NLMC Virtual Conference
Date:
Feb 10th - 12th, 2021
Location:
Virtual Event
Client:
National Labor - Management Conference
Virtual Relations: NLMC turns to GlobeStream Media for virtual national conference during COVID.
The National Labor-Management Conference (NLMC) is a premier annual event in the United States dedicated to fostering dialogue, collaboration, and innovation between labor unions, management executives, government officials, neutrals (like mediators and arbitrators), advocates, and academics. Organized primarily by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), it serves as a critical forum for addressing timely challenges in labor relations, such as workplace technology, union organizing strategies, healthcare reforms, pension trends, and post-pandemic recovery efforts. The conference emphasizes actionable insights, networking, and best practices to build productive employer-employee relationships and enhance organizational success.
THE CHALLENGE
In early 2020, the global shutdown disrupted every major conference, gathering, and stakeholder forum. NLMC’s annual event, with its national audience and tightly scheduled agenda, was no exception. Traditional in-person production was impossible, yet the organization could not forgo the event without jeopardizing communication with its membership and leadership network.
Key challenges included:
Transitioning a four-day, multi-session conference into a professional, fully virtual broadcast.
Managing up to 8 presenters per day, each located in different cities across the country.
Coordinating multi-person panels with anywhere from 2 to 8 participants.
Ensuring presenters had backstage support, technical guidance, and reliable lines of communication.
Maintaining control of all presentation materials—slides, videos, graphics—for smooth, broadcast-quality integration.
Delivering a cohesive, secure, and uninterrupted experience that met NLMC’s high expectations for communication effectiveness.
For many organizations, virtual events were brand-new. GlobeStream Media, however, had been engineering and streaming live broadcasts for years—long before the pandemic made it essential.
WHY GLOBESTREAM MEDIA?
With established experience in virtual production workflows, selecting GlobeStream Media to implement their virtual conference was an obvious choice for NLMC. Our deep experience in live streaming, remote-guest management, signal routing, and broadcast switching positioned us uniquely to stabilize an otherwise uncertain situation. We provided NLMC not just a technical solution, but the operational confidence needed to preserve the continuity of its mission.
THE SOLUTION
GlobeStream used its centralized studio-based command center to manage all aspects of the virtual conference. Our approach ensured reliability, consistency, and a polished broadcast experience throughout all four days.
Our work included:
Coordinating 8 remote presenters daily, along with multiple panels of 2–8 participants.
Providing a unified backstage communication hub where presenters could receive guidance, rehearse, and prepare off-air.
Collecting and managing all presentation assets—slides, images, videos—and integrating them directly into our Blackmagic ATEM switcher and multiple media-playback systems.
Using Skype as a controlled virtual backstage environment for remote talent.
Producers communicated directly with each speaker, verified audio/video quality, and ensured their readiness before going live.
Directing and switching the entire broadcast from GlobeStream’s studio control room, creating a seamless flow between presenters, content, and live discussion.
Designing picture-in-picture layouts and custom compositions, enabling full-screen presenters, slide-companion views, and multi-box panel arrangements that resembled a professional news broadcast.
Mic'ing, lighting, and individually highlighting panelists to maintain consistent visual quality across a dispersed national guest base.
Integrating a Zoom interface for additional off-air coordination and for managed audience participation during live Q&A segments.
The result was a cohesive, stable, multi-day virtual conference produced with a fraction of the crew and less than 10% of the typical broadcast budget—yet delivering the sophistication and clarity NLMC’s mission required.
THE RESULTS
NLMC’s virtual conference was expertly executed, preserving the organization’s ability to communicate with and support its national constituency during one of the most disruptive periods in modern history. Presenters and panelists engaged in real-time dialogue, attendees participated in live Q&A, and the four-day program unfolded with the professionalism and polish of a studio news production.
Most importantly, NLMC carried forward its vision for the year, maintained momentum with its members, and upheld its longstanding commitment to strengthening communication between labor and management—even in the midst of a global crisis.
GlobeStream Media enabled continuity at a moment when continuity was far from guaranteed, delivering one of NLMC’s most mission-critical conferences under unprecedented circumstances.
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