The Evolution of Hybrid Events for the Enterprise

Hybrid events have grown in popularity thanks to the many advantages they offer. By merging in-person and online events, hybrids can appeal to a much larger crowd than an in-person event. In addition, by removing the geographic restrictions to attending your event, you’re likely to get more registration and participation from people around the world.

What Are Hybrid Events?

In the past, hybrid events have been live events with any kind of online component. These might have included shareholder meetings, teambuilding exercises, keynote speeches, conferences, and executive team speeches that were live-streamed to other locations. However, early hybrid events didn’t change the planned live demonstration enough to include attendees watching online, leaving remote viewers of the presentation unengaged and unable to participate with the speaker and the rest of the crowd.

How Have Hybrid Events Evolved?

Current hybrid in-person and virtual events aim to create engagement with the online crowd and make them feel they are an important part of the session. Interactive elements like polls, live Q&As and chat windows make participation possible in an organic way. Many hybrid events have a designated person to monitor the chat and ask questions that appear in the chat window, letting the speaker focus on the material as they deliver it. These audience participation exercises have the added benefit of allowing you to gain more insight into your attendees. While people may hesitate to offer feedback or fill out surveys about the hybrid event once it ends and return to their busy lives, they are more likely to participate in polls and respond to questions.

What Does the Future Hold for Hybrid Events?

As more companies see the potential in holding hybrid events that combine online with real-life components, the popularity of these events will only grow. The advancements in technology will allow online attendees to participate in new and exciting ways. As virtual reality advances, perhaps attendees will be able to attend hybrid events as avatars and interact with other attendees who are there in-person as well as through the internet. If you’re considering putting together a hybrid event, GlobalMeet Webcast can help. Contact us today to find out more about our thirty-plus years of experience in creating interesting, engaging hybrid events.