😒The problem with panel discussions
The latest news from StreamAlive and the world of online, offline, and hybrid live events.
Hi there! In this week’s newsletter:
Create viral content the internet loves
Can you be a StreamAlive beta tester?
The problem with panel discussions
The fish doorbell
Creating viral content that the internet loves
Whenever the marketing team or marketing agency gets asked to create a video, high-up in the list of requirements is “make it a viral video”.
As if “make it viral” is a box that has to be ticked.
However, for some people, making videos that go viral has become second nature.
They intuitively know what elements to include - and what to leave out - to give a brand video a greater chance of going viral.
Devaiah Bopanna is one of those writers.
After cutting his teeth at one of India’s most popular comedy productions, he now helps to write and produce brand content that has consistently gone viral.
Check out Devaiah’s LinkedIn profile to see the viral brand ads he’s helped write.
This Wednesday (10th April), Devaiah is running a workshop teaching us the tips and secrets you should be using in your content to help it go viral.
Registration is free, but seats are limited, so save your seat today.
We also have some more exciting #StreamAliveShowcase events coming up and we’d love to have you join us for them as well!
Apr 27 - The one and only Jan Keck is joining us for a practical session on fostering design group experiences that spark engagement, increase trust and foster deep connections so nobody feels left out.
May 8 - We’ve got facilitation guru, Myriam Hadnes joining us to teach us how to have more effective meetings
Jun 5 - Neela Saldanha has dedicated her life to understanding human behavior and deciphering what makes us tick. She’ll be sharing her discoveries with us at her event.
Jul 2 - How can design systems improve your productivity? That’s the question Manish Agarwal will be answering in his session.
July 17 - Tatiana Rodriguez is going to be teaching us how to conquer your virtual stage fright, perfect if your palms go sweaty and throat goes dry before speaking to a virtual audience.
Save your seat to all of these events today!
🧪Looking for willing guinea pigs
We’re in the process of launching a whole new way of creating engagement in your presentations using AI.
We need beta testers to try it out in their live sessions and talk to a couple of media publications about your experience.
You get to use a cutting-edge AI AND get some visibility for your live sessions in some major media outlets!
Interested?
Simply reply to this email (we do read our replies!) and we’ll schedule a call to give you a demo.
Why are panel discussions rarely discussions?
Manish Agarwal (sitting on the left, and also speaking at a #StreamAliveShowcase event in July) recently pondered why panel discussions are often just monologues.
Where we deviated from standard Panel D’s is that we did not leave Q&A for the end (“sorry, we have time for only 2 questions”; “could you skip the commentary and come to the question please”, etc).
Sometimes there might be a little bit of to and fro between the panelists, but rarely between the audience and panelists.
During Manish’s panel session the audience were interacting with the panelists and each other using StreamAlive’s in-person app.
It became a dialogue with multiple people, not mini-monologues.
Have thoughts on panel discussion monologues? Join the discussion here!
I share the (traditional) panel pet peeve! Precisely because there is no interaction with the audience.
Gwyn Wansbrough
"They are usually n mini-speeches, one after the other. " - my pet peeve with panel discussions
Siddharta Govindaraj
At the end the audience was asked what they thought of the event and the results are are shown on the screen in the photo above.
The one 😴emoji was by one person who sent the emoji 148 times, causing Manish to wonder how sleepy that person actually was!
(Manish could have restricted answers to one per audience member, or moderated the emoji during the event)
What we’ve been reading
Fish don’t ring doorbells, so why are thousands of people tuning in to a fish doorbell livestream from Holland?
The New York Times (no paywall) recently published an article about the fish doorbell phenomenon in Holland.
Due to the lock system in the city of Utrecht, the fish couldn’t navigate upstream to warmer waters to spawn, so the city turned to crowdsourcing to help these fish.
A camera was installed under water and the video was streamed live to the internet where anyone could watch and press a ‘doorbell’ whenever they saw a fish approaching the lock.
The door is opened, letting the fish through.
The livestream has brought together an audience from around the world who are doing their bit to help the fish with their sex lives.
Catch us on our social pages
If you haven’t already, check out our social media pages to stay updated on our quirky takes on the latest social media trends and the occasional piece of engagement-related advice.
All the best,
Peter and the StreamAlive team