Tour Guiding: Technology and Virtual Tours
FAQs from our webinar, ‘Tour Guiding: Technology and Virtual Tours’, recorded 8 June 2021.
Please note information provided in these responses was correct at the time of recording.
Good question. I use all my own photos and video. You need to think much more about the people in the images even when in public spaces. Go to www.visitbritainimages.com - if you register here, there is information in the help section on how to deal with asset rights.
Most of the guides use Zoom, as it is free and easy to use for the viewer and can handle video streaming well.
Facebook is utilised by most of the guides represented in this webinar; however, over the lockdowns, Instagram has been a new platform that the guides have explored. All platforms have different purposes and different age groups, so it is best to explore which may work for yourself and publish different content on each.
All of the guides presenting on the webinar that host live walking virtual tours use Zoom to present, although when hosting multiple guides, Streamyard was used by one guide.
I use meeting as the feedback/interactivity during the tour make them feel welcoming. Webinar can feel cold.
I find that one hour is the ideal length. Too much longer is certainly too long. If you are concerned about attention wandering, perhaps have a break for questions half way through.
Always live for most of the guides. Part of the experience should be for the audience to interact with the guide. Although one of the guides does offer downloadable video guides.
No. Your broadband connection is more important.
The guides collectively share the expectation that virtual guiding will continue into the future and we will see a formation of a hybrid guiding environment, where both live in-person guiding and virtual guiding form part of the offering.
If you recorded a video of yourself talking, the sound and images would be done at the same time. Alternatively, play pre-recorded video and add a voiceover in real time.
Streamyard - It's akin to a mini TV studio.
I don’t use a green screen. if you have a decent computer you can use the virtual backgrounds offered by Zoom.
I encourage questions in chat, just like this, and leave lots of time at the end to answer them and interact with the audience.
Certainly. Or you could consider doing the tour at times that suit your overseas clients. I’ve done virtual tours at 10pm and 8am.
We don’t encourage Blue Badge guides to do any interior tours without express permission.
Travis uses internet translation engines - they choose the best ones for different languages. See the demo from the Positively Birmingham website.
Good point - we did use an app which gave a unique download, but at present we have just a simple link that we can change when we want to. You can create a secure registration link so it can only be used by one person from a single computer, if this is your fear.
