How To: 5 Steps to Making Your Large Event's Video Pieces Personal and Interesting

I'm currently in the process of helping to plan some video segments for a 500-attendee district conference.  We are planning to touch and motivate every attendee, and we will be successful.  How do I know?  Been there done that.  By following these steps, you can be successful too:

BUT FIRST - - It is extremely important that you talk to your Event AV Staff, and talk amongst yourselves, before you do anything else.
Questions for the AV Staff, 1) What video format do they prefer...DVD?  Beta?  Other?, 1.5) If it's DVD, do they want to navigate a menu or have everything clearly labeled on separate disks?  2) Do they want pre-roll and countdowns on the videos?, 3) If you will be providing music, how do they want to play it?...CD?...iPod?....Hard Drive?
Why ask these questions?  Because every on-site staff and every operator is different.  I've worked with guys in Vegas who wanted video on DVDs that would kick straight to the video the second they pushed play and all the music on 2 iPods.  The next year I worked with a very experienced team in New Orleans that preferred Beta tapes with a minimum :05 second countdown and all the music on CDs and their own drive-based playback machine.  The easier you make things for your onsite event staff, the better your conference or meeting will be.

How about questions to ask of yourselves, your own committee.  1) How long can video's be?, 2) Do you want music permanently attached to video, or do you want to be able to choose and control a piece of music separately while a video is playing?  And of course, 3) What graphic elements need to carry through the signage, the stage, to the video?

OK, now to the steps.  I need to credit Rotary District 5030 President John Matthews with the idea and layout behind this...I'm simply working on the execution and production.

STEP 1:  All the attendees at your meeting or conference come from their own place somewhere in the world.  Whether it's club based, office based, or community based, each has a Leader and each has some kind of place where they gather.  Your organization knows how to contact that Leader.  Here are the movable parts for the conference I'm currently working on:

A. Create a very brief (no more than 1 page) questionnaire.  Send it to the Leaders.  Tell them that each group will be featured at the conference in a 1-minute showcase, and that they need to respond to the questionnaire to ensure that they are proudly showcased.  Remind them of the conference theme, then ask them to list no more than 3 of their groups proudest - - not necessarily biggest - - achievements from the last year.  (proper English not withstanding)  Note that the closer the achievements related to the theme, the better.  Provide short "blanks" to list the achievements.
B. Ask them to list any assets related to their achievements.  Video clips, photos, newspaper write ups, press releases, thank you notes, anything that can be fuel for a story.  Provide blanks that begin with "Video" etc to help the group think in these terms.
C. Provide a space for the group to write a paragraph about their proudest achievement, whether they have "assets" listed above or not.
D. Provide a space for the group to enter a Contact Name, Phone, and Email for one person in the group who will be responsible for helping you make their video happen.
E. You need to get a response from each group within 2 weeks.  I prefer 2 weeks because it's enough time to think about something but not usually enough time to forget it or go waaaaaay overboard on it.  Follow up follow up follow up.

STEP 2:  While the questionnaires are out, you have 2 weeks to build the template these 1 minute showcases will "air" in.  This is your opportunity to make sure all these videos from who knows where will be in visual sync with the rest of your conference.  Build the following:
A. Motion graphic open and close that matches your conference signage
B. Motion graphic transition element to move you from 1 showcase to the next.  Example:  If you want to play different videos in 5 minute blocks at scheduled times, create the template with this setup - Open>Showcase1>Transition>Showcase2>Transition>3>Trans>4>Trans5>Close.
C. Make sure the Close is 1 or 2 minutes long, minimum.  This will give the MC time to get onto the stage and give the AV staff plenty of time to cue up the next visual elements.
D. Make sure you have a universal background element to play nicely behind the videos.  Video comes in many shapes and sizes nowadays.  A background element will help you quickly mix HD with Standard Def.

STEP 3: Distribute the Template to your editors.  Distribute the Questionnaire Responses and Non-Responders to your team for followup to get all the assets.  Learn all you can about the groups accomplishments and the assets they will be sending....you don't want anyone digging through 3 hours of handheld footage if you're going to have a quick turnaround, so narrow moments down.  If necessary, have the group include a list of exactly what time something great happens on the tape.

Some groups will no doubt want to edit their own 1 minute showcase.  Find out what top 3 formats your editors want to receive these completed showcases in, and give the self-producing groups an achievable but early deadline so that nobody is pinned against the wall for completion or troubleshooting.

As the assets ship in, distribute them to your editors and get those Showcases created, and if necessary, approved.  Which leads to

STEP 4:  Approval.  At least 2 sets of eyeballs should review everything.  Find 2 people in the organization that can watch the Showcases and make sure everything is good to go.  Avoid offering approval to the individual groups unless you have 6-8 months to make revisions.

STEP 5: Put the approved showcases into the Templates.  Burn a DVD or 2 and review them one more time.  Then make multiple copies in your on-site event staffs preferred format and hand them over.

What will this result in?  Happiness, Excitement, and Motivation.  Everyone likes to see themselves and people they know on the big screen.  And every group, no matter how big or small, does something in the course of a year that they are proud of.

By doing this you're giving every attendee organization-wide recognition that is metric tons more powerful than any plaque could ever be.  Metric Tons.  You want to see smiling faces, this will do 75% of the work.  Making sure the food is tasty and the adult beverages are flowing with do the other 25%

Always appreciate your comments - after all, every event and organization is different!