It is more important than ever for the events industry to stay connected to not only clients, but also speakers and talent, so as COVID-19 restrictions on live events are reduced, producers are charged with new ways to entertain and engage. We recently collaborated with ODE Management to deliver the Global Speaker Showcase Reboot! for the first time online. The solution utilised Encore's latest hybrid event technology to reach a global audience with presentations produced live from their Sydney and Melbourne streaming studios as well as other global locations. The production team enabled online viewers to watch presentations just as they would in the live environment and seamlessly switched between each of the virtual speakers located around the world. Key to this was supporting the MC with precise instructions and second-perfect production. The green screen was used to show beautiful, unique virtual backdrops and also content for the speakers presentations creating a dynamic virtual stage for the event. The solutions enabled ODE Management to provide a platform for their international speakers to send a message of hope and forward planning to a global audience. The multiple studio solution allowed the MC to introduce speakers from either location seamlessly as if they were all on the same stage. ODE Management created a network of speaker bureaus and national associations, providing the event a truly global audience. Over 2,000 online viewers from more than 50 countries tuned in during the three day program. Viewers watched 12 globally renowned presenters, including James O’Loghlin, Keith Ferrazzi and Yossi Ghinsberg who presented from a yurt in Tel Aviv. Each speaker provided an energetic 15 minute talk delivering a highly engaging 2 hour session over each of the three days. The event’s theme Reboot! conveyed the message that listening to thought leaders, disrupters and futurists is now more important than ever. Their motivating presentations encouraged viewers to strive for greatness and face the challenges posed by COVID-19. The event was a major success in terms of attendee numbers, seamless connection with live presenters around the world and requests from hundreds of viewers for more information. Leanne Christie, founder of ODE was delighted with the result commenting, “Encore was the perfect partner to produce Reboot! They had the expertise, the resources and creativity not only to deliver a live, global broadcast, but also with humour and a level of calm professionalism that kept each speaker confident they could simply focus on what they do best, deliver inspiring content. I am truly proud of this collaboration and know it will be a successful partnership for years to come.” Encore’s National Sales Director, Michael Magafa was equally pleased with the team’s efforts to ensure the event was delivered seamlessly around the world. “The team did a fantastic job of delivering an engaging an entertaining hybrid event online. There were many live elements and they ensured that each segment connected perfectly. The team created an event design with a focus of providing inspiration to the audience, even though they were not able to be in the room.” Click here to watch the presentations. ... Read More

Encore is taking the guess work out of how your event will look as we return to live events with event rendering software. Right now everything is uncertain. It feels like uncertainty has become the new norm, especially for the events industry which has been struck with the full force of COVID-19’s might. As restrictions ease and confidence grows, we’re seeing more businesses returning back to normal, albeit slowly. But one of the biggest question marks is what does that look like for events? With social distancing measures in place, capacity limitations, strict new hygiene measures and all sorts of tracing and detection devices being rolled out there’s a lot of unknowns for how events are supposed to look or run. Well, what if we said there’s a way to see what your event will look like, down to the colour of your napkins? Enter, 3D rendering. At Encore, we’ve found our clients have benefited from seeing a life-like render of how their event will look, giving them confidence and reassurance that still with COVID measures in place, the event will achieve its goals and ROI. >> These sound great, I want to find out more! 3D Render of Small Hybrid Boardroom Meeting with Social Distancing Applied. What is 3D rendering for events? 3D rendering is the process of using graphics software to convert 3D models into 2D images on a computer. 3D renders may include photorealistic effects or non-photorealistic styles. Thanks to advances in technology and hours of practice, 3D renders can be highly detailed including textures, styling elements such as florals, lighting hues and even include a variety of people in action. What events can be pre-visualised using rendering software? Renders are predominantly used to pre-visualise larger and more complex events with special concepts. These of course can be any type of event. From conferences to boardroom meetings, award nights and even large scale tradeshows - Encore’s in-house design team have developed an expertise for creating realistic event renders. In fact, we’ve even taken it further to create 3D rendered videos which we fondly call ‘fly-throughs’. As the name suggests, these videos give viewers the perspective as if they’re 'flying' through the space which we can set the height level. It’s incredible to see the level of detail captured in the renders and allows the event planners to navigate around the room and explore the event design from every angle. Fly-through 3D render of a corporate event with MeetSAFE guidelines applied to cabaret seating. “When we have a large event with lots of elements or a concept that needs visualisation, our 3D renders help explain our vision. During the design process they allow me to really investigate how different elements will fit into the event landscape. I can move elements around, look at it from every angle, try different colour combinations and work through all the possibilities that my imagination can dream up,” Encore’s Lead Designer, Georgia. View renders via a 360 Degree Virtual Tour Similar to how property inspections are allowing virtual tours, we can even stitch together still images of the renders so you can enjoy a 360 tour of the event or venue. We’ve found these 360 Virtual Tours offer a lot of benefits over the video ‘fly-throughs’ as they offer a level of interaction and we can load several options of renders to choose from with seating styles, lighting options, as well as different parts or stages of the event. As they’re accessible via a link, they’re also easily shareable without the need to download huge files to view. On the upper left-hand side of the screen, we can load several options for you to experience in 360 degree. Here's an example of a 360 Degree Virtual Tour of a Conference we mocked up. Click here to experience the 360 Virtual Tour Online Visualising social distancing for events with rendering software and our MeetSAFE guidelines Encore lead the way in the return to live events by producing MeetSAFE, a comprehensive set of guidelines which addressed the restrictions regarding social distancing and healthy work practices to ensure event attendees are safe. These guidelines were provided to our venue partners to give them the confidence that events at their venue will be delivered to the highest safety standards. Depending on the event’s concept or requirements, our teams can produce a rendered image or even a 3D video of how the stage, seating, distancing and directional flow will look while complying to the guidelines. 3D Render of conference with theatre style seating showing application of MeetSAFE's traffic flow and social distancing guidelines. For a large conference for example, we have the ability to create a render showing sufficient social distancing in place when seating is arranged theatre style. Our teams can even render a conference split into multiple breakout rooms with live streamed presentations to ensure all of the intended audience can view via multiple locations. For a gala dinner with several elements or a really unique stage look, our teams can help the event planner visualise the event via an illustration of the floor plan layout with adequate distancing, guests per table and how the directional flow of the room will work. When the concept is complex, we found event planners gained peace of mind from these guidelines and practices, but benefited even more with the knowledge of how their event would look with the safe practices in place. This can be a great selling tool for when event planners need to showcase their event vision to clients or managers who need a little more help visualising the idea. Our venue partners also benefited in that they could be confident in how the practices would work at their venue and that the Encore team could deliver seamless, safe events at any event space in their hotel. Help deciding on the perfect venue Only 16-percent of event planners say they’re “extremely certain” of their venue when they begin the planning process, according to the latest Global Planner Sourcing Report from Cvent. This stat means the vast majority of planners face a time-consuming process of evaluating proposals and visiting venues for fly-throughs. In this new COVID world, this can be time-consuming task. Encore has been busy working towards creating an entire library of content of our venue partner spaces including floor pans, renders and fly-throughs, and even 360 photos. This allows event planners to explore and review numerous venues from the comfort of their office. Whilst pre-visualisation content will never replace actually seeing and experiencing the space in person, they are the next best thing. 3D render fly-through showing social distancing applied to small hybrid boardroom style meeting. Experts in 3D event rendering images and videos As we return to in-person and hybrid events, event planners may find it difficult to visualise how their event will look. The new normal means reduced numbers of attendees, physical distancing, directional instructions for moving around a room and many other measures. Rather than tell you our idea, let us show you. Encore has been perfecting our event rendering techniques over the past few years and have come to master the creation of rendered images as well as ‘fly-throughs’. Visit our event rendering page to register your interest and find out more. ... Read More

Despite many events being cancelled due to COVID19 restrictions, this year’s coveted Jean for Genes Gala powered on with Encore Event Technologies taking the fundraiser purely online on Saturday 20th June. The challenge for the Encore team was delivering an event that lived up to its fun and glamorous reputation whilst also facilitating interaction for the purpose of raising funds with hundreds of guests of Children’s Medical Research Institute. Encore hosted the event from our broadcasting studio in Sydney. The technical teams built a custom stage set with an LED wall, feature lighting and leveraged their green screen to create different set looks to enhance presentations as well as the performances by soloist Ace Avenue and the four-piece band Jellybean Jam. The green screen displayed multimedia themed to the event showing DNA graphics and the event’s signature denim. The virtual fundraising event was delivered via Encore Connect, a live video conferencing solution, which enabled viewers to watch the various live presentations, speakers and performances. The platform also enabled live streaming of videos from families affected by childhood genetic diseases who are at the heart of the charity’s research and the Jeans for Genes campaign. Pre-recorded videos highlighting the Institute’s work were also incorporated as well as a fun cocktail-making recipe in the theme of the night. The variety show style event also included live Q&A sessions with the organisation’s families as well as research leaders from the Institute. Children’s Medical Research Institute’s Acting Head of Fundraising Jane Ruston said the charity’s scientists were known for their ability to adapt and innovate so it was vital that the rest of the team did the same. “As well as being a fundraising event, the Jeans for Genes Gala is a way for our CMRI community of supporters across Australia to connect with our scientists and hear about their incredible research, as well as an opportunity to meet the families whose children live with genetic disease every day and to understand why their support is so vital. “We were so grateful that Encore were able to connect all CMRI community so that they could feel safe, comfortable and confident that our work would continue in such challenging times. “All our supporters commented on what a fantastic night it was and that’s because of the hard work that was done behind-the-scenes by the Encore team.’’ Encore’s National Sales Director, Michael Magafa was delighted with the team’s efforts to ensure the important fundraiser could still continue and commented, “The team did a fantastic job of creating an engaging and entertaining event online. There were many live and recorded elements and they ensured that each element was delivered seamlessly. The LED screen created a live performance feel you’d experience at a live concert.” The event raised more than $70,000 for children’s medical research. Find out more about our virtual and hybrid event solutions Encore has released a complete virtual suite of new products and solutions to help you deliver successful virtual and hybrid events. From video conferencing for boardroom meetings, to polished webinars and totally customised webcasts - we can tailor our solution to meet your audience size, budget and complexities. Explore our range of solutions today. ... Read More

A virtual event is any organised meet-up that takes place online rather than in a physical location. These events can range from small meeting to a large-scale conference with thousands of attendees. There can be a plethora of ways to take your event online and there can be a number of pitfalls which you can fall into. We’ve developed this overview of tips, tricks and technologies for delivering your online event successfully. Start with a plan As with any event, your plan is vital for success. Start by asking yourself some key questions: Will the event be live, on-demand, or both? Will access be gated or free? When is the best time for the event? Will I require event registration? How will you promote the event and when will you start? Do you require attendee engagement, two-way communication or polling? Where will the event be filmed, in a production studio? Will there be remote presenters? Are they local? What time zone are they in? Do you plan to work with a sponsor or other partner? Do you want people still have access to a recording of the event once it’s over? What analytics and data do you want to track? Choose the date and time carefully Picking the right date and time for your event is important, particularly if you’re hosting it live. Before sending out your invitations make sure the date doesn’t clash with public holidays, if attendees are likely to be international find a time that will enable them to come that’s not in the middle of the night or on a weekend. For global events where it’s not possible to find a time to suit everyone, make sure the content is available after the event for those who couldn’t make it. Many virtual and hybrid solutions from basic video conferencing to webinars and professional webcasts have recording capabilities. Remember, if you’re hosting a smaller virtual event or one where attendees may participate n the discussion it’s best practice to notify everyone that you’re recording the session. If you want more tips on hosting a virtual event read our article Top 10 Tips For Effective Video Conferencing. Have a professional design for your virtual website and communications If you want your event to be perceived as professional, it needs to look professional and provide a good user experience. This includes everything from the registration page, payment page (and process), content pages, presenter bio pages and graphics. Most streaming platforms offer customisation and branding such as logos and brand colours as well as sponsorship exposure opportunities. Encore’s webcast solution delivers a complete branded experience online that can look as an extension of your brand or totally customised to suit your event. Promote the event Obviously you need to let people know the event is happening, but the way you promote it is key to getting people to register or purchase tickets. Why should they attend? Who’s speaking? What will they learn? Make sure the benefits and ROI are clear during your promotions. Share the event details by email, advertisements and social media. Choose your media carefully to make sure you reach your audience. If you’re working with an event partner or sponsor, ask them to promote the event too and ask presenters to promote the event via their channels. The more noise you make collectively, the more people you’ll reach. Carefully plan a timetable for your communications and ramp it up as you near the event date, most registrations and sales happen closer to the deadline. Word of mouth provides a great opportunity to grow your audience. Offer last year’s attendees a promotional offer if they bring a colleague. Other promotional offers include early-bird rates and special prices for group bookings. Drive revenue with sponsorship As your audience potential grows exponentially now that time and distance are redundant, your event with its millions of eyeballs, can become a very attractive sponsorship opportunity to the right brand. Sponsorship can be an efficient revenue stream to further increase the ROI of your event. Sponsorship has other benefits too, such as building positive associations with companies that share your values or purely providing your audience with the entertainment factor as sponsors get creative with their valuable placements. We all watch the Superbowl for the ads right? A key benefit to online sponsorship over traditional sponsorship like physical banners and event announcements is the opportunity to demonstrate the benefit to your sponsor via digital data reporting. Other sponsorship deals also allow you to share the customer data with them such as registration details for their own marketing purposes. From branded elements on the event’s website to in-stream callouts and segments and digital swag bags, we’ve shared 10 virtual event sponsorship tactics to help drive revenue. Guard against technical issues There’s nothing worse than after all your hard work viewers can’t get access, see a buffering window, glitchy audio, sites crash or registrations max out. Choose a reputable event technology company with lots of experience delivering the kind of event you need. Make sure they’re there in the lead up to the event and on the day to make sure everyone runs smoothly and any technical difficulties resolved quickly. Adequate band width is important for your remote presenters, in your studio and for attendees. There may be nothing you can do if online viewer internet is poor, but if they have paid to attend a live event and can’t it’s good to have a record as back up which they can watch when they have better internet access. If possible, run a rehearsal. Make sure switching between presenters, slides videos etc. is seamless. Encore’s range of virtual solutions provides virtual stage management to ensure each speaker’s presentation is optimised and helps direct the overall flow of the virtual event. Interactivity and engagement Activities that allow your attendees to get involved are powerful. They increase learning, recall of your content and increase attention and are likely to keep them coming back if the experience was positive. There are many ways you can achieve this. Q&As are a great way to involve your viewers and they have the added benefit f enabling your to cover content that attendees really want to know about. Live polling is another great way to get attendees engaged and also be part of the event, they can vote and even post questions, plus the results of polls and surveys can be shown live on screen to generate further discussion. Our Chime Live streaming app is feature-rich and designed to keep engagement levels during a virtual or hybrid event. Measure all available analytics Measuring your event serves a number of benefits. You can demonstrate return on investment to stakeholders and sponsors to show how many viewers attended, how many more viewers attended on last year, how long they watched for, which sessions they watch, how much exposure they got, etc. It’s obviously great for sponsors to show exposure to their brand, clicks to their site and so on. There are so many valuable insights available from online event data, including number of people opening and clicking on your email, how many people who went to the site for more info actually registered, how users came to your site – email versus social media, partner promotions etc.. Follow-up survey You won’t know what your online audiences experience was of your event unless you ask! A post-event survey I a great way to get feedback on your event, find out if they had technical issues on the day or during registration. You can use longer comments as promotional tools for next year’s event as testimonials on your website and communications. You can increase the number of replies by offering a prize this might be an industry book through to a more premium gift such as a night in a five star hotel. The responses from your survey are another great way to demonstrate return on investment to your stakeholders with data such as 95% of responders said they were delighted with the event, would recommend the event to a colleague, would attend next year. Partner with the experts in virtual events There are many different pathways to a successful online event. However, they all start with taking that first step. Encore has helped hundreds of brands deliver successful virtual and hybrid events, as well as helping brands pivot virtually. We’ve developed a broad range of online solutions to cater to varying event requirements from video conferencing for remote boardroom meetings, to interactive webinars, online content repository for large multi-day tradeshows as well as ‘all the bells and whistles’ webcast. Most importantly, when you partner with Encore you can enjoy the peace of mind your event is in expert hands who’ll provide planning guidance, show day production and virtual stage management to ensure everything runs seamlessly. Successful events all start with a conversation so let’s have one today – get in touch by sending an online enquiry. ... Read More

Despite lacking face-to-face interaction, online events can significantly increase your attendance and in CEDA (WA)’s case by a staggering 182%*. Before the COVID19 pandemic, long term client CEDA hosted regular monthly networking events at Pan Pacific Perth for approximately 200 members. March’s Cybercrime event was to be the usual pre-COVID production with all speakers and attendees in room, a stage, sponsor branding, lighting and AV. However, faced with a ban on live events, CEDA turned to Encore for a solution to help keep the event running as close to planned for speakers and attendees. The solution was simple, Encore would set up a studio and use Encore Connect to facilitate an interactive live stream of the seven presenters from the venue at Pan Pacific Perth to the 200 members. With less than 24hrs to go, the event had to go fully online due to increased restrictions. Encore responded swiftly setting up dedicated rehearsals with all speakers to ensure audio and vision was optimised and speakers were confident to use the live streaming platform from the comfort of their own homes. Encore customised the live stream design to ensure branding and sponsor recognition was achieved via a virtual background for the speakers featuring a watermark of the CEDA logo as well as the event’s sponsor, Edith Cowan University’s, logo on the live stream webpage. During the hour-long discussion, attendees were able to ask questions using the Q&A portal which the speakers would access and respond accordingly throughout. Encore recorded 565 viewers attended the online event with an average view rate of 76% (46 minutes). The live streamed event using Encore Connect was such a success, CEDA have launched a series of interactive live stream events to run alongside their face-to-face events once they’re allowed to take place again. “We loved working with Encore to deliver our Cybercrime interactive live stream - It is always such a pleasure working with the Encore team. They are dedicated, knowledgeable and professional. Thank you.” Rosie Fares, Events Coordinator, CEDA Encore’s Event Staging Manager responsible for delivering the event at Pan Pacific Perth said, “As Event Professionals, we are accustomed to things altering last minute and having to revert to plan B and sometimes even plan C, D or E! CEDA’s cyber crime event was a perfect example of this exact scenario. The Encore team pulled together to make certain the clients expectations were met in the tight time frame. Our aim is always to relieve the client of the stress that comes with the dynamic nature of events so that they can focus on what they need to do and allow Encore to ensure a seamless delivery.” FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ENCORE CONNECT *Based on average attendance numbers. ... Read More

Encore has announced the introduction of MeetSAFE, a set of guidelines to help the live event industry safely adapt to the changing landscape for meetings and events. MeetSAFE was developed by PSAV and Encore’s Family of Companies in response to evolving customer needs. As the world begins to reopen from COVID-19 shutdown, Encore will be working with clients and venue partners to implement the guidelines to safely and responsibly host events. Designed to inspire trust and confidence, the set of tools is focused on redesigning events to successfully deliver on the strategic goals of the meeting while defining new guidelines to minimise risk and promote health. Doing so safely, will be the first priority of all planning activities as the ability to conduct in-person meetings will be dependent on making people feel safe in any setting. “Our industry has more to consider when planning live events in the future. While there has been an explosion of virtual events due to today’s environment, we know there will be a time when both hybrid and fully live meetings will return,” said Ben Erwin, President of PSAV. “People feel a strong desire for face-to-face interactions, so we wanted to be proactive and offer guidance on how they can ensure important live meetings and events are productive, but also safe at the same time.” The MeetSAFE guidelines were developed with four key areas of focus in mind: event design, room layout / traffic flow, technology enhancements, and cleaning guidelines. With input from venue partners, event planners and leading industry associations, the new guidelines include a series of meeting formats, technology solutions, and other recommendations that outline paths around how the event industry could re-open during the early phases of recovery. “The Events Industry Council applauds PSAV for its leadership through this effort to provide relevant guidance and tools to industry professionals,” commented Amy Calvert, CEO of the Events Industry Council. “We are encouraged and inspired by the work we are seeing in all segments and regions to address today’s challenge and adapt for the future. The APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force is focused on curating and sharing accepted practices across the global events ecosystem and will include this tool in that work.” The MeetSAFE guidelines were created in alignment with the hotel industry’s own safety and health guidelines and will be critical in preparing venues to safely host events as the economy reopens. ... Read More

Learn how CEDA pivoted and boosted attendance by 182%* Despite lacking face-to-face interaction, online events can significantly increase your attendance and in CEDA (WA)’s case by a staggering 182%*. Before the COVID19 pandemic, long term client CEDA hosted regular monthly networking events at Pan Pacific Perth for approximately 200 members. March’s Cybercrime event was to be the usual pre-COVID production with all speakers and attendees in room, a stage, sponsor branding, lighting and AV. However, faced with a ban on live events, CEDA turned to Encore for a solution to help keep the event running as close to planned for speakers and attendees. The solution was simple, Encore would set up a studio and use Encore Connect to facilitate an interactive live stream of the seven presenters from the venue at Pan Pacific Perth to the 200 members. With less than 24hrs to go, the event had to go fully online due to increased restrictions. Encore responded swiftly setting up dedicated rehearsals with all speakers to ensure audio and vision was optimised and speakers were confident to use the live streaming platform from the comfort of their own homes. Encore customised the live stream design to ensure branding and sponsor recognition was achieved via a virtual background for the speakers featuring a watermark of the CEDA logo as well as the event’s sponsor, Edith Cowan University’s, logo on the live stream webpage. During the hour-long discussion, attendees were able to ask questions using the Q&A portal which the speakers would access and respond accordingly throughout. Encore recorded 565 viewers attended the online event with an average view rate of 76% (46 minutes). The live streamed event using Encore Connect was such a success, CEDA have launched a series of interactive live stream events to run alongside their face-to-face events once they’re allowed to take place again. “We loved working with Encore to deliver our Cybercrime interactive live stream - It is always such a pleasure working with the Encore team. They are dedicated, knowledgeable and professional. Thank you.” Rosie Fares, Events Coordinator, CEDA Encore’s Event Staging Manager responsible for delivering the event at Pan Pacific Perth said, “As Event Professionals, we are accustomed to things altering last minute and having to revert to plan B and sometimes even plan C, D or E! CEDA’s cyber crime event was a perfect example of this exact scenario. The Encore team pulled together to make certain the clients expectations were met in the tight time frame. Our aim is always to relieve the client of the stress that comes with the dynamic nature of events so that they can focus on what they need to do and allow Encore to ensure a seamless delivery.” Find out more about Encore Connect *Based on average attendance numbers. UX Australia goes from onsite to online in 24 hours In a matter of weeks, the country’s restrictions on gatherings tightened from 500 to 100 to 10, then down to merely 2. Imagine if your event was scheduled to run during the height of these changes with the landscape changing dramatically every 24 hours? This was the reality for Event Manager, Annabelle Robb, from UX Australia. UX Australia planned to run a multi-day conference highlighting the work of various designers called Design Research at Pan Pacific Melbourne. The initial brief to Encore was very straight forward with approximately 120 attendees in the room and 20 speakers presenting their work onstage as normal with recording of the event for future use. In the week leading up to the event, the brief seemed to change every day as Encore and UX Australia responded to new travel and gathering restrictions. Within 7 days the event went from a typical in-room event, to a hybrid event with some speakers presenting via live stream to an entirely online event with only the MC and the Event Manager attending in person. Just 24 hours before the event, Encore helped UX Australia pivot online using Encore Connect which allowed for multiple presenters, live Q&A with two-way communication between the speaker and attendees as well as live captioning provided by CaptionsLive. “The Encore Team at Pan Pacific Melbourne were incredible at helping to turn our in-person conference to an online event in 24 hrs. The Encore team were incredibly helpful and motivated at getting the job done. All my questions were answered, they filled in the blanks, and were incredibly accommodating. Our 3 AV Techs on the day were also wonderful, incredibly friendly, helpful and resourceful. They fixed problems before they were even problems, and ensured our event ran smoothly, offering additional help & support post-event.” Annabelle Robb, Event Manager, UX Australia. Find out more about our Virtual Solutions How The Playford Adelaide turned 14 days in quarantine into one of the best hotel experiences guests have had With over 300 returning travellers on their way to mandatory isolation, Encore and hotel staff at The Playford Adelaide MGallery by Sofitel quickly devised a creative solution to keep their guests entertained, fit and relaxed. What originally started out as a simple idea to host a 1 hour trivia with guests, turned into a full blown TV station with constant content in a matter of hours. When presented with the trivia, the Encore team took a simple question and went completely lateral with a solution.Within 24 hours, the quiz had evolved into a dedicated TV station that would run daily from 10am until 5pm broadcasting everything from live cooking demonstrations with a Playford chef to yoga, infant sensory sessions and magic shows. The challenge was how to allow for 2-way communication with all of the guests. The solution was a private Facebook group which every guest was invited to attend. It was a fantastic platform that connected these strangers who were all experiencing the same situation. The group also allowed the hotel to quickly respond and address any guest feedback. “The concept snowballed from simply wanting to run a quiz, and with great community support we are now able to facilitate physical, intellectual, emotional and social wellbeing activities,” said Melanie Leyn, Director of Sales and Marketing at The Playford Adelaide. One guest even ran a Zumba class from their room, while hotel staff became presenters, comedians and musicians. “One of the front desk team members became a pseudo travel show presenter filming a tour of Adelaide’s iconic places and landmarks,” said Leyn. “Considering some of the guests haven’t had a chance to even see the city this was the next best thing.” Behind the scenes, the team at Encore Event Technologies were involved in the streaming of live content, recorded within the hotel. Other segments were pre-recorded and edited on site by Encore. Encore’s in-house Event Staging Manager said, “It was a great example of the Aussie spirit thriving at the hotel with everyone pitching in - from hotel staff and friends, to local fitness businesses, musicians and more, everyone contributed to the initiative. “It was through Playford’s support that we were able to open new avenues to improve hotel room quarantine for their guests. After a few interstate hotels called to see what we were doing, we feel we have redefined the quarantine guest standard offering, especially from a health and wellbeing point of view. When developing the Playford TV and the associated Facebook group, our team focused on providing content to help people remain engaged with life while in isolation.” It’s clear this considered approach to content resonated with guests who posted messages of gratitude on the Facebook group. “We’ve been blown away by the messages of appreciation from guests on the Facebook group about their experience at the hotel...It was so gratifying being able to change what was expected to be a negative experience into something positive which they’ve said they’ll cherish forever.” said Leyn. “The team at Playford have turned the most dreadful time into the most fun, peaceful, relaxed quarantine.” “…your kindness and interest in keeping us sane was the most touching and reassuring. You treat us like humans and I am glad to have landed here.” “Thank you for making us feel home, I don’t feel like going to mine now.” The 14-day quarantine stay culminated in a live concert in the hotel, which was streamed via Facebook on 4 May with guests checking out the next morning. Guests gathered on their balconies cheering and dancing to the music, ending their stay on a positive note. With the TV station a resounding success be sure to stay tuned for more Playford TV. ... Read More

10 tactics you can do now to make money from your online events. As the COVID19 pandemic tightens her grip on the world, event planners are turning to online events to continue delivering their message. Many have made great progress with understanding the opportunities hosting an event online can provide with a significant reduction in costs being the obvious one. Some more experienced online event planners have taken it a step further and are charging for access to their content further increasing the cost margin. As your audience potential grows exponentially now that time and distance are redundant, your event with its millions of eyeballs can become a very attractive sponsorship opportunity to the right brand. Sponsorship can be an efficient revenue stream to further increase the ROI of your event. Sponsorship has other benefits too, such as building positive associations with companies that share your values or purely providing your audience with the entertainment factor as sponsors get creative with their valuable placements. We all watch the Superbowl for the ads right? A key benefit to online sponsorship over traditional sponsorship like physical banners and event announcements is the opportunity to demonstrate the benefit to your sponsor via digital data reporting. Other sponsorship deals also allow you to share the customer data with them such as registration details for their own marketing purposes. Simply put – the ROI for digital sponsorship is easy to track and can provide more lucrative opportunities over traditional sponsorship. What can you offer a sponsor? Start with looking at your assets to see what spaces can be utilised. Remember your audience experience is the most important factor so only if the sponsor fit is natural, don’t try to cram in sponsor placements as it’ll only detract from their effect and make the online experience way too salesy if not spammy. A tiered approach can help here with the most expensive sponsorship options getting the most real estate and then so on, but remember to limit the number to only a handful at most. The number will depend on your event – the audience size, type, and duration. We’ve compiled 10 online sponsorship tactics that you can use to drive revenue today, plus deliver other positive outcomes such as engagement, ROI analysis, relationship building and more. 1. Banner ads on your online event site or event app If you’re streaming your event or offering on-demand it’s a great opportunity to drive revenue by offering banner ads which link to sponsor sites. It’s a great way to offer branding opportunities for sponsors as well as associate your online event with industry associations or businesses associated with the event content. You can provide your sponsor with helpful ROI metrics like number of impressions, time spent on page, unique visitors, click-throughs, audience demographics and more. Your presenters may also like to utilise this option to promote their business. Other options include offering sponsorship opportunities to suppliers in exchange for a discount on their services. There may be multiple opportunities on your event site such as your registration page. This is great real estate as every attendee needs to go to this page. Plus, depending on your sponsorship deal you can negotiate to share the details of your registrants with the sponsor. Remember here you’ll need to clearly state in your Terms and Conditions how you’ll be using their data to ensure you’re abiding by privacy laws. The last thing you want to do is risk a negative experience with your audience for the sake of a sponsor. Event apps are now common place at live events, and they can also be a great tool to engage remote attendees. Apps are convenient solutions for providing instant access to information about events, sessions, presenters etc., plus sponsorship opportunities such as banner ads, pop-ups, sponsored messages or logos on different screens. There may be multiple opportunities for sponsorship and advertising on your event app. As these apps normally have multiple screens/pages, there are multiple opportunities for sponsorship. Speak to your event app provider to explore what sponsorship options you have. As with banner ads, event planners can demonstrate ROI with your sponsors by providing analytics as mentioned above. 2. Sponsored video ads In addition to banner ads, event organisers can offer sponsors the opportunity to show videos. If relevant, you can show these in between presentations, before a breakout session or before a session starts like a YouTube Pre Roll. Again, the ROI can all be demonstrated via analytics. Videos can be embedded in your event website, on an event app or even within your event comms such as at the bottom of an eDM. 3. Branding on presentation slides or the ‘skin’ of your live stream Another option for sponsor branding is to include the company’s logo as part of the border of your event website’s ‘skin’ – also known as the template. An example would be to include their logo or message in the header or footer of the live stream website skin such as “This presentation is in partnership with Company X”. 4. Sponsored Media Walls as Virtual Background With all eyes on your video, the background behind your presenters is a simple and subtle yet highly effective way to integrate sponsorship. Think of it like a virtual media wall and you can give your sponsors the option to design the background based on their message such as a repetitive watermarked logo or something entirely different. If you have multiple speakers you could even offer different speaker backgrounds to different sponsors based on their content. Again you could provide the sponsor with the number of viewers, impressions, time engaged and more as data to measure ROI. 5. Sponsor call outs or segments in your stream ‘This conference is proudly brought to you by….’. It’s one of the most obvious sponsor placements and if included at the beginning of the event video, you can guarantee as least 90% of attendees will hear it based on average video viewership data. You could couple the announcement with a logo that appears on screen and a script provided by the sponsor, similar to a radio read. If your sponsors wanted to get more creative you could let them sponsor the networking element, ice breaker or break out session. For example, Lipton Ice Tea could sponsor the initial ice breaker intro where you get attendees or speakers to introduce themselves and answer some fun questions to warm up the crowd. You could get Wriggly gum to sponsor yoga break session - after you’ve had attendees watching a 2 hour session, they’re sure to get restless and start to wriggle. There’s so many possibilities on fun ways to naturally integrate a sponsor and make it enjoyable for your attendees too. 6. Branded sponsor polls Similar to the creative sponsor integrations, you can offer branded sponsor polls throughout your online event. One of Encore’s most popular digital tools is Event Poll – a live audience polling platform that lets you ask questions and your attendees respond in real-time using their mobile phone or computer. With over 10 question formats you can use it to stimulate discussion, vote, ideation, survey, trivia, Q&A and feedback. Whether you integrate the sponsor into the question, into the question template design or host a sponsored poll the options are endless. For example, a sponsor could host an online trivia with a prize as a nice breakout session. You could offer a branded skin for your event’s Q & A segment so when attendees submit their question, it gets displayed on screen on the sponsored Q & A. 7. Sponsorship in Email Placements If you are sending email invitations, event updates or other communications, you can offer sponsors the opportunity to include their logo or banner creative in the footer of the email. This would also link through to their site or a campaign page. You can provide them with data such as recipient numbers, open rate, click rate and more. Being digital you also have the option to offer sponsors the ability to test their creative or messaging by sending to a small segment f the database with the winning creative (base on clicks) sent to the wider audience. It is more legwork for the event organiser but depending on the sponsor’s spend it could be a nice value add and incentive to help improve their ROI. 8. Promotion via event social media In the lead up to the event, you can offer the opportunity to promote sponsors via your social channels. Be sure that the posts are relevant to your audience, for example: We’re proud to partner with Company X as part of our event. During our presentations you’ll hear from their CEO on [insert subject]. Then include a link to their site. As with social media you can give them the opportunity to post a video, a link to their site or campaign or static images. Be sure to ask sponsors to include posts on the event on their socials too to spread the word. 9. Keynote presentations Sponsorship of your keynote presentations is a great opportunity as all attendees will be focused on this session. For example ‘This presentation is brought to you by Company X’. 10. Offer sponsored Virtual Event Bags Not only is this sustainable, a virtual swag bag is also a great way to surprise and delight attendees whilst giving sponsors great exposure. You can give your sponsors the opportunity to curate what goes into attendees' swag bags, be it coupons or vouchers, a free trial for a software, or an online course. The bag would then be shared directly with your attendees for them to access via email, social media, or the event app, either before, during, or following the event. A virtual swag bag also provides reporting data such as how many people accessed it and how they interacted with the items in the bag, which you can share with sponsors and use to help inform what materials attendees found most valuable. Provide value with your virtual event sponsorship Digital sponsorships are nothing new, they're just usually implemented in conjunction with other, physical branding opportunities such as brochures or giveaways. When planning a fully virtual event, you can focus solely on the digital part and capitalize on the real estate you do have available. Sponsors can also be offered access to your attendees contact details. Permission is of course vital, so you need to enable attendees to opt in to receive communications from the sponsor. Another option is to offer a number of tickets to your event to sponsors for colleagues to attend. Consider every touch point of the online event you’re producing – there will be multiple ways you can add sponsorship opportunities. Anything that your attendees are looking at or interacting with is an opportunity to incorporate sponsor. Speak to the virtual event experts Encore have helped hundreds of clients pivot and turn their onsite event into successful online experiences. Whether you're organising a company announcement, an ongoing training series, a mutli-day association conference or an interactive webinar, you can count on Encore's in-house team of digital experts to provide you with the right technology to get online. Explore our range of online event solutions today and get in touch to start discussing your options for meeting in 2020. EXPLORE VIRTUAL EVENT SOLUTIONS GET IN TOUCH TO DISCUSS MORE ... Read More

For event organisers, delivering a space themed, out of this world experience for guests means your can let your imagination run wild. From glamorous galactic experiences, to Star Wars inspired pop ups and the Milky Way ceiling installations, there’s something to appeal to everyone’s sense of exploration and wonder, and of course our playful inner child. Let’s explore ways to create an unforgettable, outer-space themed event that will transport your guests to a galaxy far, far away. Start with a Space Colour Scheme Colours can evoke a mood. Done right, they create mood and emotion and are one of the best vehicles for setting the scene. Choose blues, blacks with silvers, shiny metallics, purples and all the colours that depict an intergalactic atmosphere. Additionally, shadows play a part in creating suspense and an unknown environment. Create them with areas of dark and light greys. Set The Scene With an Entrance to Another World The entryway into an event enables you to create excitement for what is to come. Our first vision of something out of the ordinary stimulates the brain’s transmissions of excitement and curiosity. Set the scene by creating spaceship tunnels, the interior of a rocket ship or even the deck of the Starship Enterprise. For a simple and cost effective entry feature, you can line the walkway with illuminate orb balls in various sizes to mimic the planets in outer space. Cloak the entry walls with twinkling star cloth and you can give guests the feeling they're at the start of an unforgettable journey into an unknown universe. Sounds can be incorporated to enhance the atmosphere. Roaring engines, robotic voices and whirring machines add an auditory experience. A Starry Backdrop with Clever Drapery Once inside the venue, creative backdrops are the room’s decorative foundation. Create the space effect with the use of star cloth and dark fabrics draped around the walls of the venue both on and behind the stage. Add a further dimension with the use of fabric with starlight and shimmering materials. This will appear to extend the room’s length and create a sense of vast space. Stunning Space Theme Set Design With all eyes on the stage, this is where you have the opportunity to design an incredible stage look for your space themed event. For a recent The Million Dollar Lunch gala, Encore designed and built a fully custom stage set to resemble the inside of a spaceship. Using an array of Hex Panels and clever projection mapped content, the end effect made the audience feel as though they were peering through the spaceships windows out into space. Another space inspired stage set our team designed for the Think Brick awards was inspired by a glamorous, galactic brief and created using 12 LED screens, configured into four arms. The huge screen configuration resembled a futuristic spaceship and was rigged above a central stage, allowing for all guests to have clear site lines of the stage and on-screen content. A simple, yet highly impactful stage set for space themed corporate events can involve Encore’s Floor to Wall LED Screen. The effect of the content and crystal clear resolution can make the presenter appear as though they’re standing on a planet or flying through space. At a more basic level a space themed stage set can be achieved by using an internally-lit Event Backdrop, custom printed with stunning space themed visuals which pop in the darkness. Combine your set with up-lighting on 3D Scenic Panels for a futuristic look. Use Multimedia / Content Multimedia is the most effective way to transform a venue into your perfect space-themed event. Use space inspired designs to make your on-screen content come to life. • Use every blank surface and turn them into a futuristic space scene with the use of projection mapping. Project planets visuals onto spheres to create the solar system. • To truly transport, use table projection mapping to turn dinner settings into a futuristic odyssey experience. Any surface in your venue offers the opportunity to be themed with digital styling. Remember, every piece of content whether it be digital or printed should be on theme. Twinkling Galactic Ceiling Installations What do people do when they think of outer space? They look skyward. Don’t waste the chance to give your guests an awe-inspiring encounter. Have them looking to the stars with a galaxy inspired ceiling design or installation. You can create stunning galaxy ceiling installations using crystal beaded curtains above guests at a space themed gala dinner. For a corporate end of year celebration in New Zealand, Encore used drapery, star cloth, lighting and fans to emulate the stunning Northern Lights. Adding an extra dimension, our Kinetic Lighting system can turn your events ceiling into a moving masterpiece. Use our sphere LEDs to recreate planets or the Solar System. Star Wars fan? Our baton Shaped LEDs make the perfect lightsabre inspired ceiling installation. Where the budget is limited, small scale decoration can be just as effective. Use blow up planets and rig to the roof to create a solar system. Combined with the right lighting effects this can be simple yet effective. Space Themed Centrepieces Depending on how you want your tables to be decorated, the choices for themed centrepieces are numerous. Spaceships or astronaut figurines offer an easy and usually inexpensive decorative option. You can’t go wrong with Star Wars figurines for an iconic space theme centrepiece. Everyone knows them, even if guests are not sci-fi fanatics, they certainly deliver and on-theme look. If models and figurines are not your preference, try using crystal beads in a glass vase with colour pin spots for a cool galaxy-like atmosphere. The idea is to be on theme will all decorative items. Centrepieces are often an immediate talking point. Guests who may not be well acquainted are given an easy way to break the ice with this engaging theme to talk about. Lighting Design Here’s where things get interesting. The correct use of lighting can seriously ramp up your outer space theme, add mystery and excitement. • Lasers, haze and lightsaber installations can be used with great effect to create a futuristic setting. • Gobos projecting space-themed objects across the venue walls and floors • Add more layering by mixing lighting with smoke and low fog machines for that dancing on the clouds effect. • Or even use lighting to create the effect of the ground being moon-like in appearance. Whether you're going for a futuristic feel, iconic space or a romantic galaxy mood Encore's lighting designers can create the perfect setting for your event. Sound FX and Audio Design There are so many audio options, so listen up! Take the time to watch a few episodes of a favourite spaced themed movie or TV show for sound inspiration. The clicks of communicating aliens, the roaring of rockets blasting off, voices from astronauts from days gone by, or just plain spooky atmospheric sounds all work to create a space-feel environment. Use sound throughout the night to build momentum at the start, and add drama and suspense before performances or speeches. Work with your AV company to implement some clever audio design and play with sounds from different speakers to create that immersive audio effect. The sound of a rocket drawing closer can be achieved through clever audio design. Space Themed Performances & Entertainment Now depending on your budget, this can be truly an unforgettable experience. Take your guests to another dimension with an alien invasion or a NASA inspired planetary exploration with rockets and satellites abound! Have your guests greeted by astronauts at the door, or seated by an array of Star Wars characters, the choice is yours. Encore have even projection mapped beautiful imagery onto dancers turning their performance into a moving part of the visual story. Having your entertainment interacting with your set is possible thanks to holographic and gesture control technology. Imagine having your presenter appearing on stage as if they are speaking as a hologram from outer space, or sitting in a rocket, all are possible thanks to our holographic projection screen. Neon Tube dancers are also a great way to introduce roving acts which provide colour, light and movement to any event. Aerial artists can perform with the Kinetic Lights around them to make them appear as though they’re in space or surrounded by lightsabres if you’re using the baton shaped Kinetic Lights. Another form of roving entertainment is, of course, the purposeful attention-grabbing performance by costumed roving actors. Adding roving acts to your event offers next level memories. Whether there to entertain, or roaming among the guests randomly, the interaction level increases dramatically and gives guests a great photo opportunity. Speak to the space theme experts Encore are experts at designing truly unique space themed corporate events. We combine our state-of-the-art AV technology with our limitless imagination to turn a blank canvas into an immersive and transformative space setting. No matter your type of event, budget or venue, with over 35 years in the business you can count on Encore to design the perfect space inspired event to achieve your objectives. Ask us to show you the best ways to transport your guests to a memorable out of this word experience. Contact us today for an obligation free discussion about your event. May the force be with you. (It had to be said). ... Read More

So you’ve decided to look into having more sustainable events with the admirable aim of a reduced carbon footprint. Congratulations. It’s a responsible and positive move. As an event planner, you have an opportunity to show others the way to lessening the impact on our valuable resources. This is not a passing trend, but rather a mindful practice at the heart of any business strategy and future goal planning. “Between air travel, energy use, and excess food (not to mention booth installations, printouts, and giveaways), the average 1000-person event reputedly produces 530 metric tons of CO2e emissions.” Julius Solaris, Event Manager Blog Thankfully, sustainability is achievable and may be easier than you think. Why it’s Important to Know Your Impact To make constructive changes, event planners need to gauge their current practices. Why? Knowing the impact events may be having on the environment points to specific areas for improvement. This is not a lesson in how bad you might have been, but instead it’s something far more positive. Awareness. Knowing the facts gives you an idea of what to measure and helps focus your energy onto specific areas to change or improve. The end result is being able to see clearly how your practices contribute to improved sustainability. Sustainable Events: Where to start Not sure where to begin? Try looking at these points. Most event planners will recognise many, if not all of these aspects of their daily lives. Right from the start The beginning of any event plan has many contact points. The first phase impact can be reduced by cancelling meet & greet travel plans and replace with video conferencing. The good news here is you’ve also just saved on travel and accommodation costs as well as improving our event’s footprint. The Paper Trail It’s an obvious one, but going paperless can be the easiest way to start minimising waste. Use an event app, build an event website, or stick to emailing. Encore offers a free event app called Cumulus which gives you and your attendees the convenience of easy access to all event information at any time, everywhere you go so reducing paper waste is easy. Use this free event app specifically built to ensure delegates have easy access to all event info and live updates before, during and after the event, without the need for excess paper use. When all else fails, stick to email. Power Consumption Does your AV and event technology provider actively take steps to reduce their energy use? Overuse of power and underutilising of more eco-friendly options is one area constantly under the microscope. Where possible use renewable energy sources and switch all lighting to LED and lower power efficiency systems where possible. Your AV technology provider should be willing to rationalise inventory to minimise redundancy and over-engineered AV solutions. Have the conversation with them to see how you can both achieve a reduced footprint for your event, there’s often cost savings involved to. Venue Locations & Transportation Hosting your event at a venue with accommodation facilities immediately cuts the need for transportation. Your guests will appreciate not having to think about cab-charges and Uber rides to get to their hotel safely. This is a great opportunity to really consider your venue options. Easily walkable venues, and those close to public transport assist significantly. Where combined/local event venue and accommodation are not possible, offering shuttles are a great alternative. One vehicle transporting many attendees reduces the impact of several vehicles in the traffic at once. In addition, clearly conveyed information about public transport sent out to registered attendees will be greatly appreciated. Also, when scheduling your event, take into account peak travel times to avoid the traffic. Faster travel means less impact and happier commuters. Modern Day Conveniences Encourage alternative transport. Have bike racks, bike storage areas or bike concierge at your event. We’ve all seen more and more bicycles in the city. People making their own stand on reducing their personal footprint will likely remember an event where this is on offer. Having change areas, private shower facilities and lockers at your event also makes life even easier for those choosing peddle power. Food & Beverage Catering companies using eco-friendly utensils is a simple way to make an immediate change. Choose providores and caterers that are committed to using sustainable fish, organically grown fruit and vegetables, and locally sourced hormone-free meat. Ditch plastic for biodegradable or reusable cups. Another tip with catering is to not over-cater the event. The guest list should be quite specific in terms of numbers, and dietary requirements, so you can cater for your guests’ needs. If you find yourself with an abundance of leftover food, consider the many companies that accept donations in the area. Waste Disposal Have you confirmed your venue has the facilities, and the mindset to recycle waste? Everyone should be well aware of the need to re-use and recycle in order to reduce landfill and the overall impact on our environment. Ensuring there are adequate recycling bins and general waste bins around the venue will safeguard against any issues with imposed clean-up fees or removal costs. Go Digital Use online registration platforms to be more sustainable. Not only is it cost-effective, but will save delegates time enrolling on the day. Send e-mail notifications and create e-tickets to be scanned from their smartphones to eliminate the need for endless paper printouts. Use digital signage at your event, rather than one-off pull-up banners. Build a website or an event app. This goes a long way to reducing the need for excessive amounts of printed badges, programmes, posters and brochures. Putting your event sustainability plan into action Ok, so you know what is possible, now’s the time to translate it into your reality and transform yourself into more than just someone whose intentions are good. Create a List Put the ideas in order, beginning with those things where you can have an immediate impact, through to those which will require more thought, planning, and discussion with others. For you, maybe using less paper, and having more Skype meetings is completely do-able in the beginning. For every point you’ve made, add the goals. Be Realistic This is not something that can happen overnight, so don’t have the expectation that you can save the world in a week. Plans that are rushed or ill-considered will be doomed to fail, or worse, not even see the light of day. Review and Monitor Over time, add and remove where necessary to make each goal stronger. Long term, consistent and thoughtful objectives are the way to go. Sustainable event inspiration Check out these three events Event Brite shared that have put their suitability goals into action. Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 A little known fact is that these Games were the first to secure the ISO 20121 sustainability standard. This measure of sustainability is voluntary and is a promise to all those watching that this event leaves behind a path of positive footprint reduction. All the venues where the competition was held were completely car-free. In addition, the organisers used a local company to provide efficient and clean energy. They also ensured the headquarters for the Games were on an energy supply recognized as a Green Tariff. Baseball All-Star Games Major League Baseball requires its members to be a member of the Green Sports Alliance. Providing sustainability guidelines, the Alliance ensures the following happens: Teams collect recyclable items throughout each game. Solar panels are installed at events where possible. The aim is to have each game powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. Traditional ‘Red Carpet’ events are now referred to a ‘Green Carpet’ by the use of eco-friendly materials for the carpet. Any food prepared at events that remains untouched is donated to their preferred charity for those in need of a meal. The Show Goes on at the Shambala Festival England's four-day carnival-like Shambala Festival has taken steps to ensure much of its single-use plastics are eliminated entirely. Individual water bottles are encouraged for refilling onsite to reduce bottled water housed in plastic. For those who forget, the sale of stainless steel bottles adds to driving the point home on the reduction of harmful and wasteful synthetic materials. Other Helpful Resources for Sustainable Events Want more? Check out these additional places to go. Sustainability in Events - Event Manager Blog Checklist to a Sustainable Event - Climate Wave How to make an event more sustainable - Event Brite To have an environmental conscience is commendable. Putting these goals into action wherever possible during your event sets you apart. This is not just about you as an event planner feeling better about your impact, but an ongoing commitment your company and its guests will bear witness to. In a world full of rhetoric and promises, actions speak louder than words. Let’s begin your action points today. Our experience can show you the way to more sustainable event planning. Contact us for expert advice on your next event by sending an online enquiry today and we'll get right back. ... Read More