Hybrid networking events are the best of both worlds, the excitement, engagement, and participation of an in-person event with the convenience, interactivity, and cost savings of a virtual event.
The best hybrid events integrate online activities before, during, and after the main in-person event. This type of program results in increased attendance, greater engagement, and higher levels of participant satisfaction.
By avoiding audience fragmentation (offline participants who could not attend the in-person portion), these programs also generate incremental revenue by encouraging audience members to make follow-up donations or submit additional entries into prize drawings when they cannot join their network for the live experience because they are busy at work or otherwise unavailable.
They can also be ideal for companies that need to support a global audience.
This article will provide leaders of networking events with guidance on hosting a successful hybrid event.
Hybrids have evolved from being just an online version of the in-person meetings into new and compelling formats that combine virtual and face-to-face components into a cohesive program that brings together a massive, distributed network for truly unique engagement experiences.
For those planning these types of hybrid programs, it is essential to remember why you are holding your meeting in the first place – networking! Keeping participants engaged in person or online by video conferencing is key for any successful networking event or meeting.
First, let’s understand what a hybrid event is.
What is a Hybrid Event?
A hybrid event is the combination of a virtual and a real event. Attendees have the option to attend in person or virtually via an online event platform. Such flexibility enables the organizers to reach a wider audience.
The future of networking is now hybrid events. They merge the physical experience of face-to-face events with the reach and flexibility of virtual interactions. This renders them more accommodating and effective. Hosting successful hybrid events, however, requires careful planning, utilizing appropriate technology, and employing effective strategies.
Let’s explore a few examples of hybrid events.
- A firm organizes a product launch event in a real location. Simultaneously, remote participants are included through live streaming.
- A training session was conducted in a conference room and delivered online to learners via a webinar.
The model has gained popularity because it has addressed the issues of travel restrictions, financial constraints, and accessibility.
Why Hybrid Events?
The question many businesses pose is, Why hybrid events? The answer is simple. They facilitate access, interactivity, and flexibility. Companies can organize events on a worldwide scale without losing the personal connection of face-to-face communication.
Therefore, hybrid events are effective as they are –
- More accessible for international participants.
- Economical as opposed to face-to-face events.
- Delivers a better ROI with live and digital experiences.
How to host a hybrid networking event
Hybrids offer the perfect opportunity to do exactly that while still leveraging technology to reduce costs with innovative ways to capture attention and drive interaction. So, how to host a hybrid networking event.
Set a Budget
It is vital to determine a budget upfront and stick to it as with any meeting. One of the main drivers for choosing a hybrid event format is significantly reducing or eliminating travel expenses compared to an in-person event.
There are several ways that you can offset these savings, including:
- Asking attendees to contribute towards their internet connection fees.
- Designing an engaging program that keeps people engaged online as well as offline.
- Offering discounts for those who would like to register for both components at once or purchase additional items such as webinars or interactive videos.
You can use some help of a professional hybrid event management platform to make the setting of a budget and a good program much easier.
By carefully assessing your resources and priorities, you can develop a hybrid event program that delivers maximum impact while sticking to your budgetary constraints.
Create a Balanced Agenda
When designing the agenda for your hybrid event, it is crucial to strike a balance between virtual and face-to-face components.
While some networking events run entirely online (webinars or interactive videos), most hold some sort of in-person component that brings the audience together physically – either on-site at venues across the country or around the globe through video conferencing.
For example, you may choose to hold an in-person orientation immediately before your webinar/virtual program begins, which would allow attendees who are unable to attend live due to time zone issues an opportunity to catch up on what they have missed once they log in later.
When determining how much time should be allocated for each type of activity, consider the value of each engagement. Some networking events have found that keeping in-person activities to a minimum allows maximum virtual participation.
In contrast, others find that holding at least one face-to-face session brings greater engagement and connection between attendees.
Create Event Buzz
Creating a buzz around your hybrid event is essential in building excitement among your audience, both online and offline, and throughout both components of your program. The best way to generate this buzz is by communicating with attendees before the event begins about what they can expect from the in-person component.
You could do this by launching an email marketing campaign or an advertising campaign focused on driving in-person participants to register for your event’s in-person portion.
Once you start getting closer to the date of your event, make sure to follow up with those who have registered for the in-person component and let them know precisely where they need to go on the day of the event.
By engaging attendees before the start of both components, you can build a team invested in having a great experience throughout the entire duration of your hybrid networking program.
Host Speakers On-Site
Having speakers or moderators participate on-site at your event or launch ensures maximum engagement from virtual and in-person participants and encourages ongoing conversation between those present. These individuals can be thought leaders from within your organisation or respected industry experts as outside speakers.
To ensure as much participation as possible from those online, extend an open invitation to all virtual participants to have their voices heard. You can do this by creating a hashtag for the event, having Twitter chats during the webinar/virtual sessions, or encouraging in-person attendees to interact with online participants throughout the day.
Connect the Online & In-Person Audience
Defining clear guidelines about how in-person and remote attendees are expected to interact is critical in building online and offline connections. It ensures that you give equal attention to both components of your program while helping people feel engaged immediately, whether they are joining in person or virtually.
There are several ways that you can give equal attention to both groups, including:
- Holding in-person activities that require active participation from online audiences.
- Dedicating a portion of in-person time to introducing and encouraging discussion from remote participants.
- Asking online audiences to participate in an activity that those on-site will observe.
Regardless, when connecting the two audiences, you’ll see greater engagement overall and more networking opportunities between on-site and off attendees.
Choose the Right Virtual Event Platform
The choice of a virtual event platform has a significant impact on the effectiveness of a hybrid event. A reliable tool seamlessly connects in-person and online audiences. It has to favour engagement, streaming, and analytics. Before making a decision, organizers must compare the options available in a virtual event platform.
When making a decision, consider both free and paid options. For instance, small events can be suitable for using a free virtual event platform. Nevertheless, the ideal virtual event platform gives high-tech features that can be scaled up to meet your requirements. When the virtual event planning site is powerful, the event will run smoothly, from registration to post-event analytics.
Key features to look for:
Intuitive interface:
The interface should be user-friendly and easy to navigate, whether for the guests or the hosts. For instance, an important aspect is to feature a clean dashboard with clear icons that allow first-time attendants to attend sessions without technical assistance.
Hybrid event streaming:
It is essential to have a smooth broadcast with minimal latency to prevent delays between real and virtual audiences. Adaptive streaming is available on platforms such as Zoom Events or Hopin, which provide decent quality streams even with varying internet speeds.
Engagement tools:
Polls, question-and-answer functions, and chat features would keep participants engaged. For example, a poll about audience expectations can be used to make attendees feel included immediately.
Connection opportunities:
Allow networking opportunities through AI-based matchmaking and breakout groups. For instance, a respondent who is keen on the marketing field would be automatically matched with others in the field, generating relevant discussions.
Analytics dashboard:
Live attendance, interaction and ROI tracking assists the organizers in optimizing their strategies. As an illustration, when there is high participation during a given session, it implies that the topic is worth developing on subsequent occasions.
The right choice saves time and prevents technical issues. A robust hybrid event solution balances physical and virtual experiences. It is always important to align the platform with the aims of your event. This will provide an enhanced audience experience and will help you host hybrid events more effectively.
Use Social Media to Encourage Engagement
Social media is a must-have component in any event planner’s toolkit when hosting a hybrid event, especially since social media transcends geographical boundaries.
Not only can you use it as a way to promote your event before, during, and afterward throughout all channels (including your website), but you can also utilise it within each component of your program (in-person and virtual).
Within the in-person component, use hashtags to encourage attendees to share their thoughts on social media and contribute to other online conversations already taking place.
By extending this open invitation for your in-person audience to share their thoughts on social media, you can expand your event’s digital footprint before, during, and after the event has taken place. To further engage those participating virtually, utilise Twitter chats or live video streaming with Q&A portions of the session.
Create a Video Library
Creating a video library is a beneficial tactic for any event planner who wants to use their online content beyond the parameters of their hybrid program.
Digital videos are easily consumable by audiences anywhere at any time, both on-site and off, so providing them in a way that is easily accessible will keep your event’s virtual footprint going well after the main program is over.
Analyse the Success of Your Hybrid Event
Every successful program must have a proper analysis phase to adjust and improve future events.
Whether you choose to perform this by yourself or with the help of an outside company, examining your hybrid event from start to finish will give you valuable insight into what went right, what didn’t go as planned, and what changes need to be made next time around.
Utilising tools such as surveys both on-site and off can provide great insight into how each compo.
Possible Challenges in Hosting Hybrid Events
Organizers often face numerous challenges when conducting hybrid events. These are the obstacles that both face-to-face and computer-mediated audiences must face.
To begin with, technical issues remain a persistent problem. Bad internet connectivity can disrupt hybrid event streaming and lead to frustration. This reduces participation and harms the event’s image.
Then, there is disproportionate collaborative interaction with the audience. Physical attendance offers a greater number of networking opportunities, whereas virtual participants might feel isolated. It is one of the primary challenges of virtual events. To address this, planners should create equal experiences for both categories.
Lastly, cost control is not always easy. Professional AV setups and a good virtual event planning platform can be costly in terms of budget. Nevertheless, these expenses are offset by the long-term value of the appropriate hybrid event solution.
Moreover, online viewers tend to have shorter attention spans. They are more distracted than the physical attendees. That is why it is necessary to adopt hybrid event logs, such as polls, questions, and answers, or gamification.
Lastly, cost control is not always easy. Professional AV setups and a good virtual event planning platform can be costly in terms of budget. Nevertheless, these expenses are offset by the long-term value of the appropriate hybrid event solution.
Hence, these challenges do exist, but effective planning and the use of a suitable virtual event platform can help resolve them and make such hybrid events successful.
Tips to Overcome The Challenges
Although virtual challenges are present in hybrid events, organizers can manage them effectively using the appropriate strategies. It is intended to ensure that both the face-to-face and online participants feel equally involved.
To start with, invest in a trusted hybrid event solution. This ensures seamless hybrid event streaming and minimizes technical disruptions.
Then develop balanced interaction. Do not prioritize face-to-face networking over the online experience. Instead, design inclusive activities that cater to both sides.
Furthermore, manage time zones with careful planning. A hybrid virtual conference is more convenient because it is recorded and can be attended at any time, anywhere in the world.
Practical tips include:
Select an excellent virtual event platform:
Choose a platform such as Hopin or Airmeet, which can host breakout rooms, real-time chat, networking lounges, and comprehensive analytics to trace the engagement of the attendees. This guarantees a seamless presentation, as well as practical insights.
Provide hybrid event marketing updates:
To periodically remind them of the event, send emails and social media posts with clear instructions on how and what to expect, and how to make the most out of the event. As an example, post a brief video tutorial one week before the event.
Train moderators:
Train moderators to manage both online and live audiences. The moderator must be well prepared such that they are able to easily transition between dealing with the face-to-face questions and dealing with the live chat questions.
Engage through polls and Q&A sessions:
Conduct brief polls or virtual questionnaires via interactive tools, such as Slido or Mentimeter, to get online participants engaged.
Offer on-demand recordings:
Having recordings available after the event allows all the participants, even those in different time zones or with time constraints, to benefit.
Finally, control costs smartly. A Free Virtual event platform can be used in small events. Nonetheless, scaling requires a virtual event planning platform equipped with sophisticated tools.
Organizers can convert challenges into opportunities by planning, being creative, and employing robust hybrid event strategies, ultimately making hybrid events successful.
Conclusion
Bringing in an online audience to enhance the experience of your in-person event is simple and can bring significant results when done correctly.
Utilising the tactics outlined above will give you a head start on hosting a successful hybrid event that actively recruits, connects, and engages both in-person and virtual attendees, something that’s welcomed by all!
Moreover, a well-planned hybrid event marketing strategy expands your reach and impact. Emails, social media, and hybrid event streaming will help you create excitement before, during, and after the event. Additionally, incorporating a dependable virtual event planning platform ensures smooth cross-format coordination.
Moreover, straightforward guidelines and a friendly design of the content will ensure that each attendee feels appreciated. This helps overcome the obstacles of virtual events and enhances satisfaction.
Consequently, you create not one event, but a long-lasting relationship with your audience. You turn members into supporters. Through considerate hybrid event strategies and optimal virtual event platforms, you can conduct events that truly provide value.
Most importantly, hybrid networking is the future. And when you do it wisely, the outcomes speak for themselves.
FAQs
A hybrid event combines elements of both face-to-face and online interactions. It can be physically attended or participated in through a virtual event platform. This form makes it more flexible.
Additionally, it eases the obstacles for people who cannot travel to the physical location. Moreover, a hybrid event, combining virtual and in-person elements, enhances audience participation. Companies often utilize this model for product launches, training sessions, and conferences.
Consequently, it is effective across various industries. Moreover, having the correct hybrid event solution, organizers can create uninterrupted experiences. Overall, it represents the future of networking.
Begin by identifying the purpose of conducting the hybrid event. The second step is to choose an effective hybrid event organizer. Additionally, prevent any issues with hybrid event streaming using professional equipment.
Next, create the content that will entertain live and online audiences. Also, train moderators to ensure equal participation between virtual and in-person settings.
Furthermore, develop networking resources through breakout rooms and chats. Also, test all tools before the event day. Thus, implement powerful hybrid event plans to ensure all people are engaged. In conclusion, careful planning and the use of the best-fitted virtual event platform lead to successful hybrid events.
A hybrid meeting is a meeting where attendees are present both in person and online. An example is when a company holds a board meeting in its office. Here, remote staff can join through a virtual hybrid event platform.
Moreover, live-streaming of discussions can be facilitated by the use of hybrid event streaming. Additionally, participants can communicate through Q&A and chat. This makes the session accessible to members from different locations and even countries. In addition, the recordings are published for attendees in other time zones afterwards.
Thus, this hybrid event instance demonstrates how the organizations bridge the two groups. To sum up, hybrid meetings foster teamwork and reduce travel expenses.
Numerous networking events are held in hybrid settings. For instance, there are hybrid webinar events in which professionals study and communicate online. Then trade shows can become hybrid through virtual conferences by streaming them to remote participants.
In hybrid workshops, physical and online group discussions happen together. Besides this, job fairs are also conducted on a hybrid virtual and physical format, which links recruiters to talent around the globe.
Moreover, product launches typically take the form of a hybrid event to increase reach. These hybrid event examples demonstrate their versatile implementation. Finally, the networking possibilities are increased when you implement a hybrid event solution.
To host a successful hybrid conference, begin with effective hybrid event planning. One, find a place with fast internet. Select the most suitable virtual event platform for remote participants next.
Moreover, design content appropriate for both audiences. You should also provide interactive activities, such as questions and answers, and polls.
Additionally, establish networking spaces for both physical and virtual participants. You should also implement targeted hybrid event marketing campaigns to attract and engage participants. Therefore, test all hybrid event streaming tools before the event.
To sum it up, hybrid events can be successful due to the combination of careful preparation and effective hybrid event strategies.
A hybrid event is content driven. Firstly, the sessions should be brief and interactive. Next, adapt materials for both live and remote audiences. In addition, use illustrations and narratives to maintain focus. Moreover, take breaks to prevent exhaustion.
Furthermore, introduce interactive elements to the virtual event platform, such as polls and gamification. It also records for remote attendees to listen to at a later date during a mixed virtual conference. Hence, match the topics and interests of the attendees to enhance value.