Producing an Amigos Online Conference: “Testing, Testing, Go!”

It's not so much "Lights, camera, action!" in the production of an Amigos online conference. It's more like "Testing, testing, go!"

Attendee evaluations from last month's Amigos Member Conference indicate the 2014 version was yet another big success. While much of a conference's success hinges on its content – which seemed to resonate positively with our attendees this year – much credit also lies in the smooth, glitch-free presentation of its many sessions. This, in turn, is the direct result of diligent behind-the-scenes work by those Amigos staff members who serve as session producers.

¿Que Pasa? asked this year's producers what goes into putting on a successful online session.

Preparation is key to a smooth session. Prior to the conference, Amigos producers meet with presenters, some of whom have never presented before, spending the time necessary to ensure they are comfortable in the online setting, called a "room." Depending on their experience level, some presenters want to do dry runs of their entire presentation while others are content to check specific areas. Some presenters include videos and interactive features such as attendee polls in their presentations. These add-ons require rehearsals to ensure they function properly and the presenters are comfortable using them.

One producer cited flexibility as most important to good production, emphasizing the need to be understanding and patient with those presenters possessing varied levels of technical knowledge and those who don’t submit their session materials on time.

Audio is understandably a critical session component. The week prior to a conference, producers perform sound checks, often with the help of another Amigos staffer who serves as a "listener," to make sure the sound levels are consistent. This is particularly important when sessions are conducted by multiple presenters. Producers often spend the majority of their preparation time on sound checks.

To begin a session, producers generally open by introducing the speaker, and "setting the table" with the speaker's credentials, background, etc. Once the session is underway, one producer feels it is most important to "make the presenter look good." This can be accomplished by helping presenters identify questions posed by attendees, by supplementing the presentation with URLs posted to the chat, and should anything go wrong, being there to fix it quickly. Comfort in the online environment allows presenters to focus on their material and not "where to click next."

Something most attendees don't know about producing a session is that everyone who produces or supports conference sessions is involved in back-channel communication with other producers using Skype. This allows a producer to ask for help quickly from the other Amigos staff and let the others know how a session is going.

At the presentation's close, producers thank their presenters for sharing their time and expertise. Once a session is completed, they review the questions posed by attendees to be sure all were answered and that any unanswered questions receive prompt replies.

As will often happen with technology, there will be glitches and the unforeseen will arise. Good producers are defined by how deftly they deal with the unexpected. "One person we worked with who was based in England would not answer emails," a producer noted. "It turned out he was dealing with sick parents in France and was frequently unavailable prior to the day of the conference. Then on the day of his session, his computer went out and we had to quickly arrange for him to record his session."

What's one of the pitfalls to producing? As one producer put noted, "It is easy to start listening to the presenter and become one of the attendees. However, we have to continually be on our guard to be sure everything is going well."