Event Roles, Determining Schedule, & Building A Team
Event Roles
How Roles Are Divided – Who Will Broadcast & Who Will Support?
If you want to run a successful stream, then you need to fulfill a minimum of three roles: the broadcaster, the chat moderator, and the stream promoter. These roles are defined by the basic necessities of a charity stream. This holds true whether you’re planning on doing a solo broadcast or running a big group stream.
- Broadcasting & Entertainment
Provides the content being viewed in the video. They are the primary entertainment that people come to see. - Chat Mod
Ensures viewer interaction and a lively chat through the event. They are also in charge of making sure links to the donation page are regularly posted in the chat so those viewing on mobile devices get easy access to donate. - Outreach & Promotion
Ensures that there’s a continuous outreach on social media channels during the event to draw people in. A crucial and often overlooked role that can make or break a charity live stream’s success.
While there are tools to help perform these functions if you’re attempting a solo stream, I recommend 2-3 people are involved per stream, rotating roles, for everyone to keep their sanity.
While these roles represent the bare minimum for a stream, those who perform large group streams will find that there are 6 additional roles, for a total of 9, that are usually filled.
- Writer
Press release(s), media kit, the donation page, information page (see below), emails, blog posts, and other content that will be used for promoting the stream. - Communicator/Press Contact
Talk directly with bloggers, journalists, and anyone else who would be interested in signal boosting the message that your charity stream is happening. Additionally this role would talk directly with the non-profits as well as businesses for getting sponsorships & swag for contest giveaways. - Artist/Graphic Designer
Create visual content to draw people in and promote the event. - Video Editor
Pull together a promo video for the stream before hand and to create highlights after the event is over. - Event Organization
Ensure everyone in the above roles are working in tandem as well as handling tasks like broadcaster schedules. - Technical Setup
Ensure the video & audio is synced, balanced, and continuously live.
I use the term “roles” since people will often wear many hats while preparing for a charity live stream. A writer may also be a press contact before the stream starts and a broadcaster or chat moderator as it’s happening. Additionally, it’s not uncommon for multiple people to share roles, especially as Stream Promoters since getting the knowledge about the stream out to as many individuals as possible is paramount for a streams success.
The people that make up your team need to be dedicated rock stars like yourself. Charity streams can be long, drawn out ordeals and the people joining you need to be willing to push themselves to exhaustion and love every minute of it. Not to mention that there’s almost always things that come up you won’t think about. (Is there food and drink for everyone? Are they actually taking the breaks they need to? What do we do if the stream drops or get hit with a BSOD? Do we have a contingency plan? etc) Everyone on the team needs to be able to think on their toes and dedicate themselves to the event while it’s going on.
Luckily, I’ve never met a gamer or artist who’s committed to an event without giving a 100{90a6d81482ddedbcdfd778c825eccd6b40ee0d05f38df3ad6f856a1adc621028}. I personally feel it’s just not in our nature to quit, especially when we’re working towards a goal that’s bigger than ourselves. So if you’re planning an event and realizing you need some assistance, reach out to the community, I’m @clivestream on twitter, and you’re sure to find some help.
Determining Schedule
The final piece of event
Selecting Date
Although circumstances are always different based on personal availability and the availability of your community, the majority of charity live streams happen from Friday afternoons to Sunday evenings. This is for the obvious reason that these are the days when most people have time off to run and watch streams for a prolonged, continuous amount of time.
There are usually several charity streams each weekend, so at the moment there doesn’t seem to be a particular time of month that’s better than others. If there’s a particular date that is special to you, either because of the cause or because of a related/unrelated anniversary, then please feel free to go ahead and do it on that date. Often people will watch your event if they feel it’s special and, as long as you keep in mind your communities availability to actually watch and contribute to your event, then you should be fine.
Selecting Time
As with the date of you’re event it’s best to choose a start time for your stream that reflects when your community is going to be available to watch. Combine common sense logic with the knowledge you already have about your users. Most individuals will not have the chance to sit down for a prolonged stream until after they’re done with the day’s work. Typically this means that a stream on a weekday should start later and a stream on a weekend can start anytime, however if you know that the majority of your community lives in a drastically different time zone, then you’ll want to try and line up your stream to reach them. This is especially true for shorter streams. If you are doing a long stream that’s 24+ hours then you’ll be less worried about the initial start time, but you’ll still want to consider when you’re viewers will be around to watch and participate.
Most importantly, though, be sure to pick a time that best works into your own schedule. Viewership factors should be kept in mind, of course, but since you will be doing the actual streaming you’ll need a time frame that allows you to run the stream effectively.
How Long Will The Livestream Run?
Most live streams submitted to CharityLiveStream.com fall under one of the following lengths:
Most Common
- 24 Hours Continuous
- 12-12 Split (24 hours over 2 days)
- 6-12-6 Split (24 hours over 3 days)
Less Common
- 6-12 Hours Continuous
- 48 Hours Continuous
- Week Long Stream
24 Hours is the standard total length for a majority of streams. It’s short enough that an individual or small team can handle it and it’s not so long that the viewer will need to leave due to other obligations. Let’s take a moment to break down the pros & cons of each split.
24 Hours Continuous
The most iconic style for charity livestreams. The continuous 24 hour fundraiser serves as the most popular, especially among new streamers & teams, due to its “endurance test” nature.
Pros:
- Bragging Rights
No better way to showcase one’s commitment than to put yourself through a tiring ordeal for your cause. - Powerful Message
The mantra of “not resting until the goal is reached” is a powerful one that resonates with a lot of people before, during, and after an event. - International Appeal
If the broadcaster(s)’s community is international, then there’s the opportunity for everyone all over the world to pop in and watch at a convenient time. - 1.5 Day, Weekend Recovery
If started Friday evening, the event ends Saturday evening and there is both a full night’s rest and all day Sunday to enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Cons:
- Physical Exhaustion
24 hours continuous streaming is a bear of a task to embark on and, if it’s started on a Friday, means the broadcasters & support may actually be awake for closer to 34-36 by the time you hit the end if everyone stays involve through the whole stream, which is not a fun condition to be in. - Mental Exhaustion
When streaming you need to be constantly engaging with your audience to find that balance of entertainment nonprofit education, and encouraging donations. Being constantly wired up to do this is tiring with the longer you go the worse it gets, especially if you don’t properly pace yourself. - Falling Asleep While Live
Mostly a solo run issue, but this is the worst thing that can happen. Imagine clicking to watch an entertaining livestream and there’s just the broadcaster sleeping in the chair. Enough said. - Late Night Viewer Drop
While great for broadcasters with international audiences, if the audience lives primarily within your timezone or similar then after midnight many will drop off to sleep and the stream will be left to the few die hard supporters of yours who have already donated if they can.
24 Hour 12-12 Split & 6-12-6 Split
For those who enjoy things like sleep, both the split styles share the same time commitment to fundraising as the continuous stream, but with a more manageable schedule.
Pros:
- Sleep
With the fundraiser split over multiple days, being able to sleep and de-stress each day prevents physical & mental fatigue as well as eliminating the risk of passing out while streaming. - Energy & Focus
Split streams are like sprints compared to the 24 hour marathon. Giving 100{90a6d81482ddedbcdfd778c825eccd6b40ee0d05f38df3ad6f856a1adc621028}, 100{90a6d81482ddedbcdfd778c825eccd6b40ee0d05f38df3ad6f856a1adc621028} of the time to entertaining & encouraging donations is much easier with the safety net of rest at the end of the day. - Scheduling
Streaming during shorter times over multiple days allows for strategic timing based on when your audience is able to watch and avoiding late night drop off. - A/B Testing
Multiple event days means being able to test different strategies and review what works best at the end of the day. Different games/styles/content can be attempted with fresh energy each day.
Cons:
- Fragmented Experience
Since the stream is broken into different parts, our audience needs to be brought in multiple times, as opposed to bringing someone in once and keeping them there. There’s also the risk of a lack of urgency for the donations (“I can always donate when I watch tomorrow” before getting distracted by life and missing the next day.) - No Bragging Rights
The 24 hour continuous stream has the powerful message for a reason. Simply watching someone push through the exhaustion in order to promote a cause greater than themselves has an inspiring quality behind it and can push people to donate out of sheer respect for the effort. - International Rejection
Broadcasting at times only best for our time zone can completely cut off the opportunity for international audiences to view & participate in your charity stream if you have fans in other parts of the world. - Multiple Days Lost
A livestream spanning multiple days means that for those days the stream is all/almost all you do. There’s a different kind of exhaustion that can come from dedicating multiple days to a stream instead of getting it all done in one, well paced, push.
Less Common Types
The less common lengths are due to either A) short streams not being as effective/easy to miss, or B) longer streams being coordinated by small/large teams of people working together. Obviously more broadcasters scheduling their time can cover the weaknesses of a solo broadcaster, but the increase in work to manage scheduling and organizing a continuous 48+ hour event without losing quality is a monumental task. One that CLS aims to help streamline as the platform grows, but a monumental one nonetheless.
Regardless of the length, be prepared to select entertainment that will stay engaging for that time period.
IMPORTANT:
Knowing personal limits and properly taking care of oneself should always be top priority during any livestream, regardless of length.
Gaming streams are especially susceptible to exhaustion due to the nature of getting wrapped up in the game, the cause, and the experience of live fundraising. The constant stimulus can lead to easily losing track of time and without proper nourishment & water the effects of low blood sugar & dehydration can hit you like a baseball bat to the back of the head, especially at the 8-10 hour mark.
I highly recommended having a partner for the stream to help give your voice a rest, aid in keeping the stream flowing, reminding each other to take breaks, and just making the event more enjoyable. This is especially true if you’re going to attempt a longer length stream and isn’t limited to the broadcaster, but the whole team (chat mods, promoters, organizers, participants, etc).
Building A Team
With the “Who, Where, What, How, & When” decided, all that’s left is bringing everything together.
Searching For Members
CLS Discovery
Sign-Up Forms
CLS Opportunities
Establishing On-boarding Processes
After making contact with potential teammates, you’ll want to communicate your event, it’s goals, and