One of my clients insisted on pre-recording all her sessions with the speakers, then playing them back live into the virtual event as if she were there live.

And not tell attendees.

There were quite a number of problems with this project, but when my client suggested this, I was ready to walk away.

Attendees were paying a good sum of money to attend my client’s virtual event, yet, my client wanted to pre-record all the sessions so she could go on vacation while her team stayed behind to run the show.

Egad!

I didn’t like my client’s approach, but I do like the idea of pre-recording sessions. The reason?

• You can create action guides and notes from each session and have them available as downloadable handouts for attendees.
• You can create a more accurate session description and learning outcomes for each session.
• You can create transcripts and have them ready for download for attendees who purchased them (no waiting 2-3 weeks).
• You don’t have to go hunting for the speaker should he or she arrive late (or not at all).
• You can edit for length or to remove verbal clutter.

If you decide to pre-record all the sessions, I suggest that you NOT tell attendees. Your attendance numbers will definitely drop (or not exist at all) should you do so.

The issue for attendees isn’t HOW you deliver the information. It’s whether or not you provide interaction directly with the speaker.

Just to be clear, when people attend virtual events, they pay for two things:

• Information from the speakers
• Interaction with the speakers

No matter how you provide the 2, both need to be present when hosting the live sessions.

Give the information, but you better make sure that interaction is provided directly with the speaker during the time of the speaker’s session.

The host and speaker should be on stand-by during the time the session is being played live to answer any questions or be available should the recording fail.

This is ethical.

Being present means interacting with attendees on Twitter, on Facebook or the designated place where you’ve told attendees to post questions and reactions to what they’re hearing.

If you understand what attendees pay for when they attend live sessions, you’ll understand why playing pre-recorded sessions into the live event, then walking away, is such a rotten idea.