The AV Production Guide for Virtual Events

Discover best practices for virtual event AV production, uncover why you want AV support, and learn how to align with your AV team.

What Is Virtual Event AV Production?

Virtual Event AV Production refers to the audiovisual (AV) production and event technology used to produce a virtual, in-person, or hybrid event. Virtual event production can include services, equipment, tools, and personnel with the expertise needed to deliver an exceptional audio visual experience.

Check out our guide to the most common AV event production terms, so that you can communicate effectively with your AV production team.

Why Should You Invest in Virtual Event AV Production?

Whether you are producing an in-person event, virtual event, or hybrid event—the audiovisual equipment and resources enhance the attendee experience, speaker experience, and help support the behind-the-scenes team in running the event.

At the end of the day, virtual events are often held to a higher standard by both organizers and event attendees. As Aleksandra Panyukhina writes in this guide to virtual event differentiation, there are more virtual events now than ever before.

On the one hand, this means that audiences are primed and ready to jump into virtual experiences. On the other hand, this also means that the bar for virtual experiences has been raised.

Attendees expect crisp sound, sharp video, and any number of media flourishes that help drive your message and make for a uniquely engaging virtual experience.

Keep in mind that virtual events are complex. They include multiple sessions, speakers, and tracks that are broadcast live or on-demand—and they require the facilitation of a variety of ways for your attendees to engage with event content.

While virtual events are an exciting arena and can be enhanced by virtual event production, certain types of events like casual virtual happy hours, lo-fi one-on-one discussions, or internal meetings may not require the additional production lift. Speak with your team about your event goals to determine if investing in a virtual event AV production team is the right fit for you. And if you’re looking for inspiration, we’ve put together a comprehensive list of virtual conferences happening in 2021.

Two Popular Myths About Virtual Events and AV Production

Myth #1

Because virtual events tend to be less expensive to produce than in-person events, there’s no need to invest in high-quality event production.

This is a common mistake for first-time virtual event organizers. While virtual events overall may be less expensive to produce, they are still held to high quality standards from both attendees and event organizers as virtual events become more commonplace.

Plus, quality AV equipment and teams can be expensive, and you really get what you pay for. So you’re more likely going to be reallocating budget from venue and food expenses to AV expenses.

Myth #2

As virtual event production surges in 2021, the distinction between webinars and virtual events has become more defined.

In reality, there are more virtual events happening every day, and those events tend to be longer than webinars. Attendees have little patience for poorly produced events and may lose interest very quickly. A high-quality virtual event keeps the audience engaged and creates highly impactful experiences.

Virtual events can be likened to broadcast television and streaming shows. Unlike webinars that last between 30 minutes to an hour, broadcast television and streaming television prioritize both quality content and production. This means putting resources to high-value audio, visual, and effects that help keep viewers engaged in the content.

For more information on the difference between webinars and virtual events, check out the Going Hybrid Ebook. 

5 Scenarios Where You Should Consider AV Production

There are many benefits to including an AV production team in your next virtual event. Partnering with an AV production service can be a huge lift for resource-strapped teams, it can enrich the speaker experience when onboarding, rehearsing, and broadcasting speakers and their content, and it can provide a smoother, engaging, and better branded experience for your attendees.

Here are 5 instances where you’d want to seriously consider including AV production resources

1. 1. When your in-house team has limited time and/or resources

1. 1. When you want to deliver a broadcast-level experience to your attendees

1. 1. When a virtual event includes VIP speakers or a higher numbers of speakers

1. 1. When your event includes more than two sessions

1. 1. When an event requires multiple technical elements such as background music, pre-recorded video, or visual transitions

If your event meets any of the above criteria, you may want to consider investing in AV.

Below is an example of how we leveraged an AV production team to deliver a well-branded keynote presentation by our CEO Eran Ben-Shushan.

Check out the session recordings from (Almost) IN-PERSON, our first-ever virtual event, for more examples of how an AV team can elevate your virtual event experience. 

AV Production Services and Resources

There are a variety of services and resources available under the larger branch of virtual event AV technology. Here are some relevant services and resources to look for when evaluating virtual event AV teams.

Live Event Support

Live event support can include real-time technical support for your team and your attendees, a professional event moderator to help with your sessions and speakers, playing pre-recorded videos day of, and more.

Pre-Event Preparation and Training

Pre-event preparation can include a number of onboarding activities like speaker and moderator training, audio & visual best practices, and alignment on the run-of-show. It should also include more technical aspects like pre-event technical reviews, network & system configuring, content preparation, and rehearsals.

Streaming Recorded Event Sessions

If you’re planning to get even more out of your virtual event by offering sessions on-demand once the event is over, an AV production team can help. Many virtual experience solutions offer the ability to record virtual sessions but AV production teams can also support recording, editing (in case you’d like to adjust how your session recording lives on in perpetuity), and streaming on-demand content for once the event is over.

Fully Produced Virtual Event Sessions with Live and Recorded Content

A fully produced virtual event requires a comprehensive approach to managing all pre-event, day-of, and post-event production needs. For example, you may want to include different technical elements like sponsor or advertising inserts, slides, lower thirds, remote camera set-up and operation, video conferencing feeds, and customer composites.

Budget Considerations for AV Production

A big question for event organizers running virtual events is, “how much should I expect to budget for an AV production team?” Rightfully so, event budgeting is a pretty big deal.

There are a couple of steps to consider when determining how much to allocate towards AV production at your virtual event.

First, you can determine your AV production needs based on the following questions:

• • How many days do you expect your virtual event to last?

• • How long is each day of your virtual event?

• • Are there concurrent tracks for each or any of those days?

• • How hands-on would you like your AV production team to be before and/or during the day of the event?

Once you’ve determined the size and scope of your event, you’ll have a better idea of how much to allocate in terms of time, resources, and budget for AV services.

You can then design a budgeting matrix to understand where you want to allocate resources towards different components of your virtual event. We created a simple version below as an example.

Before you scroll down to the matrix, take a second to review the budgetary buckets that we’re considering:

Virtual Event Technology

A virtual event platform that aligns to your event goals will be one of the most important investments you make when creating your virtual event budget. You’ll want to consider how your virtual event technology fits into your existing event marketing stack, the experience for both speakers and attendees, as well as the data captured during your event. Your event goals should align with the technology capabilities.

AV Production and Services

This is the meat and potatoes of what we’re talking about in this post. As we’ve already discussed, a virtual event AV production team is a crucial investment that can help elevate the attendee experience and streamline the behind-the-scenes operations. When it comes to budgetary items, you’ll want to earmark some funds for AV personnel, equipment, or both depending on your needs.

Speaker Fees and Speaker Gifts

While onsite resources are less important for virtual events, speaker fees may still prove relevant. This includes any speaker fees, gifts, or resources needed to book speakers for your virtual event.

Here is an example budget for a virtual event with 12 speakers and 10,000 attendees.

ITEM	PER	QTTY	COST	VENDOR	NOTES
Virtual Event Solution	$12,000.00	1	$12,000.00	Virtual Event Vendor	Estimated 8,000 Attendees
Virtual Event Production Team	$11,000.00	1	$11,000.00	AV Production Service
AV Production Equipment	$4,000.00	1	$4,000.00	AV Production Rental	Includes camera and microphones offsite
Keynote Speaker Fee	$5,000.00	1	$5,000.00	N/A
Session Speaker Fee	$0.00	12	$0.00	N/A
Speaker Gift	$150.00	12	$1,800.00	Corporate Gift Account
Shipping to	$20.00	12	$240.00	UPS
TOTAL			$34,040.00

 

Overall, we expect virtual event costs to mimic in-person costs. Though there is a reduced price tag on personnel fees, venue fees, and F&B fees, event technology and equipment expenses replace those typical in-person line items.

3 Tips for Getting Started with AV Production Teams

Here are three simple ways to get started when partnering with an AV production team for a virtual event. For additional details, check out how we launched our second virtual summit, (Almost) HYBRID.

1. 1. Understand the size and scope of the virtual event you’re looking to launch by creating a run of show to help you align with your AV production team (like the one found in our Virtual Event Production Kit).

1. 1. Start discussions early with your AV production team. There’s a good chance you’ll need to rehearse with them at least once (and potentially multiple times) to make sure that everything goes off without a hitch.

1. 1. Establish an open line of communication with your AV team through a chat application like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or WhatsApp. This can help facilitate questions before the event but is also very helpful for keeping tabs on what’s going on during the event day.

Hybrid Event AV Production

If you’re planning a hybrid event, you might need two different types of AV teams – an on-site team and a virtual support team. Or, you might be able to find a vendor who offers both online and in-person technical support.

There’s also different elements to consider for your on-site portion of your hybrid event versus your online element. For example, you’ll need reliable WiFi, charging access, microphones, and more for your venue, but you’ll also need a hybrid event platform to power the experience of your virtual attendees alongside your in-person ones.

Hybrid events will bring about a new set of challenges for AV production. Finding the right partner to help you produce your virtual and in-person elements can make all the difference. A few virtual and hybrid event platforms, like Bizzabo, offer virtual production services. This is a great option because these experts are already well-versed in their particular software and can help you take your virtual audience’s experiences to the next level.

Key Takeaways: Embracing Virtual Event Production

Virtual events come with a heap of logistical processes and expertise that are outside of the traditional event marketer’s toolkit. Fortunately, virtual (and hybrid) AV production services are there to help event marketers bring high-quality experiences to life.

To get started with virtual event production, keep in mind a few things

• • Consider AV production when a virtual event needs additional resources, includes a large audience or a large number or speakers, or if your event requires multiple technical elements for a proper event execution

• • Educate your team on the variety of AV production services and resources to align your needs with your virtual event goals

• • Incorporate your budget considerations for AV production in your larger event and marketing resources by breaking down the prices of each line item

• • Arm yourself with best practices and resources to get the most out of your AV production teams

• • Look for a hybrid event platform so that you can scale your event strategy and incorporate virtual production as part of a larger hybrid-ready program

For even more resources, download our comprehensive kit of virtual event production templates to help you launch your next virtual event.