1. Introduction to Virtual Events
Despite the hosts’ ability to directly connect with a wide audience, virtual events do have a downside. They’re 2D experiences making it difficult for the hosts to truly stand out. Attendees can’t physically shake a presenter’s hand, network with a vendor, or join in a chat with other guests. Enter live streaming to enhance the virtual event experience in a creative way.
Over the last few years, virtual events have become increasingly popular, offering businesses and organizations innovative ways to connect and engage with a large audience. These web-hosted events can take the form of conferences, meetings, trade shows, job fairs, or any other type of gathering that brings folks together. Today’s virtual event technology allows presenters to host multi-session conferences featuring live video, multiple screens, video-on-demand (VOD), e-commerce solutions, and more. Leading Singapore-based virtual event platforms also integrate seamlessly with social media platforms and apps, widening their reach even further. In fact, nine out of 10 Singapore businesses plan to use at least one virtual event in 2021.
1.1. Definition and Importance
With the increasing visibility of businesses conducted via live streaming, the market size and potential target audience for this channel have begun to expand and receive more attention in the business realm.
With the arrival of cheaper and more accessible digital access to broadband, the use of live streaming to deliver content effectively and inexpensively in real-time has made it very popular in Singapore. The widespread use of live streaming Singapore for business is gaining traction in major corporations that are looking to improve their reach, market their business, engage with their audience, and entertain them at the same time.
Live stream service can be defined as viewing and transmitting live video via social media or the internet, and is considered part of a social media or engagement channel. It can take the form of internet radio/TV and is used to deliver information like pay-per-view events, live concerts, and can also be used to play videos with user-generated content.
What is live streaming and how is it relevant to businesses?
2. Live Streaming Technology
There are different types of live stream businesses. A popular type of live stream has one or more performers with an audience who are able to comment in real time. To host paid events or content, an account can be created at a live streaming platform such as VEEPS, YouTube, Facebook, KKBox, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram and Apple Business Chat Beta at the different levels of private or small to large-scale public live shows. Think: online gym classes, cooking/cocktail classes, comedy shows, concerts, or tournaments. The viewers can follow the channel for updates or be notified of when an event will stream. Premium live streams like sports matches, earned behind-the-scenes footage or direct audience communication is monetized and requires a one-time ticket, subscription or pay-per-view. Subscribers might get benefits such as behind the scenes footage or better access for a higher level of subscription.
When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, companies had to turn to digital solutions in order to deliver value. For some events like launches, AGMs, conferences or performances, the worth of the physical event will be less without the ability to connect with the audience. However, these events can still be live streamed so a larger audience can be reached. Live streaming has the advantage of being able to be more personal, and vendor products are capable of providing a high level of production. When the pandemic ends and physical events are safe to hold again, there is still a case to be made for live streaming, even if it is a public concert. The concert can be live streamed to audiences who could not get tickets or would be overseas at the time of the concert and will still provide revenue to the musicians. In some cases, a higher quality tune broadcast can cover a wider range of audiences who appreciate the hyper-specs.
2.1. Types of Live Streaming Services
The retention rate of Live Streaming is also relatively high. In a research done by eMarketer, it shows that almost 92% of the respondents were likely to watch e-courses that were live-streamed. This is a clear indication that the live-streaming trend deviates a lot from the pre-recorded video waves which are mostly favored by millennials when it first started. The top concern for these pre-recorded videos is due to the well-being of the consumers in which they have to choose between the feeling of being connected if it is a live and fresh content vs the flexibility of time if it is a pre-recorded video. Given that the level of influence exuded by live video, this is an arena in the advertising, marketing, and the trade industry that is interesting.
There are several types of live streaming promotions and services which companies can offer. These include services like Live Auctions, Live Tutorials, Live Sales, Live Performing, Live Demonstrations, and more depending on the target audience. Some of the platforms which companies can opt to stream their live videos include YouTube, Twitch, and LiveStreamer.
3. Benefits of Live Streaming in Singapore
In essence, live streaming takes away the huge hassle of traveling from appointment to appointment. Participants can tune into webcasts from the comfort of their cubicle or preferred venue, be it at home or office, either in Singapore or overseas. This is essential for big companies like MNCs and SMEs, where possible clients or guest speakers are not necessarily based in Singapore. The large number of international MICE visitors into Singapore also means that if Singapore sets herself up as the destination with the best facilities for all sorts of events, more international organizations will hold their meetings or events here, and possibly, contribute to the country’s economy. As the Singapore iDA is continually promoting for SGNIC (Singapore Network Information Centre) to develop Singapore as the ‘net center hub’ in the Asia-Pacific, live streaming also comes into the picture in assisting with that promotion.
Though Singapore has always been regarded as a small place, its residents have grown accustomed to high mobility that’s due to an extensive, efficient transportation network. It is very common for residents to zip from one end of the island to another for different appointments and functions, be it for simple meals or otherwise. In terms of work in particular, employees often have to attend countless appointments in a day due to the high workload and consequently, there will always be back-to-back booked meeting rooms, counselors juggling the huge marking load, be involved in event planning, etc. On top of that, there are times when traveling from point to point for appointments require so much effort that time needs to be set aside just for it.
3.1. Increased Reach and Engagement
The most commonly cited advantage of live streaming is how easy it is to reach and engage far more people across a wider geography. The ability to reach a larger and more diverse audience base extends the event’s geographical footprint virtually, potentially drawing in travelers who were unable to attend the physical event. The reach of physical events is immediately and easily extended to international guests, audiences, and sponsors, by transforming physical events to one which is not limited to a specific date, time, or location, but something equipped to connect, integrate, and create value real-time over virtual platforms.
We could not have anticipated that the movement control measures, which would very abruptly and suddenly force the cancellation or postponement of virtually all physical events in 2020, would be such a blessing in disguise for the live streaming industry. The recognition of live streaming was further buoyed by the announcement of the $50M, 3-year comprehensive plan of action for the Arts, Culture, and Sports (for the Culture drawing category) sector at the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth (MCCY) 2020 Budget, specifically for digital efforts and building up our digital literacy and skills.
4. Challenges and Solutions in Live Streaming
In virtual event management, live streaming has several defects and there are common issues which may disrupt the live streaming and the event experience at the live streaming platforms. Effective solutions which proved to be feasible in the virtual events implemented in Singapore are presented. And the potential problems caused by the implemented solutions and the suggestions for the applications of the implemented approaches are discussed in detail in this chapter. In addition, auxiliary applications and scripts for implementation are also presented. And the elaborated properties of the applications and scripts and the discussion on the reasons why they are not open sourced are also included.
As real-time video and audio broadcasting, live streaming plays an important role in virtual events, especially in the time of COVID-19. This chapter aims to convey challenges and effective solutions in the topic of live streaming of virtual events, which are mainly from the successful experiences obtained in the real project implemented in Singapore. Therefore, there are abundant application scenarios and the contents are instructive and valuable for virtual event organizers, developers, and researchers.
4.1. Technical Issues and Troubleshooting
Although it is indeed simple to use software mechanisms to adjust video streaming bit rates, none of these methods, in and of itself, adjusts the input requirements of the video signal, which are directly linked to the number of bits to transfer. High amplitude or pathologically interspersed energy content of the incoming video signal can savage a video source while causing irreparable damage to video signal stream delivery protocol, signaling the potential problems of not preparing source and capture devices to manually stabilize the signal. The opportunity there will be for severely reducing requirements for memory, storage, communication capacity.
A Control Strategy for Keeping Ahead of Buffering
The sparsely populated channel spaces for audio devices containing only two, maybe four, tracks. There are literally a dozen or more broadly disparate fields of technological investigation into capturing and processing real-time audio streams to those devices. Conversely, there exists no consensus or uniform compatibility standards across any significant numbers of these fields, thereby generating support issues. As this is already hopelessly complex and confusing for the professional broadcasting industry, little hope accompanies announcements of new PC sound cards intended to make this problem tractable and transparent. With manufacturers and users settling upon the preferred subset of technologies, these advertised ready-for-everyone tools might actually advance this process of equitable audio capture, especially when resolving what are actually more marketing and hype issues than promises of emergent better service. Therefore, in addition to repeat the previous mound of idle speculation, we have also crafted a nearly-existent fall back strategy for capturing UHF quality “four eyes with a professional PR-40 mixer-vision;” a simple pair of gamers’ sound cards.
When Audio Becomes Even More Trouble Than It Usually Is
Just as in traditional webcasting, the proper handling of audio and video signals, including synchronization of same, are the main consideration in assuring a high-quality output. If the approach used on the video capture side is thorough and professional, the problems associated with using the current generation of desktop- and laptop PC-oriented video capture hardware are manageable. However, if, for some urgent reason, the video capture hardware lacks any of the proper bypass or decoding, our lab programs should include custom routines for screen capture, pixel substitution or re-ordering of RGB or YUV frames. These solutions can comfortably accommodate hardware problems on a limited basis, but in general, less is more. Devices with fewer features that are designed with inertia and reliability, such as supportive of sustained transfers, these devices are much more valuable than those built with an HD “kitchen-sink” (analog to digital conversion, video anti-aliasing, MPEG or DV compression) and corresponding drain.
4.1.1. Standard Webcasting Troubles
5. Best Practices for Successful Live Streaming Events
- Announce, Engage, and Interact Live streaming is an opportunity for direct, real-time engagement with your audience. Combining both live and on-demand activities into your event can add to its success, providing different ways for virtual attendees to engage with content and keep them interested. Some of the top content ideas include Q&A sessions, polls, and gamified or interactive content. Additionally, the best time slots are morning and early evening, peaking lightly after being live for tens of minutes, then declining. Ensure you prepare ample content to fulfill at least these two peak times.
It’s time to go live with your next virtual experience in Singapore. Whether you’re a marketing pro, communications expert, or event planner, these best practices can be applied to elevate your live streaming event. Ready to engage your audience with a meaningful event experience? Take your virtual events to the next level by uncovering the best practices for a successful live streaming session with these seven helpful tips.
5.1. Pre-Event Planning and Promotion
One of the first initial steps is for the event organizer to decide on a key message which they want to deliver to their audience. The key message should be clear so that all the other promotional activities like press releases, email blast and teaser video can be written and produced. The promotional activities should also be segmented depending on which media and to whom the organizer is promoting the event to. For example, a teaser video is more suitable for social media platform, while an email blast can be personalized with targeted contents depending on past purchase history for example or RSVP information (i.e. the background of people who have signed up for the event).
The key behind a successful live streamed virtual event is to be well prepared. As the event organizer, having a clear objective is important. The organizer also has to decide on the targeted audience of the event as this would determine the type of content that to be featured. Armed with these two key points, a budget can be planned for live streaming and the other supporting services. A lot of pre-event planning and promotion is needed to ensure a successful live streamed virtual event.
