March 12, 2024 • 45 mins
If you want a better event experience for your attendees in 2024, you can’t get away with only in-person events.
Why?
Without the right mix of formats, you won’t be able to:
❌ Meet the new expectations of your attendees
❌ Collect more actionable data points
❌ Improve your cost efficiency
❌ Become more sustainable
❌ Reach a wider audience
❌ Have more flexibility
❌ Be more inclusive
Once you nail your event formats, there comes the crucial piece of the puzzle:
Production.
You need to have the right AV partners and internal knowledge to properly execute those formats.
That’s why Bogdan Maran and I invited Brian Monahan, the expert on AV technology and its application across multiple event formats.
In this episode, Brian is sharing his insights on:
💡 The best practices for mastering your Live Events
💡 Engagement techniques for your Virtual Events
💡 Actionable Case Studies on Hybrid events
💡 Future-proofing your events with AV
💡 And more
Sit back and relax as we're about to embark on a journey to Hybrid Harmony!
Follow Brian Monahan here
🗓️ Weekly Rendezvous: Mark your calendar! "Ctrl+Alt+Event" will be live on LinkedIn every Tuesday at 3:00 PM GMT to answer all your burning questions.
🔄 Host Rotation: Bogdan and Merijn will alternate hosting the live event each week, so make sure to follow them both to receive notifications.
🔗 Connect with Us: Bogdan Maran, Merijn van Buuren
👥 Get more involved: reserve your spot here
🎙️ Become a guest on our show: apply here
It's not just a podcast; it's a tech-forward experience you won't want to miss!
See you next Tuesday at 3:00 PM GMT! 🎉✨
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello and welcome everybody to another episode of
control alt event.
Welcome, yeah, good morning,good afternoon, good evening,
wherever you are.
This is a controlled event inepisode six already, which is
fascinating.
We're live.
Today We'll have a specialguest, but before that, today
we'll be talking briefly, asbriefly as possible.
(00:30):
We try to stick to the half anhour, but usually go a little
bit off board depending on thetopic.
Today we'll be talking aboutthe evolution of AV technology
across different event formats,specifically live, virtual and
hybrid At least those are thethree ones that we know.
And, as usual, today I'm joinedby my lovely colleague Morain,
(00:51):
who has been working on bothsides of the blade, both with a
few hundred event organizers anda few thousand event platforms,
and he's the man if you want totalk to about integrations and
anything about event tech.
And I'll just pass the mic tohim so he can do the intros and
I can move things around andblur everything and ruin
(01:13):
everything for the first 30seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, thank you so much for that kind introduction,
Bogdan.
It's a pleasure to be here andthank you all for joining.
I see a lot of you here thatfrequently come back, so that's
really good to see that.
Please let us know where you'rejoining in from.
And a small reminder we arelive, so make sure to ask all
your questions.
We have an amazing guest foryou that can also answer those
(01:38):
questions, so don't wait for allthe way to the end to ask all
the questions.
Just drop them in the chat.
We'll put them on the screenand we'll make sure they get
answered.
I'm here together with Bogdan,our famous data storyteller.
He has a track record ofcrafting bespoke platforms,
(01:58):
captivating data visualizationsand seamlessly integrating merit
systems.
He is the driving force behindthe visual hive.
You may have heard of it, an AImarketing engine dated for
marketers and eventprofessionals, and today we
actually have another guest.
It is no one less than BrianMonan.
(02:19):
Brian is a seasoned eventindustry professional with over
20 years of experience and a keyfocus on producing engaging
life, hybrid and virtual events.
Currently the vice president ofsales and business development
at Prestige AV and creativeservices, Brian has
significantly contributed to thecompany's success by securing
(02:40):
major contracts and navigatingthe challenging transition
during the whole P wordsituation Towards the innovative
virtual and hybrid eventsolutions.
Beyond his corporateachievement, Brian is deeply
committed to personal andprofessional development.
He extends his passion forgrowth and learning as a
(03:00):
facilitator for the PCMA eventleadership Institute you
probably have heard of that oneas well where he shares his
expertise in technical meetingsand event production.
Brian, it is such a pleasure tohave you on the show.
We're so glad to have you here,and also with this topic hybrid
harmony I think it's definitelyin your wheelhouse, so welcome.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Thanks Morijn, Thanks Bogman, Super excited to be
here, Honored to join you both.
I look up to both of you in theindustry and I do have to come
clean.
It's actually 30 years in theindustry now.
I'm sorry.
I guess I need to update my bio.
I've been trying to hang on tothat 20 year mark but I think
(03:44):
I'm over the hump now.
So I know we're going to betalking about the history of AV
and I thought you guys mightneed to schedule more than a
half hour based on that tenure.
So I don't know what you werethinking.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
We always schedule a little bit over half an hour and
I did forget and I did gotpanicked a little bit and
excited and forget to say thatRyan is the founder of
Eventmender and I've beenmarried for 10 years, so it's
always my fault and I do tend tomake mistakes, not to use other
words from that perspective.
But yeah, you don't look a dayover 25.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Oh, thank you, Thank you yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I do have that under 25 filter on my cameras.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I think many people would like to have that filter
as well, so if you could, I justneed to scrunch squash my video
and lose 10 pounds.
Hi, chris.
Good to see you joining in fromNew Jersey all the way all
across the world.
It's so good.
Where everyone else joining infrom Let us know in the comments
(04:49):
and without further ado, let'sjump into the first segment, the
evolution of AV and eventformats.
You mentioned already a bit interms of the fast amount of
experience you have.
Brian, can you give us a littlebit of a historical overview,
not diving in too deep, butshare us all your knowledge.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, how far do you want me to go back?
Do you want me to go backOverhead projectors or film?
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So day one, 30 years ago.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So yeah, I mean, I think, since we're talking
hybrid and virtual events, Ithink it's important to kind of
like hit the distinction ofwhere I was at when I started in
the industry, and prior to mewould have been like remote type
and scenarios Like there wasn'treally a great option for doing
any kind of hybrid or virtualevent, most likely 50s.
(05:38):
Maybe somebody was filming itand sending the canister to
another city to be watched inthe corporate offices and maybe
they're on a phone line together.
So yeah, that's kind of like Iwas catching the tail end of
that.
And then I think we went to alittle peer to peer, you know
that's.
You know broadcast satellites.
We were hitting the satellitedishes and dropping those
satellite trucks outside ofballrooms and that was a viable
(06:01):
solution.
It was closer to real time.
And then I think we hit thatnext phase which was, you know,
we were starting to get into thedigital world.
We were hitting the ISDN linesusing our Polycom units and, you
know, still a closed kind ofscenario.
You know you had to be in thenetwork, you had to be using all
the right codecs and all theright protocols.
(06:24):
They're very, very specific.
And then we, you know, we getto the pandemic and you know,
great news is we were actuallyready for it.
We just nobody was doing it.
You know, we had all thistechnology with webcams.
Go to meeting teams was comingon board.
Zoom was rocking, but nobodywas willing to slow down and
actually master the technologyuntil we absolutely got stuck in
(06:46):
our houses for a year and ahalf or whatever that was.
So it was always the dream wehad.
I just wish we could have doneit under different terms.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
We definitely benefited from a bit of a
learning curve, especially thenon-geeky persons who weren't
building OBS on three differentlaptops and five different
cables, trying to makeeverything work on a budget at
some point with two days noticepreferably.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't barely knew what OBS.
To be quite honest, even beingin the industry since I'm more
on, you know, growing up on theAV side of things we were very
hardware-based, you know.
So our team was always like OBS, not a chance.
You know, give me that E2switcher.
You know I need a $180,000switcher to be able to do what
(07:31):
OBS does.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
You know I'm not going to do it.
It does make sense from astress-free situation, to be
honest.
So I do remember.
I don't have 30 years in events, although I do have some great.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Are you trolling me now, Bogdan?
Are you trolling me?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
No, I was just trying to remember how much fun I had
about 25 years ago.
23 years ago when I got in thefirst time, when I got into a TV
transmission van so we can dosome kind of political thing
that because the technical guywho didn't didn't turn up for
the event was a cold and I wasthe only one who was cheeky
(08:09):
enough say I know how to do.
That don't really was nine, didmake some mistakes, but that
was my first experiencetechnically speaking.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I mean they started right on the right at the top.
You know, jump in with thebroadcast.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
But it was in terms of technological investments,
and we both have enough history.
I've started shooting on filmand started working on various
better cameras, with cassettesand Running to trains when you
were doing a flood or because Iwas coming from the journalistic
part of you, but still an event, technically speaking it
something happened, somethingwe're trying to stream.
(08:45):
How do you see the investmentand what from your perspective?
What did that enable you to do?
Where?
Where did you find the valueadded from the technology
perspective?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, I mean, I think you know one of the things I
like about the industry is youknow, hey, we've been.
The technology's been evolvingover the past 30 years.
You know, just consistently.
You know the Moore's law ofdoubling memory and I think
that's carried over into, youknow, video and internet and
everything like that.
So everything's been kind of ona double basis for the best
(09:16):
2025 years, but I think in thepast five or six it slowed down
a touch.
The technology.
You know, like in my space,like a 5000 lumen projector I
don't need a 10,000 lumenprojector in a breakout room a
5000 lumen projector is going tobe good in five years.
It's going to be good in 10years, whereas when I started in
the industry, we were using 800lumen projectors, and so you
(09:40):
know.
So when the 1200 lumen came out, you had to buy the 1200 lumen,
and when the 15 and the 2000,and so I think that's the same
with All the technologies wehave.
There's a lot of.
You know I'm operating today ona Mac M1.
Mac book air 2020 model, and itdestroys a couple PCs I have at
(10:02):
the office that are brand new.
You know it's.
You know this.
This, this computer is going tobe good for another four or
five years with no issues, andin fact it's better than some of
Some of the newer versions.
So I think that, having kind oflike we're reaching a plateau
not that things aren't growing,but with a plateau I think other
(10:25):
people can catch up.
The the late adopters can nowjoin in, and so they're going to
go ahead and start testingthings out.
They're going to try things out, they're going to do their own
shows, like we're doing righthere.
We're you know it's, it's thebarrier to entry is low now, and
so that means everybody's doingit.
I think that allows us to eventake it up a notch, to go even
(10:47):
higher, and so that's what I'mexcited about.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
In terms of like.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
We mentioned a lot of terms here yeah, and stop me at
any point, for oh god no,please, I really.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
We love it and our audience probably loves it too.
But sometimes there are somegaps, and I think, especially
with that lower boundary toenter the market and to get
started with it, it becomes moreand more important to kind of
also know the foundation interms of the terms that you need
.
So you cannot just understandwhat you need, but also, when
(11:23):
you're working with, forinstance, an AV provider, you
can communicate exactly what itis that that you need.
And one of the things we put onthe list is kind of do you have
a breakdown of the essential AVcomponents that for live events
in this case, such as a soundsystem, lighting, video
(11:44):
projection what, what are kindof for you, what are the most
essential AV components thateveryone who's listening today
should know about?
Kind of?
Probably not too much in that,but at least they know what,
what they should have on theirevents, what, what they should
have on their events no, and I'mgonna break it down super
simple.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Actually, in the course I always try to break AV
down into three categories and Icall it inputs, switching or
combining, and then outputs ordestinations, and so I always
try to just tell people get yourmindset around these Three main
areas.
So you know essentially, youknow you're in a room, you're
gonna need input, that's you,know that's you, you're the
(12:22):
person, you're the entertainment.
You're gonna have to be loud,you have to hear you, depending
on the size of your one of themicrophone, generally wireless.
I don't get any orders forwired logs anymore.
Thank god we we said we didn'town any.
What are the clients use themanymore?
We thought that was kind ofcrazy to put a lot of on and
then be chained to a to a cable.
(12:44):
But but no, you're gonna needyour microphones.
You're gonna need your audioinput devices.
You know back in the day thatthink CD player.
But now it's gonna be a laptopplaying music back.
You're gonna be playingIllegally your Spotify list,
most likely you're gonna be, youknow, breaking some laws there.
Then you're gonna have otherinput devices, your, your
(13:08):
computers, which are playingback different audio.
You know you're gonna havevideos in your PowerPoint.
Most likely you're gonna use alot of people have heard the
term playback pro.
That's a video playback devicein a live event space and so
people will be playing back thatvideo.
So a big miss, typically, asthey forget that those you know
(13:28):
it's PowerPoint and it's videobased.
They forget they need the audio.
So you're gonna need audiocoming out of that and then
you're gonna send it to a mixer,okay, and so that mixer is
gonna take in all those inputs,allow you to match them up, get
them all matched up so that andthen Push that back out to your
speakers.
Okay, and in a live space it'spretty simple.
(13:49):
You know you're gonna have acouple speakers in the room,
most likely for a small meeting,but we learned as we moved into
the virtual space you're gonnawant to hire and mixer.
In today's world, and I thinkthat's kind of like where we
talk about how you, where youmove into that space on the
audio front is you need a mixerthat's got different outputs.
You want to be able to mixwhat's going to the stream at a
(14:11):
different level than what you'resending to the room and
possibly to the, to the recorddeck, so it's gotten a little
more complicated.
On the video front, your inputsare gonna be your cameras.
I already talked about laptops,those live on the audio and
video side of things, your mic,not microphones.
But PTZ cameras are really bigin the virtual space right now
(14:34):
and I'll talk about that in sometips later on, how those help
events.
What else I miss on video?
You know you got your playbackpro, your video devices, any
kind of video playback device,and then you're gonna go into a
switcher at the or a scalar, andit's a little bit different.
In the mixer You're gonna bepicking like I want this input
to go to screen, I want thatinput to go to screen.
(14:55):
Today's modern world.
You actually might be mergingthose inputs like we are here.
We got three camera up on thescreen today and then you're
gonna go to a destination, thefinal leg of the of the equation
here, which is, you know, inthe room it's to a screen, it's
a large screens in a room, butyou got your downstage monitors.
(15:17):
You want to switcher that canhandle that, and now you're
gonna be sending out someindependent feed, most likely to
an encoder To send out to astream somewhere on the web or
in inject into some kind ofwebcast.
Two other things real quick andI'm not gonna go into much
(15:40):
detail on them.
But you need.
On V mix, robert, absolutely,and I mentioned you know I work
for an audiovisual company andthe owner of our company really
struggled when V mix solved ourhundred thousand dollars
switcher problems, you know.
You know it's kind of like abalance there.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
It's.
It's.
It's a long list, but it's it'sa long list that serves goals.
Because you went through theidea of, yes, we need this
equipment, because we need to goto, we need to have screens for
speakers, we need to know wherethey are.
And those screens for speakersmight have the slides and the
timer.
They don't need to seethemselves or they might just
need to hear themselves,depending on where you are.
But in the same time, you wantto send something out to your
(16:25):
digital platform or whateverthat is and it's about.
And how do you, how do youapproach that conversation?
Because, from my perspective,is very much a goal based
solution in terms of what do youwant to achieve?
Communicate that in a correctway.
And then somebody like yourselfcomes in and says I know all
these words.
I don't have to teach you forsix months how to learn all
(16:46):
these words, but I know how todo it correctly.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
No, I think you hit on something, and I struggle
even when we do.
The title of this session todayis hybrid harmony.
The word hybrid is just makes.
I don't disdain the word, butthe word hybrid has got so many
meanings, and so when people say, well, define hybrid and I like
to flip the script on that,nice, define your event, define
(17:12):
what you're trying to achieve.
As you said, bogdan, that isthe most important thing.
The terminology it's great ifyou can match it up, but I still
recommend you ask a lot ofquestions.
A lot of people don't know thedifference between a live stream
, a webcast, web conference,webinar, and so I think,
although we have settled intosome terminology in the industry
, I still think we're on thefront lines and, layman's terms,
(17:37):
a lot of people think a livestream is the same as a webcast.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what's the difference between a live stream
and a webcast?
From your perspective at least.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Well, yeah, and actually I probably picked a
poor choice of words.
I could see where a live streamand a webcast may be similar,
but I would say a web conferenceversus a live stream.
I think live stream and webcastcould be very similar, but a
web, generally, a live stream,is going to be mostly one way.
In terms of content.
(18:05):
You may get a little kickbackfrom like a chat type experience
, but for the most part, thevideo, the audio is all going
one way and you're not going tobe talking to any of the
audience.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Absolutely.
I absolutely love the examplebecause it's so close but it's
so far away, because we weretalking about.
We're talking about the idea ofhow do you look at AV from,
like an audience engagementstrategy, and if somebody comes
and says I'm going to do livestream, I automatically going to
presume, okay, that's the oneway that you've just said.
It might have like a slighttype of technology that will
(18:38):
come on top of that to help youengage a little bit with the
people that are not outside,Like we have now with LinkedIn,
where we put these kind ofquestions that we have and
comments on the screen.
So it's more towards it'sdefinitely not a live stream
because we're not a footballmatch.
So that's where I see thedifference in terms of the live
stream and the webcast.
As the best example, If I watcha Premier League or an NBA match
(19:01):
, which are kind of I don'treally watch Premier League
anymore, but at least NBAmatches I don't expect to have
any connection to the players oranybody to hear me when I
scream at the TV, Because that'sthe engagement that's a lot of
people isn't understanding.
Pandemic is regardless how hardyou're going to scream at the
TV If you haven't prepared foryour audience to get engaged.
(19:21):
Nobody's going to hear them.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
End of story.
No, there obviously is asecondary channel in sports
which is going out to Twitterand seeing how mad everybody is
about that foul or whatever.
So that's my favorite thing todo is to go out to Twitter and
find out how mad everybody is atthe same topic.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So that's the second screen experience that we can
talk about as well.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yeah, I love that terminology as well.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Absolutely, and Robert actually pretty much
asked this question likequestion about hybrid producing
to in person and online at thesame time seems to be very
difficult.
How do you ensure that onlinevideo audience feels included in
a hybrid event and what are thekey benefits of hybrid?
Brian, I think you're going totoss me this one, the question
(20:19):
of the decade right.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah, the holy grail.
Yeah, I mean, that's thequestion of the decade.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Yes, timer starts now .
So, yeah, I mean, I think,hybrid.
I think the biggest mistakepeople make in hybrid is not
really getting clear that allthe audience are different and
unique and you have to set upyour structure so that you're
addressing each scenario in itsvery unique state.
So what you're sending out tothe local screens is not
(20:49):
adequate for what you're sendingout to the broadcast or to the
stream, what your MC in the roommay not be the right MC for.
You may need to have a layeredevent, so you may treat the
hybrid or the remote audience ina much different manner.
You may have their own MC.
You may have special featuresfor them that are only for that,
(21:11):
designed only for that space.
You know, one of my favoritethings that I see conferences do
is okay, you got a keynotespeaker and they go to the main
stage Instead of coming off tothe green room and moving on.
I see a lot of them coming offand getting interviewed on the
web broadcast and often fieldingquestions from the hybrid
(21:33):
audience.
Now the hybrid audience isactually getting a better
experience.
They're getting one-to-oneconversation with that keynote
speaker in another environment,and so I think that's one of the
keys to this is that you haveto really get clear about each
environment and give them whatthey need in that environment,
and so not to just think it'sone solution across the entire
(21:56):
mess per se.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Oh no, it's very fascinating because we've tried
in the event industry a lot,especially during the stage home
period, when we were naughty,without naming the names, it
tried to copy past theexperience from a live event to
a live stream and we well, lotsof the conversations were
managing expectations from anorganizer says standpoint,
(22:19):
because you can't mimic that.
First of all, you cannot solveevery interaction problems for
AV because we are on the subjectspecifically so but in the same
time, if you think of, as yousaid, from a different
perspective, they have to have adifferent experience depending
where they are and how they are.
It can be enhanced, but it canbe enhanced on both ways,
(22:41):
because if you're on site, youdon't, you don't get the whole
interaction, you don't get thecoffee afterwards, you don't get
the handshake, you don't havethe work there, whereas online
I've got two screens now and Ican watch this show and I can
Google this, I can write anemail, I can Google brand, make
sure that I know him, Iconnected with me like comment
on post, and there is acompletely different
conversation there.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Yeah, I mean one thing that I've seen it.
You know people put let's put acamera out in the hall and let
them watch everybody network.
Yeah, I'm very interested inthat remote talk about phone.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
See what you're missing out on, and I think
hopefully we've evolved since.
I really hope so, yes they arevery true and I think what you
say, like every audience isdifferent and you need to tailor
an experience where eachaudience finds themselves valued
and have a tailored experiencefor them.
(23:41):
But there are obviously alsotools that Can give some overlap
, like Kristen mentioned, liketools like slide out that can
have both audiences engage,which makes them feel part of a
bigger community, rather thanjust their hybrid or online or
in person experience.
I think that's also a goodaddition.
(24:01):
So thank you, kristen, formentioning no.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
No, yeah, I was thinking.
You know that's one of themistakes I see.
Actually, I remember early on inone of an early event I did
during the pandemic was like thefirst time we got together as a
group and everybody's in masksin the In the ballroom, you know
, six feet away, and we'rezooming out and I realized
everybody in the room is notgoing to be on the same chat and
(24:28):
so how do you, how do you dealwith that?
And that's why you have to havea, a separate chat device, often
from the actual environmentyou're working in.
Unless you know obviouslythings have evolved
significantly since then thatMany platforms you can chat
whether you're in the stream ornot.
And you know, I was reluctantto actually even say I was like
(24:51):
there's no way I'm sharing thelink to anybody in the room and
having a bunch of people openingtheir zooms In my meeting.
Do not share that, that codewith anybody because they are
not getting in this meeting.
But yeah, I think you know howdo you find the right tools that
match both audiences and youshould have a little bit of that
(25:12):
, but don't rely on it being theonly solution for the entire
event.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
And, like last time, we spoke a bit about small
details.
Another small but veryimportant detail that we quickly
encountered when schedulingthis particular event is also
taking to account where thoseaudiences are, especially if you
have a hybrid event.
You have an in person eventmaybe Taking place in America or
(25:38):
in Europe, but you also havevirtual audiences joining from a
different continent, and itjust so happens that not all
continents change summertime atthe same time.
It's something to take intoaccount as well.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
No, it was a discussion we had to have for
our particular broadcast.
The US just moved our time onSunday, sunday morning and but
the great news is, you being theprofessional that you are,
confirmed with me that we are onthe same schedule so and I
thought we have to talk aboutthis today because it goes on
(26:13):
every day in the space.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Absolutely.
It is such a small detail thatcan make such a big difference
if you're an hour off for thosethree weeks.
We're switching back the 31stof March.
We're in Europe.
We're a little bit behind, butfor everyone joining in, just
know that now there's an hourextra difference.
Actually it's a bit shorter atthe moment but we'll be catching
(26:37):
up with you shortly for thosejoining from the US From the US,
I think.
Well, we kind of went through alot of different elements in
terms of, especially, how tooptimize the hybrid event game
with both the tools, with bothstrategies, in terms of like.
Let's go to the engagementtechniques.
I thought that was a good one.
(26:58):
What do you see as theessential role in terms of using
a V technology to enhance theengagement in in virtual
settings, in in hybrid settings?
What do you think is the keyelement that a V brings that
event professionals shouldreally take in and take home
with this session today?
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, I think when you get
in, the audio video thing is,you know, the closer you can get
to a real time experience forsomebody is important, and so
you know, we all get toasynchronous network on a
regular basis through our emailsand through our direct messages
on social media platforms, butI think the idea of an event as
being synchronous is still veryattractive.
(27:40):
Yes, we can do someasynchronous environments, and
they do have their place, but Ithink when you can bring people
together and have themcommunicate directly with each
other, whether it be on camera,whether it be even a chat
experience Our goal is to getthat direct communication with
another human, because if youlook at the Maslow's hierarchy
(28:01):
of needs, we need to be seen byother humans and that's what
events do, is we bring thathuman experience to the table.
And so the better your camera,the better your audio feed, the
better your internet all ofthose things make it make a
difference.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
You hit the nail on the head there, because it's one
of my favorite things is.
So I come from slightlydifferent perspective and I look
at any content visual content,be it video, be it photo, be
anything as a behavioral trigger, and we have this discrepancy
that you either have somebodythat goes, ok, I'll do this,
10,000 events to take it on zoom, which is not the case, because
(28:37):
it triggers a differentbehavior versus I need a Netflix
production for my workshop,which is bullshit, you don't.
You need to have somethingcorrect, but you need to have it
correct, because if the soundis bad or my internet fails and
you go, then the experience isbad.
If it's correct and again goingto like the hybrid element, we
don't have any drama, sex,nudity or anything on the stage.
(28:59):
We are not that fix.
We have people speaking, so ithas to be correct.
It doesn't have to be.
Don't have to have flyinghorses, dragons or anything
coming out of the stage, but ifit's bad, you're going to have a
bad experience and you're goingto feel it instant.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Yeah, I think you know you bring up a good point.
I think you know, hey, I broughtup technology and cameras and
things like that.
But I think a more importantpiece of the equation for AV and
technical People is to start toforecast all of the different
scenarios.
What kind of challenge are am Igoing to have when I go to a
corporate office and I set up aremote studio with the corporate
(29:31):
big wig to broadcast out?
Have I checked in with their ITdepartment and can my
particular, if I'm usingrestream, maybe they got that
blocked on their network.
Have I gone and figured thatout in advance?
Have I seen that before I'mbroadcasting to a particular
remote city factory, do theyhave enough bandwidth in that
(29:52):
particular factory to receivethat feed?
And so I think you know whatthe AV role is that we are
trying to troubleshoot all ofthe different scenarios of where
people are and how they need toget in contact with the other
direction and receive theinformation and make sure that
we thought out all of thosesolutions before we bring people
(30:14):
together.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
And so I think that's the more important role of the
AV in in this space, 100% agreewith you and I think you you
mentioned it actually before westarted like the best approach
is to say like technology willfill at some point, we don't
know what, so have a contingencyplan in place To make sure that
, no matter what happens, youhave covered your base and you
(30:37):
know, you can say with 99%certainty that you covered every
single element.
And an important part of thatis also choosing the right
companies to work with, and oneof the Kind of last segments,
because we are flying to time,we're already yeah you got
Boggins like who is this guyanyway?
(31:01):
We love it.
The last segment was kind ofbig, figuring out or choosing
the right AV solutions, and youknow how to assess them, how to
food, future proof your event.
Do you need to go in house orexternal?
There are quite a few things toconsider.
What would you give as a tip tothe audience listening right
now in terms of Choosing theright AV solution for their
(31:23):
event to make sure they coverall their bases, besides
obviously going for prestige AVin this case?
But Thank, you.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
We accept your In general.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
I make that assessment now.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
I mean, I think you know, if I were to start
anywhere, I would say that thekey to success in any part of
the event industry is havingtrusted partners.
You have to build relationshipsfor the long haul.
You have to get to know eachother.
You understand the limits ofyour vendors or your partners.
You have to understand thelimits of your internal
organizations and so and and whoyou're working with needs,
(32:01):
understand your limitations.
So I think it starts with thehuman element.
Once again, you know it'sbuilding strong relationships,
foundations, ensuring that yourpartners are have the technology
you need.
And then I think the next phaseis testing.
You know you have.
You don't want to start with anew platform and never have
tested it.
I think that's one of thethings we saw during the
(32:21):
pandemic is what we were forcedto.
You know we had to go and takethis platform we've never used
before.
I recommend things like ifyou're thinking about moving to
a new platform for your annualmeeting, but you have a small
regional spring meeting, youmight want to host it on that
platform.
Work out the bugs.
You're going to have someissues, like I didn't.
I didn't foresee this challenge, but now that you've done it on
(32:45):
a smaller environment.
You can.
You can solve those bugs beforeyou bring more people together.
And then the other thing is Ithink it's important to just
consider your audience.
You know, what are they used to.
I used to laugh at this littlescenario, which is I had a
client come to me and they'relike I want to do a tweet, while
Brian, I'm like, ok, great,yeah, if you used a software
(33:08):
before.
They're like, no, I go, well,here's what I would suggest.
I would use this particularsoftware.
And then I go and what's yourTwitter account?
We don't have a Twitter account.
And I'm like we don't have aTwitter account.
And I'm like and it was likesome old, stodgy association I
can't even remember who it wasbut I'm like well, if you don't
(33:28):
have a Twitter account and yourmembers don't have Twitter
accounts, you probably don'tneed a tweet wall.
You might want to go adifferent route.
So I think you got to get clearabout who your members are, what
their technologies are.
And that leads me to the nextthing, because I think you have
to train your attendees.
You have to train them in thetechnologies you want to use.
So, similar to what I just saidon your spring meeting, you
(33:51):
might use the software.
If you're going to do a webinar, you might bring them into the
software.
You have lots of reasons tohave them use the different
technologies you're using.
So when you are on the ultimatehigh-stakes stage of your
annual meeting, that you're notdoing it for the first time and
they're not doing it for thefirst time, and so I think it's
all about just moving everybodyforward to a higher level, and
(34:13):
those would be my tips.
You know, big picture is justbuilding that relationship and
improving everybody's skillsalong the way.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Oh no, no, I can go back and say that I probably I
don't know if I can beat youtalking, but I'll definitely
have a good chance in terms ofthe amount of ranting I can do
on this one.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
Yeah yeah, definitely , let's go for it.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
No, absolutely One of my.
I want to ask you a questionbecause I think we're trying to
educate as much as possible andwe're trying to educate
ourselves as well, and I'velearned a lot from you and one
of my pit-hates is the vagueterminology that people use when
they don't know what you'retalking about.
And as much as you workeverybody says I work in events
what do you do?
Do you do the AV?
(34:58):
And I'll go get back to why AVis wrong what do you do Weddings
?
Do you do broadcast?
Do you do data?
What do you do?
Av, again, is a relativelygeneral term and I'm trying to
form a question in my head.
As in, av is not the magicalone for everything, but people
think that when they go to AV,they would expect anything from
building the stage to setting upthe lights, to designing the
(35:20):
stage, to doing the live stream,to understanding everything and
, on top of that, to be a veryexperienced media person and
understand the engagementoff-site, on site, and maybe the
cameraman can be the MEC aswell.
How do you work with variouspartners to enhance the
specialization that you havewithin the AV?
Speaker 3 (35:39):
Yeah, and I think you can blame some AV companies,
including us at times, for that.
There was pre-pandemic thisperiod where everybody was kind
of like trying to takeeverything under their wing to
be competitive.
So it's like, yeah, I can dothat, I can do that.
Yes, I can do that.
I think the pandemic exposed oh, by the way, I'm not allowed to
(35:59):
use those words, right, it tookme the whole time to catch that
I'm not allowed to use thosewords anymore.
But no, I think we need to.
I'm sorry I lost my point there.
No worries, and we're talkingabout the partners.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
And my idea came because you said about the
partnership that you have withthe end stakeholder.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
Yeah, I think.
Well, if you go to the clientside of things, the end client,
I think it's your duty to getclear about the vendors you're
bringing in, not just assumethat AV means I'm also video
production, I'm also stagedesign, I'm also graphic design
Prestige is a lot of thosethings, by the way.
(36:42):
Toss that out there.
But you want to find out whatsomebody's good at and make sure
that you contract them in theirsweet spot and that may mean
bringing in.
A lot of times we are working.
We have a great lightingdivision, but we do a lot of
events where somebody brings inanother lighting company and
we're fine with that.
If that company can provide abetter outcome in that space,
(37:06):
that's great.
We do a lot of events wheresomebody is creating all the
graphics, creating all the videoand media assets, they're
designing the script.
If that is their expertise andthey understand the client
better in that space, I thinkyou should do that.
But you as a client have to bea strong understanding of all
the different parties and makesure that you can bring them
(37:27):
together in a way that makessense.
I do see a lot of.
I've seen some pretty goodgrowth in the agency space in
the past couple of years, Ithink agencies have found a new
space in the sense that they'vebeen able to be a nice executive
producer of an event and say Iknow Prestige is really good in
the equipment space and thespace.
I know this lighting company, Iknow this video production
(37:50):
company that can bring all theseassets together.
So I think the key is that youget clear about all the
different partners and make surethat they can actually deliver
at the level you need them to.
I'll be honest we don't doplatforms.
I mean I would prefer somebodyto bring the platform with them.
We're great at patching into ahybrid platform.
(38:12):
I can get the content in andout.
I can give you a strong, solidsignals everywhere, but I'm not
going to design platformsanymore.
We've decided that's not ourspace.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
No, it's just fair enough.
That was the instinct at somepoint and it's still kind of the
instinct when you're talkingabout especially like the big
players, like Sievent, thatthey're all in one concept of
you can't be all in one becausethere are so many elements.
When you're talking about ahybrid event, sievent cannot
build stages.
Let's put it like that theymight be good at something, but
they're definitely not good atbuilding stages.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
If you go across the board from that, perspective,
yeah, and I think that one ofthe benefits, I believe, of the
labor shortages and things ofthat nature is that companies
don't have the luxury to dowhat's not in their wheelhouse,
and so I've seen a lot ofcompanies pull back services
that are not ideal for them.
In our space we used to do someinstalls and do permanent
(39:06):
installation in boardrooms smallstuff but we just flat out say
we don't do that anymore, it'snot anything I can support.
I want to stay focused on liveevents.
We don't do much social anymore.
I do a few weddings within someof the venues we serve, but
we're not going to take justrandom business off the street
going weddings.
And so how do you get clearabout your services and I think
(39:30):
that's important too for allthose service providers out
there is.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
It is good to have a niche and be focused on that and
be the expert at it Absolutely,and I think with that it's also
a kind of side note foreveryone who's talking, to
anyone who says they can doeverything.
You can have a red flag, right.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Challenge that and we can challenge the time as we're
talking about red flags.
If you do have any questions,please pop them in now because
we'll try to.
I am trying to wrap up somehowtowards the 45 minutes mark, but
if you do have any questionsand I think you've put the ones
that you've already posted Idon't see all of them because
I'm in London and I have a badinternet.
So that's why I work perfectlywith Morine, because he has a
(40:15):
good internet where he is andyou can see the questions.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Morine's got the virtual hook.
He can just get rid of meanytime you guys are finished,
so I think we all enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
I see we have still a lot of people that hang in
there, so I appreciate you allfor making it to the 45 minute
mark.
At this point, I want to do twothings.
So, indeed, if you have anyquestions, pop them in the chat.
We will have two minutes andthen we have wrapped up.
So be quick.
But you can also just leavethem there, because Brian will
(40:48):
have the possibility to go backto the event, read your comment,
comment to you individually,maybe connect so we'll bug them
and I.
So if you have any questionsand it takes you longer than
those two minutes to type, justdrop them anyway or connect with
either one of us.
We'll be happy to help you out.
Brian, I wanted to give you onelast question.
(41:09):
Oh boy, besides all theinvaluable knowledge you've
already shared today, what wouldyou like to give those
listening as a takeaway fromthis session?
That hammered that down 100%.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Oh boy, going all the way down, that's a good one.
Yeah, I think, if I were tomake one point in the industry
and I think if you're listeningtoday you're already on the
right track which is we nolonger have the luxury, as event
professionals, to be technicalnewbies per se.
Yeah, it's no longer optionalto be average in technology and
(41:50):
events.
Maybe 20 years ago, it wasbetter to know what wine paired
with red meat or fish, but thatis no longer the differentiation
piece.
So if you want to have a long,solid career and events, you're
going to want to become atechnology expert, and so that's
(42:12):
my recommendation to stay intune with people like Marijn
Bogdan.
Continue to learn, continue toevolve your skills and support
that outcome.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
I think that's a powerful takeaway and we are
very much aligned with thatstatement.
And it's good to know thatyou're not alone.
There's a lot of people company, individuals, including
ourselves that are more thanhappy to help you out with that
tech, so you can actually focuson organizing the best possible
event.
I haven't seen any newquestions coming in, so I'd say
(42:46):
let's quickly wrap it up.
Thank you so much for joiningus today, brian.
It has been a pleasure, notjust that we laughed a lot, that
we had a good time, but alsothere was a lot of insights for
the industry, for those that arelistening, that they can
definitely take home and improvetheir events with.
So thank you very much for that.
For those of you who would liketo get in touch with Brian, you
(43:09):
can obviously see him as aspeaker here, but you can also
go to linkedincom.
Slash in slash, brian Monahan,that is M-O-N-A-H, a-h-n.
You'll find me.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
Oh wow, yeah, actually I think it's that I'm
not going to acknowledgeanything right now?
Speaker 2 (43:30):
All right, we'll put it in the chat for you to follow
, brian We'll also put his shownotes.
There's a D-Straig in thisepisode.
Yes, if you can figure it out,let us know in the comments.
We will actually also put themin the show notes.
So if you're listening to thepodcast, you'll find them in the
description, or if you'rewatching on YouTube, you can
find it there as well.
He covers a variety of topics,not just live event tips and AV
(43:56):
insights and valuable knowledge,but he's also known as the
person to go to when you everfeel the need to write a book,
no matter what the topic is.
But if you want to get startedand get started quick and get
that book out there, brian isthe one to go to.
So make sure you take thatmental note as well, because he
(44:17):
has a passion for writing andauthorship and he is a gem in
that.
So make sure to also contacthim for that, I think.
Yeah, we've gone through a lotof the time has flown by, so we
can wrap it up Well.
Thank you all for being here.
Thank you, kristen for beinghere, thank you, salima for
(44:39):
being here.
I think we still have quite afew other people, but for those
of you who are watching, thankyou so much and we're looking
forward to the next one which,before I forget, we have another
guest and that is actuallygoing to be Claire Force J.
We will dive into the sweetspot, balancing emotion,
(44:59):
engagement and technology.
So another interesting topicyou got to invite me on.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
You got to let me in on that show.
I love Claire.
She is awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Claire is absolutely fantastic, so it's undoubtedly
Make sure to join us next week.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Brian, we would love to see you in the comments and
yeah, with that, thank you allso much for being here and
looking forward to the next one.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Thank you, see you next week.
Thank you, brian, very muchBeen a pleasure, absolute
pleasure, happiness.
Hello and welcome everybody to another episode of
control alt event.
Welcome, yeah, good morning,good afternoon, good evening,
wherever you are.
This is a controlled event inepisode six already, which is
fascinating.
We're live.
Today We'll have a specialguest, but before that, today
we'll be talking briefly, asbriefly as possible.
(00:30):
We try to stick to the half anhour, but usually go a little
bit off board depending on thetopic.
Today we'll be talking aboutthe evolution of AV technology
across different event formats,specifically live, virtual and
hybrid At least those are thethree ones that we know.
And, as usual, today I'm joinedby my lovely colleague Morain,
(00:51):
who has been working on bothsides of the blade, both with a
few hundred event organizers anda few thousand event platforms,
and he's the man if you want totalk to about integrations and
anything about event tech.
And I'll just pass the mic tohim so he can do the intros and
I can move things around andblur everything and ruin
(01:13):
everything for the first 30seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, thank you so much for that kind introduction,
Bogdan.
It's a pleasure to be here andthank you all for joining.
I see a lot of you here thatfrequently come back, so that's
really good to see that.
Please let us know where you'rejoining in from.
And a small reminder we arelive, so make sure to ask all
your questions.
We have an amazing guest foryou that can also answer those
(01:38):
questions, so don't wait for allthe way to the end to ask all
the questions.
Just drop them in the chat.
We'll put them on the screenand we'll make sure they get
answered.
I'm here together with Bogdan,our famous data storyteller.
He has a track record ofcrafting bespoke platforms,
(01:58):
captivating data visualizationsand seamlessly integrating merit
systems.
He is the driving force behindthe visual hive.
You may have heard of it, an AImarketing engine dated for
marketers and eventprofessionals, and today we
actually have another guest.
It is no one less than BrianMonan.
(02:19):
Brian is a seasoned eventindustry professional with over
20 years of experience and a keyfocus on producing engaging
life, hybrid and virtual events.
Currently the vice president ofsales and business development
at Prestige AV and creativeservices, Brian has
significantly contributed to thecompany's success by securing
(02:40):
major contracts and navigatingthe challenging transition
during the whole P wordsituation Towards the innovative
virtual and hybrid eventsolutions.
Beyond his corporateachievement, Brian is deeply
committed to personal andprofessional development.
He extends his passion forgrowth and learning as a
(03:00):
facilitator for the PCMA eventleadership Institute you
probably have heard of that oneas well where he shares his
expertise in technical meetingsand event production.
Brian, it is such a pleasure tohave you on the show.
We're so glad to have you here,and also with this topic hybrid
harmony I think it's definitelyin your wheelhouse, so welcome.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Thanks Morijn, Thanks Bogman, Super excited to be
here, Honored to join you both.
I look up to both of you in theindustry and I do have to come
clean.
It's actually 30 years in theindustry now.
I'm sorry.
I guess I need to update my bio.
I've been trying to hang on tothat 20 year mark but I think
(03:44):
I'm over the hump now.
So I know we're going to betalking about the history of AV
and I thought you guys mightneed to schedule more than a
half hour based on that tenure.
So I don't know what you werethinking.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
We always schedule a little bit over half an hour and
I did forget and I did gotpanicked a little bit and
excited and forget to say thatRyan is the founder of
Eventmender and I've beenmarried for 10 years, so it's
always my fault and I do tend tomake mistakes, not to use other
words from that perspective.
But yeah, you don't look a dayover 25.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Oh, thank you, Thank you yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I do have that under 25 filter on my cameras.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I think many people would like to have that filter
as well, so if you could, I justneed to scrunch squash my video
and lose 10 pounds.
Hi, chris.
Good to see you joining in fromNew Jersey all the way all
across the world.
It's so good.
Where everyone else joining infrom Let us know in the comments
(04:49):
and without further ado, let'sjump into the first segment, the
evolution of AV and eventformats.
You mentioned already a bit interms of the fast amount of
experience you have.
Brian, can you give us a littlebit of a historical overview,
not diving in too deep, butshare us all your knowledge.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, how far do you want me to go back?
Do you want me to go backOverhead projectors or film?
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So day one, 30 years ago.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So yeah, I mean, I think, since we're talking
hybrid and virtual events, Ithink it's important to kind of
like hit the distinction ofwhere I was at when I started in
the industry, and prior to mewould have been like remote type
and scenarios Like there wasn'treally a great option for doing
any kind of hybrid or virtualevent, most likely 50s.
(05:38):
Maybe somebody was filming itand sending the canister to
another city to be watched inthe corporate offices and maybe
they're on a phone line together.
So yeah, that's kind of like Iwas catching the tail end of
that.
And then I think we went to alittle peer to peer, you know
that's.
You know broadcast satellites.
We were hitting the satellitedishes and dropping those
satellite trucks outside ofballrooms and that was a viable
(06:01):
solution.
It was closer to real time.
And then I think we hit thatnext phase which was, you know,
we were starting to get into thedigital world.
We were hitting the ISDN linesusing our Polycom units and, you
know, still a closed kind ofscenario.
You know you had to be in thenetwork, you had to be using all
the right codecs and all theright protocols.
(06:24):
They're very, very specific.
And then we, you know, we getto the pandemic and you know,
great news is we were actuallyready for it.
We just nobody was doing it.
You know, we had all thistechnology with webcams.
Go to meeting teams was comingon board.
Zoom was rocking, but nobodywas willing to slow down and
actually master the technologyuntil we absolutely got stuck in
(06:46):
our houses for a year and ahalf or whatever that was.
So it was always the dream wehad.
I just wish we could have doneit under different terms.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
We definitely benefited from a bit of a
learning curve, especially thenon-geeky persons who weren't
building OBS on three differentlaptops and five different
cables, trying to makeeverything work on a budget at
some point with two days noticepreferably.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't barely knew what OBS.
To be quite honest, even beingin the industry since I'm more
on, you know, growing up on theAV side of things we were very
hardware-based, you know.
So our team was always like OBS, not a chance.
You know, give me that E2switcher.
You know I need a $180,000switcher to be able to do what
(07:31):
OBS does.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
You know I'm not going to do it.
It does make sense from astress-free situation, to be
honest.
So I do remember.
I don't have 30 years in events, although I do have some great.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Are you trolling me now, Bogdan?
Are you trolling me?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
No, I was just trying to remember how much fun I had
about 25 years ago.
23 years ago when I got in thefirst time, when I got into a TV
transmission van so we can dosome kind of political thing
that because the technical guywho didn't didn't turn up for
the event was a cold and I wasthe only one who was cheeky
(08:09):
enough say I know how to do.
That don't really was nine, didmake some mistakes, but that
was my first experiencetechnically speaking.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I mean they started right on the right at the top.
You know, jump in with thebroadcast.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
But it was in terms of technological investments,
and we both have enough history.
I've started shooting on filmand started working on various
better cameras, with cassettesand Running to trains when you
were doing a flood or because Iwas coming from the journalistic
part of you, but still an event, technically speaking it
something happened, somethingwe're trying to stream.
(08:45):
How do you see the investmentand what from your perspective?
What did that enable you to do?
Where?
Where did you find the valueadded from the technology
perspective?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, I mean, I think you know one of the things I
like about the industry is youknow, hey, we've been.
The technology's been evolvingover the past 30 years.
You know, just consistently.
You know the Moore's law ofdoubling memory and I think
that's carried over into, youknow, video and internet and
everything like that.
So everything's been kind of ona double basis for the best
(09:16):
2025 years, but I think in thepast five or six it slowed down
a touch.
The technology.
You know, like in my space,like a 5000 lumen projector I
don't need a 10,000 lumenprojector in a breakout room a
5000 lumen projector is going tobe good in five years.
It's going to be good in 10years, whereas when I started in
the industry, we were using 800lumen projectors, and so you
(09:40):
know.
So when the 1200 lumen came out, you had to buy the 1200 lumen,
and when the 15 and the 2000,and so I think that's the same
with All the technologies wehave.
There's a lot of.
You know I'm operating today ona Mac M1.
Mac book air 2020 model, and itdestroys a couple PCs I have at
(10:02):
the office that are brand new.
You know it's.
You know this.
This, this computer is going tobe good for another four or
five years with no issues, andin fact it's better than some of
Some of the newer versions.
So I think that, having kind oflike we're reaching a plateau
not that things aren't growing,but with a plateau I think other
(10:25):
people can catch up.
The the late adopters can nowjoin in, and so they're going to
go ahead and start testingthings out.
They're going to try things out, they're going to do their own
shows, like we're doing righthere.
We're you know it's, it's thebarrier to entry is low now, and
so that means everybody's doingit.
I think that allows us to eventake it up a notch, to go even
(10:47):
higher, and so that's what I'mexcited about.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
In terms of like.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
We mentioned a lot of terms here yeah, and stop me at
any point, for oh god no,please, I really.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
We love it and our audience probably loves it too.
But sometimes there are somegaps, and I think, especially
with that lower boundary toenter the market and to get
started with it, it becomes moreand more important to kind of
also know the foundation interms of the terms that you need
.
So you cannot just understandwhat you need, but also, when
(11:23):
you're working with, forinstance, an AV provider, you
can communicate exactly what itis that that you need.
And one of the things we put onthe list is kind of do you have
a breakdown of the essential AVcomponents that for live events
in this case, such as a soundsystem, lighting, video
(11:44):
projection what, what are kindof for you, what are the most
essential AV components thateveryone who's listening today
should know about?
Kind of?
Probably not too much in that,but at least they know what,
what they should have on theirevents, what, what they should
have on their events no, and I'mgonna break it down super
simple.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Actually, in the course I always try to break AV
down into three categories and Icall it inputs, switching or
combining, and then outputs ordestinations, and so I always
try to just tell people get yourmindset around these Three main
areas.
So you know essentially, youknow you're in a room, you're
gonna need input, that's you,know that's you, you're the
(12:22):
person, you're the entertainment.
You're gonna have to be loud,you have to hear you, depending
on the size of your one of themicrophone, generally wireless.
I don't get any orders forwired logs anymore.
Thank god we we said we didn'town any.
What are the clients use themanymore?
We thought that was kind ofcrazy to put a lot of on and
then be chained to a to a cable.
(12:44):
But but no, you're gonna needyour microphones.
You're gonna need your audioinput devices.
You know back in the day thatthink CD player.
But now it's gonna be a laptopplaying music back.
You're gonna be playingIllegally your Spotify list,
most likely you're gonna be, youknow, breaking some laws there.
Then you're gonna have otherinput devices, your, your
(13:08):
computers, which are playingback different audio.
You know you're gonna havevideos in your PowerPoint.
Most likely you're gonna use alot of people have heard the
term playback pro.
That's a video playback devicein a live event space and so
people will be playing back thatvideo.
So a big miss, typically, asthey forget that those you know
(13:28):
it's PowerPoint and it's videobased.
They forget they need the audio.
So you're gonna need audiocoming out of that and then
you're gonna send it to a mixer,okay, and so that mixer is
gonna take in all those inputs,allow you to match them up, get
them all matched up so that andthen Push that back out to your
speakers.
Okay, and in a live space it'spretty simple.
(13:49):
You know you're gonna have acouple speakers in the room,
most likely for a small meeting,but we learned as we moved into
the virtual space you're gonnawant to hire and mixer.
In today's world, and I thinkthat's kind of like where we
talk about how you, where youmove into that space on the
audio front is you need a mixerthat's got different outputs.
You want to be able to mixwhat's going to the stream at a
(14:11):
different level than what you'resending to the room and
possibly to the, to the recorddeck, so it's gotten a little
more complicated.
On the video front, your inputsare gonna be your cameras.
I already talked about laptops,those live on the audio and
video side of things, your mic,not microphones.
But PTZ cameras are really bigin the virtual space right now
(14:34):
and I'll talk about that in sometips later on, how those help
events.
What else I miss on video?
You know you got your playbackpro, your video devices, any
kind of video playback device,and then you're gonna go into a
switcher at the or a scalar, andit's a little bit different.
In the mixer You're gonna bepicking like I want this input
to go to screen, I want thatinput to go to screen.
(14:55):
Today's modern world.
You actually might be mergingthose inputs like we are here.
We got three camera up on thescreen today and then you're
gonna go to a destination, thefinal leg of the of the equation
here, which is, you know, inthe room it's to a screen, it's
a large screens in a room, butyou got your downstage monitors.
(15:17):
You want to switcher that canhandle that, and now you're
gonna be sending out someindependent feed, most likely to
an encoder To send out to astream somewhere on the web or
in inject into some kind ofwebcast.
Two other things real quick andI'm not gonna go into much
(15:40):
detail on them.
But you need.
On V mix, robert, absolutely,and I mentioned you know I work
for an audiovisual company andthe owner of our company really
struggled when V mix solved ourhundred thousand dollars
switcher problems, you know.
You know it's kind of like abalance there.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
It's.
It's.
It's a long list, but it's it'sa long list that serves goals.
Because you went through theidea of, yes, we need this
equipment, because we need to goto, we need to have screens for
speakers, we need to know wherethey are.
And those screens for speakersmight have the slides and the
timer.
They don't need to seethemselves or they might just
need to hear themselves,depending on where you are.
But in the same time, you wantto send something out to your
(16:25):
digital platform or whateverthat is and it's about.
And how do you, how do youapproach that conversation?
Because, from my perspective,is very much a goal based
solution in terms of what do youwant to achieve?
Communicate that in a correctway.
And then somebody like yourselfcomes in and says I know all
these words.
I don't have to teach you forsix months how to learn all
(16:46):
these words, but I know how todo it correctly.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
No, I think you hit on something, and I struggle
even when we do.
The title of this session todayis hybrid harmony.
The word hybrid is just makes.
I don't disdain the word, butthe word hybrid has got so many
meanings, and so when people say, well, define hybrid and I like
to flip the script on that,nice, define your event, define
(17:12):
what you're trying to achieve.
As you said, bogdan, that isthe most important thing.
The terminology it's great ifyou can match it up, but I still
recommend you ask a lot ofquestions.
A lot of people don't know thedifference between a live stream
, a webcast, web conference,webinar, and so I think,
although we have settled intosome terminology in the industry
, I still think we're on thefront lines and, layman's terms,
(17:37):
a lot of people think a livestream is the same as a webcast.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what's the difference between a live stream
and a webcast?
From your perspective at least.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Well, yeah, and actually I probably picked a
poor choice of words.
I could see where a live streamand a webcast may be similar,
but I would say a web conferenceversus a live stream.
I think live stream and webcastcould be very similar, but a
web, generally, a live stream,is going to be mostly one way.
In terms of content.
(18:05):
You may get a little kickbackfrom like a chat type experience
, but for the most part, thevideo, the audio is all going
one way and you're not going tobe talking to any of the
audience.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Absolutely.
I absolutely love the examplebecause it's so close but it's
so far away, because we weretalking about.
We're talking about the idea ofhow do you look at AV from,
like an audience engagementstrategy, and if somebody comes
and says I'm going to do livestream, I automatically going to
presume, okay, that's the oneway that you've just said.
It might have like a slighttype of technology that will
(18:38):
come on top of that to help youengage a little bit with the
people that are not outside,Like we have now with LinkedIn,
where we put these kind ofquestions that we have and
comments on the screen.
So it's more towards it'sdefinitely not a live stream
because we're not a footballmatch.
So that's where I see thedifference in terms of the live
stream and the webcast.
As the best example, If I watcha Premier League or an NBA match
(19:01):
, which are kind of I don'treally watch Premier League
anymore, but at least NBAmatches I don't expect to have
any connection to the players oranybody to hear me when I
scream at the TV, Because that'sthe engagement that's a lot of
people isn't understanding.
Pandemic is regardless how hardyou're going to scream at the
TV If you haven't prepared foryour audience to get engaged.
(19:21):
Nobody's going to hear them.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
End of story.
No, there obviously is asecondary channel in sports
which is going out to Twitterand seeing how mad everybody is
about that foul or whatever.
So that's my favorite thing todo is to go out to Twitter and
find out how mad everybody is atthe same topic.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So that's the second screen experience that we can
talk about as well.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yeah, I love that terminology as well.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Absolutely, and Robert actually pretty much
asked this question likequestion about hybrid producing
to in person and online at thesame time seems to be very
difficult.
How do you ensure that onlinevideo audience feels included in
a hybrid event and what are thekey benefits of hybrid?
Brian, I think you're going totoss me this one, the question
(20:19):
of the decade right.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah, the holy grail.
Yeah, I mean, that's thequestion of the decade.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Yes, timer starts now .
So, yeah, I mean, I think,hybrid.
I think the biggest mistakepeople make in hybrid is not
really getting clear that allthe audience are different and
unique and you have to set upyour structure so that you're
addressing each scenario in itsvery unique state.
So what you're sending out tothe local screens is not
(20:49):
adequate for what you're sendingout to the broadcast or to the
stream, what your MC in the roommay not be the right MC for.
You may need to have a layeredevent, so you may treat the
hybrid or the remote audience ina much different manner.
You may have their own MC.
You may have special featuresfor them that are only for that,
(21:11):
designed only for that space.
You know, one of my favoritethings that I see conferences do
is okay, you got a keynotespeaker and they go to the main
stage Instead of coming off tothe green room and moving on.
I see a lot of them coming offand getting interviewed on the
web broadcast and often fieldingquestions from the hybrid
(21:33):
audience.
Now the hybrid audience isactually getting a better
experience.
They're getting one-to-oneconversation with that keynote
speaker in another environment,and so I think that's one of the
keys to this is that you haveto really get clear about each
environment and give them whatthey need in that environment,
and so not to just think it'sone solution across the entire
(21:56):
mess per se.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Oh no, it's very fascinating because we've tried
in the event industry a lot,especially during the stage home
period, when we were naughty,without naming the names, it
tried to copy past theexperience from a live event to
a live stream and we well, lotsof the conversations were
managing expectations from anorganizer says standpoint,
(22:19):
because you can't mimic that.
First of all, you cannot solveevery interaction problems for
AV because we are on the subjectspecifically so but in the same
time, if you think of, as yousaid, from a different
perspective, they have to have adifferent experience depending
where they are and how they are.
It can be enhanced, but it canbe enhanced on both ways,
(22:41):
because if you're on site, youdon't, you don't get the whole
interaction, you don't get thecoffee afterwards, you don't get
the handshake, you don't havethe work there, whereas online
I've got two screens now and Ican watch this show and I can
Google this, I can write anemail, I can Google brand, make
sure that I know him, Iconnected with me like comment
on post, and there is acompletely different
conversation there.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Yeah, I mean one thing that I've seen it.
You know people put let's put acamera out in the hall and let
them watch everybody network.
Yeah, I'm very interested inthat remote talk about phone.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
See what you're missing out on, and I think
hopefully we've evolved since.
I really hope so, yes they arevery true and I think what you
say, like every audience isdifferent and you need to tailor
an experience where eachaudience finds themselves valued
and have a tailored experiencefor them.
(23:41):
But there are obviously alsotools that Can give some overlap
, like Kristen mentioned, liketools like slide out that can
have both audiences engage,which makes them feel part of a
bigger community, rather thanjust their hybrid or online or
in person experience.
I think that's also a goodaddition.
(24:01):
So thank you, kristen, formentioning no.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
No, yeah, I was thinking.
You know that's one of themistakes I see.
Actually, I remember early on inone of an early event I did
during the pandemic was like thefirst time we got together as a
group and everybody's in masksin the In the ballroom, you know
, six feet away, and we'rezooming out and I realized
everybody in the room is notgoing to be on the same chat and
(24:28):
so how do you, how do you dealwith that?
And that's why you have to havea, a separate chat device, often
from the actual environmentyou're working in.
Unless you know obviouslythings have evolved
significantly since then thatMany platforms you can chat
whether you're in the stream ornot.
And you know, I was reluctantto actually even say I was like
(24:51):
there's no way I'm sharing thelink to anybody in the room and
having a bunch of people openingtheir zooms In my meeting.
Do not share that, that codewith anybody because they are
not getting in this meeting.
But yeah, I think you know howdo you find the right tools that
match both audiences and youshould have a little bit of that
(25:12):
, but don't rely on it being theonly solution for the entire
event.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
And, like last time, we spoke a bit about small
details.
Another small but veryimportant detail that we quickly
encountered when schedulingthis particular event is also
taking to account where thoseaudiences are, especially if you
have a hybrid event.
You have an in person eventmaybe Taking place in America or
(25:38):
in Europe, but you also havevirtual audiences joining from a
different continent, and itjust so happens that not all
continents change summertime atthe same time.
It's something to take intoaccount as well.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
No, it was a discussion we had to have for
our particular broadcast.
The US just moved our time onSunday, sunday morning and but
the great news is, you being theprofessional that you are,
confirmed with me that we are onthe same schedule so and I
thought we have to talk aboutthis today because it goes on
(26:13):
every day in the space.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Absolutely.
It is such a small detail thatcan make such a big difference
if you're an hour off for thosethree weeks.
We're switching back the 31stof March.
We're in Europe.
We're a little bit behind, butfor everyone joining in, just
know that now there's an hourextra difference.
Actually it's a bit shorter atthe moment but we'll be catching
(26:37):
up with you shortly for thosejoining from the US From the US,
I think.
Well, we kind of went through alot of different elements in
terms of, especially, how tooptimize the hybrid event game
with both the tools, with bothstrategies, in terms of like.
Let's go to the engagementtechniques.
I thought that was a good one.
(26:58):
What do you see as theessential role in terms of using
a V technology to enhance theengagement in in virtual
settings, in in hybrid settings?
What do you think is the keyelement that a V brings that
event professionals shouldreally take in and take home
with this session today?
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, I think when you get
in, the audio video thing is,you know, the closer you can get
to a real time experience forsomebody is important, and so
you know, we all get toasynchronous network on a
regular basis through our emailsand through our direct messages
on social media platforms, butI think the idea of an event as
being synchronous is still veryattractive.
(27:40):
Yes, we can do someasynchronous environments, and
they do have their place, but Ithink when you can bring people
together and have themcommunicate directly with each
other, whether it be on camera,whether it be even a chat
experience Our goal is to getthat direct communication with
another human, because if youlook at the Maslow's hierarchy
(28:01):
of needs, we need to be seen byother humans and that's what
events do, is we bring thathuman experience to the table.
And so the better your camera,the better your audio feed, the
better your internet all ofthose things make it make a
difference.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
You hit the nail on the head there, because it's one
of my favorite things is.
So I come from slightlydifferent perspective and I look
at any content visual content,be it video, be it photo, be
anything as a behavioral trigger, and we have this discrepancy
that you either have somebodythat goes, ok, I'll do this,
10,000 events to take it on zoom, which is not the case, because
(28:37):
it triggers a differentbehavior versus I need a Netflix
production for my workshop,which is bullshit, you don't.
You need to have somethingcorrect, but you need to have it
correct, because if the soundis bad or my internet fails and
you go, then the experience isbad.
If it's correct and again goingto like the hybrid element, we
don't have any drama, sex,nudity or anything on the stage.
(28:59):
We are not that fix.
We have people speaking, so ithas to be correct.
It doesn't have to be.
Don't have to have flyinghorses, dragons or anything
coming out of the stage, but ifit's bad, you're going to have a
bad experience and you're goingto feel it instant.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Yeah, I think you know you bring up a good point.
I think you know, hey, I broughtup technology and cameras and
things like that.
But I think a more importantpiece of the equation for AV and
technical People is to start toforecast all of the different
scenarios.
What kind of challenge are am Igoing to have when I go to a
corporate office and I set up aremote studio with the corporate
(29:31):
big wig to broadcast out?
Have I checked in with their ITdepartment and can my
particular, if I'm usingrestream, maybe they got that
blocked on their network.
Have I gone and figured thatout in advance?
Have I seen that before I'mbroadcasting to a particular
remote city factory, do theyhave enough bandwidth in that
(29:52):
particular factory to receivethat feed?
And so I think you know whatthe AV role is that we are
trying to troubleshoot all ofthe different scenarios of where
people are and how they need toget in contact with the other
direction and receive theinformation and make sure that
we thought out all of thosesolutions before we bring people
(30:14):
together.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
And so I think that's the more important role of the
AV in in this space, 100% agreewith you and I think you you
mentioned it actually before westarted like the best approach
is to say like technology willfill at some point, we don't
know what, so have a contingencyplan in place To make sure that
, no matter what happens, youhave covered your base and you
(30:37):
know, you can say with 99%certainty that you covered every
single element.
And an important part of thatis also choosing the right
companies to work with, and oneof the Kind of last segments,
because we are flying to time,we're already yeah you got
Boggins like who is this guyanyway?
(31:01):
We love it.
The last segment was kind ofbig, figuring out or choosing
the right AV solutions, and youknow how to assess them, how to
food, future proof your event.
Do you need to go in house orexternal?
There are quite a few things toconsider.
What would you give as a tip tothe audience listening right
now in terms of Choosing theright AV solution for their
(31:23):
event to make sure they coverall their bases, besides
obviously going for prestige AVin this case?
But Thank, you.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
We accept your In general.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
I make that assessment now.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
I mean, I think you know, if I were to start
anywhere, I would say that thekey to success in any part of
the event industry is havingtrusted partners.
You have to build relationshipsfor the long haul.
You have to get to know eachother.
You understand the limits ofyour vendors or your partners.
You have to understand thelimits of your internal
organizations and so and and whoyou're working with needs,
(32:01):
understand your limitations.
So I think it starts with thehuman element.
Once again, you know it'sbuilding strong relationships,
foundations, ensuring that yourpartners are have the technology
you need.
And then I think the next phaseis testing.
You know you have.
You don't want to start with anew platform and never have
tested it.
I think that's one of thethings we saw during the
(32:21):
pandemic is what we were forcedto.
You know we had to go and takethis platform we've never used
before.
I recommend things like ifyou're thinking about moving to
a new platform for your annualmeeting, but you have a small
regional spring meeting, youmight want to host it on that
platform.
Work out the bugs.
You're going to have someissues, like I didn't.
I didn't foresee this challenge, but now that you've done it on
(32:45):
a smaller environment.
You can.
You can solve those bugs beforeyou bring more people together.
And then the other thing is Ithink it's important to just
consider your audience.
You know, what are they used to.
I used to laugh at this littlescenario, which is I had a
client come to me and they'relike I want to do a tweet, while
Brian, I'm like, ok, great,yeah, if you used a software
(33:08):
before.
They're like, no, I go, well,here's what I would suggest.
I would use this particularsoftware.
And then I go and what's yourTwitter account?
We don't have a Twitter account.
And I'm like we don't have aTwitter account.
And I'm like and it was likesome old, stodgy association I
can't even remember who it wasbut I'm like well, if you don't
(33:28):
have a Twitter account and yourmembers don't have Twitter
accounts, you probably don'tneed a tweet wall.
You might want to go adifferent route.
So I think you got to get clearabout who your members are, what
their technologies are.
And that leads me to the nextthing, because I think you have
to train your attendees.
You have to train them in thetechnologies you want to use.
So, similar to what I just saidon your spring meeting, you
(33:51):
might use the software.
If you're going to do a webinar, you might bring them into the
software.
You have lots of reasons tohave them use the different
technologies you're using.
So when you are on the ultimatehigh-stakes stage of your
annual meeting, that you're notdoing it for the first time and
they're not doing it for thefirst time, and so I think it's
all about just moving everybodyforward to a higher level, and
(34:13):
those would be my tips.
You know, big picture is justbuilding that relationship and
improving everybody's skillsalong the way.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Oh no, no, I can go back and say that I probably I
don't know if I can beat youtalking, but I'll definitely
have a good chance in terms ofthe amount of ranting I can do
on this one.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
Yeah yeah, definitely , let's go for it.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
No, absolutely One of my.
I want to ask you a questionbecause I think we're trying to
educate as much as possible andwe're trying to educate
ourselves as well, and I'velearned a lot from you and one
of my pit-hates is the vagueterminology that people use when
they don't know what you'retalking about.
And as much as you workeverybody says I work in events
what do you do?
Do you do the AV?
(34:58):
And I'll go get back to why AVis wrong what do you do Weddings
?
Do you do broadcast?
Do you do data?
What do you do?
Av, again, is a relativelygeneral term and I'm trying to
form a question in my head.
As in, av is not the magicalone for everything, but people
think that when they go to AV,they would expect anything from
building the stage to setting upthe lights, to designing the
(35:20):
stage, to doing the live stream,to understanding everything and
, on top of that, to be a veryexperienced media person and
understand the engagementoff-site, on site, and maybe the
cameraman can be the MEC aswell.
How do you work with variouspartners to enhance the
specialization that you havewithin the AV?
Speaker 3 (35:39):
Yeah, and I think you can blame some AV companies,
including us at times, for that.
There was pre-pandemic thisperiod where everybody was kind
of like trying to takeeverything under their wing to
be competitive.
So it's like, yeah, I can dothat, I can do that.
Yes, I can do that.
I think the pandemic exposed oh, by the way, I'm not allowed to
(35:59):
use those words, right, it tookme the whole time to catch that
I'm not allowed to use thosewords anymore.
But no, I think we need to.
I'm sorry I lost my point there.
No worries, and we're talkingabout the partners.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
And my idea came because you said about the
partnership that you have withthe end stakeholder.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
Yeah, I think.
Well, if you go to the clientside of things, the end client,
I think it's your duty to getclear about the vendors you're
bringing in, not just assumethat AV means I'm also video
production, I'm also stagedesign, I'm also graphic design
Prestige is a lot of thosethings, by the way.
(36:42):
Toss that out there.
But you want to find out whatsomebody's good at and make sure
that you contract them in theirsweet spot and that may mean
bringing in.
A lot of times we are working.
We have a great lightingdivision, but we do a lot of
events where somebody brings inanother lighting company and
we're fine with that.
If that company can provide abetter outcome in that space,
(37:06):
that's great.
We do a lot of events wheresomebody is creating all the
graphics, creating all the videoand media assets, they're
designing the script.
If that is their expertise andthey understand the client
better in that space, I thinkyou should do that.
But you as a client have to bea strong understanding of all
the different parties and makesure that you can bring them
(37:27):
together in a way that makessense.
I do see a lot of.
I've seen some pretty goodgrowth in the agency space in
the past couple of years, Ithink agencies have found a new
space in the sense that they'vebeen able to be a nice executive
producer of an event and say Iknow Prestige is really good in
the equipment space and thespace.
I know this lighting company, Iknow this video production
(37:50):
company that can bring all theseassets together.
So I think the key is that youget clear about all the
different partners and make surethat they can actually deliver
at the level you need them to.
I'll be honest we don't doplatforms.
I mean I would prefer somebodyto bring the platform with them.
We're great at patching into ahybrid platform.
(38:12):
I can get the content in andout.
I can give you a strong, solidsignals everywhere, but I'm not
going to design platformsanymore.
We've decided that's not ourspace.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
No, it's just fair enough.
That was the instinct at somepoint and it's still kind of the
instinct when you're talkingabout especially like the big
players, like Sievent, thatthey're all in one concept of
you can't be all in one becausethere are so many elements.
When you're talking about ahybrid event, sievent cannot
build stages.
Let's put it like that theymight be good at something, but
they're definitely not good atbuilding stages.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
If you go across the board from that, perspective,
yeah, and I think that one ofthe benefits, I believe, of the
labor shortages and things ofthat nature is that companies
don't have the luxury to dowhat's not in their wheelhouse,
and so I've seen a lot ofcompanies pull back services
that are not ideal for them.
In our space we used to do someinstalls and do permanent
(39:06):
installation in boardrooms smallstuff but we just flat out say
we don't do that anymore, it'snot anything I can support.
I want to stay focused on liveevents.
We don't do much social anymore.
I do a few weddings within someof the venues we serve, but
we're not going to take justrandom business off the street
going weddings.
And so how do you get clearabout your services and I think
(39:30):
that's important too for allthose service providers out
there is.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
It is good to have a niche and be focused on that and
be the expert at it Absolutely,and I think with that it's also
a kind of side note foreveryone who's talking, to
anyone who says they can doeverything.
You can have a red flag, right.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Challenge that and we can challenge the time as we're
talking about red flags.
If you do have any questions,please pop them in now because
we'll try to.
I am trying to wrap up somehowtowards the 45 minutes mark, but
if you do have any questionsand I think you've put the ones
that you've already posted Idon't see all of them because
I'm in London and I have a badinternet.
So that's why I work perfectlywith Morine, because he has a
(40:15):
good internet where he is andyou can see the questions.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Morine's got the virtual hook.
He can just get rid of meanytime you guys are finished,
so I think we all enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
I see we have still a lot of people that hang in
there, so I appreciate you allfor making it to the 45 minute
mark.
At this point, I want to do twothings.
So, indeed, if you have anyquestions, pop them in the chat.
We will have two minutes andthen we have wrapped up.
So be quick.
But you can also just leavethem there, because Brian will
(40:48):
have the possibility to go backto the event, read your comment,
comment to you individually,maybe connect so we'll bug them
and I.
So if you have any questionsand it takes you longer than
those two minutes to type, justdrop them anyway or connect with
either one of us.
We'll be happy to help you out.
Brian, I wanted to give you onelast question.
(41:09):
Oh boy, besides all theinvaluable knowledge you've
already shared today, what wouldyou like to give those
listening as a takeaway fromthis session?
That hammered that down 100%.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Oh boy, going all the way down, that's a good one.
Yeah, I think, if I were tomake one point in the industry
and I think if you're listeningtoday you're already on the
right track which is we nolonger have the luxury, as event
professionals, to be technicalnewbies per se.
Yeah, it's no longer optionalto be average in technology and
(41:50):
events.
Maybe 20 years ago, it wasbetter to know what wine paired
with red meat or fish, but thatis no longer the differentiation
piece.
So if you want to have a long,solid career and events, you're
going to want to become atechnology expert, and so that's
(42:12):
my recommendation to stay intune with people like Marijn
Bogdan.
Continue to learn, continue toevolve your skills and support
that outcome.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
I think that's a powerful takeaway and we are
very much aligned with thatstatement.
And it's good to know thatyou're not alone.
There's a lot of people company, individuals, including
ourselves that are more thanhappy to help you out with that
tech, so you can actually focuson organizing the best possible
event.
I haven't seen any newquestions coming in, so I'd say
(42:46):
let's quickly wrap it up.
Thank you so much for joiningus today, brian.
It has been a pleasure, notjust that we laughed a lot, that
we had a good time, but alsothere was a lot of insights for
the industry, for those that arelistening, that they can
definitely take home and improvetheir events with.
So thank you very much for that.
For those of you who would liketo get in touch with Brian, you
(43:09):
can obviously see him as aspeaker here, but you can also
go to linkedincom.
Slash in slash, brian Monahan,that is M-O-N-A-H, a-h-n.
You'll find me.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
Oh wow, yeah, actually I think it's that I'm
not going to acknowledgeanything right now?
Speaker 2 (43:30):
All right, we'll put it in the chat for you to follow
, brian We'll also put his shownotes.
There's a D-Straig in thisepisode.
Yes, if you can figure it out,let us know in the comments.
We will actually also put themin the show notes.
So if you're listening to thepodcast, you'll find them in the
description, or if you'rewatching on YouTube, you can
find it there as well.
He covers a variety of topics,not just live event tips and AV
(43:56):
insights and valuable knowledge,but he's also known as the
person to go to when you everfeel the need to write a book,
no matter what the topic is.
But if you want to get startedand get started quick and get
that book out there, brian isthe one to go to.
So make sure you take thatmental note as well, because he
(44:17):
has a passion for writing andauthorship and he is a gem in
that.
So make sure to also contacthim for that, I think.
Yeah, we've gone through a lotof the time has flown by, so we
can wrap it up Well.
Thank you all for being here.
Thank you, kristen for beinghere, thank you, salima for
(44:39):
being here.
I think we still have quite afew other people, but for those
of you who are watching, thankyou so much and we're looking
forward to the next one which,before I forget, we have another
guest and that is actuallygoing to be Claire Force J.
We will dive into the sweetspot, balancing emotion,
(44:59):
engagement and technology.
So another interesting topicyou got to invite me on.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
You got to let me in on that show.
I love Claire.
She is awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Claire is absolutely fantastic, so it's undoubtedly
Make sure to join us next week.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Brian, we would love to see you in the comments and
yeah, with that, thank you allso much for being here and
looking forward to the next one.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Thank you, see you next week.
Thank you, brian, very muchBeen a pleasure, absolute
pleasure, happiness.
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