Commencement season is just around the corner so it seems like a good time to ask, “Why are these ceremonies important and how can technology providers help make them more accessible, engaging, and memorable?”
Why Are Graduations Important?
Most of us believe that graduations are important, but there’s more to them than tossing square hats in the air and having dinner with your extended family. Check out this quote from PsychCentral …
“The graduation ceremony is the closest thing most Americans have to a rite of passage into adulthood, a statement that we are moving from youthful exploring to adult responsibilities. Days as a student are ending. Life as an adult citizen is beginning.”
Wow … thinking about graduation as a milestone for the student and their loved ones brings a different perspective and alters our technical approach!
How Can Technology Help?
As an industry, we’ve supported graduations for decades. From a wired microphone in the school gym to concert-style setups at entertainment venues, the scope of deliverables has typically been based on the in-person audience size and expectations. The pandemic in 2020 made everyone rethink how to deliver a similar experience virtually but … let’s be honest … most workarounds were bandaids, not comprehensive solutions.
Location Influences Technology
There are a million variables that determine the best location for any event … the size, seating arrangement, available resources (power, rigging, existing stage, and other production elements, etc.) are all factors that influence the technology required. It’s an excellent idea to involve your Technical Production Partner before selecting a venue so they can address potential challenges and offer solutions.
Pro Tip: Co-locating isn’t a new concept, but not all schools consider the efficiency benefits. Sharing physical (equipment and labor) and intellectual (planning, permitting, etc.) resources reduces the expense for every school involved. Many companies will negotiate multi-week agreements which leads to huge savings. Districts, charter schools, and private institutions usually see the greatest impact of sharing a venue.
Contingency Planning
Depending on where you live, spring weather can be very unpredictable. Indoor or outdoor, you’ll need to plan for inclement conditions. The easiest solution is to implement appropriate safety measures and deem the event “Rain or Shine”. Otherwise, be sure to have a secondary site or date and clearly communicate your plan with students and their families.
Expect Hybrid to Be Standard
Like most events in the foreseeable future, our audiences will be a combination of in-person and virtual. We need to deliver the best shared experience possible but in unique ways.
In-person gatherings won’t change much, but don’t forget the things we’ve learned throughout 2020 that make events even better.
Online experiences have gotten significantly better and continue to improve. The big takeaway here is that virtual audiences need their own production that parallels the in-person … not just the same thing delivered in a browser.
Remote Participation
Using a widely available public platform (like Facebook or YouTube) makes it easy for large remote audiences to view the event. Streaming the ceremony is obvious, but deeper engagement … especially for unique situations … is possible.
For starters, a Zoom room for non-participant audience members can substitute for the rowdy in-person crowd. The NFL used this tactic outside locker rooms and near end zones all season!
Including a limited number of remote students and other active participants ensures they become a highlighted segment and creates interest during the event.
Pro Tip: The Valedictorian that has started their internship abroad can still deliver a speech during the graduation. Pre-recorded is ok but live or live-to-tape is much more genuine.
The Nerdy Stuff
Audio
It should be obvious but … make sure everyone can hear. Social distancing means larger areas to cover. For indoor events, make sure entrances, hallways, balconies, and other unexpected areas have sound reinforcement. When you’re outside, consider adding speakers to the parking lot, concourses, near restrooms, and anywhere people might gather.
Video
Everyone wants to see their friends and family walk across the stage. Existing displays should be utilized but, if they’re not ideally located, add more. Ancillary video locations (the same ones listed in audio) should be really big and/or placed as high as possible. 80” monitors at eye level are great … for people in the first row. Instead, use large LED displays or truss arches with monitors mounted above the crowded areas.
Staying Connected
Pro Tip: This might be outside the scope of your Technical Production Partner but do whatever you can to ensure strong WiFi or cellular connectivity. For an additional cost, venues often have options for expanding their day-to-day access and mobile providers can deploy temporary cellular towers.
Non-Technical Considerations
Logistics
Parking is always a challenge but the possibility of drive-through graduations means a lot of cars won’t just be parked … they’ll need to move! This requires dedicated lots for parking versus staging.
Police presence ensures better traffic flow and decreases unwelcome activity (sorry kids … no doughnuts on the football field).
Permits are usually simple to obtain in suburban and rural areas but might be challenging in urban districts. Make sure you partner with local officials sooner than later.
Wrap it Up …
Graduations aren’t run-of-the-mill events and we should approach them differently. These technology tips will dramatically improve the experience for students and their loved ones while still managing costs.
At Encompass, we have unique backgrounds that situate us perfectly to produce high end and complex offerings. We’ve worked in broadcast television, touring entertainment, live sporting events, and countless convention facilities across the country.
We have technical design experience and a disciplined process in place that allows us to easily scale events and shift from in-person to virtual without angst. There isn’t much that’s beyond our scope and we love the intensity of putting on events!
If you’re a planner working to create an event, seeking help with virtual event technology, or simply want to learn more … we can help! Sign up below to receive our updates (we promise to keep your contact information secure and won’t “overshare”).