Google Hangouts On Air: Everything I Learned From My First Live Google Hangout

Have you experimented much with Google+?

Heard about one of Google+’s unique features, the Google Hangout On Air?

If you haven’t heard about them, they are a fun way to broadcast yourself (or you & your interviewees) directly onto YouTube with little more needed then a computer, webcam & Google+ account.

Ever since I did my first one back in August, questions keep coming my way about my experience and what tips I’d give to someone giving their first one a go.

So I decided to pull together this blog post for you

The gist:

I held a Google Hangout on Air not entirely on purpose. What I wanted was to throw a virtual party and invite some of my favorite online peeps like Hilary Rushford, Brigitte Lyons, Alicia Cowan, Erin Poole at LKR, Jules Taggart and Jennifer Bernstein.

I ended up trying a Google Hangout on Air on the suggestion of someone in a Facebook group since I was looking for a platform that would let me stream video with multiple presenters.

I was also hoping to use the event to help build my list, but Google Hangouts On Air don’t have an inherent opt-in ability. I ended up creating my own opt-in for the event (more on that later in this post).

So Google Hangout on Air + Virtual Party = all good times, no? Almost.

Here’s EVERYTHING I learned from my first Google Hangout On Air:

Sometimes I think it’s not about 99% perspiration, it’s about 99% preparation.

Click to tweet: “Everything @lizlockard learned from her first Google Hangout On Air: It’s about 99% preparation.”

My BIGGEST take-away is that the more you prep, the easier the event will go (as with most things I think). I SCOURED the internet for posts on how to prep for your first Google Hangout On Air as I was a complete newbie. I found a bunch of posts (see Resources section) which were a lot of help.

Tech Check

Quite a few of my guests were new to the Hangout On Air experience, so having them schedule a 10-minute run-through with me was a must.

I used ScheduleOnce to send them a link to my calendar to pick a time that worked for them. All but one of my six guests took me up on the tech check.

We walked through some basics while IN a Google Hangout like…
-where the mute & un-mute button and video on & video off buttons are
-how to activate the chat box which would only be visible for my guests & me
-how to setup your lower third

What exactly is a lower third? It’s a little overlay (picture) on the screen that says your name & title or name & website or really, anything you’d like to help identify who is speaking. The trick is, each participant has to create this themselves. Pretty easy when you know how, but not something I wanted to mess with in the live event.

How to setup your lower third:

• Make sure you’ve installed the Hangout Toolbox app if you haven’t already (on the right-hand side, below the icons, click the three gray dots. From the new menu, select +Add Apps. Hangout Toolbox should be one of the first ones you see. Click to install, agree to permissions/etc.
• Once installed, the Hangout Toolbox icon should appear in the left-hand icon menu. Click it to bring up the settings on the right hand of your screen. Inside the Toolbox settings, setup your lower third by typing your full name in the first field and your website in the second. Hit “Off” in the top right to switch the lower third to “On”. If you saved a preset in our walk-through, you can simply load the preset instead by clicking the green button next to your preset at the bottom of the screen.

The key here is to save the lower third as a preset for easy loading day-of the event.

What would I do differently? I might create custom lower thirds in my next Google Hangout On Air (themed for the event) and send to each participant to upload prior to the event. Not a must, but maybe a nice branding touch.

Reminder Emails

Here’s the EXACT TEXT I used for my individual reminder emails to my participants:

Reminder Email #1 (Sent out 9 days before the event)

Hey INSERTNAME!

Thank you sooooo much for agreeing to come to my virtual end of summer party next week. This email contains some more details about the virtual event, as well as a few super-simple action items.

Event Details:
August 28th
12pm-2pm ET
via Google Hangout on Air
(as a VIP guest, I ask you sign on by 11:45am ET to work through any logistics or bugs – you can turn off your video feed & mute yourself for the entire time you’re not being interviewed if you like)

What you need for the event:

• Computer with a webcam
• Google+ personal account
• Headphones
• (to get rid of that terrible echo that sometimes happens)
• Steady, strong internet connection
• (some experts recommend plugging straight in to your internet for these hangouts vs going off your wireless if possible)
• A cup of coffee and/or water

(ACTION NEEDED) I need from you right now:

• Reply to this email and let me know if you are still in or if anything has changed in your schedule
• Circle me on Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/109043777490480984064/posts so I can circle you back and put you in the Circle for this event
• Schedule a run-through with me (if you can) between now and next Tuesday via this link: (I INSERTED A LINK TO MY SCHEDULEONCE CALENDAR HERE). The slot is for 30 minutes but I’m sure we’ll be 15 minutes tops – just to walk-through the hangout-on-air logistics so you’re more comfortable come party day. If you don’t see a spot that matches up with your schedule – email me! I’m sure we can work something out.
• Review the following tentative event schedule and let me know if you need time adjustments if you haven’t already (I’ll do the best I can to accommodate you!)

Party Schedule:
12pm-12:10pm
Welcome & Explaining Party Logistics (hashtag, prizes at least every 30min, format, etc.)
12:10-12:25pm
**Guest: Hilary Rushford
12:25pm
First Prize Giveaway
(Google Analytics: The Missing Manual membership)
12:30-12:45pm
**Guest: Jennifer Bernstein
12:45pm-1:00pm
**Guest: Erin Poole
Erin’s prize giveaway: 3 months free of Social Media Marketer
1:00pm-1:15pm
**Guest: Alicia Cowan
1:15pm
Second Prize Giveaway
(30 minute consult with me)
1:20pm-1:35pm
**Guest: Jules Taggart
1:35pm-1:50pm
**Guest: Brigitte Lyons
Brigitte’s prize giveaway: mini-consult
1:50pm
Final prize giveaway
(Google Analytics: The Missing Manual membership)
1:55pm-2:00pm
Wrap-up & Thank you

Questions? Comments? Let me know if ANYTHING is the least bit unclear.

Thank you SO much for agreeing to come hang out with me at my party. I’m really excited about it!!

Look out tomorrow for a link to the blog post announcing the party if you’d like to invite your peeps to come hangout with us

Thank you!!!
Liz

Reminder Email #2 (sent 8 days before the party)

Hey FIRSTNAME!

The blog post about the party is live so you are welcome to share it with your peeps if you like now

http://www.lizlockard.com/summer-party/

Some clicktotweets if you like:

http://clicktotweet.com/bQRB1
Prizes & secrets, oh my >> come hear me spill some of my entrepreneur secrets at the @lizlockard End of Summer bash bit.ly/16XmxPU

http://clicktotweet.com/UBdDd
Ooo… you don’t want to miss the hottest party of the summer- @lizlockard is throwing an End of Summer bash & you’re invited bit.ly/16XmxPU

http://clicktotweet.com/d90bT
What’s better than a summer bash by the pool? This party…and you’re invited! bit.ly/16XmxPU @lizlockard

Share this ANY way you like – really. Whatever you have room for in your social sharing life – a newsletter PS, a Facebook shoutout or just a tweet – whichever feels right to you!

Really looking forward to hanging out with you at my party!

-Liz

Reminder Email #3 (Sent 1 day before the party)

Hey there!

Thank you SO much for coming to my virtual party tomorrow. This email contains some last-minute details about the virtual event, as well as a few super-simple action items.

Event Details:
August 28th
12pm-2pm ET
via Google Hangout on Air
(as a VIP guest, I ask you sign on by 11:45am ET to work through any logistics or bugs – you can turn off your video feed & mute yourself for the entire time you’re not being interviewed if you like)

What you need for the event:

• Computer with a webcam
• Google+ personal account
• Headphones
• (to get rid of that terrible echo that sometimes happens)
• Steady, strong internet connection
• (some experts recommend plugging straight in to your internet for these hangouts vs going off your wireless if possible)
• A cup of coffee and/or water

Important details:

• Hashtag for the event #lizparty
• Guests will only be able to interact with us via the hashtag on social media (Google+, Twitter & Facebook). Facebook comments are embedded on the party page but there is no built-in-public-chat function with Google Hangouts On Air.
• There is a chat function for us to use with Google Hangout On Air. Look for the blue chat box icon on the left-hand of your screen. Make sure you are in the chat the entire event — this is how we’ll be able to chat with each other if needed (not a public chat).
• The actual live party will be happening at http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ (work-in-progress). DO NOT share this link before the party is LIVE at 12pm ET tomorrow. Feel free to schedule out social media tweets between 12pm ET and 2pm ET with the link to the live party and hashtag #lizparty if you like. If you want to share a link about the party BEFORE it goes live, share this one: http://www.lizlockard.com/summer-party/
• I’m sending out a bunch of party favors (secret page on my website) related to the party. If you have something in particular you’d like me to include in there (a special link/etc.), let me know before the end of the day tomorrow. (Though I can always update the page after it’s gone out).

(TOMORROW ACTION LIST) for tomorrow:

• Login to your Google+ profile at 11:45am ET to accept the invite to the party. Look for that red alert notification next to the bell on the upper right of your screen. You *should* be able to log in to the party later if need be, but this will give us time to troubleshoot.
• Turn on or setup your lower third once you’re in the Hangout. We walked through how to do this in our walk-through if you were able to schedule one but if not…
  • Make sure you’ve installed the Hangout Toolbox app if you haven’t already (on the right-hand side, below the icons, click the three gray dots. From the new menu, select +Add Apps. Hangout Toolbox should be one of the first ones you see. Click to install, agree to permissions/etc.
  • Once installed, the Hangout Toolbox icon should appear in the left-hand icon menu. Click it to bring up the settings on the right hand of your screen. Inside the Toolbox settings, setup your lower third by typing your full name in the first field and your website in the second. Hit “Off” in the top right to switch the lower third to “On”. If you saved a preset in our walk-through, you can simply load the preset instead by clicking the green button next to your preset at the bottom of the screen.
• Make sure your chat is active. After you’ve setup your lower third, make sure to get back to the chat for the hangout by clicking the blue chat icon that should be one of the first icons on the left-hand of your screen. This is how we can chat during the event (not public).
• Your scheduled time slot is below. I’ll be asking you questions like tell us about your background & what’s your biggest insight so far from working as a small biz owner/in your role. If you have a prize to giveaway we’ll do that. If you are hanging out but it is NOT your timeslot, please mute yourself by clicking the mute microphone button in the top right. If you are muted, this button should be red.
• If you something techie goes wrong, just close the Hangout On Air tab/window and head back to your Google+ profile. Click on the bell in the upper right to find the original invite to the hangout again and click to re-enter. This should solve 99% of tech problems.

Party Schedule:
12pm-12:10pm
Welcome & Explaining Party Logistics (hashtag, prizes at least every 30min, format, etc.)
12:10-12:25pm
**Guest: Hilary Rushford
12:25pm
First Prize Giveaway
(Google Analytics: The Missing Manual membership)
12:30-12:45pm
**Guest: Jennifer Bernstein
12:45pm-1:00pm
**Guest: Erin Poole
Erin’s prize giveaway: 3 months free of Social Media Marketer
1:00pm-1:15pm
**Guest: Alicia Cowan
Alicia’s prize giveaway: mini strategy session
1:15pm
Second Prize Giveaway
(30 minute consult with me)
1:20pm-1:35pm
**Guest: Jules Taggart
Jules’ prize giveaway: mini consult?
1:35pm-1:50pm
**Guest: Brigitte Lyons
Brigitte’s prize giveaway: Mini Spotlight session
1:50pm
Final prize giveaway
(Google Analytics: The Missing Manual membership)
1:55pm-2:00pm
Wrap-up & Thank you

Questions? Comments? Let me know if ANYTHING is the least bit unclear.

Thank you!!!
Liz

Planned Timeline

As you can see in the above emails, I took the time to get really detailed with the party schedule ahead of time and let my VIP guests know the schedule. This ensured for a well-tempo’ed party and guests knowing how long they had to commit to.

What would I do differently? I would prep my questions for each guest ahead of time as well. I did this hastily right before the event and because I knew each guest well it worked, but more question prep would ultimately make a better interview experience.

Prescheduled Tweets & Hashtag

I scheduled out a lot of prescheduled tweets for the party. My buddy Alicia Cowan’s Twitter Brilliance taught me the value of that.

Prescheduling tweets meant I could focus on party hosting instead of party tweeting. Because – did I mention this yet? – I was crazy enough to do this event entirely SOLO.

Here are the exact tweets I scheduled out in Hootsuite beforehand:

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

12:00pm ET (schedule)

The FREE virtual party is happening NOW – join us? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

12:20pm ET (schedule)

We’re giving away SO many juicy prizes during the FREE End of Summer (virtual) party – join us? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

12:40pm ET (schedule)

It’s BYO favorite drink at my free virtual End of Summer party event. Want to come hang with us for a bit? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

1:10pm ET (schedule)

I can’t believe the party is almost halfway over! Have you won anything yet? Join us live here: http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

1:45pm ET (schedule)

There are still a few last-minute prizes we’re giving away… come check us out at the #lizparty http://www.lizlockard.com/party/

1:55pm ET (schedule)

Thank you SO much to everyone who attended my super-fun and virtual end of summer party today. What a blast! #lizparty

1:56pm ET (schedule)

Extra big thank you to @brigittelyons @absolutealicia @jenniferbberinstein @hilaryrushford @julestaggart & @erinpoole88! #lizparty

2:00pm ET (schedule)

Did you miss the #lizparty? Get the recording and lots of awesome goodies in your party bag by hopping on the list here: http://www.lizlockard.com/summer-party/

I timed the tweets about 20 minutes apart because I also had a bunch of pre-written tweets that I could copy & paste into Twitter as I brought on each party guest – making each tweet about my party from my account going live every 10 minutes throughout the 2 hour event.

Day-Of

I knew day-of was going to be crazy so besides making sure I was showered, dressed, hair combed, lunch was had, water was ample, and background was set for my video… I wanted to make sure every action item on my list was a lock & not forgotten.

So I created the following Day-Of checklist:

11:40am ET
Update Hellobar with live link

11:45am ET
Send out HOA invite to party guests
Remind everyone to mute themselves, setup lower thirds, use chat function
Test Facebook comments with guests

11:50am ET
Embed HOA on page

11:55am ET
Hit START BROADCAST

11:59am Hit RECORD on Screencast

*remember to keep notes on who won what*

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

12:00pm ET (schedule)

The FREE virtual party is happening NOW – join us? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

12:10pm ET (LIVE)

The lovely @hilaryrushford and I are chatting about her life as a personal stylist & other small biz stuff – have a question for her? #lizparty Join us: http://www.lizlockard.com/party/

12:20pm ET (schedule)

We’re giving away SO many juicy prizes during the FREE End of Summer (virtual) party – join us? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

12:30pm ET (LIVE)

The super-smart @jenniferbbernstein and I are chatting about her college admissions biz and how you know when it’s time to leave #lizparty

12:40pm ET (schedule)

It’s BYO favorite drink at my free virtual End of Summer party event. Want to come hang with us for a bit? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

12:45pm ET (LIVE)

I’m getting @eapoole88 to spill her guts on what it’s like to work at @lkr & give away FREE 3-months to SMM in just a moment #lizparty

1:00pm ET (LIVE)

The fab @absolutealicia is chatting social media biz with me at the virtual #lizparty – join us? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

1:10pm ET (schedule)

I can’t believe the party is almost halfway over! Have you won anything yet? Join us live here: http://www.lizlockard.com/party/ #lizparty

1:20pm ET (LIVE)

Expert content creator @julestaggart and I are chatting about content & small biz at the virtual #lizparty – join us? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/

1:35pm ET (LIVE)

Super-smart PR gal @brigittelyons & I are chatting PR for small biz & her life as an entrepreneur #lizparty -join us? http://www.lizlockard.com/party/

1:45pm ET (schedule)

There are still a few last-minute prizes we’re giving away… come check us out at the #lizparty http://www.lizlockard.com/party/

1:55pm ET (schedule)

Thank you SO much to everyone who attended my super-fun and virtual end of summer party today. What a blast! #lizparty

1:56pm ET (schedule)

Extra big thank you to @brigittelyons @absolutealicia @jenniferbberinstein @hilaryrushford @julestaggart & @erinpoole88! #lizparty

2:00pm ET (schedule)

Did you miss the #lizparty? Get the recording and lots of awesome goodies in your party bag by hopping on the list here: http://www.lizlockard.com/summer-party/

ACTION

2:00pm ET
Hit END BROADCAST on HOA.

Hit STOP RECORDING on Screenflow.

Update live party page.

Remove Hello Bar.

Update MailChimp welcome email.

Create party goodies page & mini list building eBook PDF.

Yep, I even left creating the mini list building eBook until after the party was completed. It was on my to-do for before the party… but things got a bit out of hand.

Other tools I used:

• Screenflow for a backup of the automatic YouTube recording (I actually had forgotten to hit Record in Screenflow until about 10 minutes in so good thing the YouTube recording worked)
• Hello Bar to advertise my party to website visitors
• MailChimp (affiliate link) to organize party opt-ins & auto-delivery of favors

Oh, and yes, as of the time of my Hangout On Air, you had to actually embed the Hangout Code just MINUTES before the party and AFTER you had already hit Broadcast because you didn’t get the embed code until after you hit Broadcast.

So I was changing code on my website just moments before I welcomed everyone to the party. Talk about sweating it.

Prizes

My guests were not required to give out prizes, but most of them did. Which was amazing. I gave my own as well (including two free memberships into my Google Analytics: The Missing Manual course)

Brigitte Lyons gave away a spotlight session, Jules Taggart gave away a mini consult, Alicia Cowan gave away a strategy session, and Erin Poole gave away a free 3-month membership into LKR’s Social Media Marketer.

I decided ahead of time that we would pick the prize winners off of Twitter via the hashtag for the event. (Choosing a hashtag was KEY to the success of the event – otherwise, I would’ve struggled to interact with the people watching as there is no built-in attendee chat function for Google Hangouts on Air – at least, none I was aware of when I ran mine).

As each prize winner was selected, I made sure to note who won in a notebook I had on hand for the event. I asked each prize winner to email me to claim their prize & most did – but for those who didn’t, I followed up via Twitter to make sure they emailed to claim their prize. Within 24 hours – each prize winner had their prize or was put in touch with the guest whose prize they won. (This was a BIG deal for me as I know I’ve attended events in the past where prizes were advertised but not followed-through on. Do what you say you are going to do.)

What would I have done differently? I would’ve decided ahead of time HOW the prize winners were going to be selected. I wasn’t that creative – I was choosing the first tweet I saw instead of taking the opportunity to get some pretty cool market research answers OR incentivize some Tweeters to spread the word even more.

Party Favors

I came up with the idea of party favors not only to help make my event more appealing to actually attend but ALSO to incentivize people who were attending live who hadn’t opted-in to hop on the party list (so I could send them their party favors).

My party favors included:

• a never-before-seen mini list building eBook that I developed specifically for this event (you can still access this by signing up for the party favors at www.lizlockard.com/party)
• the recording of the party
• info about all of my special party guests

What would I have done differently? I would’ve made a prettier opt-in on the page. It was a last minute idea and as such I didn’t have the time to get someone to code me a pretty opt-in. It was a pretty basic box & submit button.

The Party Page – How to Host It on Your Own Website

You don’t have to host the Hangout on your website as it auto-broadcasts to YouTube but I wanted a page to direct my guests to so I chose to also embed the Hangout on my website.

To do this, I followed a simple series of steps:

• Create a New Page on My Website
• Created a filler video for people who landed on the page before the Hangout was ready (was this necessary? I don’t think so. Some text would’ve done the job just fine).
• Included the hashtag on the page as well as a clicktotweet
• Added a MailChimp opt-in for non-registered guests to grab the party favors
• Added embedded Facebook comments to the page (with this plugin).

What would I have done differently? A few things:

• I would’ve nixed the Facebook embed comments as there wasn’t much participation there.
• I would’ve add some Tech troubleshooting text to the page (If you’re having trouble viewing the video, try hitting refresh or try a different browser) as that was hard to troubleshoot on Twitter as I was hosting the event.
• I would’ve added a note on the page about the time delay – the event was broadcasting at about a 30 second delay (not sure if this is true of all Hangouts, but it was for ours).

What I Wish I Had Also Done

Google+ Profile & YouTube Account Troubles
The biggest trouble I had was the fact that my Google+ profile (you can’t host a Google Hangout as a page) wasn’t able to link to my YouTube account. Somewhere along the way, G+ profiles & YouTube accounts got mixed and I didn’t have the time to figure out how to fix it. One thing I discovered was that you could add your desired G+ profile as an admin to the page associated with the YouTube account but that had an approval period of about 2 weeks or so before you could actually get on the page. Given that I was figuring this out just days in advance, I didn’t have enough time.

Moral of the story – check your G+ & YouTube accounts at least 3 weeks in advance as my event ended up auto-recording to the wrong YouTube account and I have no way of transferring that.

Event logistics
It was a little nuts doing everything myself for the event. Having a VA who was also comfortable with the platform & handling social media so I could focus on just hosting would’ve been helpful, though I managed.

Even though the event was happening in the middle of the day in August in Philadelphia for me… some crazy summer storm stole all of the light from the room I was broadcasting in. For future events, I might look at getting some controlled lighting.

Resources I Used to Prepare

I read a LOT of blog posts on the topic but these were the biggest resources I used to prepare for my first HOA:

• http://michaelbrandvold.com/blog/2012/09/20-steps-on-how-to-setup-and-run-a-google-hangout-video-broadcast/
• https://plus.google.com/+RonnieBincer/

Results

One of the highest single-day visit totals from Twitter ever for my site and the feedback was great – I loved using the platform to help me host such an informal but personal event.

@lizlockard #lizparty Loved the party and your inspirational guests! Thank you and have a well-deserved proper drink now

— Marie Allen (@mariewebclarity) August 28, 2013

 

@lizlockard yes, LOVING IT! bring on the Spring! thanks for hosting the party, it was really awesome, got the idea machine churning.

— Claire Pelletreau (@clairepells) August 29, 2013

Would I do it again? For an interview style or other party-atmosphere event, absolutely. I’ll still stick to other platforms for webinars and other presentation or chat-interaction events.

What about you?

Have you ever hosted a Google Hangout On Air? Have a favorite tip or resource you’d like to share? Have a question about hosting your own Google HOA? Let me know in the comments!

Are you on Google+? You can join me here: