The return to in-person meetings is well underway - but hybrid events remain a critical need.
Hybrid events – or in-person events with digital experiences - provide attendees opportunities to further relationships, and network face-to-face, all while offering virtual attendees a platform to engage with in-person attendees, subject matter experts, speakers, and other virtual attendees, ultimately creating more engagement opportunities than ever before.
Managing – and executing – digital experiences at your live event can be challenging, but investing in the following tips can help you expertly execute your meeting, providing a safe, engaging and innovative environment for all attendees – both virtual and in-person!
Tip 1: Begin Your Planning Process ASAP
Begin your planning process as soon as possible. Six months is ideal, but if you are stretched for time, don’t panic! While many elements of your event may be subject to last minute changes, starting the planning process as soon as you can will help you determine your attendee numbers, as the number of virtual attendees can alter which virtual platform you choose.
Tip 2: Establish your Engagement Goal
Engagement goals are extremely important components to establish as you start to plan your hybrid event.
When creating your engagement objectives, first decide how you want your audience to receive event content and what you want them to be able to do. Engagement can be as simple as a chat feature, or as complex as polling, live Q&A, photo and video uploads or multiple breakout sessions.
The level of engagement you decide will impact which platform you chose – which will ultimately impact your budget!
Tip 3: Create Your Contingency Plans
Create contingency plans – for your technology, content, and communication.
Your communication contingency plan should include a strategy for who you should contact and when, should you experience internet disruption, or issues with your live broadcast, to ensure your entire team is aligned with next steps. Prepare for the worst, and you’ll be ready for the best!
Your technology contingency plans are rooted in your engagement goals. Are you intent on live streaming all your content and managing a live Q&A for an “in the moment” experience for your in-person and virtual attendees, though it adds complexity and potential for technology disruption? Or would you still satisfy your engagement goals if some content was pre-recorded, reducing concerns for internet disruption, but perhaps compromising the live experience for attendees?
Weigh your engagement goals against your contingency plans and go from there. Then rehearse, test, and test and rehearse again!
Tip 4: Plan With All Your Partners
In the traditional in-person meeting world, changes to the room and/or event setup rarely impacted overall event strategy, and IT/AV partners were normally included in the planning process only if IT/AV was a necessary component of the day – such as a projector screen, microphone, or increasing internet bandwidth.
In the hybrid event world, including your technology partners at the onset of planning is key for a successful event. Why? Because when – not if, but when – something changes with your hybrid event, be it number of virtual attendees, a speaker stage setup preference, the team can offer solutions immediately and identify risk associated with certain decisions, such as engagement limitations with certain virtual platforms.
AV and IT cost can increase exponentially when the scope of the event isn’t understood by all parties, making the “tech talk” a crucial first step in the planning process.
Tip 5: Flex Your Flexibility
Executing hybrid events means learning to live in the grey and flexing your flexibility throughout the planning process. Local regulations, such as number of individuals permitted to gather, can change at any moment, making it more difficult than ever for event planners to provide solid details well in advance related to food & beverage, event set-up, event run of shows, etc.
Embracing the unknown and working through plans A – Z will help you manage through the “grey” – and may make you an even better planner in the process!