Even though virtual events are quite popular right now, the events industry will eventually shift to hybrid events. Hybrid events combine the “live” in-person attendance with “virtual” online components for remote attendees. It provides an opportunity to perfectly blend the physical, virtual audience experience and expand the reach to a worldwide audience at a relatively low cost.
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What are Hybrid Events?
A hybrid event, at its core, mixes in-person and virtual experiences to provide an immersive space and interactive discourse for attendees, whether they attend and engage in person or online.
The three elements that form an event hybrid are as follows:
- Both In-person & Virtual interaction is possible
- Attendees, both online and on-site, will be able to connect with presenters, sponsors, and other participants of the event community.
- The content of the event is, at the very least, partially live.
Why choose a Hybrid Event Platform?
The easiest decision to make, while hosting an event these days, is the kind of event to host. A hybrid one is a way to go forward. The reasons are also obvious. A lot of potential attendees are unable to travel or do not wish to travel due to health or safety concerns. Some organizations have limited travel funds, or the venue has capacity limitations to host all the potential events. Whether it is a trade show, a conference, a sales event, or a global town hall, a pre-event survey can further gauge the mood for the design of the hybrid event. When the constraints on people aggregating together for an in-person safe and socially distanced event continue, the use of hybrid event platform offers immense features that are a win-win situation for everyone.
When to host a Hybrid Event Platform?
The very first decision you must make is whether or not to include any virtual elements in your event. Does it make sense? When should you hold a hybrid event as opposed to an onsite or virtual event?
Hybrid Events
Hybrid events are ideal for events that can be delivered both on-site and online. Here are some great examples of hybrid event programs:
- Trade Show & Expos
- Conferences & Summits
- Corporate Events & Kick-offs
- Career & Recruiting Fairs
When many of your attendees who would generally attend in person are unable to do so, hybrid events are a great alternative.
On-site Events
When all of your attendees must come in person, entirely onsite events should be scheduled. You know that most of the content won’t transition well to a virtual environment and that there isn’t any method to express it, therefore an onsite experience is the best approach to give the information.
Virtual Events
If you can’t conduct an onsite event, have a limited budget, or the content you want to impart can be efficiently shared via video, entirely virtual events should be created. Don’t spend money or time by having folks attend in person if it isn’t necessary. Reassign those materials for onsite or hybrid events in the future. So, what are you waiting for? Don’t cancel or postpone your event. Use a hybrid event management platform like Eventdex’s Virtual Meeting App and let your attendees NFH — Network from Home! These solutions make virtual workshops, panel discussions, and seminars possible while giving the feel of being in a real event in a virtual setup, with their virtual tradeshow booths, roundtables, clubhouse video rooms, and virtual poster walk for events. For enquiries about Eventdex Virtual & Hybrid Event Management Solution, please contact sales@eventdex.com
