Live streaming an event: what has to be decided a week before
Most live streams that go wrong on the day were already in trouble a week earlier. The camera fails less often than people think. What actually hurts is a decision nobody made: who is allowed to watch, what the venue internet can really carry, what happens to the online questions, who says the stream can start.
I direct live broadcasts for launches, conferences and hybrid events, and the week before is where I spend the most useful time. Here are the decisions I push for by then, and why each one matters more than it looks.
1. Who is the stream for?
This sounds obvious, but it shapes almost everything else. A stream for three hundred remote staff who could not travel is a different job from a public product launch, and both are different from a board meeting that twelve people will watch on a private link.
- Public: YouTube or LinkedIn, a clean holding slate, and graphics that make sense to someone who arrives halfway through.
- Internal: often Teams, a private video page or a password-protected link. Access has to be tested with a real staff login, not the organiser's.
- Invite only: registration, reminder emails and a named person to handle "the link does not work" messages during the event.
2. What the venue internet can actually do
Venue wifi is shared with every delegate phone in the room, and the figure on the venue information sheet is rarely the figure you get at 10am with the room full. For anything that matters I ask for a wired connection with a known upload speed, and I bring a bonded mobile backup so the stream does not rely on a single line.
A week out, I want to know three things: is there a wired port near where the control desk will sit, who at the venue can be phoned if it stops working, and whether their network blocks streaming traffic by default. Corporate venues sometimes do, and it is much easier to fix on a Tuesday than five minutes before the keynote.
3. The running order, with the awkward bits
A live running order is not the same as the agenda on the website. I need the version with the walk-ons, the videos that play in the room, the moment a speaker switches to a laptop demo, and the break where the stream shows a holding slate instead of an empty stage.
Everything that is not written down in the running order becomes a decision made live, in front of the audience.
This is also when I ask what happens if the schedule slips. Does the stream wait, or cut to a slate with music? Does the last session get shortened? Agreeing that in advance saves a whispered argument at the back of the room.
4. Camera plan and who is on the crew
Live has no edit afterwards, so every angle you want in the stream has to exist on the day and has to be operated or locked off before doors open. For a single speaker, two cameras can work well. For panels, Q&A with the audience or anything with movement on stage, three is the more comfortable number. I have gone through the trade-offs in two cameras or three, and live is where that choice matters most.
The crew follows from the plan. Someone directs and mixes the cameras, someone looks after sound, and ideally someone watches the outgoing stream the whole time.
5. Sound for the room and for the stream
Viewers forgive a soft picture far more readily than bad sound. The stream should take its audio from the venue sound desk, not from a microphone on a camera, and that means talking to the sound engineer before the day. I ask for a clean feed of the stage microphones and a separate feed of any playback videos.
Hybrid events add a second problem. The room needs to hear remote questions, and the stream needs to hear the room without echo or feedback. That loop gets designed a week before and tested in the rehearsal, not discovered when the first remote question comes in.
6. Graphics, slides and what the viewer sees
Lower thirds with names and job titles need spelling checks and approval. Slides need to be in the right aspect ratio, and ideally I get them the day before so they can go into the stream cleanly rather than being filmed off a projector screen. If there are sponsor logos, someone needs to confirm which version and where they appear.
- Names and titles for every speaker, as they want them written
- Final slide decks, or at least the latest versions
- Holding slates for the start, breaks and the end
- Any videos that play in the room, as files
7. Who decides on the day
One person on the client side should be able to say "go", "hold" or "end the stream", and they should be reachable by the director throughout. When that person is also giving a talk, or running between rooms, decisions stall.
8. What happens to the recording
Everything I stream is recorded at full quality at the same time, but it is worth deciding now what happens next. Does the full recording go on a private page for people who missed it? Are the sessions cut into separate videos? Do you want short highlights for LinkedIn the next day? Knowing this in advance changes how I record, and it is the same thinking behind the event and conference filming I do without a stream.
A short checklist for the week before
- Audience and platform agreed, access tested with a real viewer login.
- Venue contact named, wired connection confirmed, backup planned.
- Detailed running order, including breaks, videos and what happens if it runs late.
- Camera positions and crew roles set.
- Sound engineer briefed, clean feed agreed, hybrid audio plan tested.
- Names, slides, logos and holding slates approved.
- One decision-maker on the day, reachable at all times.
- A plan for the recording and any highlights.
None of this needs to be complicated, and a good crew will walk you through it. If you want to see how a full conference day runs once all of this is settled, the anatomy of a multi-camera conference shoot follows one from recce to wrap.
For directed, multi-camera streams, my live broadcast and streaming page explains how I plan and run them. Or tell me about your event and I will send back a list of the decisions that still need making, with a straight price.