Live Video Streaming of DEMO 2008
For the past several years, I have enjoyed attending the twice annual
DEMO conferences organized by Chris Shipley. I have written elsewhere about how
it is one of the few valuable conferences I find myself returning to,
despite its not insignificant cost.
Unfortunately, my schedule did not permit me to travel to California for the event this week, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that live video streaming of the presentations would be available for free from the DEMO web site. I was skeptical about its quality and reliability, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. It turned out to be very high quality streaming that enabled me to see many of the presenters in real time.
I got a lot of value out of watching these video stream, albeit not nearly as much as I would have gotten had I been attending in person. The lack of personal interaction with other attendees and presenters certainly takes a lot away from the experience. Missing the Pavillion and the information that can be gleaned there -- not to mention the dinner, reception, and parties -- also diminishes the value. And then there are the more intangible factors. Being at an event, for instance, enables one to focus more thoroughly than when watching a stream from your desk while doing other work. Phone calls and meetings can interrupt. And, of course, the weather in Palm Desert is just a wee bit nicer than it is here in New Hampshire right now.
In any case, kudos to DEMO for making the streaming video available for free. It reinforces the DEMO brand, gives broader exposure to presenters, and hopefully helps sell more tickets to future events as some people who have never attended sample the value for themselves. I mean, who wouldn't feel compelled to pay after watching Shipley's dancing performance?
I would love to see other conferences introduce similar approaches. In some cases, I'd even be willing to pay a modest amount for a quality video stream (nothing nearly as much as the conference fee, of course, because so much value at events comes from the personal networking). It can be particularly valuable for West Coast conferences like DEMO to do a better job of reaching out to those of us for whom a cross-country trip requires a more substantial time and financial commitment than more local attendees that tend to dominate such events.
Live video streaming is something for conference organizers to think about at least, and DEMO showed them a great way to do it effectively.
Unfortunately, my schedule did not permit me to travel to California for the event this week, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that live video streaming of the presentations would be available for free from the DEMO web site. I was skeptical about its quality and reliability, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. It turned out to be very high quality streaming that enabled me to see many of the presenters in real time.
I got a lot of value out of watching these video stream, albeit not nearly as much as I would have gotten had I been attending in person. The lack of personal interaction with other attendees and presenters certainly takes a lot away from the experience. Missing the Pavillion and the information that can be gleaned there -- not to mention the dinner, reception, and parties -- also diminishes the value. And then there are the more intangible factors. Being at an event, for instance, enables one to focus more thoroughly than when watching a stream from your desk while doing other work. Phone calls and meetings can interrupt. And, of course, the weather in Palm Desert is just a wee bit nicer than it is here in New Hampshire right now.
In any case, kudos to DEMO for making the streaming video available for free. It reinforces the DEMO brand, gives broader exposure to presenters, and hopefully helps sell more tickets to future events as some people who have never attended sample the value for themselves. I mean, who wouldn't feel compelled to pay after watching Shipley's dancing performance?
I would love to see other conferences introduce similar approaches. In some cases, I'd even be willing to pay a modest amount for a quality video stream (nothing nearly as much as the conference fee, of course, because so much value at events comes from the personal networking). It can be particularly valuable for West Coast conferences like DEMO to do a better job of reaching out to those of us for whom a cross-country trip requires a more substantial time and financial commitment than more local attendees that tend to dominate such events.
Live video streaming is something for conference organizers to think about at least, and DEMO showed them a great way to do it effectively.
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