Hybrid events are becoming ever more popular with companies across the UK, and with good reason. Mixing in-person and virtual elements, hybrid events offer a degree of flexibility and accessibility that simply wasn’t possible a few years ago. They provide increased opportunities for engagement with customers, staff, and business partners alike, but that versatility comes with its own set of challenges. Hybrid events arguably require more planning and preparation than a live event, and failure to meet that requirement can lead to major problems moving forward.
In this blog, we’re going to look at five key components for making your hybrid event a success and something that delegates—whether they attend live or online—will remember for a long time.
Choose the Right Venue
Not all corporate venues have the infrastructure in place to support the technical requirements of a hybrid event. When choosing your location, you need to be sure that they have the technology available to facilitate livestreaming and high-speed internet. Quiet areas where remote speakers can make their presentations uninterrupted are another necessity, as is ensuring there is sufficient room for the lighting rigs and sound equipment required for high-quality streaming. While all of these innovations are essential for your online visitors, don’t neglect those attending in person. The venue still requires adequate parking, good public transport links, and suitable on-site amenities.
Quality Technology
Of course, it’s not just the venue that needs to have the right technology in place. If you’re streaming your corporate function around the world, you need to have high-quality cameras, microphones, and streaming software to ensure seamless communication between attendees at the venue and those watching remotely. A thorough test of the setup is crucial, as a power quality feed will reflect poorly on your company.
Equal Engagement
Your hybrid event should seek to create opportunities for interaction with virtual and in-person attendees alike. The last thing you want is for your online audience to feel that they are an afterthought while your speakers and staff cater primarily to the live delegates. Include a chat facility on all online streams and have someone moderate them to keep engagement high. They can liaise directly with the speaker, passing over pertinent questions or observations from the chat, just like a facilitator might field questions from the live audience.
Clear Instructions and Support
No matter how efficient your streaming infrastructure is, no matter how high-quality your audiovisual equipment is, and no matter how inclusive your agenda is, it’s all for nothing if virtual attendees can’t log in properly. Clear, step-by-step instructions are an absolute must, as is having a live administrator available to provide support through the chat and get everyone set up in a timely manner.
Leave it to the Professionals
By far the most effective way to ensure your hybrid event goes off without a hitch is to instruct a third party to handle the essentials. An experienced hybrid event manager will not only be able to find the perfect venue, provide the correct equipment and crew to operate it, and offer expert tech support to your delegates; they will also have the expertise to tackle the many other potential problems we haven’t had time to go into here. Once you have delegated responsibility to the specialists, you can sit back and take part in the event itself.
Hybrid Event Management Solutions Available Nationwide
To make sure your next hybrid corporate event runs as smoothly as possible, get in touch with Fresh Productions today. A member of our team will be happy to discuss your event requirements and provide you with a free, no-obligation quote for our services.
