With the advent of digitalisation, the geographical boundaries for businesses have blurred. Hybrid events are enabling organisations to reach and interact with global audiences easily and effectively. About 50% of corporate event attendees today consider hybrid to be the best format for events in the future. Not just that, a staggering 97% of marketers believe that Hybrid events will become more prominent in the future. Undoubtedly, the significance of hybrid events is only going to increase and it is going to be a valuable solution for businesses in the future.
Do you believe that a hybrid event is any of these?
If your answer is yes, then sadly, you are yet to reap the benefits of an actual hybrid event. But that’s what this blog is for. Read on to learn more about what a real hybrid event is, what it covers, and what value it provides to the organisers as well as attendees.
1. One Event One Experience
Imagine two friends A and B are attending a hybrid industrial conference. While A is present at the venue, B joins the same event virtually. While A thoroughly enjoys the conference, the event experience of B is nothing different than that of a 2D video conference. In this case, the event experience being delivered is definitely not hybrid but similar to any other online event.
A real hybrid event is one where both the physical and online attendees get the same experience from start to end. To plan, organise, and deliver a cohesive and engaging hybrid event experience, designing incredible online experiences and smoothly integrating them with the physical event space is absolutely necessary. This can be achieved through the extension of in-person events in the digital ecosystem in the form of hybrid events. Only then can the hybrid event’s goal of ‘One Event One Experience’ be accomplished successfully.
2. The Phygital Communication
Another aspect where virtual events fail to make event experiences engaging for attendees is communication. The main purpose of attending events is to connect, interact, and network with peers, as well as ask questions and gain knowledge from industry experts or speakers. But do all hybrid events deliver this experience?
Consider you are participating in an event virtually but are just able to chat with the other online attendees and post your questions on the online platform. Clearly, this won’t be a very exciting experience as you wouldn’t be able to interact with the offline attendees and wouldn’t be able to actively participate in polls and Q&A’s.
A well-defined phygital communication system can be the solution to this predicament. But what exactly is phygital communication? It is a hybrid event element that bridges the gap between the physical and digital audience and makes every interaction, every conversation - same for all. Hybrid events with the phygital communication aspect enable attendees to ask questions to the presenter, respond to polls and questions, and chat with both online and offline attendees during the event.
3. Shared Engagement: Keeping Every Attendee Hooked
Hybrid events, unlike virtual events, were not just introduced to make events accessible to remote audiences. Instead, hybrid events go a step further and make the event experiences interesting, engaging, and most importantly, identical for both virtual and physical attendees. Various event elements such as gamification, polls, networking, entertainment activities, etc play a vital role in keeping attendees engaged throughout the event. But do virtual attendees get the same experience with these activities as that of the physical audience?
For remote attendees to join any event, the event should be equally engaging for them as it is for the in-person attendees. Optimising an event for both, online and offline audiences so as to keep every attendee engaged throughout is the only way hybrid events can succeed. Also, in today’s era of metaverse and gamification, interaction between physical and virtual audiences has to be very natural and easy. This can be achieved by bringing equality in engagement through well-planned and organised hybrid events.
Plan Real and Innovative Hybrid Events With Spalba
Now that you know what a real hybrid event is, let us shed some light on how we can help you organise your next hybrid event. Spalba is an event-tech SaaS platform that helps you with your end-to-end hybrid event planning activities, right from venue to vendors.
With our AI-driven platform consisting of DIY no code tools, we make planning hybrid events much simpler and efficient for you. Through our customised offerings, we make sure that you are able to deliver more personalised and immersive experiences to both your in-person and online attendees.
Whether it is an event for just 20-30 attendees or a big event for 10,000+ attendees, we are well-equipped to help you plan and organise a wonderful hybrid event. That is why, clients choose us for their conferences, expos, trade shows, product launches, and even employee engagement events.
Do you want any more information regarding our platform? Please get in touch with us. We will soon get back to you.
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