More and more businesses are creating hybrid events—trade shows and conferences that cater to both traditional attendees and remote visitors. Via online components, virtual attendees can experience the excitement of the event from the comfort of their own homes! This extended reach allows businesses to grow their audiences, extend their brands’ reach, and create dynamic new ways for participants to engage with their products and services.
Recent studies show that hybrid offerings increase loyalty and can even boost physical attendance to an event. It makes sense, then, that event promoters of all stripes are making moves to exploit this exciting new format.
Here are four important keys to unlocking the full value of your next hybrid event.
1) Attend Multiple Hybrid Events Yourself
Prior to trying to construct your own event, make a point of experiencing several yourself—both hybrid and non. Note that attendees who experience a conference or trade show digitally have an entirely different perspective on the proceedings than those who attend in person.
By experiencing the good along with the bad, you’ll gain an understanding of what elements will work best for your show because you’ll have learned from others’ successes and mistakes.
2) Plan Ahead
In order to successfully integrate hybrid elements into your event, you need to have a plan from the beginning. In particular, you should know what technology you want to employ; for example, web casting, video streaming, online chat, etc. As you plan your event schedule, you can ensure the technologies you choose complement the schedule.
To maximize the impact of your event, consider investing in video production services like those offered by ProExhibits. Remote participants often have other demands on their time; that may be why they couldn’t attend your event in person! With their ability to edit your broadcast effectively and embed it on your website, video professionals allow you to reach virtual attendees effectively and extend the life of your conference or trade show well beyond its final day.
3) Engage and Involve Your Audience
Live events produce a wealth of interesting content, but when it comes to hybrid events, you need to take additional considerations to ensure maximum engagement. While having a single presenter may work well in a live setting, for instance, a news desk format may work better to keep online attendees focused on their screens. There is also anecdotal evidence that suggests it’s best to limit individual segments of a webcast to 20 minutes or less.
Whatever decisions you make, be sure that you involve your audience in the event at every step. Take advantage of the terrific opportunities for interaction provided online through question-and-answer sessions, encouraging comments, and creating content exclusive to your online audience—from audience-initiated interviews to personalized product demonstrations and more.
4) Rehearse
While catering to virtual attendees may seem simple, hybrid events involve a number of moving parts. To really impress people with the quality of the interactive experience, all the event’s elements need to integrate as seamlessly as possible. Since you may have multiple vendors involved in creating your hybrid event—from your production company to your streaming provider—make sure you’ve worked through all the necessary technical issues and potential well in advance. When you do, you’ll see how a well-integrated hybrid presentation can create a remote, yet wholly engaging, event experience.