Conference Production Guide
It's Almost Showtime!
As a small business owner, I understand the importance of having a strong and consistent brand image and I believe the photos & videos used to represent your brand are the main component of this image.
This resource is designed to help you prepare for the creation of powerful promotional content that will capture the essence of your event and leave attendees excited to join next year.
So if you're looking to showcase key moments, interactions, or behind-the-scenes excitement, this guide covers everything you need to make your promo video a success.

The Importance of a Branding
Branding is crucial because it helps create a strong and consistent visual representation of your brand. The images captured during your event are an essential component of your brand image and are used to communicate your brand's unique qualities, values, and personality to your target audience.
Having professional, high-quality images that accurately reflect your brand can help you stand out from your competitors, build trust, help your stay relevant and build credibility with your audience to create a memorable and recognizable brand image.

BEFORE the Event
Defining Your Core Message:
What emotions, experiences, and messages do you want to convey? Think about your event’s mission, the transformation your attendees will experience, and how you want to communicate that visually. Ie: Empowerment, Connection, Inspiration
Tip: Reflect on past feedback or moments from previous events that made a lasting impression with your attendees.
Target Audience:
Who are you trying to reach with your video? Knowing your audience will help shape the tone and content. Are you speaking to first-time attendees, repeat guests, sponsors, or speakers?

What to expect?

Storyboarding
The first step to shooting a video is not shooting a video: it's to plan it! We'll start by creating & planning your project's creative direction to plan and organize all necessary shots.
Storyboarding also allows for collaboration and feedback from both parties. We can identify potential problems and make changes before the actual filming begins.

Detailed Planning
Proper planning helps to ensure that all elements of the video, such as the script, visuals, and music, are aligned with the overall message and tone of the video.
Planning helps to set realistic expectations for the project and ensure that the photo & video meets its intended goals.

And... Action!
Once we have planned, its time to hit record. It's important to note now: There WILL be retakes. Extra takes for safety. There will be adjustments. There will be fly away hair. There will be an outfit adjustment. Retakes are completely normal & to be expected. Even despite all the planning in the world, things may happen but it'll be thanks to the planning the message of the promo video gets across.
Remember: Be Yourself!
This is an opportunity to showcase your personality, values, and unique qualities, which can help to build a deeper connection with your audience and position you as an expert in your field.
While I know it can be intimidating at first, it's best to relax and be yourself! Unless you are a professional actor, if you try to act, it can be very obvious.
I will ask you questions and prompts to bring out your authentic personality. That's what we want to shine in your promo video and by helping to accurately capture the essence of your brand.

Visual impact considerations
Emotions & Moments are everything
When planning for your event, be mindful of the emotions and moments you want to convey. Do you have enough opportunities to showcase different attendee experiences & emotions to make your event stand out? Will these experiences make attendees or viewers say, "Wow, I have to be there next year!"?
While hor d'oeuvres, dinners, and brunches can be a nice element of the event, they often don't make the biggest impact in promotional content. Instead, we'll focus on activities or sessions that will engage your audience and create excitement and trigger the fear of missing out instead of people eating.
Dynamic, Interactive elements
We want to highlight the moments that bring people together—ie. attendee activations, group interactions, backdrops for selfies, and the energy of the crowd. Capture the camaraderie and excitement that naturally happens during key sessions, workshops, and group activities. Show how attendees are not just participating, but thriving in the experience.
By focusing on these dynamic, interactive elements, your photos & video will create a buzz and leave potential attendees eager to be part of the action in the future.
What to Wear?
Outfit considerations
Consider your brand essence and target audience when selecting your outfits. Your clothing should be professional and align with your brand image. Avoid wearing any other logos or graphics that detract from the focus of the photos.

only 1 pattern
Patterns are great but they can be distracting when they clash. To avoid this, I encourage you to wear only one pattern during any outfit change. We want the focus to remain on you, not your clothing, so you can wear a pattern, just please remember only one at a time.

COlors
The easy answer would be your branding colors! Incorporate your colors into your clothing options either by going bold or by being subtle. I also recommend a basic black and/or white option for latitude when potentially creating graphic or flyers for your brand or business.

Professional Hair & Make Up

Hair & makeup is Essential
I recommend to all of my clients to get hair & makeup done before an event or session. If you do get your professional hair & makeup done, go for the soft glam although some clients choose to just have their hair and/or makeup done.
If you need any help finding a local hair & makeup artist, I can help with that!

Cameras Pick up Everything
These cameras literally pick up everything meaning you have to come camera ready to sustain being in-front of these high definition 4K cameras for hours.
Not only that, but I will be using commercial grade lighting to light you up to look as best as possible. Keep in mind, I will also be getting plenty of tight shots too.
Audio, Speech & Interviews
FOr the most Part...
I will not be using the audio that comes directly out of the camera while I am shooting.
(Unless usable sound bites, crowd reactions, ambient sounds)
That means all the directing, mistakes, bloopers, curse words, or anything that is not appealing or flattering to you as the client, will be used.
If we are going to be recording any sort of speech, interview or narration, we can plan it out and use microphones in a sound-friendly environment.
Recording speech or Interviews
Preparing your script
If we are recording speech, interview or narration that describes your brand or business, I recommend you writing it down and then rehearsing it several times before the session until you feel at ease & comfortable.
Time will go by very quickly during events because we have a lot of content to cover. I also like to overshoot for safety instead of not having enough so we can't afford many audio mishaps.
There simply isn't enough time for numerous pauses or looking at notes, "uh's or um's," or trying out multiple variations.

Wearing Microphone for Interview
To record clean interview audio, it's best to get the microphone as close to the subject's mouth as possible. The way we do this is by wearing lavalier or lapel microphones.
These mics have a wire & a small transmitter/recorder that will need to be tucked in a pocket or clipped on a belt. I'll show you how to wire it underneath your clothes and hide it by using Rycote Stickies, which are fabric safe, along with either a wireless DJI Mic or Tascam DR-10L, depending on the situation.
As far as clothing goes, I would recommend wearing something with a collar, like a sweater, button-down, blouse, or something with lapels, like a suit jacket or cardigan. Please avoid wearing skin-tight clothing, or spaghetti straps without a top, as you'll be able to see the microphone and wire.

Soundboard Connection is crucial
During the conference, using audio clips from presentation introductions & closing statements from the speakers can be super impactful in promotional content. While I shoot with an on-camera microphone to pick up ambient sounds, plus to act as a backup, to ensure the cleanest audio collection while minimizing interruptions to the speakers, it's standard for me to connect directly into venue's A/V team's soundboard, or to one of their speakers, using an XLR or 1/4" output.
So when coordinating with the A/V team, please be sure to ask if they will have an XLR or 1/4" output available for the videographer to record the speaker's microphone to avoid any day-of issues. Another backup option I have is to hide a small wireless microphone on the podium/microphone if there no outputs available (ie. older hotels/venues with built in speakers).
Lighting Considerations
Stage Lighting & lED Walls
When using stage lighting or LED walls, it's crucial to have white or daylight lighting pointed at speakers to avoid unflattering color casts from uplighting or LED backlighting. Proper lighting ensures your speakers are clearly visible and natural-looking on camera, keeping the focus on them—not the lighting effects.
To avoid flickering on camera when using an LED wall, ask for a refresh rate of 3,000 Hz or higher. If not, it may lead to flickering on camera & extended editing times to reduce/remove.
External Lighting will be Required
For indoor venues, especially those with dim or uneven lighting, adding supplemental lighting like off-camera flash or continuous lights can make a huge difference. External lighting helps create even illumination, highlights key moments, and ensures that attendees and speakers are captured in the best possible light.
That means I may have to deploy additional spotlights, strobes/flashes, or key lights at different times to offset color casts/dim lighting to ensure the speakers, activations, or events look as good as possible.
Final Tips for Making a Lasting Impression
Always remember attendees are the heart of your event, so showcasing their involvement is key:
Engagement & Interactivity
- Again, we want to focus on moments where attendees are actively engaging, whether they’re asking questions, participating in group exercises, or networking. These moments highlight how attendees are immersed in the event and excited about the experience.
- Social Media Moments: Offering attendees opportunities to take photos with your conference branding/logo, like selfie stations or backdrops, and enjoying interactive moments are fantastic for future marketing and increase the FOMO.
Activations & Giveaways
These moments often spark excitement and energy. If your event includes giveaways, contests, or other activations, we'll want to be sure to film and photograph the reactions of attendees—these are perfect for creating dynamic video clips.
Additional Impact Opportunities:
- Capturing Testimonials: Getting short video testimonials from attendees during the event can add authenticity and drive home how impactful the experience was, and are available for separate download & additional cost.
- Pre Sale Link Ready for the Following Year: To best capture the momenteum & excitement early on after the conference, you want to be sure you are ready to drop pre sale information at the same time you share the photos and videos. That way the emotion and excitement of the event will sell itself.
Want to watch an Promo Video?
Take a look at what the final edited video a promo video can look like as seen here in this promo for an author.