Covid really shook up the events space, first forcing us all online and then leading to the expectation of being able to attend events online if you can’t be there in person. But hybrid events take some thought to do well. And that is where this blog can help.
But firstly, let’s set out what is meant by a hybrid event.
The key element of hybrid events is that it includes both people onsite and online remotely* and both can engage with the event. I differentiate this from a livestream, where there isn’t any real opportunity for those watching online to feed into what is happening onsite.
So, what should you think about when planning a hybrid event?
Firstly, make sure you are thinking about those joining online from the early stages, don’t just try and bolt the hybrid element on at the end. Hybrid thinking should run throughout the whole planning of the event if you want it to work well. So as you are putting your event together, consider how those onsite and those online will feed into the event. If there is going to be Q&A sessions, how will those online submit questions? If you are breaking up into small groups at points in the day, how will you facilitate these on Zoom, and how will they feed back?
One option, if using a platform like Zoom, is having a way to show the Zoom screen in the onsite room, but this can have technical limitations.
Another tool I love is Slido. Slido is an interactive presentation tool, which can be used to do polls, quizzes, and post questions all from a web browser. This is great for allowing those online to post their questions which can then be read out by the moderator onsite. But as someone who is quite introverted and doesn’t like speaking to a room full of people, Slido can also be used by those onsite via their smartphone, so adds a level of accessibility there too.
Also, think about the activities you are offering. One of the first hybrid events I teched at had a whole session on Craftism (using craft as activism). They had loads of crafty bits (I remember lots of yellow feathers) for those onsite… but nothing for those online to do, so they basically had 90mins of nothing. This was a real shame and was noted in the event feedback. What the event’s organisers could have done was either send out little packs of materials to those who had signed up to attend online, or at the least a few days before sent a message suggesting that they might want to gather certain materials for a session.
Another element to think about is how to use the breaks in the programme. For those onsite, this will be a rush to the toilets, then the coffee and muffins and chatting in small groups. For those on Zoom, they are often just left in one big Zoom call, in a way that only one conversation can happen at a time which often mean new people feel excluded by a clique of the normal crowd. So maybe consider small, optional, breakout rooms for 5 or 6 people which you switch up each session to replicate the networking of being onsite.
Finally, Hybrid doesn’t have to mean all people are in all sessions. At one of the best examples of a hybrid event I’ve ever worked on, the conference was basically run as two separate events that crossed over at key points. So everyone watched the keynote talks, but they ran all the workshops twice, once just for those onsite and once just for those in the room. This meant the sessions could be tailored to the specific advantages and drawbacks of the situations. But as well as this, they had separate online and onsite hosts, so while those onsite where being told where the fire exits and closest toilets were by the onsite hosts, two ‘presenters’ explained to those online how to use some of Zoom’s features and how their sessions would run. And during the onsite coffee breaks, the online team had informal chats with some of the keynote speakers, allowing those online to replicate the ‘sidling up to the keynote speaker in the coffee queue’ to pick their brain.
So the key takeaway for planning a hybrid conference or event is to be intentional and to bake it in at the earliest possible stage of the planning process. And if you’d like some advice and guidance, get int touch and I can help you in both the planning and delivery of a high quality experience for you, and your onsite and online audience.
*(I avoid using ‘in-person’ because I believe that anyone attending remotely is still a person).
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