INDEV Software developed a custom live streaming platform for Poreia Theatre, fully embedded within their website.
One of the sectors that were impacted the most from the global pandemic of 2020 was undoubtedly arts & culture, as live cultural events were cancelled immediately and indefinitely. Poreia Theatre’s long standing partnership with INDEV Software, enabled them to be one of the first to respond to this changing landscape.
Poreia Theatre’s live streaming implementation posed several key challenges. A thing to consider is that successful live streaming implementations were rare at the time, if any at all, with only a few successful case studies from large international theatres. We aimed to create a platform to host live theatre as we would like to experience it; seamlessly from any browser and any device, with features such as quality auto-adjustment and the ability to pause, take a break and resume the stream. We decided to create the platform within Poreia’s existing website - a testament to the scalability of INDEV Software’ s custom websites - and continuously modernise the UI/UX and expand the live stream features in an agile way. The onset of the pandemic also posed significant challenges in the form of timely provisioning the hardware and cloud infrastructure, as well as the coordination between business, development, infrastructure providers, legal work, filming crew, performers and every other party involved, to ensure that the entire thing would run without a hiccup from the very first play.
INDEV Software created a custom live streaming platform for Poreia Theatre, fully scalable and fully embedded within their website. End-to-end development of the product, from inception to launch was completed within the span of less than a couple of months. The benefits of a custom software solution, versus using an existing third party live stream service quickly became apparent, as the platform was able to incorporate features such as integration with the theatre’s existing membership scheme, custom pricing and scheduling, donations, cancellations, refunds, vouchers, email notifications, the ability to plug and play with any filming crew, custom reporting, complete and easy administration and obviously no third party fees. The live stream player experience is seamless from any device and sits behind a secure log in system. Poreia’s existing website was also modernised to properly accommodate the live streaming features and provide optimal navigation paths.
Poreia Theatre utilised the full spectrum of INDEV Software’s services; Business & Technology Consulting to conceptualise the product and clear every obstacle along the way, Data Science & Business Intelligence to monitor, forecast and analyse every aspect of the product, UI/UX Design & Consulting to ensure optimal visual communication and user experience, and Software Development to make it all happen. INDEV Software’s Digital Strategy business unit followed with the 360 promotion of the theatre’s plays, resulting in near instantaneous awareness building and tens of thousands of ticket sales from the very first plays. Combined with the quality and experience of Poreia Theatre’s artistic direction, the result is a software solution that arguably sets a new standard for live stream theatre productions in Greece and internationally.
