How To Optimize Your Hybrid Event
Learn how to optimize your hybrid event by following these pro tips!
A hybrid event combines a live in-person event with virtual online components. When it comes to planning a hybrid event, it is all about blending the “live” in-person and “virtual” digital channels to create a seamless shared experience for your entire audience. The following tips provide a great starting point to pave the way towards successful hybrid events.
Identify Your Event Goals
Before you can begin to optimize your hybrid event, you should identify your goals and objectives. Start by determining your target audience, the event type/scope, and the type of design and engagement you are going for.
Identify the event type, size and experience you wish to create for your attendees – will you host a 30 minute webinar, a 1 hour single stream event, a full day event with breakout sessions, or even a 2-4 day event with multiple streams and sessions?
Choose The Right Virtual Event Platform
Once you have determined your target audience and event goals, the next step is choosing the right technology and virtual event platform to support the experience you aim to deliver. In order to create an engaging experience for your both your “live” in-person attendees and your “virtual” remote participants, it is important to choose a virtual event platform that meets all of your needs. There are numerous event platforms that offer various digital features to engage your audience both on-site and online.
When choosing your virtual event platform, a few components to look for include:
- High Quality Streaming Capabilities
- Custom Branding
- Live Audience Engagement (i.e. Live Chat, Polls and Q&A)
- Social Hubs or Virtual Lobbies
- Second Screen Capabilities
- Ease of Use/User Friendly
- Data Analytics to measure the success of your event with advanced reporting
Second screens help bridge the gap between in-person and virtual audiences by encouraging cross-channel participation. The first screen at an event is the stage and main presentation screen. The second screens are your mobile devices (i.e. tablets or smartphones) that are used by audience members to see and interact with the presentation content. Second screens allow your audience to participate in presentation slide sharing, note-taking, polling, survey and Q&A participation, games, quizzes, and more!
Plan Your Production To Optimize Your Hybrid Event
After you have determined which event platform is best for you, it is time to starting planning and putting together all the pieces of your production.
First, make sure you have assembled a professional media production team in order to handle all aspects of the live and virtual production including on-site audio/video requirements and remote speaker management. Give yourself the peace of mind in knowing you’ll have a team of professional to deliver broadcast-quality content and provide support for A/V production. Plus, as media professionals we can offer multi-location productions to bring speakers at various sites together in a single shared experience. There is never a reason to cancel sessions for presenters or panelists that cannot attend physically, we can bring them in remotely!
Next, choose a theme and determine what content you want to deliver. Keep in mind, it is important to create a mix of live and on-demand digital content that is easy for viewers to find and follow. Offer a variety of content including welcome videos, keynotes, panels, and breakouts.
Incorporate audience engagement by enabling live chat, Q&A, polls and more to encourage your audience to interact and communicate with one another. You can engage an even larger audience by sharing your stream on your social media channels (i.e. YouTube, Facebook Live, LinkedIn Live, etc.) this will help you amplify your hybrid event by spreading the word and reaching a wider audience, allowing viewers from around the globe to tune in and participate!
Live chat tools allow your audience to interact from anywhere in the world. During our live broadcast of the Feeding Matters 8th Annual Community Event, the live audience chat was a fan favorite!
If you’re asking yourself how to optimize your hybrid event, follow these tips to help you prioritize your event framework and choose the right virtual platform that will allow your attendees to network with each other and optimize your overall event experience!
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