Well, you may be surprised to know that even the simplest webcams and microphones will be good enough for the job. Even if you go just one step up in quality, your broadcasts will look fantastic. A nice little webcam such as the Logitech Orbit is perfect for for webcasting. It can usually be had for around $100 but is well worth it (it comes with a Carl Zeiss lens and has motorized movement capability).

Almost any microphone will do the trick, but a step up in this department will also yield better quality.

The webcam / mic combo you use can cost anywhere from $50 to $150.

The other thing that is just as important as the webcam and microphone is the lighting for your broadcast, so we’ll talk about that next time.

Imagine how appreciative classmates who can’t attend the reunion (especially those that live out of the area) will be when they can open their web browser and type in an address that you give them, and there is a live Internet broadcast of their class reunion. Not only that, but viewers can chat right on the same page as the broadcast, and classmates can even phone in to the reunion and say hello!

In addition, the webcast can be private or public, so that anyone around the world may view it. And when the reunion is over, the webcast can be saved so that people can view it in the future at any time.

Yes, it sounds like it would cost a fortune and have a steep learning curve, but the truth is, it’s easy enough for nearly anyone to set up, and outside of the needed tools that were mentioned above, the cost is absolutely free. Meaning, no web hosting costs, no bandwidth costs, and no data storage costs.

If you are interested in streaming your class reunion or other event, check out this video series which tells you how to do it. Don’t worry, the cost of the videos is less than what lunch for two costs these days!