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How To Produce Audio Events With Audiences: Interview With Tyler Greene
November 1, 2016
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Tyler Greene is an event producer for Chicago Public Media (WBEZ 91.5FM & Vocalo 91.1FM), the Assistant House Manager for Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! and the Chicago StorySLAM producer for The Moth. Tyler is also the Artistic Director of the Chicago Podcast Festival and works frequently with 2nd Story, Chicago's hybrid storytelling, music and wine series. I asked him a few questions...
1. When it comes to producing live events for audio content, what factors do you need to consider when selecting a venue?
The venue is the temporary home for your show, so I like to think of it in that way. How do guests get to the "front door?" Is it easy for them to find restrooms? Will there be food and drinks? And then there's the show itself: Will guests have a hard time seeing you? Does the venue have good sound? Will you be able to show video? Finally - and perhaps most importantly - will you be able to get a clean recording?
2. What do you need to think about when working with a studio audience?
Wherever appropriate, I try to warm-up the crowd myself. I do this for two main reasons. First of all, I like to get them excited and into a good mood. Sometimes people need a bit of a buffer between pre-show life stuff and whatever you're presenting. Second to raising the audiences energy level during the pre-show speech, I also like to explain to them the "rules of recording." For example, you can certainly get up to go to the bathroom, but since it's a radio show, please don't announce that you have to go the bathroom. Then, we get a few sample rounds of applause, explaining to the audience that we are recording for future airing, so we need their energy and enthusiasm to shine through. In the case of Wait Wait, Peter Sagal does this speech. For The Moth and other WBEZ events, I tend to do it.
3. What challenges are presented by events that happen in a different location each time? What should people producing shows with changing locations think about?
This is an interesting question. My immediate gut is to make sure you know the tech contact at the venue where you're planning to produce the show. Make email, phone or preferably in-person contact with that person and make sure you ask all of your questions early. Make yourself a timeline for the evening of the event and play through all of your "worst case scenarios," then bring those to the table before they happen. You can't avoid mistakes, but you can build a safety net for them.
4. How should a show host balancing "playing to the room" against "playing to the audience at home?" What advice would you offer hosts doing live shows?
When working with hosts of The Moth StorySLAM, I encourage them to be present. If you're present in the room, that will translate to the audience at home. This is also one of the main reasons we educate the audience before Wait Wait and live podcast tapings; if the audience sounds like they're bored, so will the audience at home (unless you have a VERY talented editor, or a believable laugh track...!).
5. How much of a typical show is scripted? How much is improvised?
This question varies for every show that we do. The Moth StorySLAM is not scripted at all - "true stories, told live without notes" is their slogan. With Wait Wait, it's a mix of both, though most of the material that the panel uses is improvised. With other programs, it depends on the host and producing team's preferences.
6. What are the pieces of equipment that you can't live without to do your job?
iPhone, especially the WunderList app. For live events, I love GoButton for firing live audio, QLab for video and I never leave home without my VGA and HDMI adapters. Well, sometimes I do, but invariably I then have trouble with my equipment.
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