Eventcasting, or webcasting, is a great way of improving your live event, presentation, training session or archived video’s scale, reach, impact, accessibility and legacy to a global audience – without increasing the carbon footprint of the live event.
Robert Livingston introduces HIE/HiArts Conference, Nov. 2010
Online participants of Highlands & Islands Enterprise/Creative Scotland/ Hi-Arts conference “Old Maps & New” reported they were from Scotland and English mainland, just about every island was covered and 1 person tuned in from the US as well as 1 diaspora, currently in South America! All reported excellent clear sound and picture – exactly what Envirodigital is trying to achieve: a viable webcasting solution which can be delivered via standard 2mb broadband from the connections we have available in our venues.
Envirodigital is currently piloting a carbon footprint avoided widget. AmbITion Scotland’s webinar 7 (live in Inverness) had 57 online viewers in total, and 20 of them tested the widget. 5011 miles were NOT travelled by the 20 testers, saving the impact of 819kg of carbon emissions, as well as £500 of travel costs and 66 hours of travel time. (819kg carbon dioxide is equivalent to making 48683 cups of tea, running a drinks machine for 7.3 months or 27 PC monitors running in work time for a whole year!)
The main benefit of webcasting is that it increases the reach and scale of an event and its content. It uses broadband internet as the distribution mechanism, a utility most venues, offices and homes now have.For example, AmbITion Scotland webcasts have consistently attracted audience numbers of a further 50% in addition to audience numbers at the event. AmbITion’s live events were free, and so was access to the webcast, but had AmbITion charged for the live event, a small (iTunes sized) fee for access to the webcasts could have been considered.
The impact of the content and event is extended. Interaction and sharing the experience with an online network is important, and this in turn increases the emotional impact of a webcast event. Online audiences can participate in their own chat stream: we’ve seen contact details and ideas swapped, as well as insightful and thoughtful comments and on-topic questions emerge. Moderating/facilitating the chat keeps it from turning into a backchat channel.
Recording a live webcast creates an instant legacy – the content becomes available on-demand immediately, creating a rich content resource. Webcasting is also an environmentally sustainability method of extending an event and attracting audiences from further afield.
Webcasting can create further opportunities to learn, at little or no cost. For many organisations, travel and training budgets have been cut during the recession. Attending conferences and events was one of the earliest, and hardest-hit areas for cutbacks. Free virtual events allow people access who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend. Interactive webcasts can provide an environment for questions and comments from voices other than those usually dominant/regular/confident.
Webcast attendees have also reported that they save time by attending an event online: there’s no travel time, and attendees can multitask at their computers whilst they watch and listen.
For Envirodigital, the most exciting opportunity webcasts offer are an opportunity to avoid carbon footprint. (Although the creative and digital industries are not yet under the government’s Climate Change Act legislation, we soon will be, and that point we will have to report on the carbon emissions of our core output – for a lot of us that will be live events to which audiences travel. Broadening the mix of ways to receive that content so that some in the mix have very low carbon footprint can only be a positive thing overall).
Envirodigital offers additional services that let you count the carbon avoided through audiences viewing your webcast rather than attending an event live.