Chris Holmes launched Liverpool-based Virtuopo in 2020.
The company provides specialist livestreaming and virtual event production expertise for brands, businesses and organisations across a wide range sectors from ecommerce, sport and music to professional services, healthcare and automotive.
Virtuopo also partners with events companies and PR and marketing agencies on technical production for client campaigns and events.
Prior to launching Virtuopo, Holmes co-founded Zut video agency, where he was head of live content for over 10 years. He has worked with clients such as Coca Cola, JCB, New Balance, Talk Talk, Dr Oetker, River Island, Weightmans, CMS, Interlaw, the NHS and the British Council.
This is how a recent week in his life went.
Monday
I’m just back from holiday so my first job is to catch up on emails and start prioritising tasks for the week ahead before checking in with the team. We opt for a Zoom meeting as we tend to work remotely on non show days. I’m a firm believer in being flexible about where we work and when, I know the team will always work to the same high standards, regardless of whether we’re in the office or off site.
We had a team streaming a live broadcast for the Spirit of Shankly supporters’ group over the weekend. It was set up to tackle the issues that arose from Liverpool FC’s Champions’ League encounter in Paris, so I’m particularly interested to hear how that went. Next up, I catch up with a couple of clients, one is an international network of over 7,500 lawyers from 80 top law firms. We discuss plans for a virtual conference for members, which will require multi-camera livestreaming from a conference in Portugal broadcasting to delegates around the world. The conference will also incorporate board member voting, as well as a keynote from a high-profile speaker, and with different time zones and languages to navigate, it looks set to be an interesting job.
My wife is also working remotely today so we sit down for lunch together before I log onto a virtual meeting with another client to discuss ideas for a social media livestreaming project, which will be simulcast across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It’s always good to be involved in the early stages of planning when we can really add value by helping to shape the creative content and boost engagement. I wrap the first day of the week with a long run before dinner.
Tuesday
I wake up early to fit in a Peloton session before the rest of the family make it downstairs for breakfast. Feeling re-energised, I drop one daughter at nursery and the other at school, this is one of the perks I most enjoy about flexible working.
On the way back from the school run, I catch up with the production crew who are heading to Northallerton today to deliver a live broadcast from a dairy farm. Our job is to link up an interview with three generations of dairy famers with a virtual event in Denmark, which is being streamed to an audience across Europe. As you might except, the Wi-Fi on a remote Yorkshire farm isn’t the most reliable, so we’ve organised an outside broadcast satellite truck to provide a stable feed.
I check in with the team to make sure it’s all going to plan before joining a virtual meeting with a new client who wants to discuss a hybrid event next spring. A common misconception around hybrid events is that it’s simply a case off adding a virtual element to an in-person event. Our approach is to work with clients to create very different experiences for the two separate audiences, enhancing in-person opportunities for delegates on site, whilst providing compelling content to engage remote attendees.
I grab a bite to eat and head to Manchester for a meeting with TikTok to discuss some exciting developments within the business, which will see us work with the platform to further expand our
offering in the livestream shopping space. Blending entertainment and creative shopping, livestream shopping is expected to account for up to 20 percent of ecommerce by 2026, so it’s a pretty exciting time for the ecommerce sector.
After a promising meeting with TikTok, I have another quick call with the team in Northallerton. I’m pleased to hear the livestream from the dairy farm went smoothly and we have a very happy client. Having a strong team in place allows me to be able to play a more strategic role in the business, which is key for future growth.
Wednesday
As the production crew prepare for the second live show of the week in Yorkshire, I catch them for a quick chat when they arrive at a live VR shoot in Leeds. We’re delivering a two-hour virtual event from a green screen studio and we’ve agreed on a TV style set, combining a sizzling suite of graphics with some interesting VTs. The team has also created a bespoke virtual backdrop to sit behind the presenters.
Using a VR backdrop can be a great time and money saver for clients and it’s a much more engaging approach than a series of PowerPoint presentations followed by a Q&A. Livestreams and virtual events are ultimately more successful when attendees connect with the content and there is good interaction from the start. Producing great live events that people will enjoy and remember begin with creative planning and using a VR backdrop is an effective way to add interest.
Next up, I prepare a post event evaluation for a recent project to provide our client with a valuable insight into how well different types of content have performed. As well as demonstrating success and ROI, the evaluation process is also useful for planning future events. I finish just in time for a bite to eat before livestreaming a virtual training academy for over 300 employees at a large global organisation, all are attending remotely. Once the virtual training academy is complete, I catch a late train to London to get ready for an early flight from Heathrow in the morning.
Thursday
Time to dust off my patchy German as I land in Frankfurt. I catch the train to Stuttgart Motorworld for a site recce ahead of an exciting new car launch we’re set to livestream in a few weeks. Good preparation is vital, particularly as we’ll be broadcasting the launch live to a worldwide audience, so it’s important to check out the venue in advance.
I can’t help reminiscing back to my early 20s when I studied Economics at the Hochschule Bremen. I used to be quite fluent but it’s been a while since I’ve spoken German and sadly I’m starting to think the saying ‘if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it’ might be true. The events team at Motorworld take me on a tour of the venue and I am mesmerised by the impressive collection of cars on display.
I have a good chat with a fellow train passenger on the way back to the airport and start to feel slightly relieved that I managed a decent conversation in German. I spend the rest of the journey contemplating the logistics of moving equipment and crew around Europe. It’s significantly more challenging and expensive since Brexit came into effect. I arrive home late into the evening after a tiring journey back.
Friday
I wake up to a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ from the family and enjoy a birthday breakfast before getting to work on a remote livestream for a conference in Lisbon. There’s a local crew producing on site and we’re directing remotely. We’ve been livestreaming for nearly 10 years and the technological evolution in the sector has been incredible during the pandemic, moving it forward by about seven years in 18 months, so managing live broadcasts from thousands of miles away is pretty standard stuff now.
The conference finishes just in time for me to pick up the girls, who insist on tucking into the birthday cake as soon as we arrive home. My youngest, who is three, treats me to a compilation of songs from The Greatest Showman, while my nine year old shows off her own livestreaming skills as she gets to work on her latest TikTok video. She definitely has the makings of a future social media star. Frightening! I round off the week with a family dinner and a few well-earned diet cokes!
