An Evening with Mick Harford - HOW THE UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE DOUBLES AUDIENCE SIZE OF PUBLIC LECTURE

As the proud higher education production partner for the University of Bedfordshire, First Sight Media was honoured to help deliver their most recent hybrid public lecture from their “An evening with…” series.

This free to attend regular event sees the university welcome special guests to lecture on campus and offer an exclusive Q&A session to students and the community. As an important part of the University’s business and community outreach programme, previous speakers in the series have included Chris Packham, Baroness Lawrence, and most recently, Luton Town Football Club’s manager, Mick Harford.

The atmosphere in the room was both exciting and intimate and was even described as being the university’s best lecture yet. Over 130 in-person audience members were transfixed as Luton’s manager shared stories from his career that sparked bursts of laughter around the room. Harford also touched on his journey battling prostate cancer and the research and support organisation “Prostate FC” he launched as a result.

But how does bringing in a production partner like First Sight Media, amplify these events, ensuring that the university’s standard of excellence is showcased throughout? Trusted by over 50 institutions in the UK, our filming, streaming and AV expertise allows us to strategically implement the right technical solution to meet an institution’s goal, that always elevates the brand, drives engagement, and captivates the audience.

Rosie Munro, Corporate Events Manager at the University of Bedfordshire said, “What First Sight Media have done is live stream and grow our audience significantly, reaching well beyond the lecture theatre. The numbers we are reaching is much bigger than what you can expect when simply delivering to a fixed space.”

Munro went on to explain the benefits of being able to offer these lectures to their local community. “These public lectures bring a completely different audience into the university. Bringing those people in, particularly from the local community, is really key so they can see what's on their doorstep. It also places us as an anchor institution here as well in the Luton and Bedfordshire community. Since we are a county institution, being able to offer that hybrid is just fantastic because we're a multi campus university.”

Full audio-visual solutions were provided, with a PA system, 2 cameras, 10 microphones, and 4 speakers so everyone could enjoy all of Mick’s insights. Our team even dressed the space with ambient lighting that reflected Luton’s FC’s colours to add to the atmosphere.

Online audiences were able to watch from 3 different platforms, the university's YouTube and Facebook, along with a custom site, built by us. This also allowed for virtual attendees to submit their questions to the auditorium, to then be answered by Harford himself, allowing for an interactive and inclusive experience. The results of this specific event online viewers more than doubling the size of the university’s in-person audience and maximising the impact of these events.

Through our experience and expertise – which includes streaming 100,000,000 hours of online events just last year – we understand that creating an immersive online event is key to keeping your audience engaged.

Whether you’re looking to film a graduation, or produce promotional content to attract new students, our award-winning team will take the time to understand the result you want and will personalise each solution to the needs of your institution to make sure we deliver. Just tell us your vision, we’ll bring it to life.

Looking to film or stream an event or capture content that can help raise the profile of university? Contact us today and find out how we can assist you.

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