Best practices for event
content creation

Episode 4: Covering Events Through Video
How to turn them into content goldmines

Capturing videos covering an event? What else can you make? In this episode of Cut Through, we explore how to turn events into content goldmines—capturing the energy, messages, and moments for powerful content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpaqK-5kfUY&feature=youtu.be WATCH MORE EPISODES

"If the event only happens on stage, why should I hire someone to record it?"

There are so many moving parts in event coverage through video production. From capturing keynote moments and behind-the-scenes interactions to audience reactions and interviews, it’s easy to get lost in the chaos of lights, cameras, and a tight schedule.

But with the right strategy and an understanding of how to maximize every frame, event coverage can become more than just a recap—it can turn into a powerful content library that drives engagement long after the event ends.”

Got an event coming up? Take a look at our event videography service, or submit a brief and we'll map out what content you could get from the day.

Full episode transcript

Welcome to Cut Through, the podcast that helps make video content accessible to more creators. We cut through the noise in a wide range of topics to help you break down those barriers and bring your ideas to life.

In this episode, we explore how to turn events into content goal lines, capturing the energy, messages, and moments to powerful content. Let's get started.

We want to talk about events, don't we?

We do. And for some reason, this topic has been a very interesting one to research, prepare, and set up, and has caused some very interesting... What would be the word for it?

I would say debates amongst us, amongst the team about the topic and about event coverage.

It's such a broad topic. And I guess the question is sometimes, why would you want a camera in for the first place? And then once the camera's in, what can you expect to get out of it?

And why is it worth doing?

You've spent 95% of your budget on your venue, on promotion of the event, catering of the event, on all the branding around the events, the banners and all that stuff.

You've spent money in all those things to bring these people together to experience it. You've spent 95% of your budget, and to not have any coverage of that event, to me is something I just don't really understand personally.

I'm like, at least bring somebody in to record it so that you have a documented coverage that you had this event on and that you can share with the people that have been and show to people who might come in the future.

So to your point, I think the low-hanging fruit is to capture the event, why you're all there, and have a record of it, and also can be service highlights, thank yous, but also re-cut up for promoting the next year's event.

So whether you have recurring events, so if you're putting on seminars every quarter, or you're putting on awards nights every year, that's always a way of just reminding people, the classic FOMO, like, hey, look, you missed out, maybe next year you

should get them when you're promoting, the next year, hey, buy tickets. Look how cool it was, look how much fun, look at the great people you meet.

I think documenting and covering something gives you an opportunity to reflect on it and build from it in the future. And that just goes with anything, like in personal life, we did the same thing. It's kind of funny, I just had a thought there.

Why would somebody who's putting on an event not want to record it?

Some of it is the content itself can be secretive, proprietary, so they don't want competitors to see stuff that's going on.

Some people feel uncomfortable being filmed, especially guests, if they're guests of the company, because for example, if you're a key opinion leader or thought leader in the industry, you don't want to look like you're in bed with one particular

company when you're there for the industry. So if you're saying nice things, they cut it up for you like the way it looks like you're then you're biased or you're being paid to say something, so it's less organic.

They don't want to limit their opportunities.

I actually think there's a fourth point there, which is most people don't think it's worth it.

And if it isn't great footage, so what? Don't use it. I mean, it's not like it's a live event and you have to broadcast it.

I think just getting a camera and doing the basics, what I'm calling the basics, which is cover it and promote the next one and just have a record of it.

Well, like I said before, you've spent 95 percent of your budget there and five percent just to cover it. So at least you've got a highlight video, evidential proof that you've done it.

You've got a highlight video you can share immediately with your attendees. And number three, if you have another event in the future, that's something you can use to promote it.

So it's crazy not to cover it because there is so much value just in those three things right there that will pay off in the future for you.

So I think, well, then I use this opportunity to push a little harder. You've always said, well, there's so much more we could be doing at these events. And a few times I said, well, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that.

I could think of a few offhand, but I didn't think it was that much of a no brainer. So I guess my question to you, and are we over-evaluating the content you can get in addition to the basics?

In my opinion, no. So outside of general coverage, I think events are a content goldmine. Event coverage and creating content from that shouldn't be an afterthought.

And often it is because there's so much energy expended on creating the event. But really, it should be part of the planning process. And really simply, I'll touch on some things that you could be looking at.

Interviews with key opinion leaders.

Creating general vox pops, which is similar to the interviews, but getting general industry sentiments around the event, which will help to capture the feelings around why people are going and capturing the sentiments, which is really key.

You've got panels and discussions that will occur or speakers. Just alone, that can be worth quite a lot in terms of just recording that. Sometimes people can't attend events like that you wanted to.

You can share that with them or people that went to the event. You can add that as a value ad where they can reflect or go back.

So if you have events where you have sponsors, being able to bring value to sponsors by providing them with value ad from the event by saying, hey, here's a video for you from the event which highlights your contributions and brands you as being a

key part of this, that's valuable. And in addition to that, you've got the potential of bringing more people or sponsors in the future.

Or if your event's being funded by an industry body, as an example, you can turn to them and say, hey, look, this is the previous one we did. Check it out. Look how great this was.

So you're able to sort of spruik and endorse.

Yeah, I'll double-dead on that one from a marketing perspective, because when you're dealing with sponsorship, whether you brought sponsors in or you come and sponsor, the classic question as well, what kind of exposure should I get?

Is it going to be worth my time? And to your point, a visual representation of how much exposure your brand literally got in front of their potential customers. Like you said, you can say, oh, we're going to be friends with so many eyeballs.

It's like when you actually see it. And of course, you use editing techniques to hype it and show what an exciting event it was. Like you said, yeah, it validates.

So from a marketing perspective, it also validates if your boss asks you, hey, we sponsored that event. We're sponsoring these guys for these events that they do twice a year. Was it worth our investment?

Did we get the return on investment? Did we get the eyeballs?

Certainly being able to present them with a value add or the bow tie of showing them what the event looks like and how it's appreciated. That goes a long way to sealing that deal for you in the future.

And potentially even raising your ask in terms of what money or sponsorship value you're looking for. So for me, I think often I see some clients that we have and people that we know who put on events but don't even cover it.

But at the very least, it's not that expensive to get a camera out for the day to record and create a highlight package. And for those that do create, I think, and do that, how can you extend yourself further? Like what more are you not considering?

But the potential, to your point earlier, the potential for something invaluable, like getting like an industry leader to say something that just perfectly reinforces something you have been trying to say or something your organization tries to

All right.

Let's go through. I'm going to play, let me do my, I'm going to do a different role because you've been challenging me a lot. So I'll challenge you.

First objection is, it's just not worth doing. I look, sorry, it's not worth doing. Like I've put on these events and I bring a camera out and I just get this highlight package.

It's just not worth doing, Mike.

No, I think you just have to have an open conversation and challenge to say, well, go back to the basics. Why are you having the event in the first place?

And then if they're still, and then realizing that having a documentation of the event, and if you are, are you putting on future events? Are you, how do you promote the events?

I think it'll be quickly pretty obvious that having a record of the event will help in those endeavors. So unless they're never doing it again, maybe it isn't.

There are other opportunities that aren't on the stage, what I call the sidebars, or things that are happening on the side.

So for example, say all your customers, or a lot of your customers are coming in the room, and you have an opportunity to get testimonials. What better way than to do it on the side?

So the camera doesn't necessarily have to be pointed at the main stage.

You can, the camera that you can come can just be around where you can have breakout rooms, you can have discussion rooms, you can have interviews, you can basically just kind of work yourself into the schedule of the day.

That's great. I like what you're saying. And the objection number two, I don't have the time to do that, Mike.

Like I'm putting on this event, I don't have the time to do it.

Yeah, well, for us, selfishly, the comeback would be, well, we do that for you. We have a lot of experience in that.

Trust in the team on the ground that are experienced in capturing, well, live events and the chaos that ensues because nothing ever goes typically as planned.

It's just the experience of interviewing and discussing and capturing things that are happening while they're happening. That just becomes a let us do it for you.

Yeah, I can understand why event organizers are very loathe to probably consider this aspect of things because it's putting on an event's really hard work. But if you can go to somebody and look selfishly, we're talking about ourselves, be realistic.

If you're thinking, if we're not, you're somewhere else and you happen to be hearing this, then wherever you are, if you have somebody you work with or you can ring up and find a company that does potentially highlight videos or something, have a

chat to them and ask them and just say, look, I've got this. What I want to get a lot of coverage. I want to do all these things. Can you do it?

How would you do it? How much will it cost? Just ask the question.

Get somebody to take that headache off you.

But one of our clients does that, I think, quite well, which is you have your event people, but they're pretty much doing their part of the job, but the marketing people are adjacent.

And then they kind of, they bounce it off each other, knowing that they've acknowledged the fact that what they're doing is big, and what they're doing is important, and realizing that there are different priorities.

And so getting those priorities aligned, like I just want the event to go, because that's my job. And the market is like, I want my brand, or I want this to go well.

And just finding those, I guess, common denominators between the two, which is we're all here for the event, but we're also here for the content. I think to your point, it's that second part, which doesn't get as much attention.

Often the people we work with, both event organizers and marketers at the same time. So they naturally see that opportunity.

But generally, event organizers are mostly focused on the here and now, the actual event, the experience, and less about what happens after it.

Yeah, so what do you think, Mike? Knowing that there is a potential gap between event organizers and people that actually make content, promote the brand or the products, how do you think you bridge that? Who do you talk to?

I think I'd be talking to the people who are actually syndicating the event, people who are actually paying for the event, the people who want the event to happen.

Is it the brand manager? Is it the CEO? Is it the, you know, is it the HR team?

Is it the sales team? Who's actually, who's actually paying for this? Where's the budget coming from?

If that's you, then this message is for you. You're paying for that event. You're paying for that experience to happen.

You're paying to bring those people together, to experience whatever it is, or educate, or learn. You're going to that effort to do that.

Then you should take that step to think about what happens after it, because there is opportunities left, right, and center here that are being missed.

There's a ton of opportunities to do the types of things that always seem to be in the too hard bucket at events, because the events are bringing, you've already done the hard work of scheduling and flying people to a calming venue.

And I think that's half the battle. So once you're there, it's just a low risk. If we're always debating, I'm like, well, how valuable is this content?

In a way, you don't need to predetermine that. Just shoot it and film it. And if it's not good, don't use it.

And if you don't use it, how much it was, what, a tiny incremental cost to the overall budget of getting them on there. So it's just a high, it's a low risk, high reward endeavor.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I think you wrapped it up. But for me, I think if your biggest event of the year is leaving you with just a highlight reel, then you're leaving 80 percent of your best content on the table.

And to me, that's a lost opportunity. So I think if you're planning an event, don't think about the day.

Think about the next six months of content and what you could potentially achieve out of that one day of the year, how much you can actually extract from it. And that's the key.

And just remembering the way we work, if you're recording and capturing that content, you don't have to produce all that content immediately. You can actually slowly utilize it over a period of time.

But if it's planned out properly, that opportunity exists. And if you don't record it, you've lost it. So it's a no-brainer.

That's a wrap on this episode of Cut Through. If you liked it, hit subscribe. And if you've got thoughts or questions, we'd love to hear from you.

See you next time.