Hybrid Events – The Best Of Virtual And Face-To-Face

Hybrid events have become the best option for organizing meetings and conferences, where participants cannot attend in person, enjoy augmented reality, and interact with other members and speakers.

During these events, the interconnection between the virtual and the face-to-face is possible, allowing a more significant number of attendees, granting each of them the same quality of content and allowing their active participation, having the possibility of asking questions, voting, creating communities, etc.

This technology has been in use for some time; for some people, it is still unknown, or they have thought that they are in a merely virtual event without knowing that they are participating in a hybrid event.

What Is A Hybrid Event?

Generally, the terms virtual and hybrid tend to be confused, when in reality, they are somewhat different technologies because while a virtual conference is only about the retransmission of live images, the hybrid event allows participation, not only virtual but also networking, through various technological platforms such as All-in-One, making it a much more complete option.

Being the primary objective that the online members align with the face-to-face attendees as closely as possible, the task of the organizer of the hybrid event is for the participants to interact as one more attendee.

Hybrid Event Types

Hybrid events provide the opportunity to hold different types of virtual meetings where the presence of people is not an essential requirement, technology being the best ally of the organizers to stand out in the technological, academic, and business world.

Conferences

It is the type of hybrid event most used to publicize new business projects, allowing a more significant number of attendees while providing the opportunity to present a more significant number of speakers since there are no mobility restrictions.

The business sector has quickly adapted to hybrid events, providing the client with more excellent corporate value by providing many audiovisuals, turning attendance into a unique experience.

Another advantage customers receive is reduced budget prices since it is unnecessary to mobilize people using means such as trains, planes, or long-distance transport, in addition to savings in accommodation and meal expenses or Coffee breaks.

Fairs

Hybrid fairs are possible thanks to the traditional face-to-face scheme with technological elements and digital tools that offer cycles of conferences, Networking, and showing product stands.

Currently, companies have many technological platforms that allow the presentation of products similar to a stand, where interested parties can view the different commercial offers

These events simulate the face-to-face experience of a stand, with the advantage that they can offer a more significant number of products and services that, due to space or logistics limitations, cannot be presented at a traditional fair.

Product’s Release

For many business people and entrepreneurs, hybrid events have become an excellent opportunity for launching new products, allowing them to show all their features, and carry out tests, product demonstrations, and live services.

They are offering attendees the opportunity to enjoy a better experience when seeing the operation of products and machinery or the advantages of the services offered compared to what they can find in a store or an advertising brochure.

Educational

The expansion of technology platforms has allowed the combination of face-to-face and virtual learning, optimizing teaching to offer students the opportunity to reinforce what they have learned in person with courses, practical activities, and virtual workshops.

The hybrid events of the educational type were being used to carry out university distance studies and workshops of the training webinar type; With the arrival of the pandemic, this type of event offered the opportunity for many students and teachers of all levels to keep up with their curricular activities.

Hybrid learning is a type of teaching where the student performs part of their face-to-face activities combined with an online part where the interested party can have the time dedicated, the pace, and the place where the learning takes place.

The Best Hybrid Events

One of the positive aspects of the pandemic has been the resurgence of new ventures and, with them, a new way of marketing through little-known or underutilized events, ignoring the multiple benefits they bring.

• Implementing the technology used in hybrid events has prevented many organizations from cancellation of essential conferences.
• It offers the possibility of increasing the number of attendees at a local, regional and global level, increasing the event’s profitability by achieving a higher ROI.
• The savings in logistics expenses between a virtual and a hybrid event are reduced by approximately 25%.
• They provide a more significant opportunity for participation and community building among attendees.
• They offer a better learning experience by disseminating engaging content, resources, and content on the platforms.
• They offer the possibility of generating their leads by being able to track and take advantage of data from the participants; thanks to the fact that these platforms offer a deep analysis of data such as connections, logins, and clicks that can be used to carry out a study of preferences, determine interests, etc.

Why Organize a Hybrid Event?

In recent years, the hybrid events industry has boomed, demonstrating that this type of event represents the future of conferences, congresses, educational events, fairs, etc.

Ensure Greater Long-Term Reach

When a hybrid event is organized, attendees can access the event’s content at any time, in addition to offering the opportunity to access recorded sessions to other people interested in the event’s content.

In this way, we are increasing both the audience, the importance of the event, and the possibility of a higher conversion rate.

Greater Chance Of Conversion

Hybrid events allow their organizers a larger audience, which is very likely to purchase products and services or want to invest in new projects; In the same way, sponsors find in these events a greater return on investment by being able to carry out a much more exhaustive follow-up.

One of the most attractive advantages for sponsors is the number of attendees of the hybrid event plus the in-person attendees and the impact of said event on social networks.

Higher Return On Investment

Thanks to the metrics obtained when carrying out a hybrid event, a large amount of data is produced that allows reporting on its performance, such as the number of attendees, how they know about the event, types of connections, and when they left the session, etc.

All this data is used to understand the attendees better, allowing organizers to improve the marketing campaigns and future events’ presentations.

Steps To Organizing a Hybrid Event

These events are so versatile that they can be capable of originating two types of experiences in two different formats; by providing engaging content for both event attendees and virtual participants.

To achieve a successful hybrid event for both parties, balanced content must be created to keep the attention of all those present until the end of the event.

Create Attractive Content For All Participants

The generation of content of interest that maintains the attention of all the participants equally is of vital importance; the organizers of these events must ensure that all the interaction functions remain available for the attendees of the event, in addition to fostering the connection between users through Networking.

Use The Best Platforms Available.

Several platforms can be used to organize a hybrid event; they manage all the necessary details and advise clients to manage virtual and face-to-face events effectively.

Most of these services include a virtual platform and a mobile app for the interconnection between the virtual and the face-to-face event, online registration of the event, and Email marketing, among others.

Invite Recognized Exponents

To achieve the motivation to continue in an event, it is necessary to capture the attention of the participants at all times; One of the best tools that can be used to maintain that interest is to invite recognized exponents specialized in the subject.

By including international speakers, it is possible to enrich the event’s content further and, at the same time, provide added value, not to mention savings in travel and accommodation costs.

Delivery of Gift Kits

When the hybrid event includes gift kits, organizers should ensure that virtual attendees receive their kits in advance so guests get all the benefits of the event equally.

Collect Information After The Event Is Over

After the event is over, it is necessary to collect the opinion of the attendees to find out what they thought of the event and the aspects that should be improved; this action can be achieved through:

• Phone calls.
• Feedback forms.
• Request a score.