Now more than ever, producing engaging and impactful hybrid events – conferences and meetings with in-person and remote attendees – should be a high priority within the context of your organizational communication strategy.
Hybrid work events have become critical in terms of retaining cohesive teams and exchanging information on a global scale. Because many people have discovered they prefer the flexibility that comes from working at home, companies are finding new and creative ways to accommodate this new workplace model. Employees have adapted to the challenges of remote work, maintaining (and, in some cases, improving) productivity.
Fortunately, there are a lot of resources available to help produce successful hybrid events. Managed conferencing services bring decades of experience to the table to help handle the many moving parts of virtual events – from attendee management to rich-media streaming, post-event surveys and everything in between.
The challenge comes in selecting the best options for your particular hybrid work event needs.
Considerations for running successful hybrid work events
For larger conferences, you might consider streaming, a great option for giving virtual participants the same look and feel of your live presentation at the same time as in-person attendees. This works best if you’re planning a more linear event, and can include pre-recorded videos along with live speakers.
If some presenters will also be remote, make sure you’ve thought through all of the technical considerations. Having a dedicated event producer responsible for moderating chat and monitoring the audiovisual components for your remote audience is a must if you want to keep audiences engaged, and ensure that everyone has a memorable experience.
If your event has many concurrent sessions attendees can choose from, more traditional virtual conferences may be the better option. If this is a multi-day event, you should consider having someone onsite whose sole responsibility is managing the virtual experience for your team.
It’s important to partner with seasoned conferencing experts who can handle technical issues when they inevitably arise, and also bring to the table the people skills to make sure your participants feel attended to. This allows presenters to focus on the content and the message that they feel they need to get across.
Pre-recorded content is a smart option for both remote and on-site attendees, and can prove to be beneficial when planning your event. Find the right tone for your scripts and take the time to have your videos professionally managed and recorded.
Hybrid work events require a game plan
Most importantly, a successful hybrid event requires planning. The extensive options available need to be selected and tailored to fit the unique needs of your audience. Make sure to keep everyone’s needs in mind, and craft an event that will deliver to your in-person and virtual attendees an equally satisfying experience.
In the second part of this post, we will focus on specific types of hybrid work events and some best practices for bringing them off smoothly.
