Our partners are leading the way with live events of all kinds. The most successful event planners have done their work and are asking these questions. Here is our best advice:
1. Assuming 50 participants/5 presenters, and a run time of several hours, would you recommend Zoom as the best platform to host the event on? Or given the event structure, would FB Live perhaps work better?
I would recommend using a presenter service like Zoom or https://streamyard.com/. If a free solution is in need then I have used the service https://jitsi.org. In all of these, the presenters can meet using that service and that meeting can then be live streamed on YouTube as a private link.
2. If Zoom, presumably they would need to set up a paid account to get around the 40-minute limit. Correct?
Correct, Zoom will charge for that. You can also present the meeting on YouTube or Facebook. Jitsi also offers YouTube streaming and StreamYard provides for both YouTube and Facebook streaming as part of the paid features.
3. Regardless of which platform is used, is the best way to get the Join Meeting URL/code to a ticketbuyer, to put it into the Ticket Confirmation email?
The best option in these cases is to send an email broadcast in the moments leading up to the live performance. You should first communicate that plan to the ticket buyers as custom text in the email confirmation and then schedule an email broadcast as a reminder that the link will be sent at 'such and such' time. When the event is about to happen, force send an email broadcast that will go out within minutes to all ticket buyers with the link.
4. Any other tips/suggestions for getting the best results for an online meeting of this type greatly appreciated.
Sara from the sales team has been a great resource for how to plan for and market for success with these kinds of events. You can book a call with her here.