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Lanah Tyra's avatar

Back in the days when I was a regular to sci-fi and gaming cons I took pictures of the stage events, cosplayers, merchandise stalls and shared them on our community forum (this was before the time of smartphones, I was up often all night after an event to edit and upload the photos) or later on Instagram when that became a thing.

It was a great way to make new friends as well, cosplayers were often happy to see my photos when they didn't get a chance to take many shots of their costumes. Once I didn't go to a con and got some messages from people saying they missed the 'sneaky photographer' who took pictures without them even noticing.

I didn't get a chance yet to go to an FFXIV fan fest, so I just watch the stream and post the highlight announcements on Twitter.

I like it when creators make a video recap or discuss an event later on stream, but I'm not much a fan of the commentary streams as the event is happening. I feel like it's too much talking from the event participants, the streamer commenting on it and also answering questions in their chat. It might be just my very introverted self finding that to be too much 😅

avrona's avatar

Equipment-wise I always go kinda overboard. The Blackmagic 6K Pro is far from the most portable camera, but the quality is unmatched. Plus with a good rig/cage, the weight can be offset somewhat. In terms of audio, I like to have all bases covered, with an external mic on top of the camera, a more standard wired mic for a host or guest to talk into, and a wireless mic that I have on me at all times. Also having a second person along if possible to help carry stuff, help with setup, and to hold the camera also greatly helps.

A lot of people like to bring a laptop as well for stuff like note-taking or some other on-the-go work. For that I'd either recommend bringing something ultra light, or just do everything on your phone to further save on space and weight.

In terms of actually covering the show, well that's honestly always the hardest part for me as someone who has no idea how to approach people. I usually keep a very close eye on Twitter for any and all events or things to get involved in, or to find where anything interesting is going on. Likewise, I try to be as active as possible as well to try and generate some buzz about being there.

So far, the only shows I really covered are EGX and LTX, though planning on doing some more next year, like Gamescom, if I finally get a creator pass, that is.

FUN INC's avatar

The way i see it you have a number of real choices: Twitter, instagram, or Live streaming.

Twitter can be live and reactionary and can easily be done stealthily (mobile phone in lap fro example); likewise with instagram, albeit you may need to take the odd / quick snap here and there. Twitch is more problematic as you are providing a commentary or narrative or reaction, which could detract from the actual content as it unfolds.

One thing is for sure.... get in whilst the content is hot!

Alex's avatar

I've covered a few live events/expos for content and streaming, I have a few things that I tend to stick to

  1. Interact heavily on social media - if something like a live event is happening then start jumping on twitter, instagram, tiktok etc, use the hashtags, quote retweets/retweets and make your voice heard, if you see the official account tweeting, interact with that tweet, like it and share your voice.

  2. If you're attending, bring a battery pack - no one likes a dead battery. I tend to bring 2 battery packs with me, both fully charged and a USB cable for the phone. I love gathering a bunch of videos and photos so i can edit it all into a nice recap

  3. Dont delay in posting your content - social media moves fast, which means at times so do content creators. PAX is a great example of a massive event that people attend and will post up a recap of a VLOG to a platform of their choosing. However, you've gotta be quick with the turn around time, because as soon as the event is finished, the momentum from that event will have eventually died down. Sometimes there might still be a little bit of hype but for most cons/expos etc will last for 3 days, so you gotta think fast, and get that high turn around.

FirestormGamingTeam's avatar

I think, if I were to say, cover Eve Online Fanfest, I would load the Twitch stream and simply comment on what's going on, but add a back story to what has led to certain changes and so on, with game awards, it's hard to maintain a neutral perspective.

For instance, I love most games, but Diablo, I detest the game, I find it incredibly boring, but it was a huge hype, so if I were to cover people giving awards for this game, I would struggle to add anything productive to the stream or video.

I think making YouTube content on awards is best because you can simply pick the parts of the show you want to cover and add your thoughts and opinions on such items, so say every year Eve Online wins the Sci-Fi award (most of the time) and for me, I could easily launch into a nicely worded tirade about how this is earned and how they deserve such an award for having such a unique game etc.

This is just how I would do things, but then, i often have a hard time, giving games I don't enjoy, a positive response, because as I've stated in other posts, we are all only human and have opinions on everything!

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