 15th as well. We strongly doubt an April 30th reopening is happening for most of the country. So basically, don t expect live events of any size to happen before June.
2. We also know that the CDC also recommends anyone with pre-existing conditions making them more vulnerable to COVID-19 should avoid mass gatherings. This remains true even after stay-at-home orders are lifted. Some have suggested that any future gatherings this summer should be limited to locals from within a certain radius since traveling to and from events is a great way to kick-off new outbreaks and stay-at-home 2.0.
3. Public health experts across the world are also anticipating future waves of COVID-19, and while strict stay-at-home orders and expanding medical infrastructure now will prevent things from getting this bad a second time, we should all be prepared for spontaneous cancellations or postponements of events based on localized outbreaks until a vaccine is widely available.
So broadly, these are the circumstances under which events this summer could take place.
Let s say we can get small scale, local events that incorporate a significant virtual component going this summer. Anthony Fauci seems optimistic. We ve linked to this already, but here are the CDC s mass gatherings guidelines that would frame any summer events. We recommend that anyone planning an event, or planning to attend an event this summer read them in full.
OK, sidebar. I fully understand the gravity of what is being stated here, and I appreciate the lengths the CDC has gone to guide the events community but, for real, doesn t the following sound like it was written by a robot trying to live among us and gain insider knowledge for the inevitable future robot uprising?
Handshakes and high-fives are often exchanged at meetings and sporting events, and these can be ways in which COVID-19 can be transmitted from person to person. As a way of decreasing the social pressure to engage in these common behaviors, consider displaying signs (physical and/or electronic) that discourage these actions during the gathering.
While the clinical description of high-fiving situations made me suspicious, the physical and/or electronic parenthetical is a dead giveaway. Nice try robots! Be careful guys. The robots know we like to high-five and are susceptible to COVID-19.
Anyway, back to it.
Now, along with the CDC recommendations for safe conduct at mass gatherings, there are a number of recommendations here for event planners. These include flexible sick-leave policies, refund policies for sick attendees, frequent sanitizing of surfaces, making sterile masks available, and enforcing social distance. Additionally, the CDC recommends that event planners maintain active communication with local public health officials and remain prepared to alter or postpone an event at a moment s notice based on community health conditions. Any events management company worth its weight in 15-minute rapid tests needs to be on top of all of this for events in 2020, which is why Decibel has started working with a medical director and we will work in concert with their recommendations to protect the health of our staff and event attendees.
As of right now the CDC is not recommending temperature checks at gatherings. Nevertheless, Disney has publicly stated that checks with infrared thermometers are being considered to enter their parks. We also suspect this will become a mandatory entrance requirement to attend professional sporting events should those resume this summer as well. While we know that at least 25{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, it stands to reason that measures like temperature checks will at least prevent some people from exposure to active cases and allow attendees to feel more at ease.
We wish we could offer you clearer conclusions, dates and confidence but we are still some time away from a national reopening and new normal. We will inevitably have to address additional nuanced CDC recommendations and health requirements as the pandemic wanes but the big takeaway here is that we re seeing a lot of reasons to be optimistic and enough information to begin preparing for what comes next.
As always, reach out to us today if you d like to begin planning what comes next.
Music Licensing for Live Events
NEWS
and the Decibel December Mix Tape
It should go without saying that music is an important part of any event. It quite literally sets the tone. You know for example, not to throw on a Slayer mixtape at a silent auction unless it s on the unlikely occasion you re trying to move some Metal-Memorabilia. But the issue with music that we d like to address today isn t about what is appropriate to play, but rather what is legally allowed.
We re going to hazard a guess and assume you may not be an expert in the exciting field of music licensing. That s ok, don t feel bad, you still have a lot of other great qualities and we have done our part to bone up on the subject. At this point in the article, we should stress that we are not lawyers (please consult with your lawyer, they love this stuff), but we can tell you what you need to know to make legal arrangements for music at your next event.
First let s consider the difference between public and personal listening. Whether you buy a track from iTunes, stream from a service like Spotify or Pandora, or own physical media (wow!), you are in the clear to play that stuff for personal use, but not public performance. Public Performance covers pretty much any kind of corporate event, meeting or conference even if it is an internal meeting and no tickets are sold. As you might imagine, any circumstances in which you are selling tickets, livestreaming, or broadcasting an event publicly, fall outside the legal spectrum of personal use.
In short, you need a license.
SPOTIFY:
While we re on the subject, hop on over to our Spotify December Doors Mix Tape and make personal use out of the most recent mix we used for one of our corporate events. You can t use this for public performance (as you now know), but you can still put it on blast as you digest the steps needed for proper licensing below.
So, who do you have to deal with to make sure you re in the clear? In the US there are three main groups that manage the licensing of music. You ve likely heard of ASCAP and BMI, but the third is SESAC. We could get into the minutia of the differences between each group but the bottom line is that you ll want to go ahead and get blanket licenses for all three. Why? Music licensing is messy. Sure, a songwriter might be attached to ASCAP, but the producers and various performers also involved on a track may well be attached to other organizations. Play it safe and cover all your bases.
But this isn t as bad as it sounds. The costs are actually pretty reasonable all things considered. Blanket licenses as described above are based on a per attendee basis. Expect to pay a minimum fee as low as $35, or a per-attendee fee as low $0.05 each. There are different levels of what is allowed and under what circumstances, and there are nuances to how each of the three groups approach public performance licensing rights, so the best thing you can do is work with each group to get a clearer idea of actual costs.
As event managers, we handle a lot of organizational details, but we cannot contract this for our clients. Licensing groups require clients contract directly. Check within your own organization before going down the licensing rabbit hole though! We ve found more often than not, there is already an existing agreement for other uses like commercials, videos, or music for retail locations that may well apply to your event.
We hope this primer showed you that this isn t a daunting process. This is totally doable. Check out our additional links and resources to determine licensing costs below!
DOUBLETREE BY HILTON REVEALS OFFICIAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE ?
FOOD & CATERING, TIPS & TRICKS
For those of you concerned you re not putting on enough weight over these past few weeks, we offer some exciting news:
Our team at Decibel Events had the awesome privilege to be one of the experiential event producers on the DoubleTree by Hilton Cookie CAREavan, and Little Things tours a few years back. Last week we posted a Throwback Thursday photo on our Instagram which included the following quote: Hilton, I think the world is gonna need another cookie after this. What do you say?
Well, yesterday, they just made public their official chocolate chip cookie recipe!
We re not saying you need to thank us, but it sure is quite a coincidence, don t you think? You can download the recipe here:
We ll share a little fun fact we picked up while on tour: We fielded a lot of questions about why the choice to include walnuts, especially with the potential allergy issues. Apparently, they actually absorb some butter and fats which makes a difference in the structure of the final product.