OCCC
Madison, Wisconsin-based Sonic Foundry serves more than 4,900 educational institutions, corporations, health organizations, and government entities in over 65 countries. Its Mediasite Video Platform, which includes a variety of hardware and software solutions, automates the capture, management, delivery, and search of live and on-demand streaming videos.
Mediasite Events streams event content from multi-room and multi-track conference or education events, including those with valuable certification courses. It provides end-to-end services from registration to high-quality streaming of breakout and keynote sessions.
After a year of preparations, the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s (PDPW) marquee event was days away. Organizers were counting on 1,400+ dairy farmers and allied industry partners from across the country and around the world to network and learn from each other. But like many event organizers, they faced travel limitations and event restrictions due to the coronavirus. Faced with the difficult decision of whether to cancel or take the event virtual, PDPW decided to take their signature event to the virtual sphere.
To take this formerly in-person event 100 percent online, PDPW turned to Mediasite Events. Other than monthly webinars, PDPW was new to the virtual event world. The idea of multiple-hour streams, let alone multiple days of content streaming like this business conference, was new territory. The Mediasite Events team streamed from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for two days straight.
The event was originally supposed to take place at the large Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., but due to the cancellation, PDPW had to find a location where local speakers could present while honoring social distancing. Plus, they needed to have a strong, dependable internet connection. They chose the Monona Terrace and Convention Center in Madison. Nearly 40 speakers presented. A few were in-person while most were remoted in with the support of one Mediasite Events technician to ensure the best quality video capture.
With Mediasite, there was no limit to how many people can watch the virtual conference at one time. The in-person annual event typically draws 1,400 industry professionals. With the virtual event, PDPW saw 2,300 live viewers over the two days, which is significant considering the transition from an in person to virtual event was within days.
Although networking was different online, speakers engaged with viewers using Slido. Mediasite also had live chat, ask-a-question and polling features. Attendees had access to an on-demand video library of valuable content they can reference year-round. With Mediasite’s search capabilities, attendees could easily locate topics and event moments.
Since the virtual event, PDPW expanded its use of virtual meetings. The organization is working with the Mediasite Events team to stream informational videos to dairy farmers three times per week to keep them up to speed with the industry during the pandemic.
