Dry run

The day to hold your virtual or hybrid event is getting closer! To avoid possible points of failure when going live, it is crucial to have your admins, room hosts, speakers/presenters and sponsors joining a dry run session, which will simulate the participant's experience on the day of the event.

This rehearsal should occur before the event goes live, helping to prevent and solve issues that the 20 minutes or less that speakers join you on the day of the event doesn’t allow time for. Never assume your public is tech-savvy. Make sure you test internet connection and equipment and identify alternatives and backup plans should things go south.

Technical Dry run

Dry runs where speakers can try the platform and get familiar with all the controls are important for avoiding technical difficulties on the day of the event. Check regarding the type of equipment participants have and test it beforehand. Avoid using the built-in microphone on laptops or webcams. An HD webcam, a LED ring light, and an external microphone will take you a long way.

Pre-event checklists

Make sure to go through our pre-event checklists, which have different steps according to the participant's role in the event:

1. Pre-event checklist for admins

   Have an admin double-check the steps listed on the Pre-event checklist for admins, ensuring everything is set according to your needs.

2. Pre-event checklist for participants on camera

   Ensure that all participants have checked our Pre-event checklist for participants on camera and are comfortable getting around the platform.

Logistical Dry run

The logistical dry run should feel as close as possible to what will happen on the day of the event, following its format and chronological order and having them rehearsing the exact order things will happen when going live.

These dry runs will help you keep sessions more coherent and timed to fit their allotted slots, making your presenters more comfortable and confident on the day of the event.

Backup Plans

Prepare backup plans in case of video malfunction, loss of connection to the internet, or other scenarios that may arise while presenting. Speakers must understand what eventuality could happen when streaming live and have a backup plan to keep activities on track.

Create and share with your team a plan to cover for:

1. A last-minute speaker dropout: Have a backup speaker or pre-recorded content ready to go.
2. The internet crashing on your speaker's end: Have a backup internet connection, a backup speaker, or even a pre-recorded video on hand. After their internet connection is restored, redo the System Check on your speaker's end.
3. A computer crash on the host's end: Have a backup host assigned, pre-recorded content, or even a backup device.
4. If you are facing issues starting a live stream or if the live stream is buffering: Try using our low and super-low latency options. Just be aware that you should not switch the room video latency during a live session. You must stop and restart the streaming.
5. Attendees from certain regions not being able to access the event: If your audience includes attendees from China, we highly recommend enabling the Native websockets.
6. Speakers using a different device from the one used on the dry run: Redo steps 1 to 5 of the General Checklist.
7. Presenters in a different internet connection from the one used on the dry run: Check for VPNs/Firewalls and redo System Check on presenter's end.

Tips for running your Virtual or Hybrid Event

• Questions: sometimes, audience members can take some warm-up before asking questions to your speakers. Prepare a few questions they are comfortable answering in case they need to get the ball rolling. These questions may inspire the audience and help them to ask their own questions. To learn more about asking questions in your live sessions, please click here.
• Player idle image: have a customized player idle image ready to be uploaded to your Virtual Lobby to communicate with your attendees in case of an outage. To know more about customizing the player idle images, check this article.
• Backup pre-recorded content: plan pre-recorded content to play during an outage will ensure that attendees still have content available and provide additional time to correct the situation. To know more about pre-recorded content, please click here.
• Push notifications: Notifying attendees in case of an outage is of great importance. They will first consider that they are the only ones affected and will often try to correct the issue on their end. A push notification sent will ensure that they don't navigate away from your session trying to self-correct the issue. To learn more about push notifications, please click here.