There's huge potential for video to capture and create powerful moments at an event as part of an overall content strategy.
Yet talking with an event organizer who had dispatched a staff member with a video camera to cover the organization's annual event, the results were disappointing. While the organization's event was emotional and transformative for attendees, none of that translated to the event video.
The problem was the staff member with a video camera was dispatched with no clear plan or a content strategy with direction on where to look for strong content creation opportunities.
Left to his own devices (literally and figuratively), the event video was meandering and lacked a strong storyline.
The answer is having a content strategy with a starting outline and plan on where to shoot video. There should also be a basic understanding of how to ferret out and take advantage of impromptu opportunities for great video. With the right video content strategy, a video shooter can capture a plethora of raw video footage suitable for multiple uses, including event marketing, highlight videos, and future content sharing.
Content Strategy and Imagining Where Great Content Will Be at an Event
While every event is going to be different, here’s a list we created for the event organizer mentioned above to help a future video team in imagining where great content will be at an event.
We’re guessing, although it’s generic, this list will work as a starting point for many (most?) events.
Attendees and Groups
- Attendees interacting with one another in new or very active ways.
- Attendees voicing their ideas - whether about the conference content or personally important topics.
- Movement or activity with the entire group or big segments of the group.
- Opportunities to depict the entire attendee group together.
- Reasons from attendees on why others should attend.
Emotional Content
- Attendees having fun or experiencing other emotions during the event.
- Casual and informal interactions.
- Any kids or pets that are at the event.
- Goodbye moments among attendees.
- The most exciting moments during the event you can anticipate.
- Content surprises the attendees don't know about ahead of time.
- Thank yous to attendees for attending.
Planned Content
- Beginnings and endings of significant content sections.
- Content from experienced speakers.
- Content from genuine, less experienced speakers.
- Moments tied to lyrics of songs you're expecting to use with event video.
Behind the Scenes
- Attendees getting to the event.
- Attendees exploring the event space.
- Extracurricular activities, excursions, or site seeing within the event.
- Behind the scenes activities that reveal something about the event's content.
Big Visual Impact
- Shots of dramatic / cool aspects of the event space.
- Instances where dramatic lighting will be used on stage or in other locations.
- People with dramatic motions that don't require words.
That’s our starting event video shooting list. What would you add to it? – Mike Brown
Enjoy this article? Subscribe to the free Brainzooming email updates.
“How strong is my organization’s social media strategy?”
Is your social media implementation working as well as it can? In less than 60 minutes with the new FREE Brainzooming ebook “9 Diagnostics to Check Your Social Strategy,” you’ll have a precise answer to this question.
Any executive can make a thorough yet rapid evaluation of nine different dimensions of their social media strategies with these nine diagnostics. Download Your Free Copy of “9 Diagnostics to Check Your Social Strategy.”
