Lollapalooza said ????to COVID-19 and ????to music
EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, PRODUCTION
How Did Lollapalooza s Virtual Festival Pan Out?
So, this hasn t exactly been a great year for music festivals. Coachella s annual April festival was delayed to Octoberand other big destination fests like Stagecoach, Bonnaroo, and SXSW were canceled outright in the Spring.
That s why we were surprised to learn on July 27th that C3 s Lollapalooza would move ahead with their annual August festival as planned, but as an entirely virtual affair.
Now sure, this certainly isn t the first virtual music event to take place this year. If you all remember, way back in March (we were so young and naive then) Elton John hosted a number of performances from his stunning, spacious mansion for an iHeartRadio benefit concert. It s one thing to livestream DJs or solo artists from their home setups. It s an entirely another challenge to accommodate full bands that require multiple performers and other personnel singing and breathing in the same place.
Which is why, all things considered, we were actually pretty impressed by the way Lollapalooza handled that challenge. Their free Youtube event dubbed Lolla2020, took place from July 30th to August 2nd and featured home setups, interviews, live soundstage performances, and never before seen archival recordings from past festivals. This gave us some insights into how we might expect Coachella to pan out, and offered an interesting concept that festival organizers would be wise to use in a post-COVID environment to maintain hype year round.
One of the biggest challenges that Lollapalooza managed well was anchoring the setting of the event. How did Lollapalooza integrate its home turf of Chicago into its virtual experience?
Well on top of a slew of Chicago acts on the bill like Chance the Rapper, interviews with key Chicago figures like Michelle Obama and Lori Lightfoot were also billed as a central part of the experience. Even the Chicago Bulls were part of a live event collaboration featuring Polo G, Wendell Carter Jr., and Zach LaVine.
Events like the Democratic convention, which we discussed previously, have gone to great lengths to virtually reinforce the notion that the event is taking place in Milwaukee, even without most major events or speeches taking place on site. Utilizing local organizations, drawing on local artists, and involving local luminaries is a great strategy for actually grounding your virtual event somewhere.
As we mentioned above, livestreamed performances are no longer newsworthy. Everyone with a webcam and an acoustic guitar has proven that to be the case since March. So how do you make a virtual concert an unmissable experience now?
Well, one great way to do that is to really make it live. There are no VODs. If you missed it, then you really missed it, unless you manage to find pirated videos floating around somewhere.
While the archival gigs were briefly interesting to see (mostly because no one was social distancing!), special reunions from bands like Jane s Addiction, one-off performances by Metallica or a rare Lupe Fiasco performance turned the event into spectacle.
The diversity of the streams also made for an entirely unique event that would just not have worked in person. Salesforce sponsored LL Cool J s 4-part series on the pillars of hip-hop, providing audiences advice on breaking, DJing, graffiti, and MCing from one of hip-hop s undisputed masters.
Interviews with everyone from Metallica s Lars Ulrich to Michelle Obama touched on a variety of topics and kept the event lively and engaging.
EMBED:
One of the more unfortunate aspects of this event for me as that I had to finally admit I m not up to speed with the young people anymore. While the internet was ablaze with chatter about H.E.R., I was completely jazzed about this Porno for Pyros reunion so I could throw on some flannel and party like its 1996.
If you re looking to pull off a virtual music event over the next 6 months, Lollapalooza is a great starting point to develop your concept. Get in touch with us today to make that happen!
Virtual Democratic National Convention
EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY, LIVE EVENTS, POLITICAL
FINALLY. It s political convention season. Doesn t it seem like this campaign has been going on for our entire lives?
But seeing as the United States remains in the throes of COVID s first wave, how will the conventions function? What will happen to all the red, white, and blue paraphernalia of past events? The cutting-edge staging setups with pyrotechnics? Or Lenny Kravitz? How will we get a repeat of this moment from 2016 when it appears the retirement-age Clintons just discovered balloons for the very first time?
Think of the memes democrats!
Due to COVID, it seems this year each party is forced to hold a more subdued virtual convention focused on things like the formal delegate voting process to confirm a presidential candidate, updating party platforms to reflect current political realities, and hosting speeches from notable rising party leaders to introduce ambitious new goals to the national public. You know, the important stuff. It ll be a throwback to the Eisenhower era when smallpox was a hoax and the president often expressed a fondness for his good friend Khrushchev in the Kremlin.
Now, you may have noticed I just said BOTH parties. Portions of the Republican convention were moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida last month. While the actual party convention functions like writing an updated party platform will still be held by party leadership in Charlotte, the super-sweet-sixteen-everyone-pay-attention-to-me-its-my-special-day portion will be held in Jacksonville.
These plans may once again change due to Florida s new outbreak. Florida s current daily case numbers have been higher than the total daily case count in all of Europe for the past week, a development surprising to literally no one outside of Florida. Governor DeSantis has mandated masks be worn indoors and gatherings allow a maximum 50 people, throwing the key goals of the convention into disarray. Will it be cancelled? Will it be virtual? We ll be back with a part 2 once the RNC comes to a consensus on how to move forward with their planned festivities.
So right now, we can really only explore the current plans for the virtual Democratic National Convention.
The Democratic Convention will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from August 17th to 20th, but what does this really mean if the convention is largely virtual?
Some portions of the event will be held in Milwaukee s Wisconsin Center. The anchor location of the event was moved from Fiserv Forum at the end of June to accommodate extensive public health requirements. Presumptive nominee Biden s official acceptance speech will take place in-person at the center, but it remains to be seen how many, if any, spectators will be invited for a live viewing. There is no word yet whether or not the to-be-announced vice-presidential nominee will be joining him.
Put this one in the perk column. As a Chicagoan, I d like to say one of the best things about this virtual convention is that you no longer have to go to Milwaukee. When God closes a door, He opens a window.
The convention initially had 1,500 total events on the books. These additional speeches and satellite events that would normally be attended by up to 50,000 total people will not be taking place in Milwaukee or have been cancelled all together. Instead, socially distanced events and speeches from party leaders will be held at locations and landmarks across the country, with the actual convention center in Milwaukee acting as an anchor point from which these virtual events can be emceed and various live feeds can be managed.
The virtual event will be produced by Ricky Kirshner who has been producing the Democratic Convention since 1992. Kirshner has also done the Tony s, the Super Bowl, and he actually has 9 Emmy s. You read that right. He didn t produce the Emmy s 9 times. He s won 9 Emmy s for his production work. Respect.
And finally, as we said above one of the key purposes of party conventions is for state delegates to cast votes for their chosen candidates and officially confirm the party s presidential nominee. Several states are still in the process of selecting their delegates to send to the national convention due to COVID-related delays. The Delaware DNC, for example, are expected to virtually cast their votes to choose state delegates using Google forms this month.
The DNC has specifically relaxed it rules for state delegates to cast their votes virtually. We re still waiting to see how the DNC plans to collect votes at the convention but Delaware s straightforward voting strategy leaves us with some confidence that lessons were learned from Iowa s Caucus App debacle. Keep track of our Instagram for updates as we learn them!
Are you a member of the RNC looking to take your convention virtual? We can handle that!
An Event Planner s Worst Nightmare: Inaugural Edition
BACKSTAGE, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVERYTHING ELSE, LIVE EVENTS, LOL, POLITICAL
5 Times Throughout History the Presidential Inauguration Didn t Go Quite According to Plan
The 2021 Inauguration is here. A day that changes history and this year certainly is a big one. While everyone has their eyes on Capitol Hill, our event planner vision has us peeking behind the curtain.
It takes a lot to plan a presidential inauguration, and as every event producer knows, events of this scale don t always go according to plan. We decided to take a fun look back at the epic fails (do people still say that?) from inaugural s past, complete with some of our own experiences sprinkled in.
#5 1865: Andrew Johnson was Hammered at the Inauguration
???????? 1865. At the second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, Vice President-elect Andrew Johnson had the bright idea to manage a bout of typhoid fever with a giant jug of whiskey. He ended up absolutely hammered before the inauguration and was booted off the dais. (Sidebar: bummer social media wasn t around back then, after leaving office, he d have scored a sponsorship with EmergenC.)
Decibel has produced hundreds of events over the years, and we have thankfully only encountered this scenario a handful of times. Most memorably at an award ceremony for a government agency helmed by a Cabinet-Level appointee.
One of the winners came in hot + over-served, and when it was time to accept their award, they hip-checked the Secretary and commandeered the mic to give an acceptance speech even though no speeches were planned. ????
We needed to manage the situation with the least amount of disturbance. We queued up loud award music with our audio engineer, and ballyhoo with our lighting tech, and when the drunk awardee took a pause in remarks, we hit the cue, cut the mic, played the music, moved the lights, and our awesome ASM came out with the proverbial Vaudeville Hook maneuver to walk them offstage.
End result? Looked like it was planned. Yeah, we can handle that.
#4 1961: JFKs Lectern Catches Fire
???????? 1961: The inauguration of JFK. As the cardinal was mid-invocation, the podium caught fire. Turns out the electric motor used to adjust the podium s height shorted out.
The fire was quickly extinguished by Secret Service, and the inauguration continued without further incident, but srsly, can you imagine that After Action report?!
Rest assured, when we say Decibel s events are ????, we mean metaphorical fire never, ever literal.
#3 1873: The Champagne & Canaries Froze
???????? 1873: This is a sad one. It was so damn cold at Ulysses S. Grant s 2nd presidential inauguration in 1873, that the celebratory canaries (yes, that was a thing), froze to death. ????
The 16 degree windy weather had the same impact on the celebratory champagne. History books don t attribute Grant s frigid inaugural to the invention of fros , but that s a leap we re willing to take.
We ve encountered our share of adverse weather, from the double hurricane that hit while we were managing a bus tour in Florida, to the time torrential storms in DC dumped so much rain that we had to slice the roofs off a few tents to avoid collapse under the weight.
Decibel never compromises on safety, #period. We have developed a long-standing relationship with #WeatherDecisionTechnologies and have come to depend on their trusted, hyper-specific forecasting services. Through their team, we are assigned a dedicated meteorologist to stay on top of the situation for the total duration of our outdoor events.
Because if your event isn t a success, neither are we. So yeah, we can handle that.
#2 1973: Nixon s Bird Shit Remediation Greatly Backfires
???????? 1973: Understatement: Richard Nixon didn t care for bird ????. So much so, that he asked the route be sprayed with chemical repellent. Reader: that was not the move.
The poisonous chemicals resulted in a path covered with dead birds. (What is with dead birds & inaugurals??)
Let s be clear Decibel Events is highly environmentally conscious, and we love birds and animals of all kinds. We haven t nor would we ever use dangerous chemicals at our events, however, we have some experience with shit the discourse kind.
One of our recent large-scale virtual events was free and open to the public, so our client understandably, wanted a profanity filter in place. We worked with their internal counsel and social team to develop a comprehensive list of profane words.
The list not only included standard profanities, but also social media work-arounds (shit vs s h i t with spaces). Turns out that when we imported the CSV, it uploaded each individually spaced letter as a curse word. In other words, every word that contained an s was blocked. ????
It took our team nearly 24 hours to trace back why we were blocking so many non-profane words, right in time for the event to go off without a hitch. So yeah, we can f****ng handle that.
#1 2021: Due to the Global Pandemic We Are (Mainly) Virtual Again
????????2021: Yup, we re going virtual. Joe Biden s parade will be the first ever virtual presidential inauguration parade, due to COVID-19.
Inaugural planners say they re going to celebrate America s heroes, highlight Americans from all walks of life, and reflect the country s diversity, heritage and resilience.
We know first-hand that switching to virtual can create a new host of problems, but know that the Presidential Inaugural Committee shares in our yeah, we can handle that attitude.
Our advice to #prfirms #adagencies & #eventprofs: Tune in. Take notes. Democracy doesn t wait, and we don t either.
Bonus: Forklifts for Dead Horses
????????Bonus: This one is more of an urban legend, shared among #eventprofs in hushed tones .
Horses are a crowd favorite during the before-times presidential parade. But if one happened to pass away en route, everything could literally stop in its tracks.
Event planners prepare for this heartbreaking scenario with two forklifts on standby, and the fervent wish they re never needed. This is hardly a fun fact, and absolutely our worst nightmare, but yeah, we can handle it.
Drowning In Content: How Can Live Events Stay Relevant In The Digital Age
BRAND ACTIVATIONS & MARKETING, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY, LIVE EVENTS
We all feel it the digital monsoon. Every time you open your inbox, search google, see yet another cat video. We are all literally drowning in digital content everyday.
Here s some perspective for every minute on the web:
- Email users send 204,000,000 messages
- Google receives over 4,000,000 search queries
- Blog writers post 1400 new blog posts
- Facebook users share 2,460,000 pieces of content
- Twitter users tweet 277,000 times
- Amazon makes $83,000 in online sales
- Tinder users swipe 416,667 times
- Whats App users share 347,222 photos
- Instagram users post 216,000 new photos
- Pandora users listen to 61,141 hours of music
- Apple users download 48,000 apps
- Yelp users post 26,380 reviews
- Skype users connect for 23,300 hours
- Vine users share 8,333 videos
- Pinterest users pin 3,472 images
- Youtube users upload 72 hours of new video
How do you measure a year? In 525,600 minutes, which is a universe worth of content available at everyone s fingertips.
So, how in the digital overgrowth can live events even survive, much less remain relevant? Well all of us here at Decibel Management believe that live events are more important now than ever. Actually providing a face-to-face experience in the age of digital interactions is pivotal. But, the game has changed. No longer can event marketers rely on old standby strategies to be impactful. Here s what to pay attention to:
Always-on Engagement
Experiences are no longer consumed in a vacuum. Social media has ensured that. Yesterday, we watched a giraffe being born while simultaneously attending a business presentation and side convo-ing with a guy in South Africa about how great the surf was looking. Everything we do, see, experience and learn is readily and often shared these days. In other words, everything is connected. Just try asking your watch if you have any new emails.
Obviously, engagement with your audience starts long before the actual event now but, keeping those audiences (both on the ground and out in the digital stratosphere) engaged is a challenge.
So what are the implications of this phenomena?
1. Your content has to be on point and on message.
2. Your event needs to embrace new digital platforms regularly.
Solid content will beg to be shared by your audience so, set them up for success from the beginning.
Data, Data, Data
More data means more information more information means more insights more insights means better customization. Events need to capitalize on the immense wealth of data available to create integrated, seamless online and offline customer experience.
For example, ever feel like Google knows what you are actually searching for before you even type into the search box. You know why? Because they do actually know because they have the data about you. We know it s creepy but it works. Kind of like Tim Curry.
As technology and customer data continues to infiltrate our day-to-day lives, demands and expectations increase. Data is the key to staying ahead of the curve.
So while the live event world is changing in light of how people experience things and interact in the digital age, a true in-person and face-to-face experience is one of the most impactful ways to reach your customer, especially given the amount of content constantly bombarding our screen. And that is where Decibel Management steps in to help.
So NFL, About that COVID Plan
LIVE EVENTS, NEWS
You know what? Let s talk about sports. That s a nice safe topic right? Can we all just be chill and talk about the NFL for a few minutes without anything bad happening? Can we just have that, universe?
We spent the summer watching the various ways different pro-sports leagues tried to push forward despite the circumstances. The MLB had an interesting strategy at the outset: test players constantly, maintain social distancing, keep the stands empty and pipe in crowd noise to the telecasts. That worked really well until a bunch of players got COVID like 5 minutes after the national anthem wrapped up.
The NBA by contrast created their Disney COVID bubble where players would live, hang out and play in a closed system. While this method was quite restrictive, it did actually work. Like it really worked. The NBA just wrapped up their their 2020 season with the Lakers winning their 17th NBA Championship title and (even more impressively) ZERO COVID cases.
We had zero positive tests for as long as we were here, MVP Lebron James said. That s a success for everybody that was involved.
Enter the NFL. This is likely the most challenging sport to pull off during a pandemic since gameplay requires 22 players to be packed into tight spaces where they just breathe on each other and occasionally move the ball 4 yards in either direction.
After putting on an excellent virtual draft back in the Spring, we expected the NFL to be absolutely on top of their game for their kick-off on September 10th. So how did the opening games pan out? What precautions has the league taken to ensure the safety of their players and confidence in their schedule?
Well, the biggest issues with the season plan were theoretically hammered out at the tail end of July. If any of you sports fans recall, the NFL and NFL Player s Association came to a lengthy agreement that included extensive testing, strict training regiments, new salary caps, roster changes, and everything else imaginable and unimaginable.
The NFL/NFLPA agreement is seriously exhaustive. There s pages of requirements detailing things like how air should be circulated in indoor stadiums. There s new rules about who teams can send out to witness the coin toss. There s rules about masks. There s even rules about how loud the piped-in crowd noise is allowed to be across the league so as not to provide an advantage to one franchise over another. Seriously.
And while the NFL teams would not be playing in a bubble like their NBA counterparts, the amount of logistical work that went into new rules for play suggests the NFL was at least as serious about protecting the health of their players as they were in protecting their finances. And really, that s just about the best we can all hope for this year.
Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (25) carries the ball against the Houston Texans in the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Another point of departure that the NFL took from other professional sports leagues was in the allowance of some stadiums to seat actual fans. Each franchise has been allowed to apply their own rules to live attendance based on local pandemic conditions, and the complete list of who is selling tickets can be found here. While some franchises like the Denver Broncos will only allow family and friends of the players to view games, the Kansas City Chiefs actually allowed 16,000 fans to spread out across their 70,000 seat stadium. This arrangement can be seen well here, as fans boo the Chiefs and Giants standing in silent unity to call attention to police brutality (btw, have you registered to vote?). The New England Patriots and several other franchises haven t ruled out the possibility of hosting fans until later in the season but did commit to keeping their stadiums empty at least through September.
Now aside from that unpleasantness in Kansas City, the remainder of opening weekend seemed to have gone off rather smoothly, albeit with a slight drop in viewership from past years. So clearly, the NFL seems to have figured this out and the rest of the season should go smoothly and as scheduled. There s no story here.
Oh no, wait. Hang on.
Yeah, nevermind. Actually there s COVID everywhere.
As rough as the NFL s opening weekend was, that seems to have thus far been the high point of the 2020-21 season. But don t just take it from me, I m only capable of informative snark. Here s ESPN s Dan Graziano with a breathless, dramatic rundown of the state of things at Week 5:
Already the most exhausting season in history, the 2020 NFL campaign now peeks its head around the corner into Week 5 amid cacophonous calamity. Every morning brings fresh news of positive COVID-19 tests, schedule delays, amended protocols, questions that spawn more questions. Two games were postponed last week, and two more already have been postponed this week. The Tennessee Titans are under investigation and have been banned from their own facility for 10 days so far. The New England Patriots two best players have tested positive for the coronavirus, and they haven t practiced yet this week after playing on Monday night. Both teams Week 5 opponents wait for final word on whether and when they might play. No one knows where the next COVID-19-related issue will start, only that it will, and bring with it even more questions and complications.
This week has seen some major changes to the regular season schedule to accommodate teams battling COVID. In the short term, the NFL just issued several changes to their management plan in response to the virus moving through the Patriots as quickly and easily as an opposing team breaks through their offensive line. Anyone exposed to COVID and anyone that person has come in contact with are now required to isolate for a minimum of 5 days, even if it means missing a game.
The NFL is now actually reconsidering the NBA s bubble strategy for the post-season and are potentially looking at Dallas and Los Angeles as their bubble sites before the Super Bowl takes place in Tampa Bay as scheduled.
So there you go. It was a nice try, NFL. Here s hoping things get back on track and everyone stays safe and virus-free for the remainder of the season.
What Does This Have to Do with Your Next Event Plan?
Are you planning to pull together your professional sports franchise for the 2021 season? For real, one of these is bound to be perfectly fine. Isn t that how the law of averages works? We re looking at you XFL third time s a charm.
In all seriousness, here at Decibel Events we look at each of these leagues, individual franchises and major events for key takeaways on what to do, but also more importantly what NOT to do going forward.
When it comes to these major sports seasons, it appears that only the bubble has worked so far. Does that mean that you need to do a bubble to successfully host your next conference or corporate meeting? Not necessarily. It s important to evaluate your ultimate goals with each event, and we re great at doing just that. Reach out to us today to see how we can help you plan and put on your next company event both safely AND successfully.
The Halftime: And Other Badass Stuff from Super Bowl LV
BACKSTAGE, EVENT DESIGN, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION, LIVE EVENTS
Super Bowl LV was a monumental event for one reason and one reason only: it happened.
Sure, Tom Brady s indefatigable right arm was MVP, but to pull off the country s most watched event without compromising production quality mid global pandemic was truly an epic feat.
The game meh. While the game itself wasn t super memorable, here are some moments we won t soon forget:
The Triple Bomber Flyover
The Air Force executed the first ever Super Bowl flyover featuring all three of its bombers, including America s oldest bomber, the B-52H, which has been in service longer than the Big Game has been played.
Extreme precision was required to execute the tight flyover over Raymond James Stadium, timed perfectly to coincide with the final note of the Star-Spangled Banner. It was one of those blink-and-you ll-miss-it moments, and utterly flawless.
Fun fact: the three bombers aircraft designations add up to 55 (B-1, B-2 & B-52), which is why, despite the pandemic complications, the tribute had to happen this year.
The Super Bowl Streaker Who Made Bank
With five minutes left on the game clock, a 31-year-old man dressed in a hot pink, atomic-wedgie-style one-piece bared his ass, ran like the wind, and netted $374,000. WHAT? Read on.
Yuri Andrade had a plan. He had a friend place a $50,000 bet that there would be a streaker at the Super Bowl, and then convinced another buddy to fake a streak of his own, in order to allow Andrade the opportunity to slip past security.
Unburdened by the weight of clothing, and surprisingly nimble, Yuri Andrade juked one security guard out of his shoes before finishing his 100-yard dash with a triple tackle in the end zone.
Though live footage quickly cut to commercial, Andrade s streak was immortalized on the interwebs and Twitter, providing the proof needed to collect his cash.
And in true idiot fashion, he bragged about his plan, resulting in serious questions whether he will actually get paid the big bucks for his cheeky stunt, or fade away into obscurity as a naked dude with a big mouth and 15-minutes of fame.
The Un-Centered Stage
It took place in the center of the game, but not in the center of the stadium. This year s Super Bowl halftime show was the first to NOT be held completely at center field with an impressive 6-minute setup time.
Due to COVID safety measures, 15-year Super Bowl halftime veteran planner Bruce Rogers and his team at Tribe, Inc., were only allowed to use one tunnel onto the field. So, they decided to build the stage in the stands and make it 3x bigger.
The elaborate stage they designed over the north end-zone concourse still had to have two modes: Game Time and Half Time. Even though only 20{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of the stadium seats were filled with real people (yes, we have to specify that, as a majority of the seats housed cardboard cutouts of fans), those real people still had to use the 3 existing fire aisles for bathroom breaks and concession runs.
During Game Time, the set was covered with game graphics by Blue Media, had open aisles for guests, had clear sightlines to the field, and embedded an important CBS sideline camera.
In Half Time mode, the aisles were filled with decks, locking in several upstage decks and light carts. Lights and audio were positioned, and rail cams, tower cams and three cable cams came forward for the critical story-telling shots.
The Weeknd s Year Long Story
Storytelling is very important to The Weeknd, and in the year since he released his most recent album, After Hours, he s been showing up to major events bruised, bloodied and bandaged in more and more extreme versions of what he refers to as The Character.
He explained his year-long antics:
The significance of the entire head bandage is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated, The Weeknd said. It s all a progression, and we watch The Character s storyline hit heightened levels of danger and absurdity as his tale goes on.
The bandaged face theme did fit flawlessly into the coronavirus safety measures for the many, MANY backup dancers each of them completely masked as they took up the entire football field for the final number.
Our goal was to find a way to present an exciting show and to not necessarily bow down to the COVID monster, said Bruce Rogers.
All things considered, they nailed it.
2021 Golden Globes BINGO Card
EVENT INDUSTRY, EVERYTHING ELSE, LIVE EVENTS, LOL
The 78th annual Golden Globe Awards is upon us!
With a majority of us still stuck at home, what better way to spend a Sunday evening than tuning in to the part-live, part-virtual award show with an exhilarating game of 2021 Golden Globe BINGO?
We ve created a challenging and whimsical BINGO card for you below, all you have to do is print it out and play along. If you get BINGO, make sure you TAG us on Instagram: @@DecibelManagement for a chance to win an exclusive prize!
Click image above to print your 2021 Golden Globe Awards BINGO Card
dB Blog #318: The Best of Both Worlds: Hybrid Events Offer Unique Benefits
BRAND ACTIVATIONS & MARKETING, COMPANY NEWS, EVENT INDUSTRY, EXPERIENTIAL, LIVE EVENTS, PRODUCTION, TIPS & TRICKS, UNCATEGORIZED, VIRTUAL EVENTS
It s no secret that producers of large-scale events have had to quickly rethink almost every aspect of their existence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hybrid and virtual events took off, becoming the new normal for marketers and event organizers, with the majority of major events using updated technologies in their event planning to accommodate new health and safety concerns.
Hybrid events are not new. They have been around for years now, usually consisting of an in-person event combined with some kind of live streaming technology that allows viewers at home to tune in. That format still exists, but is quickly evolving. The COVID-19 pandemic has added serious fuel to the fire, necessitating events to embrace virtual and hybrid options, which ultimately means new technologies and greater innovation. Here are some awesome benefits hybrid events can provide for audiences and event organizers.
Let s start with some data. A recent study conducted by LinkedIn, based on interviews with more than 1,800 marketers across 13 countries, gives us insight into the current attitude of the events industry towards virtual and hybrid events. Of those interviewed, 85{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} had held a virtual event in the last year and 28{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} said that between 91-100{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of their events are now fully virtual. The same data revealed that event marketers are predicting 40{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of events will be virtual, 36{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} will be in-person and 24{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} will be hybrid events, combining what could be the best of both worlds, if they are produced well.
Hybrid and virtual events are changing the capability expectations for marketers and event management companies. Skills nowadays should include producing and directing video content, having technical knowledge of different platforms, being able to moderate online comments and discussions, and understanding how to amplify the event on digital marketing platforms after the fact.
While all of that might seem overwhelming, we think it s all worth it and the events industry is largely in our camp. In that same study we mentioned earlier, LinkedIn also predicts many event organizers will develop a digital twin or create an online component of their event to ensure they are getting the most out of their investments. On top of the potential increase in ROI, the shift in the event industry towards hybrid and virtual events also poses serious benefits for audiences, event management companies, and the environment.
Let s put this in the context of hybrid events. Hybrid events are actively experiencing a growth spurt. These new grown-up events will be integrated experiences for both virtual and physical attendees. They can be tailored to individuals preferences, allowing for a wider audience and more speakers, and open the door for more extensive discussions and post-event promotions. They harmonize the magic of an in-person event while enjoying the extensive reach of a virtual one.
For conferences and speaker based events, hybrid events massively widen the scope of the experts from which they can choose. Now, organizers can invite and host speakers from nearly anywhere in the world. With more speakers comes more interested individuals. The virtual side of the event can accommodate many more attendees than an in-person venue ever could.
Hybrid events create the opportunity for the event to stay connected and relevant long after the in-person experience has ended. Organizations and companies can continue to extend the hype around their events with post-event campaigns and/or repurposing content for blogs and social media. This can help retarget attendees, gaining access to an entirely new audience beyond the one that attends the in-person experience. Hybrid events uniquely allow organizers to engage two types of attendees, measuring success both in-person and through an online community that will continue to grow long after the actual event is over.
For the environment, hybrid events, and virtual events even more so, pose an interesting solution to some of the more wasteful practices used for large-scale events. Hybrid events have the added value of maintaining the balance between sustainability and the joy of having an in-person experience. Again, the Linkedin research found that 42{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of organizers will continue to produce virtual events in some capacity because they are more environmentally friendly than in-person sessions, reducing the need for transport, and cutting down on disposable items.
Inclusivity is another awesome perk of virtual and hybrid events. Having a virtual side to an event opens up the experience to more people, especially those who, for a myriad of reasons, might not have been able to access it in-person. Now, anyone can take part in the event from the comfort of their own home, with options for closed captioning, transcription technology, or other health and safety necessities.
This is all predicated on the fact that you produce a Hybrid event well. We have all seen some real disasters and epic fails over the past two years. We have also seen some very large AV companies claim they can host virtual or hybrid events, only to discover that they really do not have a handle on the platform, basic best practices, or have platform tunnel vision for their specific tech platform. What we know is that there is no platform panacea. They all do something really well, and many try to do lots of things pretty poorly. This also includes true accessibility and 508 compliance. With this in mind, it is important to have a solid vendor with an in depth knowledge of the landscape, that can anticipate needs and hiccups before they become problems and one that you trust.
As we enter 2022, we can t wait to see how major events start to push the technological and social boundaries of the industry.
For more information about organizing hybrid events get in touch with the team at Decibel!
Virtual Event Roundup 2020
EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION, LIVE EVENTS, VIRTUAL EVENTS
So, here we are with some good news to close out 2020! There are not one but TWO vaccines primed for widespread distro in 2021 and after some light hijinks it looks like one old white dude will ultimately succeed the other old white dude as POTUS in January.
In less good news, COVID rages and Mississippi has yet to formally attempt to leave our great union. But you know what, we can t have everything (also, there s still time). Things are looking up my friends. We re closing out the year on a positive note.
This also means that we can now turn our attention to non-election things for the first time in two years. We d like to give you a brief run down of some of our favorite virtual conferences that we attended last month. We always recommend consuming as many of these as you can, so you can stay up to date with how the industry is executing these, gathering best practices, and compiling key learnings.
If you re bummed you missed out on these don t fret! The great thing about all of these virtual conferences is that all of their sessions are still available for free on demand. We highly recommend at least a casual browse of their offerings, if only to see what are the hot topics for another industry that is quickly adopting the fully remote approach to workforces as a permanent feature.
So without further ado let s see how the tech and digital design industry are showcasing new virtual events tools:
Miro s Distributed 2020
Do you know Miro? If you don t you should because it s soon to be integrated into Zoom. Miro is basically a collaborative browser-based whiteboard. Groups of any size can write text, make post-its, and embed videos or images in an infinitely-sized free whiteboard in real time. It s seriously great. I ve been using this virtual workspace since the summer and even ran a 30+ person workshop using the platform last month.
Miro s yearly free Distributed conference went off without a hitch for its 30,000 attendees over 3 days. In addition to the various keynote events, workshops, and seminars freely accessible to the public, Distributed attendees also frequently made use of a roulette feature that allowed any attendees to randomly filter into private 1-on-1 chats. It was basically, the most wholesome chat roulette experience I ve had in my entire life. No complaints!
You can check out all of Distributed on demand right here.
UserTesting s HiWorld 2020
UserTesting is a great place for designers and any kind of event organizers looking to get some solid research data on their intended audiences. Concerned about making your virtual events accessible or respectful to a wide range of audiences? Want to know you re speaking directly to the key demographics you re hoping to court? Definitely check out the types of services and custom research modules offered by UserTesting throughout the year.
UserTesting s push for innovative consumer research methods makes their annual HiWorld conference especially interesting. What s hot for mobile ethnography? How is consumer research and product engagement research being conducted virtually and what are the limitations of virtual research methods? All this and more could be found at Usertesting s 3-day HiWorld (Human Insight World) virtual conference back in October.
Want to follow up on some of those seminars to plan out consumer research for your next virtual event? Check out the entire conference on demand right here.
Adobe s Adobe Max
What makes Adobe s event max ? For me, it was hearing the phrase Adobe Creative Suite so frequently over the course of 4 days that it no longer sounded like words. You might even say I m maxed out.
Adobe Max was seriously a 24/7 extravangza over the course of 4 days. Conan (does he even use Photoshop?) and other high profile keynotes were there to drive up attendance. If you were tuning in from the United States, your daytime hours were filled with tons of workshops showcasing all of Adobe s products including the brand new augmented reality program called Aero. Your Adobe nights, by contrast, were filled with the same things but entirely for Japanese. We loved seeing the way Adobe made their virtual conference an international affair by changing the dominant language based on the time of day.
You can check out the Adobe Max on demand right here!
Missing Live Events? Here is a Look Back at Six That Went off in 2021
BACKSTAGE, EVENT DESIGN, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION, LIVE EVENTS, PRODUCTION, VENUES, VIRTUAL EVENTS
Remember 2019? Back when there were large-scale events held. Maybe one that you had attended previously, maybe one that you hadn t ever attended before but you felt it was time to check it out. So, you d make plans to attend. You d buy tickets. You d make travel arrangements. You d book childcare. You d buy a new outfit. You d attend the event. You d take lots of pictures. You d have a great time. And then, you d wash, rinse, and repeat with another large-scale event a month or two later. Ah, good old 2019.
And then, remember 2020? COVID swept the nation and the world and all large-scale events were canceled or postponed. Some were held as virtual events. There were no travel arrangements to be made. No childcare required. Maybe some new pajamas or sweatpants were in order. You bought your first Zoom Shirt (yes, it s a thing). No photos taken, what s the point. It was a meh event. It was a meh year.
And then 2021 rolled around, and along with it a vaccine for COVID. Contraction rates improved. People felt cautiously optimistic about being around others again, with vaccine cards, hand sanitizer, and masks in tow. Some travel was booked. Babysitters began emerging from their COVID-induced exile. New outfits were acquired. And event attendance began to resume.
Here we take a look at six of those large-scale events that went off in 2021.
Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics
In a move that is sure to leave future generations scratching their heads in confusion, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) opted to keep the Toyko 2020 branding for the summer Olympics, despite the event being postponed by one year from 2020 to 2021. Tokyo 2020 was described as an unprecedented demonstration of unity and solidarity as the world came together for the first time following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for an Olympic Games focused on the pure essentials: a celebration of athletes and sport.
From performance-enhancing drug use to boycotts to claims of corruption to participation restrictions, the Olympics are one of the more scandal-ridden large-scale events, and Tokyo 2020 was no exception. Controversies included:
- Tokyo reporting record-breaking numbers of COVID cases days after the Olympics began, and only a quarter of eligible citizens being reported as fully vaccinated as the Olympics got underway;
- Extreme heat which in itself isn t particularly controversial, but the fact that the Olympic bid lied about anticipated weather conditions, claiming mild and sunny weather and an ideal climate for athletes to perform their best made global headlines;
- Beloved American gymnast Simone Biles withdrawing from multiple events due to mental health concerns; and
- Reactions from competitors and the general public alike around the inclusion of the first openly transgender athlete, Laurel Hubbard.
The final price tag on the event? Officially, $15.4 billion, although estimates put the actual price tag at closer to $25 billion.
Watch: The most emotional moments at Tokyo 2020
Superbowl LV
Tom Brady led his Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a decisive 31 9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in front of what can only be described as a one-of-a-kind audience that included 30,000 cardboard cut-outs, 7,500 comped health care workers, The Weeknd, a hologram of deceased NFL legend Vince Lombardi, a hairy male streaker in a hot pink thong, Miley Cyrus, and 14,500 football fans. This was an expensive party to attend with tickets starting at $8,000 and going as high as $40,000. It was an ever more expensive party to advertise at with a thirty second ad setting advertisers back by $5.6 million, equating to just over a nickel for each of the 96.4 million viewers.
Watch: 10 Best Superbowl Commercials 2021
Met Gala 2021
Fashion s biggest night out was held on September 13. The Met Gala, which has also been affectionately referred to as an ATM for the Metropolitan Museum of Art was more scaled down this year after being canceled in 2020, for only it s third time in the events 73-year history. The theme for this year was American independence and Black Lives Matter protestors were congregated outside while attendees rocked can t-look-away outfits indoors including a 3D head horse bustier (Kim Petras), a gold suit of armor on top of a crystal-inspired bodysuit (Lil Nas X), and a map-patterned, ruffled-sleeved outfit portraying two men kissing (Dan Levy).
Watch: The Met Gala 2021 Red Carpet Arrivals
Big Weekend 2021
Big Weekend, hosted by BBC Radio 1, is the United Kingdom s largest music festival. The 2021 iteration of the event was four days long (running from May 28 31) and featured a variety of popular artists who filmed their 100+ performances at a wide range of iconic backdrops. Like Coldplay, who played their set at Whitby Abbey. Or Ed Sheeran who performed with a lovely English countryside backdrop. Or Royal Blood who performed from a pier. Attendees took it all in online from the comfort of their home.
Watch: Top Ten Big Weekend 2021 Sets
Library of Congress National Book Festival
With an incredibly timely theme of Open a Book, Open the World , the National Book Festival was jam-packed this year with a wide range of programs and formats. With an amazing vision from the Librarian of Congress and some great hosts including LaVar Burton and Dolly Parton, the event was flawless. From virtual live events to author interviews to a national television special to free in-person events, this year s festival nicely bridged the worlds of live, virtual, and on-demand events. This literary event, initially founded by Laura Bush in 2001, featured over 100 of the nation s best authors, poets, and illustrators.
Watch: 35 On-Demand Videos from the 2021 National Book Festival
93rd Academy Awards
And the Oscar went to well, lots of different movies, thespians, and supporting personnel, but Nomadland cleaned up quite nicely this year, taking the award for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. Originally scheduled for February 28th, the event was moved up to April 25th due to COVID safety concerns, and only nominees and presenters were permitted to attend. The public response to this scaled back version of the Academy Awards was lukewarm at best. As Mike Hale from the New York Times described, it was more like a cross between the Golden Globes and the closing-night banquet of a long, exhausting convention. The trade-off whether because of the smaller crowd, the social distancing, or the sound quality in the cavernous space was what felt like a dead room, both acoustically and emotionally. There were powerful and moving speeches, but they didn t seem to be generating much excitement, and when the people in the room aren t excited, it s hard to get excited at home. As my cat would say, meow .
Watch: Highlights from the 93rd Academy Awards
Well, there you have it. Six event staples that helped to pave the way for a live event return to pre-COVID times. If your organization is in the market for an event to mark the long-awaited return to pre-COVID times, Decibel Events has you covered!
