2020 is the year of changes that have not omitted the event management industry as well. So the business took a different direction, relocating the events into an online environment.
But how do we get that closer to the experience and the emotion as we get when conducting a physical event. One of the possible solutions is using a new format – the hybrid.
The hybrid event is a mixture of physical and virtual elements, where part of the audience can be present in the meeting room, another part can join the event online or part of the speakers of the happening can present virtually. This enables the organizers of the event to observe social distancing and follow the imposed restrictions of the epidemic situation, while running a live event.
What are the main advantages of the hybrid events that make them a successful alternative for many event holders around the world:
Larger attendance and reach
One of the biggest benefits of hybrid events is the possibility to reach a much wider audience. Part of the reasons that prevent people from attending a particular event is the lack of time or opportunity to travel. The option for the audience to join the event online is a facilitation that gives the registered ones the freedom to attend sessions that are important for them in a convenient time. This facilitation is valid for the speakers/presenters themselves. In case they are not able to physically participate in the event, they always have the option to perform virtually from any part of the world.
Opportunities for sponsorship
72% of corporate sponsors are interested to participate in hybrid events. They are an extremely effective way to promote a particular brand due to the wider reach and attendance. In addition, the data gathered during the registration of the participants, can be used to better target their online audience and to improve their sponsorship activities.
Many companies are not yet aware of the fact that the online branding offers a number of opportunities to reach and interact with the audience – in virtual rooms and exhibitor stands, live streaming of advertisements, gaming events and games with the audience, networking rooms and many others.
Reduced transportation costs
The hybrid events reduce the participants’ travel costs – so they don’t have to worry about flights, car rentals, hotel accommodation and any other incidental travel expenses.
Moreover, the speakers, the sponsors and the event staff can also save on this budget element, because this kind of event allows for virtual participation. In practice, the presenter can speak from any part of the world without the need to be present in the studio next to the host of the event.
The sponsors and the partners, on the other hand, don’t have to send a large team to work on a particular event site, because they can reduce it to a few people or simply join remotely.
Greater returns
The hybrid events offer greater returns and effective budget management as they save a number of costs standardly related to renting a physical space for holding an event – such as catering, service staff, heavy logistics for building stages, providing sitting places, security, cleaning and much more. To organize a hybrid event, you have an opportunity to rent a specialized space to position the main stage, the presenters, part of the speakers and audience and to film and stream the event, and the unlimited online audience presence will allow you to generate additional revenue from tickets and registration.
Most suitable and effective spaces for organizing events in this kind of format are meeting rooms with video and audio equipment for direct streaming, such as the Kepler 452b meeting room in Launchee.
Collecting audience data
Every event holder knows how important is the data collection of their audience both for assessing the success of the event and for planning an adequate marketing campaign. If you are hosting a hybrid event, you can get a variety of demographical data from the participants’ registration forms tailored to your marketing goals. In addition, the technological element of the event will allow you to see when and what the audience was mostly engaged with and thus improve your strategy for future events.
Hybrid events are the possible alternative through which event holders can not only keep long-planned events, but offer their audience and partners entirely new experience, compliant with the conditions in which the business is placed on a global scale.
Launchee is available for consultations and planning of your upcoming hybrid event.
Contact our space team to schedule an online meeting or a visit to our spaces.
