Be Successful At Live-Streaming
You stream, They stream, We all scream at the LIVE-STREAM
We discuss the importance of understanding the lowest common denominator, the volunteer, and how that impacts all the decisions you need to make when it comes to purchasing and setting up your organizations live-stream gear.
Word of caution: Live-stream purgatory does exist and we’ve been there. It is gross.
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We are beyond the turning point. We just can’t go back. Covid-19 has taken us all past the point of no return when it comes to figuring out how to live-stream. Our audience expects it and our bosses can’t survive without it. But, did all the challenges and failure zap your volunteer base? Is there anyone left to help you? Was blowing your budget on that one last major piece of gear, that no one knows how to use (except for you) worth it?
You and I aren’t blessed to have a small army of experienced sound and visual technicians at our disposal. You, like me, have to work with grandmas and grandpas, retired individuals, teachers, businessmen and women, parents and teenagers alike that just want to be helpful and yet will never truly get that excited about mastering DAW. And to boot, these volunteers don’t generally like to “try new things” and would rather do the following: stay invisible, not cause a stir, and run away from pursuing live-stream technician stardom.
Okay, I’m being a bit dramatic. We can’t do our job when it comes to live-streaming without these wonderful volunteers. And that is my point. Our level-1 volunteer, the greenest of the green, the entry level should be the lens in which we navigate how we set up our live-stream and even be a major factor in the gear we purchase.
Why is that? Well, you’ll have to read on to find out. But I’ll give you a hint. It comes down to three major factors: approachability, recruiting, retention, and growth (A.R.R.G.).
Let us show you how to build a successful volunteer environment with your media team, that not only produces a quality live-stream, but doesn’t require you to be involved 100% of the time.
TOPICS
The Big Picture
Separate The Buckets
What Gear To Purchase
THE BIG PICTURE
To cut to the case, the big picture element for you to be successful is always keep the volunteer, their hopes and expectations, in mind with everything you do. You aren’t just running a paid gig to produce a house mix or broadcast mix at an event or service, but you are working with like minded people who are trying their best and that are spending their free time helping you succeed. Like we said earlier, (most likely) your community doesn’t have 3, 2, or even 1 professional sound technician at your disposal. For most of us, we are rolling out unpaid, untrained, servants with hearts of gold that just don’t want to fail.
So, how do they become successful and even thrive in this difficult world of compression, gate, eq, and gain? Stop what you are doing. Turn off the sound system. Leave the sanctuary or music hall. Don’t get distracted with the tasks but lets look at the purpose, mission, vision of what you want to accomplish.
When we say, “Big Picture”, we mean it. We work with volunteers and they need clarity of purpose, a direct understanding of mission, and they absolutely need to feel excited about the vision of where you are going. If it is a mist for us, it is a fog for them. So, let’s do the hard work and take a step back and consider the following reality:
“People don’t want to jump on a sinking ship.”
So pull your boat to moor and lets get to work on making sure you aren’t sinking. Seriously, stop what you are doing and lets work through this together. What you are building with your volunteers is a team and team needs clarity to both survive and thrive.
Can you answer these questions?
What Is Your Group’s Purpose?
[definition] a purpose is a statement of why you exist/reason for being. This does not change often.
What Is Your Group’s Vision?
[definition] a vision is a statement of what you would like to become. Can be seasonal or longterm.
What Is Your Group’s Mission?
[definition] a mission is a statement of how you will accomplish our vision. This is very specific to the vision of the group. There might be multiple statements and they can change often.
What Is Your Group’s Responsibilities
[definition] direct tasks to complete during a time of work
What Are Your Group’s Values?
[definition] a value is a concept, an attitude, or fulfilling an outcome that is most important to the team
What Is Your Group’s Context?
[definition] what is your groups limitations and strengths with personnel, gear, environment?
What Are Your Group’s Major Roadblocks?
[definition] what routinely or sporadically gets in the way of your purpose, vision, mission? This can be recruiting, leadership, equipment, and/or time issues.
How Many People Do You Need To Be Successful?
[definition] don’t be shy. Truly think through all your roles, tasks, and responsibilities and put a number down on how many people you need to not just survive each week but to be healthy for this upcoming year.