This new monthly feature will give you the inside scoop on our events from backstage passes to interviews with our speakers, here’s what happens In Any Event.
Last Saturday, we had the Living Proof Simulcast with Beth Moore. Many of you participated live with us, and we know even more of you are watching in the days to come with a digital pass. We love how technology has enabled us to serve you in this way and how we can all gather around the Word of God from different parts of the globe. Today, we’re going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what makes a simulcast happen.
Simulcast planning really has no beginning and no end. Even before a simulcast ends, the planning for the following year has already begun! However, usually about 4-6 months out is when churches really lean into the planning and promotion of their event. Darilynn and Mickey help train the host churches in how to use their simulcast event as an outreach to not only their church but to their entire community. We provide many helpful tools on a private website for simulcast hosts to help them make sure they have crossed every i and dotted every t before the ladies enter their simulcast event.
Darilynn and Mickey also hang out in the Technical Support chat room during the simulcast and answer questions from simulcast hosts. They also serve as the main contact from what’s happening on the ground at the simulcast to the Lifeway Support team back home in Nashville. If you asked any questions in the live chat, Darilynn and Mickey probably helped you out!
Not every event is broadcasted so the simulcasts are special for us. It takes an additional 15 people on-site to host a simulcast versus just a regular live event. This is our broadcast team that streams the event on four separate channels to simulcast participants (English, Spanish, closed captioning, and American Sign Language). They also put up any messages you see at the bottom of you screen, play videos, and they also put up the words for the worship on the screen and any notes from the speaker.
We conduct a special test the night before the simulcast for all of the church hosts too, so they can check and make sure everything is working properly at their location. Beth and Travis usually stop by during the test and spend time encouraging the host and technical leaders of the host sites.
During the simulcast, a team of 20+ customer service representatives answer customer support phone calls and emails from those hosting a simulcast.
This year, our customer support team had less than 400 calls on the day of the simulcast and they were able to serve 99.9% of those who called in immediately.
The Web Support Supervisor shared some customer quotes to our reps:
- I love you…(Rep wasn’t going to share with his wife)
- You are a beautiful man…(Rep was going to share with his wife)
- You are amazing
- You are a miracle worker!
- You are an angel.
- You are the best
We think they’re the best, too.
Our marketing team begins promoting the simulcast months in advance so that we’re sure to get the word out to everyone who would like to participate and so that you can mark your calendar! On the day of the simulcast, though, we continue to be in touch via social media. Our social media strategist, Elizabeth, finds your photos to put on the screen during the break and live-tweets and instagrams the event.
She works with Mickey and Darilynn to provide customer service and tech support on social media and works with our photographer, Rich, to create images to post for women to remember and share the truths they learned.
This year, 480 churches participated along with more than 6,000 individuals in 18 different countries! We had all 50 U.S. States represented, plus Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Cayman Islands, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, South Korea, Nicaragua, Mexico, Zambia, Germany, and Japan. For those of you who watched, you also know we had representatives from Flordia. 😉
We have had at least 11 churches who were seriously impacted by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. Many of these churches plan to still open their doors throughout the next few weeks in hopes of ministering to women in their communities. We’d love it if you’d continue to pray for these communities.
Here’s a video showing a few of your sweet faces:
If you’d like to watch the simulcast, you still can! The digital passes work for 30 days following the event, so you can purchase one here and watch until October 16, 2017. We’d love for you to join in—and let us know if you add to the list of countries above!
Upcoming simulcasts you can participate in from anywhere in the world include (in) Real Life: Friended. Learn about friendship from some of your favorites from (in)courage. Details and sign up here. Stay tuned to the blog, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook to find out more about all our upcoming simulcasts in the months to come!