Whether it’s your first time running an event with a livestreaming component, or you’ve had experience doing so in the past, you may have some questions about how livestreaming through your Essential Events page may work. We’ve compiled some of the most common questions here to help walk you through this process, so your guests can have a seamless online viewing experience during your event!
Does Bonterra generate or provide the livestream for our event?
No, Essential Events pages are designed to embed and share your livestream to your participants directly from the page itself – but the livestream (and the link to that livestream) must be generated through either YouTube or Vimeo.
Through what platforms can we generate a livestreaming link for our event?
Currently, we support livestreaming videos (and static videos as well!) through either YouTube or Vimeo.
Our organization has never done a livestream before. What are some things we should keep in mind?
If you’ve never created or run an event with a livestream before, we recommend considering the use of a production team to help with the specifics of making sure your event runs smoothly. Any production company or production team would be able to help in facilitating the “live” portion of your event, especially if you’re not as familiar with that process.
We also can’t recommend enough that you practice, practice, practice! Practicing not only flipping your Essential Events page from the “Pre-Event” status to the “Live” status will let you and your team become familiar with the changes and features on the page when it’s set to “Live,” and let you see what the participant experience looks like for yourself.
Similarly, practicing turning on and running a test livestream through either YouTube and Vimeo lets you see how that process works and relates to your Essential Events page, and even gives you a chance to proactively troubleshoot any issues (like internet connectivity) prior to the big day.
What if we aren’t using a production team to help run our livestreaming component?
While you can utilize an outside production team to help run your livestream, it’s also absolutely possible to create and run a livestream on your own! YouTube and Vimeo both provide excellent resources (which you can find below) on how to set up, test, practice, and run an event with a livestream without any outside assistance.
Note: While it is possible to run a livestream for your event without the assistance of our production team, it is not always necessarily recommended (depending on your experience level). If you have questions about whether or not your event should utilize an external team for product support, please feel free to reach out to us.
What if we don’t have a YouTube or Vimeo account for our organization?
You will need to have either a YouTube or Vimeo account in order to set up and run a livestream through their respective platforms. Additionally, Vimeo only allows for livestreaming for their customers with a paid subscription to their service.
If your organization does not have an account in YouTube, you can use a personal YouTube account to generate that livestream. If your organization does not have a paid account through Vimeo, the option to livestream will not be available, and we recommend using YouTube instead.
If we use YouTube to generate and host our livestream, what specific things should we keep in mind?
YouTube has created an excellent Digital Events Playbook for folks who are looking to run a livestream event through their platform, and has a lot of good information on making sure all aspects of setup and production for your livestream run smoothly.
If we use Vimeo to generate and host our livestream, what specific things should we keep in mind?
Vimeo has created a “How To Live Stream for Beginners” guide for folks looking to run a livestream through their services. This guide includes a glossary of terms you’ll want to familiarize yourself with, and a few short videos to help guide you through the process of setup and production for your livestream.
Do we need to share the YouTube or Vimeo link to our event participants? How will they access the livestream?
One of the best parts of your new Essential Events page is the ability to share the livestreaming content of your event directly through the page itself. This allows your event participants to watch the livestream, participate in the event’s live chat, and donate to your cause – all in the same location.
Because of this, you don’t need to share the direct YouTube or Vimeo link to your event participants. Instead, you can share the link that they used to purchase or register for tickets – that's the same link they’ll return to for the event itself!
What privacy settings should we have for our livestreaming video?
If you’re utilizing YouTube for your livestream, you’ll have three separate options in terms of privacy for your video:
Public Video: Anyone can watch the video, and the video can be found by anyone through a search through a search engine (like Google)
Unlisted Video: The video is not considered “public” and cannot be found through a search – but the direct link to the video can be shared and viewed.
Private Video: The video is only viewable by the person or account who created the video. If the link is shared, anyone else who attempts to view the video will receive an error.
For YouTube, you must use either the “Public” or “Unlisted” settings, depending on your event’s specific needs.
If you’re utilizing Vimeo for your livestream, you have several options in terms of privacy as well:
Public: Anyone can watch the video, and the video can be found by anyone through a search through a search engine (like Google)
Private*: Private videos can be seen or shared with anyone who has the link – even if the viewer doesn’t have their own Vimeo account. The link can also be “re-shared”, and this cannot be found through a search.
Password*: Videos will have a required password that must be entered by the viewer in order for the video to launch.
Hide from Vimeo*: The video can be embedded and viewed on other sites, but cannot be found on Vimeo’s website for viewers.
Only Me: The video is only viewable by the person or account who created their video, and their team members who have been given access (through Vimeo).
* These options are only available for “Plus and higher” paid Vimeo customers.
For Vimeo, you must use either the “Public”, “Private,” or “Hide from Vimeo” settings, depending on your event’s specific needs.
We don’t want our video to be public for anyone who hasn’t purchased a ticket. How do we set this up?
If you don’t want others to “find” your video or view it outside of your Essential Events page, you’ll want to use the “Unlisted Video” setting for YouTube, and the “Private” or “Hide from Vimeo” settings for Vimeo.
What if we want to use a pre-recorded video?
You can absolutely use a pre-recorded video if you wish!
There are two ways to do so - either by showing a pre-recorded video instead of utilizing a livestream, or by playing the pre-recorded video within a livestream so it takes on all of the qualities that a livestream would have.
The major difference between the two options has to do with the “synchronicity” of the video – or the ability for all of your event guests to watch and follow along with the video at the same time.
As an example, let’s use Joe Smith.
Let’s say Joe is running a tad late, and he sits down to watch your event half an hour after you have set your Essential Events page to “live,” and started your video.
If you are utilizing a livestream, and Joe presses “play” on your video, then he’ll be brought to the thirty-minute mark, essentially “catching up” to where the event (and livestream) currently are in real-time. It would be just like if he walked in the door thirty minutes late to an in-person event.
However, if you’re utilizing a pre-recorded video, and Joe presses “play,” he’ll start from the very beginning of that video, and he won’t necessarily be “synchronized” with other viewers, who started the video at the designated event start time.
Bottom line: if you want everyone to be watching your event at the exact same time, a livestreaming component is going to best for your event. If your event doesn’t require everyone to watch the video at the same time, using pre-recorded content might work just as well for you!
Can we practice using the livestream before our event through our Essential Events pages?
Yes! We strongly recommend that you practice turning both your actual livestream, and your Essential Events page, to “live”, so you can familiarize yourself with how the page will look and feel for your participants during the actual event.
You can test your Essential Events page by selecting the “Live” option (from “Pre-Event”) on your Livestream Dashboard. As a note, if the page is “Live,” it will temporarily remove the option to purchase or register for tickets, so we recommend testing this at a time when traffic to your page will be lower. The tickets will be made available once again, as soon as the page is flipped back to the “Pre-Event” status.
What if we'd like for tickets to be available after the livestream has ended?
By default, a ticket will remain available on your Essential Events page until the time that your event is scheduled to end. You also have the ability to set a ticket "end time" when creating tickets as well, if you'd prefer a ticket be available to purchase for a more limited time.
If you are running a livestream through your Essential Events page, and you would like your tickets to remain available after the livestream has ended, you will need to switch your page back to the "Pre-Event" status in your Livestream Dashboard. Otherwise, your tickets will not be visible or accessible to your participants.
When do you recommend that we practice and/or test the livestream?
We recommend testing at least once before the day of your event, and at a time when traffic will be lower to your page. Ideally, testing it prior to sharing with your participants would be best – but any time with lower traffic (such as early in the morning or late in the evening) is also recommended.
Do we need to “go live” in both YouTube/Vimeo and in our Essential Events page?
Yes! You will need to initiate the livestream itself in either YouTube or Vimeo, and also change the Essential Events page status from “Pre-Event” to “Live.” We recommend starting the livestream video first, and having some sort of “standby” or “we will start momentarily” image posted, so your participants know the event will be starting soon!
What kind of support does Bonterra provide for the livestreaming component of our event?
Our standard support hours are Monday through Friday, 8AM to 7PM ET. During that time our agents are able to answer any questions or concerns that you may have surrounding your event. Additionally, any major outages to our system (planned or otherwise) will be reflected on our Bonterra Status Page, which we recommend that you subscribe to, or bookmark for future reference.
We strongly encourage users with upcoming Events and/or Auctions to attend our related trainings prior to your events, and perform a "test run" prior to the actual day of your event.