NAB 2024 Recap: “Bringing traditional broadcast and creator worlds together”

NAB, a predominantly broadcast-focused tradeshow, has made attempts to widen its reach beyond traditional media with a Creator Lab, which addressed and supported the needs of the new crop of production houses and individual creators developing content for social media.

LiveU has had a finger on the pulse of the creator network since the company launched its prosumer plug-and-play encoder, LiveU Solo back in 2016. Over the years, we have worked closely with technology partners like Facebook, YouTube, X, Twitch, and others, as well as individual streamers to create feature-rich experiences for content creators. Our aim is to enable creators to produce higher quality streams wherever their adventures take them, monetize the live content, and better compete in their respective categories.

At NAB 2024, we held a Solo Creator “Streamer Las Vegas” event to highlight the progress made in both hardware and software solutions of the “creator toolkit”. The event featured presentations from our CTO and LiveU Solo Guru, Dan Pisarski, along with insights from Taylor Webb, CEO and Founder of UnlimitedIRL, a strategic reseller and developer of the IRL Backpack. Winner of IRL Streamer of the Year, Jinnytty joined us to talk about how she grew her audience, focusing on the direct line of communication she has forged with her fans to create a real community that supports her and shapes her travels. Before she even hit the stage, Jinny was already creating thought-provoking conversations with her 1M Twitch followers – live.

IRL Streamer of the Year, Jinnytty live streamed her entire visit to the LVCC for NAB Show 2024 including her appearance on LiveU’s Streamer Las Vegas creator session. You can watch her full stream here.

Here’s what we learned from Jinny:

1. Commitment and consistency are key. Jinny didn’t earn IRL Streamer of the year without working for it – literally walking across Taiwan, streaming daily (and sometimes for 24 hours at a time!) and constantly interacting with her community. When she did sleep (sometimes for 4 hours or so), she would replay content to keep her viewers engaged while she recharged.
   
2. Leverage tools out there to automate and amplify your content. Jinny mentioned a clipping capability that would allow her followers to clip memorable moments on her streams. This saved her time in going back and clipping and resharing those moments later. When time is money, Jinny has to make the most of it! Seek out tools to help you be more efficient so you can focus on what really matters – creating the next memorable moments on your streams.
   
3. For many streaming on social media, there has been a need to interact with audiences in order to build a community around you and your content. A creator needs to be an open book – available for questions and comments, while also giving viewers a voice. This helps create more meaningful dialogue and builds a rapport and level of trust among the creator and his/her viewers. Serving content with your community in mind helps them feel invested.

Our Creator Universe Streamer Las Vegas Event was standing room only. Not just because we served some snacks and beverages – but because the audience included fellow streamers and content creators who are already building a following and craved more insight into Jinny’s success. The Orange Man, a partnered IRL and VR streamer, came by to see the coveted IRL Backpack in person and to discuss ways we may be able to collaborate. It was super valuable to have all of these folks in one space to interact in person, see and feel the IRL backpack, and get some feedback on how they can get started or improve their content.

Jinny live streamed the lead up to the event – taking her her followers on a tour of the convention center before joining the LiveU booth at NAB and the mainstage for her speaking opportunity. Her live stream peaked at just under 5K concurrent viewers, which was pretty good for a Tuesday afternoon. The technology Jinny has implemented to power her live streams has made it possible for her to “set it and forget it” so she can focus on the content she wants to create and the places she wants to go. (Check out Jinny’s live streaming toolkit here) And because the live video is so crisp and dynamic, Jinny’s viewers can feel like they are right there with her – flying business class, ziplining, and walking across the country.

We truly gave creators a seat at the NAB table (UnlimitedIRL even gave a new streamer some modems to get started!)

We hope that broadcasters at NAB learned something about the world of creators and can adapt some of those tips on creativity and community building into their digital content strategies. Thanks so much to Jinnytty for sharing her world with us.

Learn more about LiveU Solo PRO and the creators it empowers: