Risk lowers when your approach to tech strengthens.

Firefighter. Military personnel. Police officer. Pilot. Event planner. Yep, you don’t need us, or the experts who rank the world’s most stressful jobs, to tell you that our job is right up there with the most expected toughies. We manage so many parts—the big, the little, the always moving—and it’s got to all come together, perfectly and at once.

The event prof UNTETHERED community is not shy about talking about this. Their thoughts on managing production risk fit perfectly in our Digitally Integrated Production Chapter because so much risk can be managed through thoughtful tech planning and, yes, nimble reacting too. 

Always be recording.

For a more cost-effective and lower-risk hybrid event, don’t livestream the in-person sessions for your virtual audience. Record them instead. Less robust tech—and less robust support—is needed during the event. Then, in postproduction, smooth any glitches, even slap awake any session that ended up being a snoozer by adding expert commentary, editing, or even interviewing the presenter to still highlight their own words from a more relaxed setting.

Check the tech.

Most venues and cities didn’t have the most awesome internet bandwidth before the pandemic. Now, with everyone pushing their internet use to the max—event organizers live-streaming multiple sessions at once and attendees hosting video calls and streaming between sessions—the bandwidth can behave like a clunker slowly losing steam on the superhighway shoulder. Do the math and have a backup plan for concurrent sessions.

We’ll always have audio.

If something goes wrong with your tech during the event—be it downed internet or the cap left on the camera—you can still salvage things by providing audio only to your virtual audience. And these days, that’s hardly a second-tier option. Consider the popularity of podcasts and the buzz around the podcast–conference call–social media audio-only app Clubhouse. Providing an audio option for your guests can be great—and can even save your event.

Technology connects in-person and virtual attendees alike to your event. When we suggest managing your production risk by leaning on that tool, we’re not suggesting you ready your robot army. A clean and clear approach to the tech at hand is all that’s needed to put a smart, forward-thinking polish on your event that attendees, sponsors, and VIPs alike will appreciate. Learn more by checking out the Digitally Integrated Production chapter of the UNTETHERED Big Ideas Book.