Supplier specifications
Event livestream production brief
Members who cannot travel want to watch your conference live, and you need a supplier to deliver it without surprises.
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The short answer
A livestream production brief states who the online audience is, what they should see and hear, where it is shown, who has agreed to be filmed and broadcast, what happens if the connection fails, and how you will test it before going live.
Network, equipment and technical design are for the production supplier and the venue to propose and confirm. Your brief sets the outcome, the people responsible and the rules you need followed.
Decide what the online audience is getting
A livestream of a single plenary camera is different from a produced broadcast with graphics, remote guests and live questions. Say which you want, because the cost and the staffing differ greatly.
Decide who the online viewers are: registered members, a wider public or invited guests. This decides access control, the platform and the questions about personal data.
Decision sequence
- Choose the purpose and audience: a view-only broadcast for members, an interactive session, or a recording for later.
- List the sessions to be streamed and the sessions that are not, such as closed-door or sponsor sessions.
- Decide the platform and how viewers access it, and who owns the account and the recording.
- Confirm speaker and participant consent for filming and broadcast, and what notice will be given to the audience on site. Ask your legal or data protection contact how this must be handled.
- Set the languages, captions and any interpretation needs, with the interpretation provider.
- Agree the interaction model: chat, polls, live questions, who moderates and who answers.
- Ask the supplier to propose the technical design, connection arrangements with the venue and a backup plan, and to confirm them in writing.
- Set a test schedule and acceptance criteria, then check the brief with the RFP completeness checker.
Brief contents and who confirms what
| Area | Organiser states | Supplier proposes and confirms |
|---|---|---|
| Audience and access | Who watches, registration, access control | Platform options and how access is managed |
| Sessions streamed | Which sessions, start and end times | Crew and camera plan per room |
| Content and graphics | Branding, titles, slides, remote guests | How it is mixed and how slides are fed in |
| Rights and consent | Speaker agreements needed, audience notices, who holds the recording | Handling of the recording; legal and data protection reviewed by your own contact |
| Languages and captions | Languages, caption needs, interpretation | Audio channels, caption method and links with the interpretation provider |
| Interaction | Chat, questions, polls and who moderates | Tools to support it and a moderator interface |
| Connection | Needs from the venue, contact for the venue's IT | Bandwidth required, connection plan and a backup, for the venue to confirm |
| Backup and failure | What happens if the stream drops | Backup route, failover process and messages to viewers |
| Archive and replay | Whether a replay is wanted, who edits it and when | Recording format, storage and handover |
| Testing | When tests happen and who attends | Test plan and results to share |
Acceptance test before going live
- A full dress rehearsal on the actual connection, with a person outside the venue watching and reporting.
- Sound and picture checked on a typical phone and laptop, not only on the production monitor.
- A remote guest joins, is heard, and the moderator can bring questions on screen.
- The backup route is switched to deliberately and the switch time is noted.
- Captions and any language channel are checked by someone who speaks the language.
Common pitfalls
- Streaming sessions whose speakers did not agree, discovered on the day.
- Assuming the venue's wi-fi will carry the stream, with no dedicated connection discussed.
- No moderator for online questions, so the online audience feels ignored.
- Treating the livestream as the recording, then finding the archive file is unusable.
- Leaving the platform account in the supplier's name, so the organiser cannot access the archive.
Worked example · Fictional example
A livestream brief for a regional members' conference
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
A fictional engineering association expects 300 in the room and 80 to 150 members online across the plenary and one breakout. The first draft asked for a stream and nothing else.
The brief now states a registered-members-only audience, names the plenary and one breakout as streamed, and lists speakers who must sign a consent agreement before the event. It asks for captions in English and a Malay audio channel, a named moderator for online questions, a dedicated venue connection with a backup route, and a full rehearsal two days before. The supplier's proposals now differ on the backup design, which is what the committee wants to compare.
Use this yourself
Livestream production brief template
Copy this into a document and send it with the programme and venue technical information.
- Event, dates, venue, organiser and venue technical contacts:
- Purpose and online audience: who, how they register or access:
- Sessions to stream and sessions not to stream, with times:
- Style: single camera, multi-camera or produced; graphics; remote guests:
- Platform preference and who owns the account and the recording:
- Speaker and participant consent: what is needed, who collects it, notices to audience (reviewed by our legal or data protection contact):
- Languages, captions and interpretation needs:
- Interaction: chat, questions, polls, moderator and who answers:
- Connection: our needs from the venue; please propose bandwidth, plan and backup for the venue to confirm:
- Failure plan: what viewers see and are told if the stream drops:
- Replay and archive: format, who edits, delivery date, usage:
- Test schedule and acceptance criteria:
- Price to show: itemised, with exclusions listed:
- Proposal deadline, question deadline and decision date:
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- A single-room, single-camera stream for members, using a platform you already know.
- The venue offers a connection and a technician, and speakers have agreed to be streamed.
- A replay is not needed.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Several rooms, remote guests, languages or interactive sessions need coordinated planning.
- Consent, data and rights questions involve legal, communications and programme teams.
- The venue connection, audiovisual and stream production must work together.
Want the livestream brief joined up with the programme?
An Event Blueprint can link the livestream brief to the programme, venue requirements, speaker agreements process and audiovisual brief, with review owners named. A project lead can coordinate the workstream, while the production supplier and venue confirm the technical design and your own advisers handle consent and data questions.
Questions organisers ask
Do speakers need to agree to be livestreamed?
Ask your legal or communications contact how to obtain consent and what notice is needed. Put the requirement into speaker communications early, and in the brief so the supplier knows which sessions are cleared.
Is a livestream the same as a recording?
No. A stream serves viewers in real time and a recording is a file for later use. Specify both if you need both, and say who edits and delivers the archive.
Can the venue's wi-fi carry the stream?
Ask the venue and the supplier to confirm in writing what connection will be used and how much capacity it has. Do not assume a general wi-fi network will do.
How do I involve online viewers?
Decide the interaction model, such as chat or moderated questions, name a moderator and give them a place in the run-of-show. Ask the supplier which tools support it.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.