With COVID-19 causing a lot of difficulties for not just the event industry, but many industries in general, a movement has been taking place: bringing events and seminars online. As many companies are new to this concept and struggle with how to approach this sudden change and demand, numerous clients of JTB Meetings & Events by JTB Communication Design (JCD) in Japan approached us with a lot of questions and uncertainties about holding an online event, like a webinar.

Even after COVID-19 disappears, the tendency to avoid closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact will most likely continue for some time to come, and it is expected that the way corporate events are held is going to change drastically. It is thought that online events and webinars will become the norm from now on, but many people might be struggling in deciding which distribution to use for their webinar. It would be a shame to only utilize an online event as a mere substitute for a face to face event.

For this webinar, held for our clients in Japan, our event professionals who have been operating online events for many years shared effective operation methods unique to online events with demonstrations based on actual experience. This webinar was recommended for people wondering the following:

• I want to know a more practical “How to” rather than simply seeing an overview.
• I do not know how to set up an online event or webinar.
• I would like to know if my own tools can be used instead of general online service tools.

In order to offer a dynamic 1-hour session to answer these questions, JCD teamed up with a long-time technical partner to bring this project to fruition.

Preparation

The webinar would dive into what to think of when holding an online event; dealing with matters such as how many staff members are needed onsite, how many cameras you should use, and how to set up your lighting, audio, among other details that can make a big difference.

When holding an online event, you cannot ignore the complete reliance on technology and the internet. It is therefore essential to secure a strong and stable infrastructure that could support streaming video to over, as at first planned, 500 different connections without losing HD quality. As the registration period opened however, we received well over 1500 applications, making us change the planned use of bandwidth and increase the capabilities of the system.

An online cross platform

When it came to the implementation of an online platform to host the event, we received many questions dealing with certain companies only being able to, or only being allowed to, join from a certain platform, for example, Microsoft Teams or Zoom. In response to this, our staff decided to show an example of how an online event can work if attendees or presenters are joining in from different platforms. While having implemented correct social distancing measures, the main presenter was located in a different studio than the other two presenters. They were connected by video feed and the attendees were able to see them in a split-screen layout. One of the other presenters called in via Zoom while the other called in via Microsoft Teams. Like this, they showed the measures that can be taken in such cases where different online platforms are joined into a single environment.

An issue that came into play was the difference in sound delay when connecting from two different online platforms at the same time, and equipment was installed to take care of this delay which could regulate the sound up to the millisecond. The result was a completely seamless viewing experience on the audience’s end.

Rehearsal: the key to punctuality

For everything to proceed smoothly, our JCD staff members always hold numerous rehearsals to get it just right, up into the fine details. Japanese quality is something we treasure and our reputation of delivering just that excels in the preparation stages.

A day before the actual live broadcast of the webinar, the setup was completed and the entire event was run through from start to finish, giving enough space for testing the equipment and finetuning. As this webinar was scheduled for only an hour, time was of the essence. Attendees may have a filled schedule for the day and can only spare one hour of their time, having to leave after exactly an hour. Therefore, rehearsal is key. Here, our staff members can work with the presenters making sure that timing will be perfect during the actual presentation, ensuring attendees won’t miss out on anything.

Main event day

The day of the online event over 1650 business representatives and other interested parties from all over Japan joined and watched the presentation. The program consisted of a live demonstration diving into various techniques that can be used during an online event, including various types of microphones to bring the best kind of audio quality, lighting techniques to make sure that your presenter is well lit, different camera angles that can be utilized, and details concerning usage of the picture in picture (PinP) technique.

After the webinar, a questionnaire was sent out to the attendees and the questions received via the Q&A platform were answered by our professionals via email afterwards, bringing the webinar to a successful conclusion.

In the end our JCD staff, together with our technical equipment partner were able to present a successful online event that received a lot of positive feedback from the attendees. With JCD’s expertise in event management and the power of hi-tech equipment, a great combination of quality and teamwork brought the finest professionalism available for an online event in Japan.

If you have any questions or inquiries, feel free to contact us here.