Our client came to us to webcast their converted 10 thousand attendance in-person event into a hybrid event for the Texas Democrats Convention, combining a live in-person event with a virtual, online component, including primarily all virtual attendees. The biggest opportunity of this event was the unknown. Like many events shifting from in-person to online, there wasn’t a clear picture at the beginning of how this event would work. The biggest factors to contend with were how it would look and engage the audience and finding out what it would take to make it happen.
Our client knew how they wanted the show to flow, which made a huge difference, but it still took a lot of organizing and teamwork to pull together. The event combined pre-recorded videos and live appearances that all needed to be timed perfectly into one seamless experience. During the event the primary challenge was hitting hundreds of cues for content and video rolls between live speakers. Our dedicated team also worked overtime to reformat and organize the many videos to perfectly work into the virtual format.
With our all-star crew, expertise, a phenomenal stage manager, Sheilae Sheeler, and quick actions, Alford, not only made this event happen, but it was a huge success for our end-client.
The combination of pre-recorded content intermixed with live appearances both on-stage and remote, elevated the experience for virtual attendees and had a similar energy of a live in-person event. While the virtual event was not our client’s original plan, due to COVID everyone had to adapt, and in the process not only found what could be done to get by for this year but forced everyone into trying something different. This will bring value for years to come as a part of their live events.
There were several expected and surprise benefits of the hybrid approach. The virtual element vastly increased the reach and the accessibility for the attendees. All of this culminated into an enormous success. They had an increase in viewership and fundraising of 10 times what this event has done in the past. With the audience going from 10-12 thousand attendants to over 100 thousand virtual attendees, and the money raised going from $100-$200 thousand to over $2 million, it’s safe to say a virtual component will always be incorporated going forward. What our client was most impressed with was Alford’s dedication and professionalism, doing whatever needed to be done to ensure this show not only met their expectations, but exceeded them.
