I’ve been attending a lot of events lately. PR events, marketing events, networking events… you name it. They all have something in common. In many cases the hosts are failing to keep their event alive when it’s over. They’re failing to create sharable content like a corporate event video.

Think about some of the events you’ve been to lately. Did they give you a hashtag? Did they encourage you to tweet, update your status?

Of course they did. I’d be surprised if they didn’t. Encouraging social sharing at corporate events is pretty standard, and many attendees do it.

That includes me. I’m not a serial tweeter during events, but I do it at least once or twice using the event’s hashtag. But, like many of my fellow attendees, once the event is over so is my social sharing about the event.

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Events that live on

It doesn’t have to be that way. Events can live on even after the lights have been turned off.

The best way to do it is by producing a video during the event itself. Having a video professional capture certain aspects of the event, interviews with speakers and attendees, telling the event’s story.

Producing a short video that captures the spirit behind the event is perfect content to share afterwards. Here’s how to do it:

• plan and execute an awesome event
• produce a video during the event
• a week later, send an email blast to all the speakers, attendees, and invited guests who couldn’t attend

Boom. Shareable content a week after the event took place.

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Why it works

You get a chance to remind people what a great time they had at the event, and share the event with people who weren’t able to make it. In turn, you give all of them a chance to pass it along to their friends and colleagues.

It’s a great way to wrap-up the experience for them, but it also provides event organizers with a leg-up. That’s because this event video can be used to help promote the next event.

Corporate event video costs

So… how much is all this going to cost? Well, you can DIY. Not recommended in most cases.

Want to try a video professional? It can be tricky to figure out video production cost.

Someone inexperienced on Craigslist might charge a few hundred bucks. A quality pro will run at least $1,000. Depending what you want done, it’s more likely to be $4,000 – $7,000.

Someone running a small event might choke on that figure, but imagine someone who’s putting on a major corporate meeting or a convention. An event that’s going to cost $100,000. Why wouldn’t they include an event video?

At the very least, event planners should investigate the option and consider the benefit against the cost. It’s worth emailing and asking for a ballpark quote.

That’s a wrap

Everyone is looking for great content. Events happen to be an awesome source. A corporate event video is the perfect content to share.

–Tony Gnau

One of my favorite videos we produce is the event video. I guess I should actually be referring to them as “videos” because there are actually several different types of event videos you can produce.

These videos excel in a few key areas:

• helping promote events
• keeping an audience’s attention during an event
• driving traffic to a booth or table during trade shows
• allowing an event to live on even after it’s over

That last area was actually the subject of a post I wrote this week for Eventbrite, How-To Leave People Feeling Good About Your Event. It’s a detailed look at how you can produce a video during your event that “puts a bow on the experience” for all of your attendees and beyond.

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Looking back at our first event video

Producing an event video always takes me back to the first one we produced. It happened to be for NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade. He’s a Robbins, IL native whose not-for-profit foundation serves kids all over the Chicago area.

Chicagoans, like me, might want to hate the guy as one of the Big 3 on the Miami Heat, but you just can’t. He’s too good of a guy. As a matter of fact, the one question I get most often after people watch the video is, “Is he really that nice of a guy?” Wouldn’t it be nice having people thinking that about your company?

But I digress, the video… he and his team wanted some sort of video they could show to his fans highlighting the work he does at his annual basketball camp. There was also a second goal. They needed a video to show potential corporate partners.

The power of personality

We talked with Dwyane, his family members, and kids attending the camp. The story came together really well, especially because Dwyane was so great with the kids. His personality drives the video, and that leads to a great tip for anyone producing an event video like this. Find people with dynamic personalities and feature them. Their bright personalities shine a light on your whole event.

Produce something like that for your own event and you’ll have a video you’ll be proud to share.

–Tony Gnau

I know the old adage is, “I rather be lucky than good,” but I don’t buy that for a second. I just rather be good. Which is why I like to study and highlight people and organizations who do things well. Just recently, I saw an EntreLeadership video that’s one of the best event videos I’ve seen… from the video itself to the clear strategy that brought it to my attention.

Why your event needs video

Event videos are something I’m pretty passionate about. If you’re hosting or participating in a major event, meeting, or conference, there’s just no denying what a powerful role video can play.

Video is awesome for events on several levels, and there are different types of videos you can produce.

• you can put something together prior to the event to help promote it and encourage attendance.
• there’s also the option to produce something that runs during the event itself. Video is a great way to get people’s attention and reengage an audience.
• video is also something you can produce while the event is taking place with the intent of sharing it once the event has ended. In this case, letting the event live on.

The key to all of them is similar to most marketing videos… tap some sort of emotion in the audience. In the case of an event video, you’re likely trying to inspire some enthusiasm for the event. Whether it’s to get people to attend, making them feel happy that they’re there or committed to your cause or mission, or feel empowered having attended.

Those are the basics. If you’d like to learn more about each type of event video, I recommend reading our post, Corporate Event Video Ideas Everyone Can Do. I go into a lot more detail there.

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EntreLeadership Event Video Lesson

If you’re a regular reader here you know I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey. Dave is a financial expert, best-selling author, and talk radio host who’s all about getting out of debt. He has also built a company from a card table in his garage into one of the best brands in personal finance.

One of the many services his company offers is business leadership coaching… something he calls EntreLeadership. His team hosts a series of EntreLeadership events, but the big one is the Master Series. It’s usually hosted at a nice resort somewhere or at Dave’s corporate headquarters in suburban Nashville.

The latest Masters Series event just wrapped-up. I know because as a newsletter subscriber I received a special edition telling me about it. It contained a video, links to his radio show broadcast from the last day of the event, as well as information about the next Master Series event taking place in November.

Awesome. It’s just awesome. They did everything well. Let me break it down a few ways.

First, the video is terrific. It captures the spirit of the event and gives the audience of sense of what it must have been like to attend it.

I’ll guarantee you that virtually all the 150 participants share that video with friends, family, and work colleagues. Who knows how many of those people will go on to share it… exposing EntreLeadership to all sorts of people who may not have even heard of it.

Next, there’s a clear strategy at play here. I received the email at 4:30 p.m. on the day the event ended. So… the event ends… and almost instantaneously the email is sent.

The timing was clearly thought out. Everyone who attended is still feeling the high from the event and likely to share it with people immediately. Not to mention people who listened to the radio show that day and got the email (cough, cough… me). They’ll also be feeling the EntreLeadership mojo and wanting to share.

Finally, all of this leads to a subtle promotion. Just a single paragraph at the end of the newsletter reminding people about the next event.

That’s how you do it

I shouldn’t expect anything less than that sort of thing from Dave and his team. My wife, daughter, and I were at his headquarters last November to scream on his radio show, “We’re debt-free!” I was fortunate to meet members of his video team and they’re total pros. Couple that with his marketing staff and what I got today was a lesson in how-to promote an event series.

And now you have too.

–Tony Gnau

Throwing a successful corporate event is tough job. Event planners do everything they can to make sure everything runs smoothly from booking the venue to hiring the right caterer to sending out the invitations.

Many business leaders will also request a photographer, but they fail to budget for the one thing that will draw more people to the event and engage them after it’s over… the corporate event video.

I really should make that plural… videos… because you have a few options when it comes to events and video production.

One type of video will help increase your attendance, another will capture attendees’ attention while they’re there, and the last will allow your event to live on even after it’s over.

There’s even a way to produce them without having to spend a dime.

Pre-Event

If you’re trying to generate interest in your event and drive ticket sales, this video is a must. By producing a video in advance of your event, you can use it as a promotional tool.

This is your teaser video. Demonstrate to people the value they’ll receive for showing up.

Going to have a keynote speaker? Do an interview with him or her ahead of time. Have the speaker talk about some of the topics he or she will be touching on at the event. No speaker? Get some video of the event organizer talking about what will be happening.

Either way, the point is to give people a reason to attend the event. Using video to show and tell them what makes your event great is a terrific way to grab their attention and motivate them to show up.

During the event

Did someone say something about grabbing attention? Video can be a great way to draw people into an event space like a trade show display. It’s even better at re-engaging a captive audience once you have them there.

You’ve seen it happen just like I have. It never ceases to amaze me. You’re attending an event. Things hit a lull. Then someone fires up a video and all of a sudden people perk up. Attendees who were once slouching in their seats are now sitting up.

That’s what a video during your event can do.

Double the points if the video takes advantage of what video does best… tap emotion. Make the audience laugh, make them cry, make them think a little… you’ve just re-energized the whole event.

I can’t tell you what type of video to do here. It’s obviously dependent on what your event is all about. We’ve done a bunch of videos for Alverno College. They host several events every year and use videos to feature their amazing students and generous donors.

Another one of our customers, Catholic Health Initiatives (now CommonSpirit Health), uses case study videos at internal events and meeting to promote the innovative ways its markets are building healthier communities.

There are a TON of possibilities here!

The piece of advice I will give you is the timing of when to play the video. Show it when you’re trying to reengage the audience. If there’s a point in the program when you want them to pay special attention, that’s the time to show your video.

One last thought, if it’s an event that runs more than one day, you can produce videos each day of the event promoting things that are taking place.

This is especially effective for businesses taking part in trade shows. Highlight things that happened that day, then promote what’s taking place the next day. Use it as a tool to get people to your trade show space.

Post-Event

We finish our corporate event video trifecta with the one everyone should be doing.

Attendance might not be a problem for you, so the pre-event video might not be necessary. Maybe your event doesn’t involve a large group of people gathering for one specific function, so a video during the event might not be needed.

The post-event video; however, is something every event can benefit from.

The reason this video is so important is because it does something amazing. It allows your event to live on long after it has concluded.

Think about it. You spend an incredible amount of time, effort, and money on a one-time event. It goes great, but when it’s over… it’s over.

That’s not the case if you shoot raw video and interviews during the event and then produce a post-event video. It’s the best way to wrap-up because you can highlight all the great things that happened, and remind people of the key takeaways.

It’s a way to leave people on a high note.

You can share the video through an email campaign. Pump it out via social media. Allow everyone who attended to share it with their friends and colleagues. Your event now lives on.

The post-event video also provides some added bonuses. Remember all of those people you invited who couldn’t make it? Send the video to them as well to show them what they missed.

Finally, if the event is an annual thing, your post-event video can also be used as promotional content for next year’s event.

Wow… we you just got two uses out of one video!

Sponsors and Vendors at Meetings, Conferences, or Conventions

You don’t have to be the ones throwing the event to produce a video. If you’re going to be a part of an important meeting, conference, or convention… you should consider producing a video as well.

Whether you’re an event sponsor or a vendor, this is an opportunity for you to share your message.

You’re collecting business cards and/or email address from attendees, right? Now you’ll have something awesome to send them! It’s not simply a follow-up email… it’s “Check out our video!”

You can also share the video with your existing customers and prospects to show them how you participated in a major industry event.

As a sponsor or vendor, you’re paying big bucks to be a part of these events. Adding the cost of a video is pretty small in comparison to the overall cost of being a part of the event.

And just like event organizers, you’re spending all this money to be a part of the event, having a post-event video allows that event to live on after it’s over.

How-to pay for your corporate event video

I know what many of you are thinking. You agree with me 100%, but who has the budget for an event video?

First thing you need to do is get in the right mindset. Stop thinking of the video(s) as an additional expense. It isn’t. It’s a necessity.

Once you make-up your mind to do it, video simply becomes one of the line items you need to buy with your existing budget.

Easier said than done, right? Quality video costs like $10,000. Wrong. You can get an awesome video for half that.

Still too much? Why should you pay for it at all? What if you could produce something for free?

Did that grab your attention?

Start approaching other businesses to sponsor your video(s). That’s right… create sponsored content.

Companies already sponsoring your events are always looking for opportunities to get in front of your attendees. Video is one way to reach a large number of them.

Figure out which videos you want to produce, then go looking for sponsor dollars to pay for them.

Video is an event necessity

I’m not kidding. Video should be looked at as an event necessity. Video can draw people to your event, keep them interested in the event, and give it a longer shelf life.

That’s the power of a corporate event video.

–Tony Gnau