The way our viewers consume content is constantly evolving. Especially in a hybrid world, the key is creating the flexibility to engage with your content in a way that resonates with the audience.
We outline five different ways you can format your upcoming hybrid event:
1. Your live and virtual schedules don’t need to look alike. There’s plenty of benefits for spacing out your virtual conference over a longer time period. We know virtual attendees engage best over shorter timeframes; your presenters can participate in dedicated Q&A sessions with just the virtual audience; and the extra time means you can create special experiences available exclusively to online attendees.
2. If you have a live virtual audience, consider a professional emcee to be the viewers’ event guide and entertainment. It’ll help make the online experience unique and interactive, and they’ll fill any dead space in between sessions. Bonus points if your emcee can be in front of a professional green screen!
3. Add pre-recorded content to your in-person event schedule. It seems counter-intuitive, but it actually gives your onsite attendees flexibility to choose the times they watch content and take breaks for coffee, lunch, etc. You’re giving your attendee the feeling of control over their schedule and keeps your event space fluid and open.
4. Not everything needs to be live streamed. Consider having your speaker present live to your onsite attendees, then record a separate version of the same presentation for your online attendees. This gives your speaker the ability to tweak their style to how each audience responds best. Perhaps they focus more on audience interaction when presenting live, and focus more on visuals and graphics when presenting virtually.
5. We’re sure you’ve been hearing a lot about the hub and spoke event model, and for good reason. This format will be prevalent in the event industry for a long time because of its distinct ability to create relevant, engaging discussions with a smaller group of like-minded people. In a more intimate setting, you can afford to focus more on fostering connection through very specific and niche content. With a limited number of people in each location, you can also easily control the spacing and movement to keep your attendees feeling comfortable and safe.