I’m delighted when a client tells me they’re going to debut a video we created at a big event. I cringe when they tell me they plan to stream it from the web.
You just can’t rely on the Internet in that situation.
Don’t get me wrong – the internet is great for delivering video. We use dropbox and other platforms to collaborate and deliver videos daily. Youtube is wonderful. But an Internet connection just isn’t reliable enough when you’re standing in front of a group of potential clients/customers/stakeholders. Theres’ nothing worse that getting that “spinning beachball” or “video buffering” message while the audience waits. And waits.
We’ve been there and done that (we even have the t-shirt). Internet connections can be flaky, and if you’re at a conference center or hotel, all of the attendees are already using up some of the bandwidth.
In the Dark Ages before we delivered everything digitally, clients would always ask for 2 tapes or 2 DVDs (or two of each) so that they had a backup in the event something went wrong. What’s your backup if your Internet connection goes south?
Do yourself a favor. Copy that video, presentation or document to your hard drive (and/or put it on a thumb drive) and test it out on your computer before the big event.
