WHY YOU SHOULD GO HYBRID FOR YOUR NEXT CONFERENCE EVENT

The events industry was put under enormous strain throughout the course of the global covid-19 pandemic. For obvious reasons, traditional face-to-face events became impractical and uncertain. The pandemic forced the hands of event organisers, who, in their desperation, turned to technology to enable events to be hosted in a virtual capacity.

Whether we admit it or not, the pandemic has reshaped how we think about events and as we return to a degree of normality, the shackles and limitations on events have been removed. Now we find ourselves laying the foundations for an entirely new future of events.  

In the most basic terms, Hybrid events simply combine various elements of physical and virtual events together. There will be a percentage of the events audience present physically, with the remainder of the audience attending remotely. The underlying principle of a hybrid event is for both digital and physical participants to have identical experiences in terms of quality, interaction, viewing and access.

Hybrid conferences are known as ‘external hybrid events’ and are an area that has increased hugely over the past few years. Modern day technological advancements have made e-conferencing a viable solution and allowed companies to reach global audiences. A hybrid event isn’t just live streaming a live event for remote viewers, it’s about creating and engaging and interactive user experience that considers the needs of remote users in equal measure to live participants. In essence, hybrid events present a way of bridging the gap between physical and virtual audiences.

You might be reading this and thinking that combining the advantages and bridging the gap between physical and virtual events all sounds brilliant in theory, but what exactly are the benefits of doing so? And, are hybrid events worth the investment?

Expanding the reach of your event by appealing to both a live and remote audience, enables you to obtain more participants. By utilising elements of virtual events, hybrid events are able to expand their audience on a global level. Attending virtually requires significantly less time and effort and so those unable to attend in person are far more likely to still take part, albeit remotely. The increased combined audience is expected to simultaneously increase the engagement at your event, which is a fundamental objective for the vast majority of conference events. Furthermore, providing your audience the opportunity to attend the event in real time, or catch up through recording, further increases your potential for engagement.

Additional engagement creates an opportunity for increased collection of event data. Live events are limited in their capacity to attain accurate quantitative data. In acquiring a remote (virtual) audience there is far more opportunity to fill in the blanks. It is much easier to obtain data on attendee numbers, user interactions and interests, attendance durations, and contact information. Event data collection is certainly something that lends itself more to a virtual domain than physical but through utilising hybrid technology, conference event organisers are able to accumulate additional user data whilst still benefiting from the experience of a live event. Additionally, providing a virtual component to your event may result in future growth as 30% of people who watch a livestream of an event will attend the same event in person the following year.

It isn’t hard to determine why hybrid conferences pose a much more environmentally friendly solution than regular physical conferences. As your conference event has a remote portion of attendants, you will inevitably reduce the overall carbon-footprint of your event through reducing the amount of travel linked to it. This is particularly the case for international conferences that formally had people flying in from all over the world to attend a physical event. Going hybrid presents a far more eco-friendly answer. Furthermore, the event as a whole could become more cost-effective through going hybrid. Not only will you reduce the travel costs for your guests, but limiting the size of a physical audience allows you to minimise the typical costs that accompany live events. For example, reducing physical headcount will save you money on catering, seating and staffing costs.

52% of marketers named video as the content type with the best ROI. The virtual content you create for your hybrid event doesn’t disappear as soon as the event concludes. There are numerous ways your content could be repurposed and used further to generate additional revenue. With such high-level audio/visual technology freely available, event planners can re-distribute event content after the event as a means of monetisation. This is tremendous news for event organisers at a time when the industry is in recovery mode and in a world that is going increasingly digital, content is key!

Organising an event in 2021 with no digital fall-back just simply isn’t an option. The events of 2020 have left anyone organising anything, a little more paranoid, not least event organisers. Hybrid conference events provide a little more security in a currently unpredictable climate. The option to attend live still persists but with the added opportunity to attend virtually, or even on-demand in the days or weeks after the event. Virtual reality isn’t taking over just yet, 68% of entry-level professionals value face-to-face networking more than online, yet, the benefits to offering virtual components is undeniable and statistics show a positive trend to the increased use of technology in events. Stay ahead of the curve by going Hybrid for your next event and rest a little easier knowing you’ve added another layer of protection to your conference event.

If you’re interested in going hybrid and want to dive deeper into your options then contact DBpixelhouse today and we’ll discuss the best and most appropriate event solutions for your specific event needs.