Published 04 December 2020
What we knew
I’ll be honest, I tried to avoid it, and I managed it for several months but as an entrepreneur, I knew I had to grab the bull by the horns and step into this world of technology. We are from a background of live theatre and to me, there is nothing better than face to face entertainment, interacting and reacting to a live audience, playing it for laughs, getting your comedy timing right, taking the audience on a journey with you, and on several occasions, receiving a standing ovation. This is how we've run our Live Murder Mystery and Team Building Events over the last 20 years.
Time to change
So, what happened? Covid, that’s what happened. It put a stop to everything we knew and loved. After spending a couple of months sorting through the computer files and folders, clearing out duplicates, sorting the office files and drawers, and reorganizing databases, our office was looking great and the business was ready for action again when the lockdown finished…but it didn’t. It went on and on.
Taking the technology plunge to change
Time for action. I realised some of what we already used could be adapted for a virtual audience, so I set to work on the scripts, timings, performance and presentation. I soon realised I needed technical help, so I enlisted the services of an excellent production company to take over the background work, allowing us to concentrate on the presentation of the event. Presenting on Zoom is very different from live work but, to my surprise, I loved it. Yes, it’s hard not hearing the laughter, seeing the reactions and joining in with the banter, but if treated like working on radio and connecting in that medium, it works. It just takes some getting used to. We had a successful trial run with a mixed audience which ironed out a few teething problems and gave us the confidence to run this new product live and to be honest, judging by the feedback we’ve had, we could be doing quite a lot of it. At least until Easter by the look of it…
