Hybrid events are going to be the mainstream type of event now and in the short and medium-term.
Now is the time to get to know everything about getting hybrid events off the ground. Here is where you get started.

A hybrid is a mix of both in-person (physical) and virtual event formats that brings together both elements for a complete and accessible experience, regardless of location and physical presence. Hybrid events are high on convenience, and end up getting higher levels of engagement than pure-play physical events. 

Knowledge exchange has become even more crucial during the pandemic and now in the post-pandemic world. As all industries are trying to adapt to the new normal, the need for conversations and interactions is greater than ever before.

Industry research indicates that both planners and attendees are looking forward to in-person events coming back in some form. We are social creatures and the need to shake hands, hug and share the same space is irreplaceable. Massive tradeshows, high-end sales incentive events fall in this category. In-person events have always needed to evolve. However, post-COVID, events and webinars will be completely reimagined, with seamless online to offline transitions. Also, organizers are moving away from a single summit where attendees converged to an event series to keep the keep engaging with audiences through the year.

Hybrid events offer flexibility to design the agenda, access and deliver an experience that is truly unique. Virtual events drive participation from people who have travel or time-zone constraints. They also reduce the carbon footprint of the event. 

Hybrid events don’t necessarily mean broadcasting face-to-face content – online experience needs to be differentiated and content exclusively tailored for the format. In the virtual format, multiple audience segments can be engaged in different ways. Successful hybrid events run parallel with shared moments of engagement but as designed as separate experiences. 

In a virtual format, people can often be half-engaged or easily distracted due to incoming emails, phone calls or domestic demands. A key aspect to address in hybrid events is delivering unique experiences that come with travel and the sidebars during conferences that lead to new ideas.  

M.I.C.E (meetings-incentives-conventions-exhibitions) is a huge market that has been disrupted by the pandemic. From large spaces that accommodated a physical gathering of attendees, speakers, and exhibitors, have gone completely virtual. We have all been a part of events that have still been remarkable experiences, even while being different. 

A recent McKinsey survey suggests that 90% of organizations will adopt some combination of remote and onsite work as they emerge from the COVID-19 restrictions. We will continue to reply in wi-fi connectivity, streaming and video conferencing.  

This new model will bring with it a dramatic change in how we meet. The future of events is hybrid combining a live in-person event with a virtual online component, an inevitability in the new normal.  

To begin designing your hybrid event, take advantage of the flexibility they offer with the following design elements such as  

Hybrid events can be flexible in terms of timing as organizers attract audiences in physical and virtual spaces, catering to diverse time-zones that also help expand event reach. Launch events of technology giants typically follows a hybrid format with in-person attendees and live-broadcasts to a global audience for a unform experience and information/ content parity. While both physical and virtual audiences can participate at the same time, running parallel sessions is not essential. Events can be scheduled across staggered timeslots, time zones and different days.  

Audience acquisition strategy can be same or varied to cater to the in-person and virtual event formats and goals. Attendees of the physical event can be given access to virtual spaces, content delivered via webinars and activities such as quizzes or scavenger hunts etc. Organizers can plan an entirely different set of activities for virtual and in-person events as well.   

Exhibitors can be different for physical and virtual events – depending on the target audience and event goals. They can be exclusive to one format or show-booths can be hosted across channels to garner better reach.  

Hybrid events offer maximum flexibility in terms of networking. Events can be structured to restrict engagement for physical and virtual audiences to their respective spaces or for in-person and virtual attendees to interact and engage with each other, through chat-pods and cross-platform break-out sessions.  

Organizers can enhance the usability, reach and impact their content delivers by experimenting with different content categories and mediums. Audiences can access content specific to their space depending on their preference and organizer intent. For in-person attendees, VIP or special access content can be developed. For online audiences on the other hand, engagement can be enhanced through activities that they can participate in with a reward or competitive outcome. Virtual audiences should be able to download and email content to themselves as part of a special-access package.  

Hybrid events offer significant benefits to everyone involved – from convenience to post-event tracking and much more   

While virtual events are extremely popular today, a prevailing misconception is that they are not as effective as an in-person event can be. However, hybrid events with a significant virtual component, adds inclusivity. Not having an anchoring venue adds geographic flexibility. Whether it is a thought leadership conference, a virtual townhall, a sales kick-off, or any other type of event, hybrid events offer interactivity, can support multiple languages, can make a broad array of speakers on board, and more.  

Hosting a physical event requires bringing exhibitors, attendees, and experts together in one place for a scheduled period of time – this is a logistical challenge that requires significant investment.  

With the number of attendees restricted at physical gatherings, hybrid events allow extending event reach without geographical limitations as global audiences can participate from the comfort of their homes. Events can be more cost-effective while becoming more inclusive. Attending physical events may be daunting for many as we continue to follow COVID-19 protocols and restrict travel. For many attendees, taking time out and investing resources to attend an event in a different country or city may not seem attractive when a virtual option allows comparable benefits, exposure and opportunity.  

A significantly larger number of attendees can be engaged through in-person and virtual channels – events can have a global reach without travel or event-venue constraints. Events and brands can be seen by a much larger audience, incentivising companies to invest more in the messaging.  

Hybrid events have to potential to create a strong speaker line-up. Like participants, willing speakers may also find it considerably difficult to manage the time and logistics required to physically speak at an event – in many cases, just for about an hour or to be on a panel. Speakers in demand may have to give in-person only events a miss based on their priority. On the other hand, online speaking engagements can enable organizers get their speaker line-up of choice with the need to travel being flexible. Speakers can reach a wider audience through hybrid events.  

Hybrid events enable sharing knowledge, content showcase with attendees both online and in-person through live-streaming. Recorded content will have a longer lifespan and can be reused.  A wider reach enables better networking opportunities leading to future business potential. Networking and recruitment are great incentives that drive participation.  

Hybrid format offers the best of both physical and virtual events for sponsors, blending in the fun and most valuable elements of both. Virtual environments are becoming increasingly representative of the real-world venue – in addition to offering outstanding features such as 3D-vislization halls, re–playable content available on-demand, etc. Engagement, gamification, design thinking, and sponsorship opportunities can be taken to new heights with hybrid formats.  

For all events, collecting and measuring attendee feedback is essential. Hybrid events offer the opportunity to measure audience turnout, engagement and ROI more precisely. Both hosts and exhibitors can track visitor attendance and engagement insights as user interactions are recorded digitally. Attendance is driven by nature of the event – open or closed, with upwards of 75% attendance rate for exclusive paid events. Getting attendees to provide feedback and data through mobile apps and surveys to track engagement KPIs is a challenge. For virtual and hybrid events, this can be collected real-time through digital platforms.  

Event insights can help get additional sponsors on board in future. Audience engagement and preference data can be monetised as such insights would be valuable to several companies to assess their sales, marketing, branding efforts.  

No channel is a replacement of the other. In summary, hybrid events deliver unique advantages in terms of unified messaging, cost-effectiveness, unlimited scale, wider reach, and better audience insights that help gain faster RoI.   

There are many variants of hybrid events, understanding them is critical to choosing your event format. 

Simple virtual events such as meetings and webinars are completely hosted and streamed online – consisting of an agenda and single or multi-track presentation and/ or collaborative sessions. Attendees can participate from anywhere in the world. Meeting platforms support remote work – meetings can be hosted with interactive sessions, participation and break-out rooms.   

Lite events have just the live stream of the physical event delivered through a virtual platform, allowing audiences access to fully branded immersive experiences. Engagement for both physical and online attendees can be further facilitated through moderated Q&A sessions, video-chats or facilitated break-out/ private chatrooms.  

Sequential hybrid events involve a physical event followed by a virtual one. For a live event spanning 1-3 days, the virtual event can be kept open and accessible for a longer time with all recorded presentation and documents available on the event technology platform.    

Complex hybrid events are the future where in-person and virtual events are held simultaneously but the audience experience can be varied depending on the access rights. Smaller satellite events can complement bigger gatherings. Content can be differentiated, and cross-networking can be facilitated via Q&A sessions, live-chat, expert-access etc. Exhibitors have the option to host physical booths or online showrooms.  

Freemium models can be experimented with selected speakers, in-depth content and networking opportunities put behind a paywall. With limited physical footprint, savings can be realized in terms of reduced staff, venue, setup, accommodations F&B, travel costs and more. While virtual events can be up to 75% less expensive compared to completely in-person events, event platforms need to be more sophisticated, versatile and powerful. Hybrid events may require less budget and while time is required for event set-up, such events can be organized and executed at a reduced turn-around time.  

Hybrid events require resources and must be supported by a robust technology platform that supports event logistics end-to-end. Audience experience must be uniform and seamless and ideally personalised across promotion & registration, during event, and after event phases.  

Mobile technology is already used widely to collaborate and communicate and consume AV-content. This digital transition will shape how participants sign-up and engage in events, access schedules, get news alerts and scan QR-codes to redeem offers.  

Any event is part of a larger organizational strategy. Various events such as conferences, webinars, job fair, tradeshows etc. can be hosted in a hybrid format – organizers need to ensure that business goals related to marketing, customer acquisition, HR & recruitment are being met via the event. For example, a trade showcase using hybrid channels may work best for a new product launch while for reaching out to potential new hires, career fair may be more suited.  

A hybrid event is not just held virtually – there is an in-person component. Virtual and live audiences have different expectations that needs to be managed accordingly to create an overall unified experience. This requires organizers to plan content and make staffing adjustments.  

Organizing hybrid events requires managing diverse challenges as virtual and live audiences have different needs. Designing a unified experience that is valuable and engaging for both is a demanding ask. Understanding audiences – their basic demographic profile elements such as age, profession etc. can affect registrations and actual turn-out. To deliver a memorable experience, attendee expectations have to be managed at every step.   

Content needs to be carefully thought through to keep in-person and virtual audiences engaged throughout. Additional moderators with relevant skills might have to be brought onboard to drive online audience engagement.  

Staffing and event management is crucial for attendee experience to be truly differentiated and worthwhile, whether they join online or in-person.  

Hybrid event teams must include experts such an event technologist to select the technology tools that will power the virtual aspects. An executive producer will orchestrate all aspects of the event, while onsite technician team will manage the AV-checks, connectivity essentials. A speaking coach can support speakers to navigate all aspects on the physical and online formats of the event, so that audience communication is effective irrespective.  

In addition, organizers might have to invest in teams to ensure all health, safety and social distancing protocols are adhered to for attendees coming together for the in-person event.

Technology is an essential enabler for hybrid events due to higher production requirements. Live events must be supported with broadcast capabilities with at least one professional camera in each room and high-quality sound recording. Multiple camera angles can be considered for a better streaming experience.  

An interactive technology platform that offers automated processes, can be customized to suit banding needs of organizers is essential. For attendees, this platform needs to be interactive with easy access to recording and other content.   

While hotels and large convention centres with amenities to support physical events were sought-after venues pre-pandemic, they might no longer be suitable for hybrid events. New spaces that cut out additional overheads such as F&B and other rentals, come fitted with required technology for hybrid-event production need to be considered.  

The same channels such as social media, email marketing, paid advertising content marketing etc. used to market live events can be leveraged to promote hybrid events. For hybrid events, timing promotions is critical to increase participation. For virtual events, registrations tend to go up significantly in the week and days leading up to the event.  

Virtual events will become the norm sooner than we think because these can be better managed by hosts and are convenient to attend for participants.  

While hybrid events offer more engagement and reach, essential cost categories need to be considered from a budget perspective. Venue cost must include virtual venue as well. Production & AV equipment, internet connectivity, food & refreshments for onsite attendees, set-up and tear-down crew, travel & accommodation costs for in-person speakers are other key expense categories.  

These costs when complied can require significant investment. Ticketing and sponsorship plans should be aligned once event budget estimates have been made reasonably accurately.  

Both the in-person and online experiences are important to design and execute. For the in-person experience, audiences need a mobile-friendly site or app that can be used during the event for registrations, viewing agenda and recording attendance, networking, participation in polls, providing feedback and can even be gamified based on intended outcomes. For online attendees, the web-based event needs to be compatible across devices and should provide easy access.  

Selling at virtual events is a challenge only through e-booths and generalized content sharing. Only through right attendee-segmentation and personalized follow-up strategy can lead-conversion be increased.  

Your hybrid event planner must partner you in driving compelling virtual participation options. Hybrid events are not just a hastily thrown together livestream from a corner webcam. High production values are essential to keep attendees engaged. Virtual events should feel immersive and have a strong brand identity. As per estimates, video is estimated to represent more than 82% of all business traffic by 2022.

Event-tech has exploded in the past year with multiple solutions available. From standard features such as live-streaming and audience polls & surveys to advanced capabilities such as AI-enabled event matchmaking and photo-realistic environments, technology can deliver a lot. Having an agenda will help in selecting the technology platform with the best-fit features that addresses the organizer’s business goals.  

Tech-platforms essentially offer fully branded, multi-use event space that is accessible 365-days a year, at any time, from any location across the world.  

In this section, we will understand the essential questions to ask of best-in-class hybrid event planners that event professionals need to consider while choosing an event partner: 

Technology platforms that power hybrid events offer great scalability without restricting number of attendees as would be necessary to consider in a physical event space. However, if there are such limitations, organizers need to understand this in advance to plan accordingly. 

Organizers need control to be able to customize a generic interface for company-specific branding. Ability to white-label and customize events, virtual conferences and meetings – organizers can use own branding on virtual event platforms across websites, lobbies, web-rooms, exhibits and content. Registration and email-communication should be a personalized experience, with customizable templates. Instead of navigating through a flat webpage, remote attendees should be hosted in a well-designed space rather than simply attending an online meeting or webinar. Design layouts, virtual receptionist or assistant, digital both representative can also be created. Integrating company branding and messaging seamlessly on the event platform is critical to create a consistently superior experience for attendees. 

How can I make my user experience seamless? The user experience needs to be simple and intuitive to navigate – not unlike exploring a physical space. Simple aesthetics work best when designing the layout. Cross-compatibility of event platforms with multiple operating systems and devices.  

How can automation help reduce cost and increase efficiency? Automation is a must-have feature of best-in-class event management platforms, making planning easier, saving time and costs. Automated creation of event pages, uploading speaker and other event related details should be easily supported. Registrants can go directly to virtual event page to get all essential information such as agenda, speaker bios, exhibitor and sponsor directories. Attendees should be able to easily create their own itineraries – which can be integrated with their calendars (iCal or Google).    

Does the event design have built-in ticketing and online payment options? A good event design must allow for multiple ticket-types for revenue optimization, ability to mirror monetization models of actual events  

How to assess event management capabilities: Event planners offer multiple options from basic cloud-based self-service to advanced, fully customizable multiple virtual environments, multiple stages and venue management capabilities. Integrated features for managing both online and offline components are available.  

Different types of virtual spaces are required to address multiple purposes: for webinars, lobby, networking zone, meeting room etc. For the event experience to be seamless, demarcating virtual spaces on the platform is essential.  

Virtual expo-floor with booths – exhibitors and sponsors should be able to interact with both online and onsite audience. Virtual booths are similar to stands at physical events such as tradeshows – this helps attendees connect with sponsor, organizer or SMEs and access relevant digital content in the form of PDFs, eBooks and guides. Integrating virtual booths with live videoconferencing helps converted leads to qualified opportunities quickly.   

Hybrid event technology platform should support mobile-phone logins to make access even easier. All content and event format should be mobile-friendly and support mobile-browsers for one-click URL-based access.    

High-speed live video streaming: live broadcasts are an essential part of hybrid events as they create a sense of urgency. Live sessions create more engagement and improve the overall attendee experience. Keynote session should be streamed live. Live sessions must be supported with Q&A, polls and chat-pods. Some platforms can offer multi-speaker sessions, allowing speakers to speak at the same time. Automated subtitle generation is a value-added feature.  

Lifelike virtual environment: organizers can experiment with a variety of digital formats – from webcasts, expanding to create augmented-reality pathways along with projection mapping and then to 3D immersive worlds. Live conversations lead to more alertness and engagement. App-based chat and instant messaging capabilities enable this.   Automated subtitle generation is a value-added feature.  

Broadcasting pre-recorded content: not all sessions in a hybrid event will be live. Pre-recorded sessions are an effective medium to deal with speaker non-availability for live streaming or scheduling issues. Hybris event technology platform must support scheduled playback for recorded content or the ability for attendees to access and consume the content on-demand.  

Event industry can truly leverage the power of social media to further improve audience engagement at hybrid events. Marketing and promoting events to the right target audience is a critical pre-event step. While enabling remote meetings and live streaming are fundamental, social media integration to YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. is a must-have feature too of technology platforms.

Networking and engagement are key reasons for people to participate in an event – physical, virtual or hybrid. The event platform must support essential networking & participant engagement features such as setting up profiles, Q&A, live polls, surveys, push notifications, one-on-one matching, chat (messaging, group chat etc.) and support. Organizers should be able to communicate with attendees based on profile segmentation at all stages of the event lifecycle.  

Making attendees seen and heard Attendees can thrive in an integrated, interactive environment that offer a wide range of engagement capabilities can truly differentiate an event – for example, going beyond communications to social media integration with social wall, gamification, photo-booths, pop-up quizzes etc.  

Event industry can truly leverage the power of social media to further improve audience engagement at hybrid events. Marketing and promoting events to the right target audience is a critical pre-event step. While enabling remote meetings and live streaming are fundamental, social media integration to YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. is a must-have feature too of technology platforms.  

Your hybrid event needs to score on the following parameters before you can consider yourselves ready to host the next big hybrid event.  

Content management: hybrid events generate significant volume of content. Content recording and video back-up storage with future access are essential for hybrid-event platforms. Content remains accessible for further use in driving marketing and brand-promotions in future. Cost of recording and storing content is a key budgetary aspect that hybrid event organizers must plan for.  

Flexible platforms can handle everything from content abstracts, continuing education credits, digital library, seamless website integration micro-sites etc.  

Localization & translation support: with increasingly global nature of event, multiple language support is becoming a hygiene element of hybrid event technology. To conduct a well-managed event, multi-language support is essential to consider while selecting a platform. Ease is the primary value proposition of composite events – just as signage can be displayed in multiple languages in physical spaces, virtual spaces should offer this capability as well. Content can be made more accessible by adding software layers that allow real-time translation into the language preferred by attendees.  

Monetization support: Hybrid events provide more avenues to monetize event artefacts. Ad displays, non-intrusive yet visible ad placements in virtual spaces, branded virtual experiences can enhance the overall experience while supporting the outreach needs of sponsors.  

Sponsors can place logos on different pages, post live product demonstrations on custom-built pages etc. Sponsor-visibility can also be enhanced across online exhibit halls, networking zones, event social-media handles etc. Dedicated sponsorship zones can be created foe attendees to engage in context. Sponsors can also run games and provide digital show-bags with stored content. Personalized sponsorship packages can be offered based on these features.  

End-to-end personalization: personalization using segregated audience data across social-media, email marketing, follow-up thank you notes etc. can lead to overall better engagement and lead conversions. Hybrid events platforms should allow attendees to share quotes, screenshots etc. seamlessly to their social-media handles – this will help amplify the buzz.  

Data analytics & reporting: Numbers are a better indicator of an event’s success rather than audience applause. Event data must be used to track attendee behaviour to better position the event and content. As multiple parameters are tracked in virtual events, and touchpoints are digital, we have more data than ever before compared to in-person events. Essential metrics that need to be tracked are as follows:  

This data can be analysed to generate insights that will lead to better and more effective event design. RoI on event marketing spend can be calculated more precisely by tracking advertisement and monetization approaches adopted. Capture audience feedback real-time, slice-and-dice attendee data based on where they have logged in from, which device, which sessions they are attending, length of engagement, payment methods etc  

Integration to Google Analytics and similar platforms are added advantages.  

In addition to customer engagement, the other aspect that can make or break a hybrid event is the customer support offered by the tech-platform. Since online component of the event is significant, the chances of technical errors are high compared to completely offline events. As an organizer, you can’t scramble to get support to diagnose or troubleshoot issues during an event. Event set-up support connecting the virtual with physical is a pre-requisite. As an organizer, if you are just getting started with virtual events, you will need handholding through the process and minimize pitfalls.  

Experts & experienced professionals should be on standby for live trouble shooting and quickly fix issues on-the-fly during event execution. Technical issues or glitches should not disrupt the event experience or cause problems for remote attendees. A dedicated customer relationship manager can be a single-point–of–contact to help resolve issues without impacting the quality of the event experience.  

As an organizer, one needs to consider a hybrid event platform from a long-term partnership perspective and needs to be aligned with your organization goals. As your event needs grow in scale and complexity, the platform should be able to support this with additional features.  

As our ability to congregate and travel remains limited in near future, the meetings and events industry is using this as a catalyst for change to transform and adopt new digital skills and business models.  

As with any other event planning, you must be aware of the pitfalls and risks associated with Hybrid Events and plan for mitigating.  

Be ready to revise your event plant and pivot as required. Per-work and dry-runs are essential. Once content is decided and speakers identified, planners need to revisit the presentations, videos, collaterals etc. to ensure messaging is on point, is aligned with the agenda and event outcomes.  

Tech-checks and rehearsals are essential for both virtual and physical event segments. Online platform checks should be done for speakers well in advance to enable them to become familiar with the platform. For onsite checks, lights, sound and camera functions needs to be checked thoroughly – AV setup needs to be tested for seamless livestreaming.  

For virtual attendees, attention spans can be limited, and they can become just passive listeners. Attendees tend to multi-task if they are not sufficiently engaged. Hosts need to ensure engagement always stays high – attendees may be requested to ask questions which can be addressed by speakers real-time. The hybrid event technology platform can be used by both in-person and online attendees to participate in polls, Q&A, surveys etc. – this also ensure data all data is captured for post-event analytics.  

Each individual session should be designed precisely to minimize audience disengagement. Sessions should not be too long – content should be truly insightful and must prompt audience interest. Speakers can break session to 15-20 mins modules followed by a poll or an activity. Well-timed breaks should be scheduled in between. Considering global time-zones, in-person presentations once streamed, should be uploaded and made available on-demand.   

In summary, hybrid events are the future as they significantly expand audience reach and engagement, are more eco-friendly reducing overall carbon footprint, offer better sponsorship opportunities and valuable insights in attendee behaviour.  

However, hybrid events are also more complex to plan, design and execute. With expert guidance, sponsors, attendees, exhibitors, speakers and other stakeholders can be convinced that this change is for the better. 

Make each hybrid event unique to you, your brand or organization. Choose your event partners with careful consideration as you keep delivering the best-experience for your audience in mind.  

Your first few hybrid events will be learning opportunities. We at Kestone Global are here to help. Reach out to us today to schedule your hybrid event platform demo.