Jon Corun, Director of Multimedia Production at CommPartners, is no stranger to finding creative solutions to technology roadblocks. So when COVID-19 presented a new challenge for the multimedia team to produce Town Halls for clients, Jon went to work to find a way to deliver, virtually.
Adapting to Change
Town Halls are a popular feature of conferences or serve as a way for organizations to meet with members to discuss popular topics or answer questions. There is typically a panel of specialists referencing a presentation speaking to a room of people. For CommPartners’ clients, a Town Hall means everyone is in the room together. The multimedia team is directly interacting with the panelists, which doesn’t comply with the present health protocols. “Before everyone was in the room with everybody, now no one is in a room with anybody,” says Jon.
ASHA’s Virtual Town Hall
Before, panelists would sit on a stage and present as CommPartners would provide camera equipment, all on-site. Now, using streaming technology, Jon has moved panelists to the cloud. Panelists are now providing their own equipment, that is, webcams, laptops, microphones, etc., (all the things you use to work from home) all from the safety of their homes.
Preparation is Key
Preparation for these events is pretty simple. Jon recommends a test the day before the event with all the presenters to ensure the technology like webcams, audio, and the slides are working soundly. The next step is to check things like presenter’s internet connection, sound quality, backdrop, and camera angles, “once all those boxes are checked, come in ready for the event the following day.”
Presenters should come to their test day with their content already prepared. All the presenters can share their own slides, but Jon advises combining the slides into one slide deck just as you would in a typical Town Hall.
Including Q&A
Our Virtual Town Hall runs through Pulse in CommPartners’ collaborative, multimedia-rich learning environment, MediaCenter 2.0. Attendees will have access to a robust and unlimited experience that will allow
SCAI’s Virtual Town Hall
them to participate in a Q&A with your panel. In sessions, a staff member moderates the questions that come in, selecting questions to answers and passes them along to the presenters within the streaming platform.
So far, we have served the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, or ASHA, and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, or SCAI, with this method and look forward to assisting more!
CommPartners specializes in providing eLearning options to you, but even we are not immune to adapting to this changing world. We are committed to making this period of transition more straightforward for your organization.
