The world as we once knew it has changed. For some, this change is for the better as hybrid event management is becoming a staple in the business world. The fact is that not everyone will be returning to in-person meetings and conferences.
For this reason, your event requires precise hybrid event management, so everyone involved has a clear opportunity to engage in the activities, regardless of their physical location. Understanding what hybrid event management is will help ensure your next segment will be a successful one.
What Are Hybrid Events?
A hybrid event involves using input from both the live audience and the virtual audience. Long gone are the days of watching a pre-recorded live or training event. With a hybrid event, all participants are involved in real-time actions, which is why it is imperative to have the proper setup tools available to everyone.
This combination of live and virtual audiences takes the event to a different level. Now, a hybrid event allows in-person and virtual participants to have the same level of engagement during the presentation.
Types of Hybrid Events
There are two main types of events involved in hybrid management: internal and external. Each one needs to be designed specifically with the audience in mind.
An internal hybrid event involves the people associated with your company or brand. This can include but is not limited to, the employees, internal stakeholders, management leaders, and other staff members.
With an internal hybrid event, the key is to involve everyone that has a direct link to the company itself. This form of event is usually live-streamed from the head office or associate venue. Internal hybrid events are useful for large team meetings, employee appreciation celebrations, sales kick-offs, and town hall meetings.
An external hybrid event casts a wider net as the focus is on the consumer and prospective clientele. As these events involve more people globally, the company gains more attention while providing an avenue for anyone to engage. Plan external hybrid events for consumer conferences, open houses, summits, product demonstrations, and trade shows.
6 Key Touchpoints for Hybrid Event Management
There are three essential components to a successful hybrid event management experience: planning a start-to-finish service package, promoting to the right audience, and being able to power the event to and from any location.
Whether you are new to the hybrid event game or have been in constant involvement during recent years, there are six key hybrid event management touchpoints to be aware of.
Practice Makes Perfect
This cannot be stressed enough: practice makes perfect! Regardless of whether your speakers are hybrid veterans or not, it is important that everyone understands how the event will work. Ensure you have prepared an easy-to-understand platform for your in-house speakers as well as for your virtual speakers. Encourage both live and virtual speakers to practice their parts beforehand to avoid major issues during the event.
Master Your Venue and AV Plan
Technology isn’t perfect so to best manage your hybrid event consider using advanced audiovisual equipment. Virtual participation is just as important to your event as in-person engagement. Ensure your chosen venue has the proper streaming capabilities you will require. If the venue does not offer on-site IT personnel, hire an audiovisual production company to execute your AV plan. Again, do an early setup and practice, practice, practice.
Make Registration, Check-In, and Log In as Seamless as Possible
Part of hybrid event management involves providing an efficient registration and check-in process for both your virtual audience as well as for those attending in person at the venue. Consider using a mobile app with the virtual event platform. The software should offer a seamless registration, check-in, and log-in experience without any technical difficulties on your part or on the participant’s part. Don’t forget to include your sponsors as a hybrid event is beneficial to them as well!
Offer Interactivity
Interactivity is the one thing that sets hybrid events apart. Before, it was a small price to pay to attend conferences in person. Now, everyone can have the same experience with the proper virtual interactions such as polls, emotional reactions, and asking questions. With events involving breakout “rooms”, be sure to have the audiovisual setup included with live videos from in-person participants.
Design and Market for Maximum Engagement
The goal behind a hybrid event is to reach more participants than ever by including engagement by virtual and in-person attendees. Your event notification website should have all the information pertaining to the event, venue, program, and objectives. Forget about long PowerPoint and video presentations. Design a program with both audiences in mind for maximum engagement. Digital swag bags are a great marketing tool for your hybrid event management team.
Bridge the Gap between Hybrid Audiences to Build Community
With your hybrid event management skills, create avenues for both the in-person and virtual participants to form a networking platform. Through live Q&A, group chats, polls, and activity feed, the virtual attendees should be able to directly connect with the live audience. By allowing real-time communication between the groups, ideas and goals can be shared for relationship building.
Contact Straight Street Event Services for Hybrid Event Management
For professional advanced audiovisual technology, see the experts at Straight Street Event Services. With more than 20 years of experience in the event production field, we work with you to design and create a successful hybrid event.
If you are an event planner, marketing, or sales rep, or simply need to produce a small or large corporate event, we can be your production team. Just a few of our collaborations include sporting events, theatrical productions, fashion shows, charity functions, and corporate meetings. Contact us today to discuss how we can help ensure your next hybrid event is as flawless as our specialty equipment.
