Where Virtual and Live Meet (ft. Mark Herring, President of Signature Production Group Southeast)

Where Virtual and Live Meet (ft. Mark Herring, President of Signature Production Group Southeast)

Mark Herring is blurring the line between in-person and online events

OPENING QUOTE:

“And the real challenge for the companies and the agencies that are being asked to produce these is how to keep the end audience engaged in the virtual environment. And a lot of the ways you do that is to heighten the broadcast experience.”

-Mark Herring

GUEST BIO:

Mark Herring, president of Signature Production Group Southeast, has been producing in-person events around the world for more than 20 years.  Today, Mark has settled down in Atlanta to head up a unique broadcast studio designed and outfitted to produce the very best in virtual and hybrid events for even bigger global audiences.  

Links:

• Signature Production Group LinkedIn
• Mark Herring’s LinkedIn

CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:

[5:37] - Back to Broadcast

A pandemic-inspired pivot

After the pandemic hit, Mark saw a need for large-scale virtual events that offered all of the features of live— monitors, teleprompters, graphic support, cues, speaker timers, and everything else you’d get onstage that you won’t get on Zoom. So Mark launched a studio to provide those exact services in the digital space.

[8:39] - “The Honeymoon Phase”

Mark urges caution before rushing back to live events

Mark believes there will be a fall in live events after this initial rise after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We were able to save so much money doing events virtually,” he says. “But the people that are actually wanting to do the communication are gonna want a heightened experience that engages that at home audience, which is much harder to do when you are in a virtual environment.”

That’s where Mark and his team come in, delivering all the features of live in a virtual space.

[21:33] - Creating Virtual Out of Live

Specific content for the at-home audience

Mark speaks about tools that can be utilized in the virtual space to bring a live event’s benefits to virtual viewers. These include chat, Q&A, and the ability to engage with the presenter. There are technical challenges inherent in this, such as signal delays, but people like Mark are working everyday to find creative solutions to these issues to make virtual events as seamless as possible.

[23:23] - Creating Live Out of Virtual

How a small live audience makes digital experiences explosive

One hybrid concept Mark is helping pioneer is a virtual-focused event that nonetheless has a small in-person audience. Why? The same reason shows like Saturday Night Live, which are geared toward wide television audiences, still bring in a small studio audience. It creates energy, enlivens the entire event, and creates a sense of stakes and interest.

RESOURCES:

• [2:37] Signature Production Group
• [4:57] XR: VR, AR, MR— What’s the Difference?
• [23:23] Jimmy Fallon Breaking

Follow Mark Herring:

• LinkedIn

Follow Scott Bloom:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Vimeo

ABOUT NO MORE BAD EVENTS:

Brought to you by eSpeakers and hosted by professional emcee, host, and keynote speaker Scott Bloom, No More Bad Events is where you’ll hear from some of the top names in the event and speaking industry about what goes on behind the scenes at the world’s most perfectly executed conferences, meetings, and more. Get ready to learn the secrets and strategies to help anyone in the event industry reach their goal of putting on nothing less than world-class events. 

Learn more at: nomorebadevents.com

ABOUT THE HOST:

A veteran comedian and television personality who has built a reputation as the go-to choice for business humor, Scott has hosted hundreds of events over two decades for big and small organizations alike. Scott has also hosted his own weekly VH1 series, and recently co-hosted a national simulcast of the Grammy Awards from the Palace Theater.

As the son of a successful salesman, he was exposed to the principles of building a business at an early age. As a comedian, Scott cut his teeth at renowned improv and comedy clubs. And as a self-taught student of psychology, he’s explored what makes people tick and has written a book (albeit a farce) on how to get through life. He’s uniquely positioned to deliver significant notes on connecting people and making business seriously funny. And who doesn’t like to laugh? 

Learn more about Scott: scottbloomconnects.com

ABOUT eSPEAKERS:

When the perfect speaker is in front of the right audience, a kind of magic happens where organizations and individuals improve in substantial, long-term ways. eSpeakers exists to make this happen more often. 

eSpeakers is where the speaking industry does business on the web. Speakers, speaker managers, associations, and bureaus use our tools to organize, promote and grow successful businesses. Event organizers think of eSpeakers first when they want to hire speakers for their meetings or events.

The eSpeakers Marketplace technology lets us and our partner directories help meeting professionals all over the world connect directly with speakers for great engagements. 

Thousands of successful speakers, trainers, and coaches use eSpeakers to build their businesses and manage their calendars. Thousands of event organizers use our directories every day to find and hire speakers. Our tools are built for speakers, by speakers, to do things that only purpose-built systems can.

Learn more at: eSpeakers.com

SPONSORED BY IMPACTELEVEN:

From refining your keynote speaking skills to writing marketing copy, from connecting you with bureaus to boosting your fees, to developing high-quality websites, producing head-turning demo reels, Impact Eleven (formerly 3 Ring Circus) offers a comprehensive and powerful set of services to help speakers land more gigs at higher fees. 

Learn more at: impacteleven.com

PRODUCED BY DETROIT PODCAST STUDIOS:

In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits. 

Here’s to making (podcast) history together.

Learn more at: DetroitPodcastStudios.com

SHOW CREDITS:

• Scott Bloom: Host | scottbloomconnects.com
• Joe Heaps: eSpeakers | [email protected]
• Connor Trombley: Executive Producer | [email protected]