Live Streaming in the Virtual Age

Whether we notice it or not, the ability to transmit a live video feed to a remote location has been with us for over half a century! Stepping further back into history, live radio broadcasts predate those numbers even more significantly. We’re now in the year 2020 with decades of improvement built into this medium, so what does that exactly mean? Given the current social climate, it should be obvious that live streaming reigns supreme as the top means of communication. As we still operate as an essential business, what can this technology do for you, your family, your community, or your business and how can we safely provide this? Let’s dive in.

Understanding the historical significance and impact of live broadcasting on our world is part of this journey. Humans’ aspirations to improve the means to send messages, pictures, and other forms of communication are not unique to recent history. In fact, the first fax machine was invented in 1846 while the first patented phone didn’t arrive until later that century by Alexander Graham Bell. Their forward-thinking was beyond what the world could provide them at the time, and even what was available couldn’t be obtained by the average individual. That is until the early 20th century when Guglielmo Marconi splashed onto the scene with his live broadcasting experiments. By the year 1955, nearly every family in the western hemisphere had a radio, capable of receiving live broadcasts, in their home. 10 years later, portable versions increased the availability and use became virtually universal among those across the world. Between live news updates, programmed entertainment, weather broadcasts, and national emergency announcements; this medium wasn’t going anywhere.

The later part of the century only embraced live broadcasting even more with television picking up the baton from radio, and becoming more enriched with the depth of media alternatives. Late night television shows, professional sports games, daily local/national news, weekly sitcoms, and alternative entertainment dominated American living rooms and had placed a firm finger on the pulse of America. The medium continued to grow and reached an unprecedented catalyst that we all know as the modern-day internet. What was specifically limited to access to broadcasting studios, industry professionals, and government operations was now in the hands of anyone with an internet connection. We’ve witnessed it flourishing into our daily, everyday use to the point where not having it seems foreign to recent generations.

So here we are, a company such as ourselves standing on the backs of historical figures and improvements in the hopes of leaving our own imprint on the medium. As a video-led digital marketing agency, Jpixx understands the importance of being able to provide top-notch services through live streaming and broadcasting. Especially, in a time where staying at home and socially distancing is a pillar of working through this uncertain time. Before the recent COVID-19 outbreaks, we strived to refine that experience and provide a seamless, professional means to beam your message to the masses. Fast forward to now, and we have been submerging ourselves in the avenues that social media has provided us. Facebook and Instagram now provide live features that allow us to extend our creative touch to your pages for that additional reach to your audiences!

The year 2019 marked an action-packed period where live streaming became a familiar approach to our work. Our coverage of the 35th annual Norfolk Grand Illumination Parade demonstrates the scale of our capabilities. With thousands in attendance, and even more watching from their homes, we streamed the entire celebration with our multi-cam setup, onboard graphics, and live street interview segments.

Our experience with the event since 2017 gave us a leg up, and our extensive crew worked various levels of the production from manning the cameras, managing the event schedule, relaying vital equipment, and controlling the various feeds being transmitted to our viewers. Prior to our livestream, the ability to view the parade was limited to whether you could find a seat and attend. Our services allowed us to broadcast the entire parade and showcase all of downtown Norfolk, with some additional behind-the-scenes content, via Facebook Live, which greatly expanded the reach to potential viewers. The 35th installment marked the third consecutive year we were proud to bring this seasonal event to the greater community.

Other wide scale events such as the RocSolid Foundation’s “What Hope Looks Like” live event shows that not only can Jpixx capture your events creatively, but also present important messages and causes that are important to you and your business. With the goal of raising funds to support children fighting cancer, we assisted the foundation in operating a 10-hour Live-A-Thon that included live music performances, guest speakers, giveaways and prizes, an ongoing telethon, and sponsored segments with large donors.

Once again, our multi-cam setup, intuitive broadcasting software SlingStudio, and attentiveness to detail assured a clean and professional result. Most importantly, we’re glad to utilize our potential for a cause bigger than ourselves and add to the fantastic work that RocSolid does, day in and day out.

As we move forward, more online platforms are catching up to the live stream race with their own features. Most notably, Instagram provides its own unique touch with its story options and newly added live streams. In true Jpixx fashion, we dedicated our 7th anniversary celebration entirely through our Instagram story and main feed of posts. Their poll and question widgets allowed for viewer interactions throughout the multimedia slideshow featuring challenges, quizzes, and links to official projects that we premiered exclusively on our page. Having tested the waters, we marched on confidently to bring this specialized experience to our clients. With planned in-person events throughout the Spring and Summer seasons being canceled, there’s been a shift in moving these happenings to an entirely virtual function. For instance, we’ve previously covered the Access College Foundation’s Scholarship Award Luncheon by live-streaming the entire function online. Now, we’re currently transitioning the event into an entirely online experience. Our multi-talented staff covers all of the bases essential to providing a specific virtual platform for your business or cause.

Let’s face it, the way we communicate with our clients, followers, and audiences are more important now than ever. Our efforts to navigate through this period of time, along with pushing forward, will define our practices and approaches to marketing for the unseeable future. Jpixx hopes to shed light on these alternative paths and ultimately assist our local businesses and community within our expertise. As a small business, we join you hand in hand with elevating your clientele, expanding your reach, and enriching your following base. Join us in capturing life creatively!