The time of the pandemic forced us to find solutions to bring people together regardless of the epidemiological situation. The most accessible forms turned out to be those taking place in the online world. Not only private relationships were moved to the Internet, also business or scientific meetings began to take place online to still be able to reach a wide audience.
Although the pandemic situation has stabilized, some of the practices forced by it have remained with us to this day. Among them, hybrid events play a huge role.
If you want to find out what a hybrid event is, how to organize a conference in this form, what are its advantages, we invite you to read on.
In the spring of 2020, online conferences began, which consisted of lectures or panel discussions conducted remotely via video feed.
As the epidemiological situation improved, many events returned to conference rooms, but online events were not completely abandoned. This is where the concept of hybrid conferences came into being, which offer the opportunity to maximize the number of participants in an event by combining offline and online forms.
A hybrid conference is a combination of an online conference and a desktop conference. However, it is not the organization of two events. A hybrid event involves sharing via live video an event that is held stationary. With this solution, the conference takes place simultaneously in the virtual and real worlds, reaching more people. This is a chance to allow both organizers and participants to choose the most convenient form of participation. Thanks to the latest technology, hybrid conferences provide an opportunity for all present to exchange insights and even for participants to ask questions online.
To organize a hybrid conference, technical support is essential for success. The virtual experience needs to be positive for attendees so that they want to actively participate and come back for future hybrid events. The most important thing here is to work on quality video transmission. By providing participants with the expected value of the connection, we can be sure to avoid poor reception of the event by remote participants. Good TV-quality streaming allows attendees to focus on the content of the event rather than the quality of the connection.
Fortunately, each of us today has a device that allows us to upload videos and actively participate online in various types of events, so with the help of people who provide technical support, we can organize a high-quality conference using basic tools. This form of online broadcasting will work well for smaller events whose virtual participants can communicate with the organizers using the same tools. Good examples of publicly available online communication programs are Skype, Google Hangouts, Teams, WebEx or Do.
Hybrid conferences, like other events organized in this way, have a number of advantages.
The most tangible is the ability to reach a larger content audience. Whether a hybrid conference is organized on a small or large scale, the hybrid option will increase the number of participants.
Opponents of this form of organizing events fear a reduction in attendee interest - why show up at an event in person when I can attend virtually? Interestingly, research conducted by Digitell shows that the opposite is true, with as many as 30% of online attendees declaring a desire to attend the next event in person.
Another advantage of organizing a hybrid conference is that it can be saved and replayed even after the conference is over. Scheduling is one of the biggest pains of the event industry - finding a date that will fit all potential conference participants borders on the miraculous. Thanks to the possibility of saving the report and sharing it on social media, for example, we have a chance to reach people with the content who could not attend the conference on the original date.
Watching a saved recording also gives you the opportunity to pause it at the best moments to take notes or replay a passage of particular interest to the viewer. To serve remote audiences, we can also introduce the ability to comment on the shared recording and stay in touch long after the event is over.
If you want to capture the attention of the attendee and keep in touch with them, it is worth finding a tool designed to interact with virtual attendees during the hybrid event. Many programs and platforms offer a chat option that allows you to ask questions on the fly and answer them live after the speaker has finished, without interrupting the speaker. The ability to interact brings people together and motivates active participation in the conference.
Hybrid conferences can also help reduce the cost of such an event. This is because by organizing a hybrid event we can dispense with many of the administrative aspects of the event such as a large conference room, catering for a large number of guests, hiring event staff or a person to handle ticket sales. An event held partially online relieves us of many of these aspects and thus reduces the cost of organizing the conference.
When organizing hybrid conferences we may face an obstacle in the form of.... the mischief of inanimate things. Ragged video streams, poor transmission quality, lack of sound or a sudden internet outage can drastically reduce the satisfaction of receiving the conference. Safeguards for these issues usually involve sourcing strong servers and an independent Internet source (preferably a wireless connection).
With the high quality of mobile tools, the expectations of attendees at hybrid events are high these days, so it's worth leaning into the topic and making sure the conference meets the expectations of both desktop and virtual attendees.
When organizing hybrid events, it is essential to promote them properly. Advertising on social media and on the websites of event organizers and partners will be effective here. Such events also provide networking opportunities, which in turn translate into attracting new audiences for our activities.
It is important to invite guests with the right qualifications to the conference, who will be specialists in their field and will speak with charisma.
It is also important that online participants do not feel marginalized, but are treated as participants, attending the conference live.
Kossak Hotel in Krakow provides comprehensive organization of conferences, including hybrid ones. Our conference rooms have the necessary tools for both the conference and its streaming. Fast, reliable internet connection, projector and adjustable lighting are just some of them.
In addition to technical issues to reach a wide audience, we also take care of stationary participants. We provide water and hot drinks and for those who are interested, we also provide catering.
In order to make getting to the conference more efficient, we can offer transfers from the airport or train station, and after the conference we can organize a city tour or a gala dinner.
If you are interested in organizing a hybrid conference at Hotel Kossak, contact us and you will receive all the instructions for the process. We are at your service!
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