Last week, I coordinated an enormous database/technology event. With over 30 sessions to schedule, over 20 speakers to herd, and over 1300 attendees, it was a little bit chaotic – in a great way! With so much content, so many people involved, it really turned into a fantastic event for all involved.
One of the things my team discussed before beginning the process was: should we have live sessions? 
One of the benefits to live sessions, most will say, is the increased interaction with attendees. For instance, you can roll directly from a pre-recorded session into a live Q&A to answer your attendee’s questions the way they’re used to at live events.
However, with our platform, we are able to conduct a Q&A session throughout the presentation, allowing attendees to ask questions or have in-depth discussions for over an hour, instead of 15 minutes.
One thing that we did decide to do was record the keynote sessions for each day of the event using a live streaming tool. It had all the charm and look of a live session, switching back and forth between speakers and a one-take time limit, but we were able to make sure that it was as polished as a pre-recorded session.
The mock-live sessions played at exactly the right time, there were no audio/video issues, it rolled seamlessly into the next session; none of the typical issues with a ‘live’ session were present, but it appeared live. In fact, a few attendees really believed that it was live and asked how we pulled it off.
The point I think I’m getting at for this post is that your event can have the benefits of live sessions without the stress of live sessions. Both look the same to the attendee anyway, so why not take some of the tension out of your own shoulders?
Have any questions? Send me an email at caitlin@vconferenceonline.com and I’ll be happy to help out!