“Cook Like a Nonna” Live-Streamed Cooking Event
WEA Illawarra recently held a cooking demonstration as an activity for their Be Connected Community Engagement grant. The original plan was to host the activity in their kitchen and have participants watch the cooking demonstration and taste the results. They planned to have participants use iPads to photograph and take videos of the demonstration, as well as email recipes. Unfortunately, just prior to the scheduled date, their event had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
WEA Illawarra decided to instead host the cooking demonstration online from the kitchen, allowing participants to watch it from home. During the live-streamed event, viewers were able to ask questions in the chat panel which were then verbally answered by their guest chef, former MasterChef participant Gina Ottaway.
Gina showed everyone how to make spanakopita and a side salad, explaining the ingredients, process and tips and tricks. Liz Elliot from WEA Illawarra says, “It became clear that friends and family of those who registered also watched the live-streamed event. Hosting it online allowed people from a wide geographical area to watch the event.”
“Those interested in viewing the live-streamed demonstration were asked to register in advance and each person was supplied with a web link and a how-to document to help them access the online event. Those who registered also received a booklet of the recipes after the event,” adds Liz.
The event was a success, and the feedback from the viewers was positive.
The technical side
Microsoft Teams was used for live streaming. An external camera with remote controls and a conference microphone was used. While it was a successful event as their first live-streamed teaching event, there are some improvements identified for the next live streaming event. Liz says, "As there was only one person demonstrating and in a noisy environment, a lapel microphone would be a better option. The addition of captioning to live-streaming will also be explored for future events."
