Chad D’Acquisto, a producer and director at Plum Media, is used to producing live events for his corporate clients, well, live and in-person. Working for a company that creates live event productions for corporate clients, he never thought he’d be producing corporate live streams from a spare bedroom in his home. But as Chad and others in his industry have since learned, one must adapt — and quickly — during these uncertain times.
In a matter of days, Chad produced several corporate live streams from his home studio, ranging from leadership updates to town halls streamed from Mexico, and even training seminars with multiple remote presenters. We sat down with Chad (virtually!) to learn how Plum Media is keeping its doors open for business.
When did you realize you may need to produce live streams from home?
We hadn’t yet received a directive from work by mid-March, but coming from a broadcast news background and just following what’s been happening in other countries, I wanted to be prepared.
I took some equipment home to see what I was able to do from there. It was important for us to get ahead of that curve to be ready. Sure enough, as I was testing it, a client called to ask what we could do for them.
How much time did you have to prepare before the stay-at-home order?
It was only a matter of days before I did the first successful tests and live streams for clients from home. In the days before streaming from home, I produced two town halls that each changed in scope within 48 hours of going live. It was an incredibly short turnaround.
What does your at-home live production setup look like?
My home office is also a guest bedroom, so my setup is tucked in a corner. My 10-year-old son is also e-schooling from home right now, so he gets the office desk in there, too, and we’re in the same room a few hours a day. My setup includes:
- An HD550 encoder running Studio software and using Remote Guests
- AJA Ki Pro Recorder so I can capture recordings locally
- An extra monitor that serves as both an extra screen for office work, or to quality check the HD program feed
- Two additional laptops (a PC and a Mac) to host clients’ PowerPoint slides locally, and incorporate a Zoom meeting when required for larger panels
- An external USB webcam to communicate directly with remote guests before and after the live stream
- A wireless presentation remote, so I don’t have to constantly reach over my computers during a production
- An iPod to play production music before the meeting begins
How does your approach to producing live streams compare to in-person events?
In some ways it’s not that much different from almost any live event that we produce — we plan a run-of-show and get an idea of how things are going to come together. But you can always expect a curveball will be thrown our way, and you have to react to it.
I think it’s really helped position us, to be in front of the curve. Our clients appreciate the extra hoops that we’ve been jumping through, and they especially appreciate that we’ve been taking additional measures to continue servicing their needs, and to do so with a very healthy approach.
How many virtual events are you anticipating now?
We have two corporate clients right now that are doing weekly updates from their CEOs in May, possibly longer. Previously scheduled quarterly town halls and all-hands meetings are quickly approaching.
We’ve got a lot of other requests coming in for virtual solutions to salvage their live events from cancellation. And as we’ve been addressing all the requests that come to us, we’ve been reaching out to our other clients to let them know, “Hey, we’ve been doing these virtual events successfully.”
"There is no one-size-fits-all solution. We’re just listening to our clients, determining what their needs are, and then developing the solution that works best for them."
We’re reaching over 1,000 employees globally — there’s been a lot more engagement, and we’re holding retention notably longer than we typically do. The only other times we’ve seen engagement like this is when there’s a big company announcement, like a change in leadership or a merger.
In terms of anticipating where it can go, it’s hard to say because our clients are trying to figure it out right now. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. We’re just listening to our clients, determining what their needs are, and then developing the solution that works best for them.
What are some lessons you’ve learned from producing live streams from home?
An ISP installed fiber lines in our neighborhood last year, going door-to-door to try and get people to switch their service. In hindsight, I regret not switching for much faster internet speeds, but of course I didn’t anticipate needing this kind of service at home at the time.
I did increase the bandwidth for my cable broadband service to the highest level available for my neighborhood. Residential internet bandwidth fluctuates, so the extra headroom is beneficial.
I’m also using bonded streaming with my work cell phone for backup. If there are any disruptions with my home internet, Livestream Studio will use my mobile device as a secondary source only as needed. Since most webcams coming in are 720p, I’ve reduced my maximum stream quality to 720p, too. Getting the urgent messaging out takes priority, so that’s been sufficient.
My family has also been understanding about not using the internet when I’m doing important client streams for work.
Thank you, Chad, for taking the time to speak with us about how you’ve been tackling professional-grade live broadcasts from home.
Check out Vimeo’s virtual events on-demand broadcast, How to plan a virtual event: Expert insights from the Vimeo team, for more tips on how to revamp your event strategies to create engaging live streaming experiences.
