If you have a gala, conference, trade show, or fundraiser on the horizon, chances are, video creation will be important to celebrating the great work of your organization and the people and stories that contributed to its success. Whether you’re going to have its creation done in-house or hire an outsource partner to produce it, have a game plan for your video creation.
Video creation takes time and can be costly, but it is an investment worth pursuing. Its impact can have a powerful ripple effect on your business’ future. In addition to being a visually- and emotionally-engaging feature of your event, you can also leverage it for your website, for newsletters, in social media and for fundraising appeals. Equally important, it functions as an evergreen piece that preserves the legacy and history or your organization. If the same version won’t work for both your program and for an evergreen piece, be open to having multiple versions created. It is a worthwhile investment.
If done well, a video will support your fundraising or membership initiatives, your public relations efforts, and your company’s branding. It can create good will among members, stakeholders, donors and staff.
Below are elements you’ll want to consider as you plan for its creation:
- Determine your target audience
- Is the audience for the piece composed of industry professionals or lay people? For example, a video you are creating for a group of medical professionals would use very different language and messaging than a fundraiser for a hospital.
- Consider the demographics. The messaging may change based on age, interests, economic level (for a fundraiser), values and background.
- Create a budget for your video – Thae budget will guide many elements.
- It’s not the size of the budget that matters–it’s what you do with it that counts.
- Elements such as whether you’ll need a writer, the amount of stock or licensed elements you’ll need, the amount of set up and/or travel required, the size of the crew required, whether equipment must be rented, and potential licensing fees for media used in the final program will impact the budget. The professionals you select to create your work should have a good handle on the line items within the video creation budget.
- Choose your content creator – Determine whether you have someone in-house who can create your work or whether you need to outsource. Be sure to allow ample time to source a creator and collaborate on the production of the work, because it takes time to produce a high-quality piece, to craft the storyboard and messaging, to line up and schedule the talent, to write the narration (if needed) and to edit the piece.
- If you need to source your video creators, and you work with an AV company, ask them for a referral to a company that will fit your needs, fall within your budget, and produce work in line with your vision. They should be able to assist you in determining realistic budget parameters.
In most cases, human connection and stories will be the cornerstones of the work. Facts, figures, and graphs can be used to highlight information, but stories and background shared by real people are essential for engagement and to convey the message in a memorable way. Keep in mind:
- Allow enough time! Producing a work and editing it is a lengthy process. Chances are, there will be several drafts and rounds of editing. The last thing you want or need, when you’re putting final touches on your event, is to have the finalization deadline for the video conflict with the finalization of event deadlines. Plan out how much time you can devote to producing the video-then add 30%. All great concepts hit bumps in the road. Plan for that to happen. Hiring a team that has been through the bumpy road is key to an on-time delivered video.
- Purpose of the video – Is the purpose of the video to celebrate success, fundraise, convey important information, share goals, preserve history. or some other purpose? Determine what stories will be the cornerstone of the video. Videos created for events—whether fundraising, information sharing, promotion, celebration or other uses differ from video used on a website, on social media, or even as an evergreen work. It is vital to determine its use(s) in advance. Once the primary work is created, it is often possible to edit it for other purposes.
- Develop the narrative – Work with your video creator to develop the narrative and story arc, starting with a strong “hook” and ending with a powerful finale.
- Presenters – Which presenters, inside or outside your organization will convey the messages? Even when they are talking about an organization’s success, they should be sharing stories: i.e., share an example—perhaps a before and after story–of the difference a project made and the reactions of those who experienced the results. Show (through visuals and storytelling), don’t tell (through facts and figures).
- Determine shooting location for interviews – Should it be shot in-house, do the videographers need to find a location or go to other offices? Is additional travel required? How much time will be required to set up lighting, backdrop (if used) and cameras?
- B-roll and corollary graphics and audio – What kind of footage can be captured or photos can be shown to illustrate the points presented by the speaker? Are they available in-house, or do they need to be sourced? Do you need graphs and charts created? Is a voiceover or narration required? What type of music will be appropriate? Do you need stock video, photos, sound effects or music?
- Branding – Be sure your content creator has your logo and your branding guide to adhere to your colors and fonts as much as possible.
- Uses of video beyond event – Consider in advance what uses the video will have, in addition to the event for which it is created. If part of its purpose is to be shared via newsletters and social media, you may choose to have a longer version created for the event and have a shorter, edited version created for those alternate purposes since shorter versions are preferable for online use. Each social media has its own optimal range for viewing, with some platforms recommending 2 to 5 minutes, and others recommending 15 seconds. If your longer work can be edited down to several compelling videos of around 90 seconds, depending on the platform, you’re probably better off.
- Quality of video – Although social media has made it acceptable to post “quick and dirty” videos online, event videos should always be high-quality and high-resolution. If it’s worth the investment to make a video for an event, it’s worth the time and effort to do it well.
- Purpose and repurpose of your video-rights issues are a real consideration-especially if you plan to use your video more than once or publish it on Social Media. Make sure you work with a company that is cognizant of using rights cleared media (pictures, stock video, and most importantly music) There is nothing more frustrating than spending thousands on a video you can’t publish because of a copyright strike on it. Plan for licensing expenses in your budget.
- Make sure you obtain copyright releases from everyone in the video – Advise those who will be participating in the video that they will need to sign a copyright release, and make sure everyone participating in the work signs and that you keep a copy of the release on file to protect your organization
- Consider captioning your video – Videos that have captioning are more inclusive and can reach a broader audience.
If you are considering having video done for your next special event, conference or trade show, we would love to help! Simply contact Justin Cheshire at Justin@CheshireAV.com, or call 585-325-4250.
– by Carol White Llewellyn of CommuniVision Studio, in collaboration with Mike Champlin of DeBergerac Productions.
