To make your next hybrid event stand out, some best practices from experts won’t hurt. In this article, our delivery consultant Anastasia Mikulcik shares her best tips to organize and improve your next hybrid event. Based on her broad experience, she has seen everything around hybrid event ideas change over time. For those who are just starting with blending the worlds of virtual and in-person events, this will be 7 minutes of your time well spent.
Your online and offline audience wants the same experience
Following a hybrid event remotely should not feel like you are a second-class visitor of an event. On the contrary, our first best practice is treating the online and offline audience similarly. Each type of visitor has its own unique experience, of course. People from home can, and probably will, be just as enthusiastic about participating during the event. You need to provide the chance for your live and remote audience to interact in a way that suits their experience. By using the right platform for your hybrid event, you will have all the features in place to let the technology be the glue between these audiences and make them feel an equal participant.
Market your hybrid event as a USP, not a ticket for the second row
At the peak of the Covid pandemic, we were pushed to meet each other online. Nowadays, being able to attend a hybrid event remotely is a privilege you can claim if you want. Maybe the visitor lives far away from your event location or finds more comfort in joining from their (home) office. With this in mind, offering the opportunity to experience the event remotely is a unique selling point you can use for marketing your next event to a bigger audience.
Networking is easier when using digital functionalities
Our next best practice is based on the endless possibilities of hybrid event technology. One of the most significant advantages of hybrid events is giving your audience a new, innovative way to interact and network together. By using a hybrid event platform on a desktop or smartphone, everybody can easily reach out to each other. Good hybrid event software also allows you to connect randomly. This way, you can encourage online and offline human interaction during your hybrid event. Is your audience ready to step out of that comfort zone?
Mix and match the content based on your audience
One of the more interesting best practices is mixing up your content based on a clear strategy. You keep the spirits high by varying your content between online and offline speakers, keynotes, (hybrid) panes, debates, Q&As, and different breakout sessions. With a hybrid event, it’s possible to add quite a few new forms of content to the mix. Please note that the people joining remotely typically don’t have a large attention span. As a best practice for hybrid events, keeping this in mind will provide an excellent experience for all visitors.
Best practices to avoid technological hiccups
Having the technology working seamlessly during your hybrid event is a vital part of the success of your event. Adding technology to the organization of an event demands a bit of preparation. You don’t have to be a techy, but it is essential to take note of the best practices listed below. By checking the tips below, you are sure you will avoid all potential hiccups in a simple way.
Do as many test runs as necessary until everything runs smoothly
We want to urge you to do test-runs upfront for your hybrid event. This way, you are sure you don’t get confronted with surprises during the event. Good preparation is half the work in both in-person and online events. If you don’t feel like doing the technical part on your own, an AV partner might be a good solution for you, but even then, we highly recommend getting involved during the test runs to make sure everything runs smoothly on the day itself.
Help your audience and speakers to use your tooling
Speaking in front of a camera is always different from speaking in front of a live audience. Therefore one of our best practices is to help your speakers use the tooling. You will see that they can perform even better if they feel comfortable using the technology of choice during your hybrid event. Pretty much the same goes for your audience. By sharing information upfront about the hybrid event platform and what they can expect, there will be fewer questions during the event. This will make your life easier and improves the experience of all involved during the event.
Make sure your audience is amazed and has fun
The last best practice listed in this article may sound like an open door, but we can’t emphasize enough how fun and surprising a hybrid event can be. It can be much more than adding a second screen to the party. By using a platform that innovates and is built to amaze your audience, you will be able to add the wow factor to your events. Hybrid events rapidly evolve and become more attractive for audiences, sponsors, and promoters. At last, we would advise you to read more about how this will affect the job of event managers in 2030. Discover even more best practices and start making all your future events a resounding success.
