Plan your hybrid event

So you've decided you want to host a hybrid event? Great, that's the best decision you can make! It's a fantastic way of interacting with your audience and providing them with fresh content, while ensuring they feel like they're getting their money’s worth.

Hybrid events are also a great way of growing your business, by bringing together industry professionals to share knowledge and also turning it into an opportunity for people to meet each other.

Your first hybrid event can seem like a daunting task, but you don't have to do it alone! We’ve put together a list of steps to help your organization plan out their event.

What is a Hybrid Event?

Hybrid events are a combination of the virtual and physical components– blending online connections throughout a live event.

They bring the best of both worlds - an integrated, interactive experience - to maximize the amount of high quality leads you can get from a single event.

Hybrid events have become increasingly popular as more and more companies catch onto their potential for generating results.

In addition to live in-person events, hybrid conferences can also include multiple online live element such as video presentations, webinars, chat rooms, and interactive whiteboards.

Hybrid events have changed the face of professional networking forever.

Step 1: You need to have a clear vision

Hybrid events don’t just come out of the blue. They are planned, often for months, sometimes years in advance. And to be able to successfully plan your next hybrid event, it requires you start where every great plan starts – with a clear vision about what it is you want to achieve and how you’re going to do it.

The right vision and clear goals will make reaching your target audience an easier task for you. Also, by having a clear vision, you will be able to address their problems, and your event will add value.

For your hybrid event. You need to first have the answers to the 6Ws.

· Who is the event for?

· What will they learn?

· Why will they find the event appealing?

· Where will it happen?

· When will it happen?

· And who will conduct the event?

Knowing these answers will give a lot of clarity to you as an organiser and will help you when you start planning and marketing your event.

Who is the Event for?

When you launch a hybrid event, you should to be clear about your audience.

Who are the people coming to see you? Who do you want to meet? In order to make the most out of your hybrid event, it’s important that you understand who you’re targeting.

If you know who you’re speaking to and what you want to accomplish, then the rest will fall into place.

What will they learn?

Have you ever given any thought to what your audience will take away from your event? Event planning isn’t just about flipping a switch or plugging in the microphones.

You should put some time into thinking about what your audience will take away from your event so you can determine the type of content you plan to present.

The value a hybrid event delivers based on involvement increases when it aligns with the needs of the organization/audience. It is this alignment of expectations that can create improved outcomes for all parties involved in the event.

Why will they find the event appealing?

A hybrid event can combine all kinds of content, from videos, slide-shows, online chats, photos, questions and answers sessions and other types of multimedia material to make an event interesting.

Hybrid events also make it possible to include physical activities like live music or other performances.

A Q&A session could be structured to feature a series of questions, cutting down on content fatigue, while an after-event report session allows your attendees join the conversation with their own successes and failures.

Where will it happen?

It is not enough for the venue to have great audio and visual facilities only. The venue must also have a dedicated internet connection that allows high bandwidth and low latency for live streaming purposes.

This is of utmost importance as you would not want your attendees to suffer buffering issues while you’re presenting or speaking.

The place should also be easy to get to and comfortable enough for all participants.

Choose a venue that understands the need for flexibility, which makes the most of the space to adapt to changing needs. Partner with an experienced venue team that can respond quickly when plans change due to a pandemic. Also, have a venue with ample resources on site such as meeting rooms, breakout spaces, food and beverage options (and catering when necessary), internal lines of communication, and staff who are available to manage unanticipated issues that may arise.

When will it happen?

In order for you to build your Hybrid event, there are very important things that you need to consider. One of the main things that we would like to ask you is time. Decide the best time to hold your event.

If you are holding your event to educate attendees about a new product or technology, one option is to do so in the morning. This allows people to get a good understanding of what has been presented before lunch, when their minds may be distracted with food and fun activities.

And who will conduct the event?

The main purpose behind a hybrid event is to give a platform to the experts in an industry to speak or conduct the event while allowing people who cannot attend to participate in an event via online live streaming.

Decide who will conduct the event. This ensures that you will have the best person for the job. If you decide to go with a local employer, it’s important to remember that finding someone who fits in with your target demographics is important. Going outside of this scope can often lead to less-than-stellar results.

The organizers should take into account the technical, financial and human resources for the event.

Step 2: Prepare a detailed event plan

Be the designer of your event! Come up with something unique, meaningful and engaging.

You will have to create an event that meets the needs of both your audiences. Plan to the minutest of details.

Be broad with your plan so you should include the sessions, the speakers’ details, timings of the sessions, tech details and more.

Remember to plan for a few common sessions for both audiences and some sessions that may be exclusive for each group. Such a detailed plan will help in smooth execution and will ensure that your event is hosted without any hurdles.

Step 3: Set your team roles and responsibilities

For your event to have the right flow and be flawless, you need to set out your team members’ roles and responsibilities.

Considering that you are hosting a hybrid event, you will need a bigger team. Set out clear duties and responsibilities for your team and ensure that there is no overlapping.

Build a team that shares the same passion as you

Build a team that shares the same passion as you do for the event. When creating a hybrid event, it's important to establish roles and responsibilities for your team. This way, everyone is on the same page in preparation and during the event.

I have found that this helps keep an organized flow of information, which can be very beneficial during an event! With all the information you'll need to prepare for a hybrid event, it can be hard to know what to assign to which person.

As a general rule of thumb: admin tasks are best assigned to the person doing the most research or who spends the most time in your organization's database, while teaching/training tasks should go to the person who will be speaking at the event.

Keep in mind that these are general guidelines only - there are always exceptions!

Step 4: Content creation

Content creation for hybrid events needs time and planning. The needs of the two groups are different.

When planning a hybrid event, consider everything from the attendee's point of view.

At an in-person event, sitting in a live audience and listening to a compelling speaker can be an engaging, even electrifying, experience. An hour in such a setting can fly by. Put that same speaker in a small computer window and surround the solitary attendees with all the distractions of home, and suddenly an hour seems way too long.

The only ironclad rule of virtual event sessions is that they should be shorter than in-person ones, but how much shorter?

You have to use your judgment and consider things like the intensity of audience interest in the topic and how much variety you can introduce into the presentation.

Include Different Types of Content

It’s not a good idea for even the best online speaker to talk straight into the same camera for an hour, so use B-roll video footage or concise, well-designed slides to add visual variety or to emphasize the points your speaker is making.

If you can split the hour up into a talk followed by a panel discussion and concluding with a Q&A session, there’s a better chance your audience will stay interested and engaged. Again, there are no rules, but as a very general guideline, twenty minutes or less is a good length for many presentations - it’s long enough to delve into a topic yet not so long that the audience gets restless.

The bottom line while planning content is to ensure that irrespective of the format, number of sessions, length of sessions etc., both your audiences have a similar experience and receive the same amount of knowledge/information.

Step 5: Sponsorship

Once your backend work is done, you need to get sponsors for your event. Sponsorships and collaborations are essential because they help in various ways.

3 Sponsors to approach

· Large companies who have a big reach and can spread the word.

· A company who can help you with gifts and giveaways for speakers and attendees.

· A tech company who can take care of your technical needs.

Get sponsors whose work is somewhat in tandem with your event. Whoever you choose as a sponsor, be sure to give them the very best visibility in all of your event-related communications.