Streaming Blog: Industry News, Trends & Tips

IBM Think 2020 Digital Event Case Study

Written by Chris Zaloumis in Customer Stories on 12 August 2020

Due to the rapid pace of COVID-19, there has been a need to act with agility, resilience and unity in the face of evolving impacts. On March 19, 2020, with just 47 days before the in-person conference was scheduled to start, the decision was finalized to pivot to an all-digital experience for IBM Think as a result of COVID-19. This would be the first time the event would be online-only.

IBM Think Digital experience resulted in nearly 120,000 registrants and over 170,000 unique viewers. The Think content team took over 2500 sessions that were planned for the face to face event and selected the most impactful 250 sessions that could pivot the message to be COVID-19 relevant as well as engage attendees digitally. Over 45,000 hours of content were viewed by attendees with emphasis on design that would accelerate the transformation of the experience from in-person to all digital. Content was captioned in 7 different languages and delivered with live chats and moderated “Ask the expert” sessions for an audience size that was vastly beyond projected expectations.

Discover how IBM met this challenge through its own technology, leveraging both IBM Watson Media and the IBM Public Cloud to offer a scalable, reliable solution with global load balancing to help ensure a premium viewing experience for all.

Video Access Control for an Enterprise Video Platform

Written by Anthony Romero in Product Updates on 6 August 2020

Looking for more ways to restrict access to a video within your corporate video portal?

IBM Watson Media has introduced a video access control feature that allows the management of assets on a per video basis within an enterprise account. This can permit different access levels, be it for pre-approval or to very select individuals, while also including a notification system over email to relay when access has been granted. This feature, introduced in June 2018, was expanded in July 2020 to include advanced video access control features around lists.

This access control can function as part of a larger component of an overall internal communications strategy. For those who want to learn about optimizing their internal comms, download this Using Video for Internal Corporate Communications, Training & Compliance white paper.

Tackling Broadcast Delays and Syncing Issues from Streaming

Written by Anthony Romero in Tips & Tutorials on 30 July 2020

Tackling Broadcast Delays and Syncing Issues from Streaming

Buffering got you down? Looking for some tips to combat broadcast delays caused from streaming? Plagued by syncing issues and need some help?

Join us as we tackle some of the most common dilemmas our broadcasters face while explaining what leads to delays in a live stream.

If you are looking for more in-depth studio setups, though, please reference our Video Studio Recommendations white paper.

High Quality Live Streaming Checklist of Essentials

Written by Stacy Nawrocki in Tips & Tutorials on 23 July 2020

Events have exploded beyond the stage with live streaming. From executive town halls, to press conferences and award ceremonies, most events have had two audiences: the one in the room and the one behind their screens. Due to recent circumstances, though, some venues are going virtual only or virtual for the first time. This introduces new opportunities, but also new things to learn.

For organizers, the expanded reach of a virtual conference is a dream come true, as are the insights from live stream analytics. However, live streaming also requires a new attention to detail: even the Super Bowl and Apple keynotes have fallen victim to seemingly minor mistakes, amplified by the real-time nature of streaming.

To make sure live streams go off without a hitch, organizers should follow this high quality live streaming checklist to ensure a secure connection, reliable equipment and to define a protocol in the event something needs troubleshooting. If you are looking more for assistance on which gear to get, though, check out our Video Studio Recommendations white paper.

Individual Viewer Tracking Analytics

Written by Anthony Romero in Product Updates on 21 July 2020

Need deeper analytics to analyze how your video content is being consumed? Want to validate that individual viewers completed mandatory training?

IBM Enterprise Video Streaming offers individual viewer tracking analytics. These allow organizations to drill down and see not just who accessed certain videos, but how much they watched and look at overall viewing history as well. This feature has been enhanced as well, for increased scalability in the dashboard and the ability to utilize APIs to take this functionality into other applications.

This feature was demoed in our Getting Started with Enterprise Video Management webinar.

Continue Watching Video on Demand

Written by Anthony Romero in Product Updates on 15 July 2020

Looking to introduce a way for viewers to return to the exact moment they stopped watching a video?

IBM Watson Media has released a feature that saves the playback position of videos on a per viewer, per browser level. This allows viewers to continue watching video on demand content from the moment they stopped viewing.

Courtroom Streaming: A California Superior Court Case Study

Written by Anthony Romero in Customer Stories on 8 July 2020

COVID-19 disrupted normal life. It forced organizations to pivot and adhere to guidelines related to the pandemic. The effect has been widespread, impacting private companies and government entities. This includes the judicial system in the United States, which is now faced with continuing day-to-day activities, but virtually.

This case study outlines how a superior court in California utilized IBM Video Streaming to broadcast court hearings live and was able to pivot from in-person to virtual in just two weeks. This not only satisfied a legal obligation to allow public access but resulted in giving the court a future proof solution that may be utilized even after things return to normal.

Live Video Streaming Statistics: Internal Communication in Numbers

Written by András Balogh in Video Trends & Studies on 18 June 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic developed, and with it the need to social distance, our IBM Enterprise Video Streaming customers moved more and more of their communication online. As a video streaming provider focused on helping customers share communications securely, IBM was at the forefront of these changes. We provide a solution for remote communication needs, such as training classes, company-wide broadcasts, executive town halls, digital events and virtual conferences. For example, we provided the streaming solution for the extremely successful two-day IBM Think 2020 Digital conference, leveraging the security rich aspects of the platform.

The need to social distance, work remotely and the cancellation of many in-person events has impacted how video streaming is being used today. For this report we gathered live video streaming statistics on how our clients use the IBM Enterprise Video Streaming solution for internal communication (i.e., employee communication). This covers data points like the frequency of live streaming, content length and information around viewership. The data is intended to help you formulate your own plan relating to your corporate communications.

Note: to avoid test broadcasts from being factored into the results, live streams with less than 10 viewers were removed from this study. Also, this data only focuses on live authenticated viewers and does not account for additional viewership or time spent on content from on-demand viewing of the same session.

MER Conference™ Case Study: Rapid Pivot to Digital Event

Written by Stacy Nawrocki in Customer Stories on 11 June 2020

What do you do when you are on track for over 300 people registering to attend, 10 sponsors setup to exhibit, nearly 100 speakers committed to present… and 6 weeks before the event you learn all of these people now can’t leave their homes?

For the MER Conference, the solution was to quickly pivot to a digital experience; one that could engage audiences remotely while placing them in front of experts and thought leaders. This case study outlines their transitional story, of shifting the conference, in just 6 weeks, to the new format. In the end, the team executed a seamless digital event experience and achieved an increase in year over year registrations by about 45%. Here’s how they did it.

Live Stream Conferences: Digital Events and Hybrid Event Models

Written by Stacy Nawrocki in Tips & Tutorials on 8 June 2020

Have you transitioned an in-person conference or event recently to an all-digital experience? Before COVID-19, many businesses focused on in-person opportunities to drive engagement. But once event cancellations started happening rapidly due to the need to social distance and related restrictions, businesses across virtually all industries were forced to take a very close look at how they could quickly pivot their efforts to digital.

This blog outlines some key insights from the last few months of activity in creating digital events. It details how IBM Watson Media has been able to help many clients with these efforts to live stream conferences, including our own IBM Think Digital event, providing considerations for your own virtual conference.

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