Using Lync to run Tech Days Online

Hopefully many of you attended Tech Days Online last and got lots of value from the event.  From a production perspective whilst it was a great deal of hard work, we really enjoyed the event and the end result.

I thought I would put up a quick post on how we managed to run the communications side of the event.  These types of events are quite complex to put together and there are lots of moving parts.  In particular we needed to ensure that there was regular communication between the film (and sound crew), the moderators and the actual presenters.  We also needed a solution to keep the presenters informed of the latest developments and provide them with up to date  questions from the audience. 

<What you didn't see on screen at Tech Days Online>

We decided to operate a Lync meeting to run the event.  The presenters were equipped with Surface devices and Voyager Legend UC ear pieces care of Plantronics.  The team in the moderating room were in "passive" mode listening into the communications whilst not being able to talk. 

<The team running the moderating Tech Days Online>

I was running the production desk and had a laptop and a Voyager Legend UC.  I could then communicate with the presenters and the moderating team knew what was going on as well.

When it came to questions of feedback to the presenters, they both had copies of Lync running on their Surface devices which meant they could react quickly to questions from the audience or knew when to finish their session.  Communication is key to running this type of event and Lync provided us with an effective, free platform to co-ordinate from.

  
<Simon looking at the production desk>

If you want to find out more about Lync then you can do so by downloading it here: <Download Trial of Lync>

Thanks for reading, I hope you found it interesting.

Dan @danpi