Broadcasting the Convention: Behind the Scenes

We've received a lot of questions on exactly what it takes to stream a convention. While there are many ways to pull this off, I'd like to explain how we have done it in Michigan for the past three years. While some of this explanation will deal with technical terms, I will do my best to explain the process in a simple language.

Probably the most important part of streaming a convention is the pre-planning. It is vital to ensure that the right tools are available and working before the convention begins. We'll break them down one at a time:

1. A computer. The first, and most obvious part of the broadcasting equation is a computer. It is a bit of a misnomer that streaming is a task that is only suitable for high-end computers. In reality, a decent Pentium IV computer with 512MB of memory will do the trick. You can use a laptop to do your streaming, but I would recommend having it plugged into a wall outlet because of the battery life on most machines. Also, some laptops run at a much slower speed when not plugged in. As for memory, while 512MB will work just fine, an increase in memory will almost always improve all performance of the machine. So if you are planning on running a screen reader, Email, or other programs while streaming, aim for 1GB of memory if possible.

Once you have your computer, you will need to install some software. A good free MP3 player is Winamp which will also serve as your tool the broadcast. In addition, you will need a program that sends your broadcast out to the world. While there are some free solutions, I recommend the SAM Encoders from Spacial Audio. At $45, this is a stable and effective way to broadcast your event. If you are looking for a free solution, Shoutcast is a simple program you could use. Both the Sam Encoders and Shoutcast are plug ins or add-on programs that will work inside Winamp.

If you are going to use a screen reader, I have found that we get the best results by adding an additional sound card to the system. This will give a dedicated card for the broadcast and another one for your screen reader. Sound cards for desktops start at around $20, and most cards will work fine. For laptops, several USB sound cards are available that will accomplish the same task.

Next, we move to the audio equipment. You have at least two options here, one that's simple and another that's more complex. The simplest solution is to buy a small mixer (just about any four or eight channel model will do) and run a wire from the room's sound system to your mixer. So, one channel on your mixer, or two if you have a stereo feed, will be the sound feed from the room. Then, you can buy a separate microphone and plug it into your mixer. This microphone will let you make announcements to the people listening without talking to the people in the room. You can find decent quality microphones for under $50. Avoid low-end microphones that have a quarter-inch jack on the end. Most decent microphones will have what's called an XLR jack, a large round, three-pronged jack on the end. Your mixer should also have at least one of these XLR jacks for your microphone.

The other method, and the one we use in Michigan, involves tying your broadcast into the main sound system for the room. This saves on buying a separate mixer, but it does require some much higher audio equipment to accomplish. Without getting into details, the premise is to set up the mixer to send certain channels of audio, such as the room mics, to the people at the event while sending other channels to the people listening on the computer. Many higher-end mixers will let you do this. This method is recommended for advanced audio engineers.

It goes without saying, but you need a stable Internet connection from the hotel or convention center. Wired connections are preferred because of their stability, but you may have to settle for a wireless connection, depending on your location. Ask the technical support person at the hotel if any ports are blocked that would prevent you from uploading your broadcast. We haven't run into this problem yet, but if the hotel is using a very restrictive firewall, it could become an issue. Also, make sure that the hotel is giving you enough bandwidth to broadcast your stream. Bandwidth is the amount of data that you can send at one time. If you have 128K of bandwidth per second, this will be sufficient for broadcasting. Some hotels offer Internet connections for free while others charge a daily rate. From past experience, make sure you have things set up ahead of time in regards to your connection, as technical staff are often not available on weekends.

So, you've got your computer, your mixer, and your Internet connection. But you need somewhere to send your broadcast. What you need is a server. Servers will take your broadcast and send it to many listeners at the same time. These are usually pretty low-cost, especially for a short event like a convention. In Michigan, we use Stream Madness for our broadcasts. There are lots of providers to choose from. What you are looking for is what's called Shoutcast streaming. This is usually the cheapest and most cost-effective way to set up a broadcast.

So, what else is there to know?
We've been doing streaming for a few years now and have learned a few things:

1. Make sure that everyone at your event is talking into a microphone. Make a conscious effort to explain to your audience that their question will not be heard unless they can get to a mic. Some people think that if they just talk really loud, they'll be heard. That being said, if you can purchase a room mic and plug it into your mixer, it will help when someone is talking and not using a microphone. You can turn up the room mic while they are talking and turn it back down when they are done. Remember, this microphone would plug into your mixer, not the main mixer for the room. This will let you turn up the volume on the room mic without effecting what is heard in the room. I Michigan, we've tried wireless microphones with mixed results. The biggest lesson we've learned from this experience is to make sure you have enough batteries to last tne entire weekend. Setting up a couple of floor mics is a good way to let the people in the room be heard. This concept is used effectively at national convention.

2. Scope out your location. We had a near nightmare in Tennessee when we realized that the banquet hall had a network jack on one corner of the room and the audio equipment was on the completely opposite side. Luckily, thanks to the great people of Tennessee, this crisis was averted. If you have a chance, visit your location ahead of time. Ideally, your network or Internet access, audio equipment, and power will all be in close proximity to each other. Not doing this could require a complete rearangement of the room or running extremely long wires.

3. Plan for breaks. We've had better results when we are able to leave the broadcast running during downtime. You could play prerecorded materials from other events, conduct interviews, or talk about the day's events. We will actually still leave the stream connected even if there's only room noise so new listeners can find us. You could set up a recorded message to continuously play telling listeners to stay tuned for more programming coming soon.

4. You are able to use the Sam Encoders mentioned above to record your stream. From past experience, this is an effective way to record your convention. But if you want to be totally sure you're covered, set up a backup recording solution. You could hook up a digital recorder such as an Iriver or Olympus to record the convention. Several adaptive items also have recording features. Most mixers have more than one output jack, which means that you can send one wire to your computer and another to your other recorder.

5. You may want to set up a way for listeners to interact with you or the convention. You can take questions from listeners and ask them on their behalf. In Tennessee, a donation was made by an online listener during the banquet. You could set up an Email address to take questions, or set up an instant messaging client such as Windows Messenger or AOL Instant Messenger to take questions live.

6. Make sure you are set to advertise. In 2005, we were unable to contact our state webmaster so had no links to our broadcasts on our website. All of our listeners found us via word of mouth or Email lists. Make sure your webmaster has plenty of lead time to get your links posted.

7. This past year, we introduced a convention blog. We wrote written summaries of some of the presenters as well as other news from the event. This gave our listeners and visitors another way to keep up with the convention and was especially helpful for people who missed part of the broadcast.

Remember, there's no exact science to doing this, and many of you will hopefully have ways to make convention and meeting streaming even better. As for the question on which mixer or which microphone to get, it all depends on the quality you desire and your budget. Generally speaking, you can find a decent mixer for less than $200 with a couple of microphones for another $100. If you are able to borrow someone's computer for the event, your entire cost will be quite minimal.

I hope this introduction has helped you realize what is involved, and hope to hear many more events streamed very soon.

Jason Meddaugh
President Kalamazoo Chapter
Vice-President, Michigan Association of Blind Students
Webmaster
NFB of Michigan