It’s a season of change for the large event tools within the Microsoft Teams environment. Investments have been made to enhance the underpinnings of the technology stack, resulting in a more innovative and capable future for the platform. The result of this work has become visible as Town hall in Microsoft Teams and is to fully replace the existing Teams Live Event product in 2024. 

A closer look at the attendee experience for a virtual town hall held in Microsoft Teams.

Two different paths within Microsoft Teams

The retiring application Microsoft Teams Live Event is a platform suited to reaching large (1,000+) audiences with two different workflows:

1. External Encoder relies on external video production tools and processes to create, control, and stream content.
2. Native Production uses product native, software-driven tools to control what is visible to audiences.  

Both options continue in Town hall in Microsoft Teams. External Encoder will continue with similar functionality, while the Native Production will gain several features and enhancements. 

Let’s do a deep dive on each workflow.

In with the New

Town hall in Microsoft Teams External Encoder

Ideal for broadcasts where the overall higher quality, branding, and content layout is important, External Encoder workflow offers the most flexibility.

This workflow allows a team of video professionals to create a professionally produced broadcast containing:

• Custom branding and presenter positioning 
• Smooth transitions 
• Presenter name keys
• Animated graphics, like an animated table of contents or dynamic info pain
• High quality video playback
• On screen American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters

This workflow provides the Worktank production team controls to allow our crew to execute a live broadcast to a tightly choreographed minute-by-minute run of show so that you can manage who’s on screen down to the second.  

Town hall in Microsoft Teams Native Production (formerly “Teams Live Events”)

Town hall in Microsoft Teams Native Production is ideal for large audience events with simple agenda requirements and a lower emphasis on overall production quality.

While Microsoft Teams Live Events are limited to displaying a single presenter, or a presenter and PowerPoint, Town hall in Microsoft Teams allows multiple presenters to be seen on screen simultaneously, along with PowerPoint slides.  However, the controls do not allow for exact or polished transitions like those that can be managed in a broadcast. Event producers will spotlight and un-spotlight presenters individually in real-time and have no control over where a presenter will appear on screen.  

As Town hall in Microsoft Teams is newly released, there are other limitations to consider as you plan your event.  This includes:

• Lower frame-rate video playback
• Lower quality post-event recording 
• Presenter placement and entry/exit timing cannot be controlled
• No external presenters

Seeing = Believing

The Worktank team created a brief demo video to show you how the same show content appears in both the External Encoder and Native Production workflows.

Summary: Match a Workflow to Your Needs. Next Steps in Virtual Meeting Management

If you need your event to match the quality and dynamic show flow of a broadcast news event, Worktank recommends the Town hall in Microsoft Teams External Encoder solution as it brings high production quality, flexibility, and creative control over the layout of the broadcast. Town hall in Microsoft Teams Native Production is ideal for events or meetings where quality and control are not paramount, all presenters are internal, and the agenda/show-flow is simple and predictable.

Worktank brings a wealth of experience producing both solutions. Our team always begins planning with a conversation to understand your requirements and success factors. From there, we’ll make a recommendation and execute the right solution and platform for you. 

As experts in event production, broadcasts, strategic executive engagement, and communication, we’re here to help you produce and execute on the best show regardless of platform.  

To learn more about our virtual meeting management services and how Worktank can help you become a better presenter, contact us online or give us a call at 877-975-8265.

The post First Look: Town Hall in Microsoft Teams appeared first on Worktank.

From our Seattle-based team to you, we share a curated list of our top gift ideas for your holiday shopping list. 

Gift of Flight: Donate Miles

If you’re racking up those miles again and would like to flex them in a positive way, consider donating your miles to the American Red Cross to help volunteer and staff reach critical areas. 

Gift of Time: ChatGPT-Powered Audio Doc with AI Summary

Much of our day is spent in meetings. Summarizing those meetings into action items can often consume even more time. Leverage the power of AI to complete that task rapidly and efficiently with a new Kickstarter HiDock H1. This device includes nifty audio options that can ensure you can hear and be heard without intrusive ambient noise.  

Gift of Security: Surge Protector

Tame and streamline that fire hazard tangle of cables and extension cords underneath your desk with this nifty power strip/surge protector, PowerCurve77. Not only do its outlets swivel to make room for bulky plugs, it also protects your charging devices from power surges. 

Gift of Pleasure: Chocolate Truffles

Most everyone loves the gift of chocolate. There are plenty of chocolate purveyors in the world but as Roux says in the film Chocolat – they can often be “very good…but not my favorite.” We turn to a local favorite as our chocolate go-to: Intrigue Chocolate Company who create beautiful gift box collections of craft chocolate truffles and beverages. 

Gift of Clarity: A Tiny and Powerful Webcam

Clear video is a key virtual event solution. If you want to look better in your video meetings yet want to avoid investing in a movie production set with lights, mounts and a bulky mirrorless camera, we recommend the Opal Tadpole, the first truly portable webcam. This portable powerhouse sports a Sony IMX582 RS sensor combined with a f1.8 six element glass lens. It also has a mic that filters out ambient noise. It’s a plug and play upgrade that gives you that vlogger polish you can carry around on your wrist. It even has a little loop for that. 

Gift of Simplicity: Apple Watch Charger 

Instead of cluttering your nightstand or desk with another charging device, transform your Apple Watch into a retro-futuristic looking alarm clock with NightWatch. It will magnify the watch face and amplify the sound in any direction you choose. 

Gift of Precision: Elgato Teleprompter

Take your presentations to the next level using professional teleprompter gear at a consumer-friendly price. Game device guru Elgato just released Prompter a news-desk tried-and-true hardware now available for your home studio or office. at home users giving you confidence of having your notes and script visible to you while allowing you to remain in eye contact with your audience.  External Encoder relies on external video production tools and processes to create, control, and stream content.

Give the Gift of Productivity to Yourself or Someone on Your Nice List.

Make the hybrid work life easier with tech tools and gadgets designed to enhance the home office. For more tips on home office setups, check out our review of Lighting Gear for Video & Virtual Broadcasts and Gamer Gear: Ideal for Video Conferencing & Virtual Broadcasts. 

To learn more about our virtual meeting management services and how Worktank can help you become a better presenter, contact us online or give us a call at 877-975-8265.

The post Top 10 Holiday Gifts for Hybrid Workers appeared first on Worktank.

The Way We Communicate Has Changed

Your workforce is consuming content faster and in shorter form than ever before. Attention spans have changed, and the future leaders in your company communicate differently than we have in the past. Getting to the point and being succinct isn’t just efficient, it’s critical to getting through to your team and ensuring your message is heard. 

With the rise of remote work and video communication platforms like MS Teams, Google Meet and Zoom, “meeting fatigue” has become a real thing. Meetings are draining, especially when they take up hours of the day, multiple days of the week. The last thing your team needs is another hour-long meeting to get details they could’ve received in a five-minute video clip. 

It’s time for business leaders to meet employees where they are and rethink how we deliver the key messages that drive business.

How to Use Video to Effectively Communicate with Your Teams

As an executive producer for Worktank, I’ve sat in on thousands of all-hands, town halls and employee meetings for a variety of companies over the years, and almost all can be broken down into five key messages or elements:

1. Where we were – a look back at the past quarter and how we did on goals
2. Where we’re going – adjustments to the plan and/or roll out of new goals
3. Spotlight – the highlighting of an employee, team, project, or customer 
4. Culture – an announcement about upcoming events, educational opportunities, or initiatives
5. Q&A – a chance for team members to ask questions and provide feedback (which is often cut short)

Instead of covering these topics in a meeting, we recommend using video clips to deliver the same message in a more succinct format. 

Step 1: Create the Videos

Start by taking the five messages above and breaking each topic into its own video. Really focus the message on the key components that your teams need. The goal is to pare down the information into five-minute video clips or shorter. 

Step 2: Share the Details

You won’t be able to cover everything in a five-minute video, so build a digital library with all the details. Treat the short video as a highlight reel and follow up with a white paper, charts, or more documents and videos for those who want the specifics, and house them all in one easy-to-access place.

Step 3: Build a Community

To take another cue from life outside the corporate world, consider that every one of us is on some type of social media. Why? Because people crave community. Create a company community that brings teams together and encourages conversation with a business messaging app like Slack.

Step 4: Q&A

Video communications don’t eliminate the need for hybrid or in-person meetings, but they do allow you to change the focus of them. Now you can devote more time in meetings to answering questions, engaging in conversation, and building a place where people can, and want, to share.

Need Help Rethinking Your Corporate Communications?

An hour-long meeting may seem like the most efficient way to communicate important information to your team, but that doesn’t mean it’s the most efficient way for your team to receive it. Unfortunately, you may not be prepared to add video editor and producer to your long list of responsibilities either.

If you’re interested in using video to change your corporate communications, but don’t know where to start, Worktank can help. Our team of expert content creators and video producers work with hundreds of CEOs just like you every day to regularly create video communications that are dynamic, professional and always engaging.

Give us a call at 877-975-8265 or contact us online and let’s talk about how we can partner with you to rethink your corporate communications. 

The post Rethink Your Corporate Communications appeared first on Worktank.

New Year. New Gear?

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is strategically held on the first few days in January, when many consumers have an “out with the old and in with the new” mindset. However, before you run out and buy all new gear and tech, the production pros at Worktank recommend first thinking about how you can maximize your current home office studio setup. 

Take a seasoned photographer, for example. They understand that their craft improves by learning and investing in peripherals, such as lenses and lighting, not buying the latest camera or changing their entire tech ecosystem. We think about your home studio in a similar way. 

First and foremost, your home office should be comfortable, and your production elements – video, audio, lighting – should be easy to operate.

Automating Your Home Office Studio

Making it to your 9:00 AM meeting after getting your kids off to school is enough pressure. You need a home office studio that is simple, reliable, and easy to use, which means choosing a camera, lighting, and audio gear that instantly connect to your meeting platform with as little fuss as possible. 

Home Office Studio Lighting

In my home studio, I use two small, but effective Aputure MC LED lights as back and fill lights. These lights, and any I decide to add down the road, sync from a single app on my phone. Before I walk into my office to start meetings, I turn on and adjust all the lights in seconds via the Aputure Sidus Link app without even touching the lighting gear. 

While we recommend staying within the same brand whenever possible, Aputure doesn’t offer a cost-effective, desk-mounted flat panel light yet. So I went with the incredible and affordable Godox ES45 flat light panels, which include a small physical controller that sits on my desk and allows me to adjust light temperature and brightness across multiple lights.  

Turning on lighting in two clicks is an incredible timesaver and, with multi-colored LEDs as fill and backlighting, I can easily change up the look of my home office studio.

Integrated or Separated Audio

Most remote workers use an integrated camera and microphone, such as the workhorse Logitech Brio, which is better than most all-in-one options. If you’re a road warrior who needs a strong camera/mic combo to take meetings from remote locations, this is the way to fly. 

If you’re working from a single workspace most of the time, go bigger than a webcam to improve your audio. Even if your camera is so-so, strong audio makes a huge difference in perceived quality and professionalism.

While stepping up from a webcam introduces complexity, the pros will outweigh the cons if you’re going for dedicated audio. For example, if you’re using a mirrorless camera/DSLR as your video, your best bet is to attach a microphone, like the Rode Podcaster, directly to your camera using a 3mm or USB-C input. 

As most mirrorless cameras have weak audio pre-amps, you can use a mixer like the Rodecaster Pro II, which connects directly to your computer via USB-C and gives you more flexibility with audio levels. If you’re producing more complex virtual events, meetings or podcasts, the mixer is more robust and lets you integrate music or sound effects, as well.  

Making Your Home Office Studio Comfortable

The year 2022 was a huge and painful growth year for me and my home studio. Instead of first creating a comfortable space to spend my work week, I began with big thinking about pro gear, and building a state-of-the-art studio with cameras, lighting, and microphones. What I ended up with was an unbalanced and impersonal space.

I faced the window, so I wouldn’t be backlit, yet the sun – my all-important natural light source – blinded me through the afternoon. I installed an enormous LED light, stand, and umbrella as my key light, but it took up a third of my office and penned me into a small 400 square foot space.

My advice for 2023 is to first set up your furniture so you’re comfortable. When I replaced a pro light, c-stand, and softbox with two low profile, desk-mounted light panels, my space opened up significantly. I also focused on bringing things into my office that bring me joy, such as paintings, prints, and books, rather than the standard green-screen and blurred background. I realize not everyone wants to share personal things with clients and colleagues, but it’s a great way to showcase your personality and interests.

Creating the Perfect Home Office Studio

For me, the transition from 2022 to 2023 is all about automation, ease, and usability. You’ll need to achieve your own balance of tech and livability, yet when it comes to modern and connected gear, automation and a personal setup is (almost) perfect. 

In an upcoming blog post, I’ll share my favorite and least favorite gear for 2023 to help you make smart choices as you build out your best workspace. In the meantime, if you’re interested in learning how the video production pros at Worktank can help you level-up your virtual broadcasts, meetings, and hybrid events, contact us online or give us a call at 877-975-8265.

The post Simplify & Strengthen Your Home Office Studio in 2023 appeared first on Worktank.

What Inspires the Worktank Team in 2023

Every day, I’m inspired by the passion and talent our team brings to work. The diversity of deeply-held personal interests and influences strengthen the Worktank team and help us learn and grow in the ever-evolving world of video communication and virtual event production. 

As it turns out, we are gear-heads, audiophiles, filmmakers, photographers, bakers, cooks, podcast-walkers, knitters, builders, yogis, musicians, and animal lovers. 

Here, I share a few of the things that matter most to us in 2023, in hopes of sparking a conversation, forging a common path, and learning something new about each other. 

Mark Malcolm, VP Operations

I’m revisiting my jazz drumming roots and have been following the video series Sounds Like a Drum. It features tons of tutorials and recaps on the ins and outs of percussion tools and skills.

I’ve also been following Tony Nabors’ online offerings across multiple outlets. His website Racial Equity Insights covers a lot of points of view on diversity, equity, and inclusion that have really forced me to think and act deeper on a number of fronts.

As for podcasts, I‘ve been trying to focus more on local news offerings, and KUOW’s Seattle Now has been a good resource for coverage on issues important to our region.

Andy Majewski, Controller

My Kindle and Audible list is pretty diverse – from cyberpunk sci-fi to more new age stuff, including The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and Living Untethered by Michael Singer – but my inspiration for 2023 is The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers’ Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. It’s hard to encapsulate, but, in this world of FOMO and never having enough, it reminds me to look at what I have and not at what I don’t have, and that’s just the start. 

John McDonald, Technical Solutions Architect

I usually listen to the Sound on Sound (SOS) Recording and Mixing podcast while I’m out walking my two dogs. It helps me to detach from work and get an outsider perspective on new gear, technology, and sound design. And, if it’s an especially good episode, I’ll race back home so I can dive into my studio and put into practice what I’ve learned. 

Chris Powell, Executive Producer

I’m reading The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams. It challenges the reader to think about how we perceive everyday life by taking us through the journey of how two of the most influential men in our time deal with everyday issues, and how we can apply the lessons they’ve learned to our own lives. Things as simple as relating to an individual can help us move past a tense conflict and bring greater perspective to the situation.

Kiko Toledo, Traffic Manager

I’m inspired by real-life adventure vlogs and docs, especially the lives of Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu. Their popular YouTube channel Sailing La Vagabonde shows how taking big risks off-the-grid can net amazing rewards. I love how it challenges us to think about what success looks like. 

I also love repeat viewings of my friend Ricki Bedenbaugh’s incredible 5-minute short film Keep On Pushin’ that shows the passion of Los Angeles skateboarding culture with a beautifully-filmed tracking shot of skateboarders moving through a busy urban scene. It’s simple and effective.

Evan Sadler, Director of Content Solutions

I’m a better listener than casual reader, so I merge distance walking with audio books. Amy Bloom’s In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss and Michelle Zauner’s Crying In H Mart (read by the authors) are two of my favorites. Both are so different, yet unbelievably heartbreaking and grounded memoirs about how we crack open and show up when the most harrowing life events unfold. 

As a cinephile and gear geek, my go-to inspirational reads include Cameron Crowe’s Conversations with Wilder and film critic François Truffaut’s Hitchcock. Both books dive into how the films of Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock were made and, even in today’s dizzying changes in tech, the interviews reveal that the core of amazing storytelling remains unchanged. I also love Criterion, a streaming platform for the best movies ever made.                    

Marcy Stringfellow, Director of Client Services

I’m reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle, and I’m so moved by how the author positively changed her life through trusting herself, setting boundaries, and transforming into a mother who, against all odds, shows her children how to live fully and authentically. It’s a book with a big heart and it’s also hilarious.

To turn off my mind, I love the app Insight Timer with its incredible library of sleep music and soundscapes. There are also amazing bite-sized courses that I can play when I’m on a morning walk with my two dogs. 

Molly Woodard, Operations Coordinator

As an avid gamer, my current obsession is the HBO series The Last of Us, based on the action-adventure game released in 2013. It’s wild how the creators follow the narrative of the game, and how a 60-minute episode can focus on key moments that last only seconds in the game itself.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

I truly enjoy working with this team every day, and I’ve no doubt our clients feel the same way. If you’re interested in continuing the conversation, give us a call at 877-975-8265 or contact us online.

For those interested in joining Worktank as a team member, please send your resume and cover letter to recruiting@worktankwebcasts.com.

The post We are What We Love appeared first on Worktank.

To boost employee confidence, it’s critical for company leaders to connect with their teams in meaningful ways, including high impact video broadcasts and hybrid events.

This month, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google announced significant layoffs affecting upwards of 40,000 employees, with other companies expected to follow suit in the coming months. Some economists are forecasting a recession before the end of the year, leaving many employees concerned about their job security.  

On the flip side, we know from working with large enterprises over the years that, by the time the layoff announcements hit the news, these company leaders have already begun planning for the future and recalibrating their organizations to accelerate through the economic and industry changes. The goal for leaders now is to effectively communicate this positive message to the team members who remain, and rebuild employee confidence.

Rebuild Employee Confidence

To ease recession anxiety, it’s critical for leaders to communicate with employees immediately after organizational changes are announced. Speaking openly and honestly about economic uncertainty and informing your team about your plans for the future is the best way to boost confidence.   

Connect with Your Employees

Employees want to feel cared for, valued, and included. Especially during challenging times and high-pressure situations, we all look for a human connection, and we rarely find it in an email or hastily assembled virtual meetings. To truly connect requires seeing and interacting with others in a meaningful way. With much of the workforce remote, company leaders can now make that connection with high impact video broadcasts and hybrid meeting solutions. 

Communicate Facts about the Layoff

Lack of information fuels recession anxiety, so it’s important to be as transparent as possible with your team. Some information you may want to cover when communicating the layoffs to remaining employees is why the layoff took place, how many people were affected, who was affected, and how layoff decisions were made. You may also want to clarify what changes have been made to the reporting structure, how individual workloads will change, and what the new expectations are.

Outline Plans for Moving Forward

To motivate employees and convey that their jobs are safe, consider sharing information about cost-saving methods that have already been taken, or plans for bringing in new customers or new business to grow and rebuild. Discuss initiatives to keep the company operationally efficient, and the positive changes you anticipate as a result of the workforce changes. Define a common goal for everyone to work toward, and outline a bright future where employees are valued and appreciated.

Don’t Go It Alone. Worktank Can Help.

Recession anxiety is real, and so are the challenges of rebuilding employee confidence and trust. Worktank’s video production and hybrid meeting solutions can help you easily communicate and connect with your team, so you can focus on your company’s the message.

For a fraction of the cost of producing an in-person event, our production team manages every technical element of your livestream or recorded video broadcast to ensure a seamless delivery. We also lead show creative, including video and motion graphics development and post-production, to ensure your virtual or hybrid event is visually and narratively cohesive.

To learn more about Worktank’s video production and hybrid meeting solutions, contact us online or give us a call at 877-975-8265.

The post How to Ease Recession Anxiety & Reconnect with Your Team appeared first on Worktank.

Your Mic Needs an Upgrade

Let’s start with some hard facts. Most people rely on their onboard laptop microphone for virtual events and meetings – and it’s just not good enough. You risk losing your audience if they’re unable to hear you through tinny audio, an echo, background noise or low volume. And there’s nothing worse than delivering an A+ performance only to find that lackluster tech torpedoed your message.

The good news is that we’ve helped many remote executives correct poor audio setups prior to a virtual broadcast, and it’s an easy issue to resolve.

The Solution is in Your Pocket (Or Drawer)

The simplest alternative to your laptop microphone is a pair of workaday Bluetooth or wired headphones. Every meeting platform will easily recognize an alternate mic or speaker, and when you connect/pair headphones to your laptop, the result is improved mic performance. 

If you have a couple of headphone options, test each to find the best quality sound. Which set is most comfortable to wear through the day – in ear or over the ear headphones? What sounds best to you? Beyond testing headphones for a meeting or two, record yourself via your meeting platform to hear how you sound. For a true comparison, record another sample with just your onboard mic and listen for the difference. 

There are too many solid Bluetooth headphone options to recommend. However, if you’ve found the right set for your daily podcast and music listening, they will work great for participating and presenting in meetings.

Go External

For me, headphones and virtual meetings don’t mix. I’m unable to sit through even an hour-long meeting with anything on or in my ear, so I solved the issue by installing an external microphone in my home studio. My mic is a RODE PodMic and I pair it with an Accu-Lite Podcast Pro Boom Package that clamps to my desk and swivels so I’m able to move it out of the way when I’m not in meetings. It’s also less expensive than the RODE PSA1+ Pro Studio Boom Arm and it comes with integrated XLR cabling hidden behind a solid casing.

If you’re going with an external mic setup, pay attention to the output connection type. The RODE PodMic is an XLR and you may need an XLR to USB-C interface cable. You can also opt for a microphone with a USB output connection, which is typically more expensive. The RODE Podcaster USB Broadcast Microphone is a good choice. 

I also like the Elgato Wave Mic:3 with Wave Mic Arm. Although categorized as a mic for gamers, it works equally well for home office setups. The mic uses a USB-C connection and includes buttons for volume and muting, so you can avoid fumbling to unmute yourself while in a meeting or virtual event. And the boom arm elegantly extends horizontally by 29 inches and swivels vertically 360 degrees for great flexibility.

Best All Around

If you want to avoid fussing with a separate mic and speakers, the best and simplest option is the outstanding Jabra Speak 510, which is both a solid speaker and mic in one. Available in wireless or USB, it’s easy to set up and includes mute and volume controls on the face of the speaker. Just keep in mind that the Jabra only works well if you have the ability to isolate external noise, and the freedom to turn up the volume, i.e., it’s not the best choice for shared office space or an open office layout.

The Best Virtual Broadcasts Start with Worktank

In this remote work world, looking and sounding your best on camera is not something that comes naturally for most people. Even with the best lighting and audio gear, many high-profile executives and presenters prefer to work with professionals who specialize in video production and virtual broadcasts.

If you’re interested in working with our producers to level-up your all-hands meetings, corporate town halls and other virtual broadcasts, contact us online or give us a call at 877-975-8265.

The post Loud & Clear: Best Audio Gear For Your Home Studio appeared first on Worktank.

Gifts for the Home Office Worker Who Has Everything

Compiled by the Worktank team in Seattle, our holiday shopping list includes a few locally curated finds, as well as several universally loved gifts available at major retailers.   

AI-Powered Webcam

The Insta360 Link webcam makes collaborating easy. Beyond better audio and video quality, this tiny camera offers some extremely sophisticated technology. Because it’s AI-powered, simple hand gestures can signal the camera to track an IRL sketch pad or whiteboard while you work through ideas with a virtual audience, and it will automatically point down after 10 seconds of inactivity to offer you privacy. For those who prefer to walk around while in meetings or on calls, the camera will follow your movements, yet still focus on anything you bring close to the camera, and the active noise cancelling feature drowns out any background interference.

Ergonomic Wireless Mouse

It takes a lot to improve on something billions of people use every day, but Logitech did it with their MX Vertical Wireless Mouse. The advanced ergonomic design and unique 57-degree angle prevents forearm twisting and reduces muscle strain by placing the hand in a more natural “handshake” position. In addition, the 4000 DPI sensor provides precise tracking that requires four times less hand movement than a traditional mouse with a 1000 DPI sensor.

Battery Backup Power

Winter, especially in the Pacific Northwest, means power outages. The Goal Zero Yeti 500X Portable Power Station offers a chance to remain productive and connected to colleagues during an often-ill-timed outage. Depending on which devices are connected (laptop, monitor, lights, etc.), this battery can keep you going for a full workday. As a bonus, it can charge via the sun or your car, making it great for out-of-office days at a remote campsite or the beach.

Noise Cancelling Headset & Mic

Whether working fully remote or spending a few days in the office, it’s important to have a headset that can adapt to an ever-changing environment. The Jabra Evolve2 75 Link380c MS Stereo Blk headset offers fully adjustable advanced active noise cancellation to suppress background noise and help improve your concentration and productivity, while the integrated HearThrough button allows you to tune into your surroundings without removing the headset. In addition, eight precisely placed microphones filter out ambient noise and ensure your calls are always crystal-clear.

Quality Lighting

While standard home office lighting may be fine for work, it doesn’t mean it’s ideal for video calls and virtual meetings. Paint yourself in your best light with the Key Light from Elgato. Set up is simple and the lights clamp easily to the edge of the desk so they don’t take up valuable floor or desk space. Controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth, the light temperature and intensity can be adjusted via the Elgato app, downloaded to your PC.

Mars Incense

Known world-wide, but located right here in Seattle, Blackbird is a fragrance design house specializing in incense and perfumes. Their incense cones are a vast improvement over candles from the big box retailers, and the Mars scent is a fan favorite, often sold out in local stores. Reminiscent of a quiet sanctuary in Dubai, Mars smells of warm spicy things and consists of imaginary resins from the red plant. The hand-formed cones last about 20 minutes, but the zen-like scent stays around for much longer.

Energizing Herbal Tea

We love our coffee here in Seattle, but sometimes we prefer a little wind in our sails as opposed to a turbo-diesel boost. The energizing Sweet Clarity tea from the House of Waris Botanicals does not disappoint. Founded by well-known actor and designer Waris Ahluwalia, House of Waris celebrates the notion that taking a moment to slow down allows us to achieve more as individuals and as a community. This particular blend of tea is formulated to bring focused energy, enhance cognition, improve circulation, and protect against daily stressors.

Moon Lamp

Give them the moon – literally. While it may not be critical to your productivity, this Levitating Moon Lamp is super cool to look at and has a distinct calming effect. The magnetic base allows the moon to float on air, and its NASA imaging design with real crater depth gives it a truly realistic appearance. Roughly seven inches in diameter, the moon lamp is an ideal size for a home office.

Give the Gift of Productivity to Yourself or Someone Else

This holiday season, make working from home work for you and the other remote workers in your life with tech tools and gadgets designed to enhance the home office. For more tips on home office setups, check out our review of Lighting Gear for Video & Virtual Broadcasts and Gamer Gear: Ideal for Video Conferencing & Virtual Broadcasts. 

The post Top 10 Holiday Gifts for Remote Workers appeared first on Worktank.

From leaders who attempt to wing it to CEOs who sidestep tough questions, we identify five critical mistakes that can undermine your company town hall meetings.

Corporate town hall meetings are an inspiring way to get your team on the same page, to communicate important news and priorities, and to find out what’s on the minds of the people closest to your customers. 

At Worktank, we lead hundreds of these events each year, producing and broadcasting town hall meetings for some of the biggest brands in the world. We’ve coached, and helped some amazing leaders and communicators deliver big news and hard truths. However, outside of our client work, we’ve also seen some pretty epic fails that could’ve been prevented.  

5 Critical Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

Whether you’re hosting an in-person event, or producing a completely virtual corporate town hall, here are a handful of common, yet critical mistakes that can undermine your ability to connect and inspire. 

Not Having a Clear & Relevant Objective

Often, senior leaders create the meeting agenda based on the topics they want to discuss, not on what is relevant or engaging to the team. Worse yet are leaders who are completely out of touch with their teams. For example, sharing photos of a family trip to Europe when the team has been putting in overtime for three months on a big project, foregoing vacations and missing out on their kids’ school events. 

Considering how employees feel, or what they may have questions about, is a key component to having a productive and engaging town hall meeting. Including a few slides on the state of the business is important, but work to simplify the message and focus on the “so what?” 

One way to define the purpose of the town hall meeting is by discussing the desired outcome. What do you want your team to do? How do you want them to feel? What’s the change you want to occur, or the epiphany you want them to have? Then, use surveys or individual team discussions to gauge interest in topics. Put together what you think your purpose is and go out and validate it.

Not Being Prepared

A leader risks isolating themselves and their team by winging it during a town hall meeting. Worktank producers cannot emphasize enough how important preparation and rehearsal are to conveying confidence and delivering an impactful message. In fact, we talk about it a lot in How The Best Presenters Win Their Audience.

We understand that many leaders think using notes and rehearsing can come off as disingenuous or insincere, but it’s a misconception. To show up real and truly connect actually takes a lot of practice, and the CEOs who pull this off aren’t winging it at all. They typically have more training and communication experience. Even if they don’t know the exact words they’re going to use, they know which stories they may want to share and why, and they know exactly what they want their audience to think, feel, and do as a result of their message.

Until you reach that point, you need to properly prepare and practice what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it – days before you walk onto a physical or virtual stage. Know your presentation inside-out, record yourself several times, and the confidence and sincerity will follow.

Failing to Use an Interactive Format

We’ve seen some of the best content fail, simply because it was delivered poorly. Both in-person and virtual town hall meetings should be interactive and immersive. We recommend using a combination of slides, visual storytelling, video, and motion graphics to hold your team’s attention.

Technology also makes it easy to add interactive elements. We provide our clients with scaled audience engagement tools, such as real-time polling, to gather participants’ responses anonymously, and then share the results on screen in real time. In addition to being a great way to collect information, the poll often sparks conversation.  

It’s also important to remember that town halls can, and should, have multiple presenters to keep the audience engaged. Consider livestreaming guest contributors from other locations to talk about anything from team successes to lessons learned.

Ignoring the Elephant in the Room

We’ve watched leaders lose credibility by avoiding what needs to be said, eluding tough topics, and sidestepping uncomfortable questions. Most people don’t like being the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately, we all have to do it at some point. 

Don’t sugarcoat or hide the hard truth behind spin, jargon, and evasive double-speak. And always take the toughest question first. It’s a gutsy move and energizes Q&A with a potent start.

Whether it’s announcing cutbacks or initiating big change, consider the consequences for your team, have a plan, be compassionate, and speak the truth.

Skipping or Staging the Q&A

It’s hard to imagine an in-person or virtual town hall meeting without a Q&A period, but we’ve seen it happen. When you don’t engage with your team you risk looking insecure or arrogant. 

By allowing team members to submit questions – both live and in advance – you ensure the town hall meeting is inclusive and participative. Adding an option for anonymity also allows your team to ask difficult questions without fear of reprisal. 

Communication should be a two-way street, but don’t fall prey to the staged Q&A. Insincere interaction is almost as bad as no interaction at all. While the questions themselves should not be rehearsed, we recommend considering the questions you’ll likely be asked, and thinking about your answers so you’re not caught off guard. If there are no inquiries from the team, you can always use these premeditated questions as a springboard for conversation, which is more authentic than planting the questions in the audience. 

Do You Need Help with Your Company Town Hall Meetings?

If you can avoid these five mistakes, you’re well on your way to leading town hall meetings that inspire people to achieve results and build more connected teams. Of course, even the best, most high-profile leaders and presenters often need a little help from the professionals. 

If you’re interested in partnering with Worktank to help you produce best-in-show corporate town hall meetings, contact us online or give us a call at 877-975-8265. Our team of content creators and producers are experts at incorporating scaled audience engagement tools, visual storytelling, video, and motion graphics to build dynamic TV-show-quality broadcasts that keep your audience engaged from start to finish. 

The post 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Leading a Corporate Town Hall appeared first on Worktank.

Whether you need to convert a complex, multi-day event into an all-virtual solution, or your quarterly executive town hall meeting is facing budget cuts, Worktank can help you to transition a variety of in-person events into engaging virtual experiences.

Internal communications are more important than ever, yet budget cuts and an ever-changing work environment are making it increasingly difficult for communication leaders to effectively engage with their teams.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced us all to go virtual. Then, post-COVID we went back to in-person and a hybrid solution of on-site and virtual. Now, faced with belt-tightening policies on corporate travel, on-site event production, even communications in general, the economy is dictating that events and meetings go virtual once again.

It’s exhausting and a little scary, but if we learned anything over these past two years, it’s that the key to surviving and thriving is the ability to pivot and adapt. Virtual isn’t the fallback plan, it’s the scalable and flexible solution that communications leaders need. And, when executed properly, virtual events are as rich and complex as the in-person alternative.

How to Transition to Virtual Events Without Losing Impact

Whether you need to convert a complex, multi-day event into an all-virtual solution, or your quarterly executive town hall meeting has had its budget slashed, Worktank can help you to transition a variety of in-person events into engaging virtual experiences.

We Make Virtual Events Engaging

Worktank partners with clients on a regular basis to transition large, in-person, multi-day events, as well as smaller monthly or quarterly meetings, into engaging virtual broadcast solutions. We build production teams to support live and pre-recorded segments, add interactive components, and work with presenters from multiple locations and time zones. Using a blend of live and pre-recorded videos, motion graphics, audience engagement tools, and music, we make your meeting or event seamless, engaging, fun and actionable.

We Offer Economical & Scalable Solutions

Worktank can help you stay ahead of your message and in front of your teams without the cost and hassle of travel. Obviously, the cost per viewer at a virtual event is far less than if you were to host an in-person event, but virtual solutions are also scalable. Worktank collaborates to support you where you are, and where your budget is. We also offer economies of scale, bundling multiple events on a regular cadence to further reduce cost.

We Provide Equitable & Inclusive Experiences

Companies have decided to move their in-person events to virtual for many reasons. Certainly during COVID, but also to provide a more equitable experience for their teams. By moving your live or hybrid meetings and events to all-virtual, everyone joins at the same level, regardless of ability to travel, ensuring your message is delivered the same way at the same time.

Make a Seamless Transition to Virtual Events

At Worktank, we’re more than a virtual event and broadcast company, we are a team of communication specialists dedicated to helping you pivot your existing meetings and events into economical and engaging virtual experiences. Our writers, producers, and video editors are experts in incorporating scaled audience engagement tools and video and motion graphics to build a dynamic best-of-show that turns your audience into active participants.

Contact us online or call 877-975-8265 and let’s make the transition to virtual together.

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