How Will Live-Streaming Change Conferences in 2016?

In an interesting article on LinkedIn, Mark Graban writes about how the ease of using live streaming apps could change conferences in 2016. He posed some interesting questions and thoughts. Definitely worth reading. He left a good question for those planning on attending conferences.


I think conference organizers should realize that the speakers (and video of them speaking) is only one part of the value that attendees get from a conference. If you're watching a live stream (free or paid, official or unofficial), you're missing out on networking opportunities that one gets when attending in person. Maybe many of the people who are watching live on the internet are those without the time or funding to attend, so the conference isn't losing registrations as a result?

I definitely think live streaming is going to change a number of things in 2016 and conferences definitely could be one of them. Smart conference organizers will find interesting ways to monetize the live streams via product placement or brand sponsorship of the stream.