The ultimate guide to find the best video tool for your meeting or event!
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Business, educational, and event workers are only a few examples of the people feeling the detrimental impacts of COVID-19 on their daily work lives and jobs. As we begin to see more businesses and institutions acknowledging that a digital or hybrid business model is viable, some changes that you are seeing now are definitely here to stay in the long-term. We may even see a shift in the way we engage and interact with our colleagues, students, clients and others.
Workshops, events and lectures are being held online through video-conferencing solutions. While Zoom always seems to be the talk of the town, it is critical to look at your individual needs and to choose a platform that best suits your case.
I crafted a simple 3-step guide as a decision tree that will help you to find the best platform solution for you in the ever growing jungle of online video tools.
1. One-way communication vs. interactive meeting
Define whether your goal is to convey a message to your audience (one-way communication) or whether you want to interact with other attendees. In the case a one-way interaction does the trick for you, a webinar or webcast is the most effective solution for you. Webinars can be pre-recorded or broadcasted live and can either be shared with the public (e.g. via Youtube, LinkedIn, Twitch) or sent to a private RTMP server for more confidential contents.
Webinar tools: GoToWebinar, Demio, WebinarNinja, Webex
Livestream tools: StreamYard, LiveReacting, Restream
If you value interactivity and are interested in what your audience has to say, you should ask yourself the following question.
2. Single conversation vs. break-out rooms
For smaller events and meetings a standard video call might be just fine. Alternatively, a collaboration software with video functionalities works as well.
Video-call tools: Skype, Jitsi, GoToMeeting, GoogleMeet, BlueJeans
Thinking about interactive workshops with multiple small groups or about events with many attendees, you should choose a solution that enables break-out sessions in separate rooms. By doing so, you prevent disengagement from those who do not have a chance to speak in larger groups. If you’d like the break-out session feature, there is one more question you should ask…
3. Group discussions vs. individual networking
Break-out rooms are a great way to discuss a specific topic in groups and to work together collaboratively with others.
Break-out room tools: Zoom, BigBlueButton, VideoFacilitator
Do you want to go one step further and allow your attendees also to directly connect and network with each other? With the following platforms, attendees can have meaningful 1-on-1 conversations and have self-determined side chats just like in a physical event.
Remember, the platform and the features you have access to will affect the event experiences of your attendees; thus, ask yourself these three questions to determine the best video-conferencing platform for your needs!
Feel free to get in touch with me and check out Veertly 😊
Did I miss anything? Add your favorite tool to the comments section!
