We're Doing it Live! Why Webcast Producers Are Necessary Onsite

Whether it's one of the largest company announcements to date or a quarterly report that is about to be unveiled - having a webcast producer onsite is a lot more than syncing up slides.

For any event, whether it includes a live audience or viewers watching from their home or office, an onsite webcast producer and their gear are imperative to capture audio and/or video. It could be an investor meeting at the stock exchange, a global town hall from corporate headquarters or a product launch at a big box retail store - live webcasts don't discriminate when it comes to location.

One minute the venue is a hotel conference room, just minding its own business. The next, it's a production set with audio visual (A/V) teams setting up mics, rigging lights and strategically placing monitors throughout the room. And in the midst of this conference room turned global studio, the webcast producer is holding down their own mini HQ. From a table hidden in the back, covered in cables and encoding gear they're liaising with the venue to make sure the proper connectivity is available. The webcast producer also works with the A/V team to ensure the audio and video plays perfectly not just in that hotel room, but across the thousands of streams heard and played by consumers everywhere.

And as it gets closer to the event start, that's when things really start to happen. The audio levels and synch aren't quite right. There are last minute updates to the slide deck. The requested phone lines can only dial out to other phones within the building and not serve as a streaming connection to our encoders. Oh, and then there's a mouse parading around the control room (since you're right next to the venue's kitchen) that you most certainly don't want invited guests to see. Because ultimately the primary goal of the webcast producer remains consistent - the need to support the clients, the event and to make sure online audiences have the best experience possible.

So from the opening countdown until the event window fades to black, having a webcast producer onsite is vital to ensure those mild panic attacks are only in perfectly scripted drama series vs your live streaming video events.

ABOUT THE EXPERT: Shana Ferriby

Shana has 10 years of experience in webcasting. She has worked with clients worldwide on large scale projects. Shana manages the webcast team and all aspects of the service to make the customer experience seamless. Before joining MultiVu, she worked with the client services team at PR Newswire.

ABOUT THE EXPERT: Jeanne Gunther

Jeanne is a seasoned producer having filmed in locations all over the world. She understands that while important, creativity and quality are not dependent solely on crew size and budgets. With experience in the film and television industry, she thrives in deadline-driven environments and knows production means staying flexible.

As the Executive Producer at MultiVu Creative, she manages and facilitates shoots of all sizes featuring a variety of celebrities, athletes and executives. From PSAs to short-form narratives to commercials, Jeanne oversees the story development, production and post-production of a multitude of projects highlighting global pandemics, social awareness issues and consumer products.

Before MultiVu, Jeanne was a documentarian covering HIV/AIDS and its affect amongst African American women in the U.S. She served at CBS and freelance reported for the Agence France-Presse (AFP). She worked for stations including WCBS, WAFB – a CBS affiliate in LA and more.