With Covid restrictions being lifted, the university are excited to be able to welcome potential new students back onto campus for their Open Days.
Following the success of delivering their previous Virtual Open Day in September 2020, we were asked to professionally bring their open day into the new hybrid world, with a live and virtual audience and live presenters. The university is rated gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, so we needed to make sure the open day experience was like no other.
The event featured two celebrity hosts, presenter and broadcaster Radzi Chinyanganya, and Bassit Siddiqui from Gogglebox. Both hosts are alumni of the University of Derby, allowing them to create an insightful and engaging show for the audience.
The event consisted of a main stage with a live audience which was also streamed to a virtual audience. We built a TV studio, where the presenters could interview current students and staff at the university. The live audience could watch these interviews on the large LED screen on the main stage. The hybrid event featured pre-recorded content which was mixed seamlessly with the live elements.
Overall, the hybrid university open day was a fantastic event, engaging and inspiring both the live and the virtual audience, with over 800 playbacks on the livestream.
We fabricated a custom printed stage set featuring an LED video wall used throughout the show. Once the stage was built on-site, we carried out technical checks to make sure all the tech, such as cameras, lighting and autocue were set up as required for both the virtual broadcast and the in-person live event on campus. We built a separate TV studio for live interviews during the day, as well as pre-recorded segments which we fit seamlessly into the stream, to give more insight into the university.
We held a full day of rehearsals before the event went live to make sure everything was ready to go and that presenters were comfortable on stage and could see and hear everything they needed. We created extensive backup plans, should there be any issues on the day with alternative content ready to go if needed. Thankfully none of this was needed, as everything ran seamlessly as planned!
“I just wanted to drop a huge note of thanks for an expertly delivered job on the Open Day. All the little changes you’d made since the first one in September made it all so much smoother and the set you built looked fantastic.
More than anything, it’s always great working with your team. All brilliant at what they do, but able to have a chat and a laugh with them at the same time.
Thanks once again, it was a pleasure working with you.”
Nik Emmonds – Event Operations Manager at University of Derby
