In-person. Virtual. In-Person AND Virtual? Hybrid events, events hosted with both an in-person and virtual component, have become more commonplace with the *slow* decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases across the globe.
North’s team of event planners recently concluded our last event of the year, a conference in Orlando, Florida, that was hosted as a hybrid event. While event planners have become well versed in pulling these types of events together and most have honed in on the facets necessary to engage both audiences, hybrid is not the answer for every type of event.
Below are a few pros and cons to consider if you’re thinking about going virtual. Most are geared towards conferences since that is what our team does best but all of the points below could be translated to virtual galas, auctions, fundraisers, and more.
Pros:
Reach a new audience
If your event has been suffering from lackluster attendance or saw the same faces for years prior to the pandemic, a hybrid or fully virtual event could bring in a new audience. Travel is costly, time away from the office and/or employee’s home life is valuable and hard to come by. A hybrid event allows those who would not or could not travel for your event to attend and get a taste of what they are missing. We’ve seen this work particularly well with conference style events or trade shows.
Test new ideas
Thinking about testing out a new session format? Want to see how your attendees do with virtual reality components or virtual exhibitor booths? Have an auction that could easily go silent? A hybrid event is a great way to test out how the event does before investing a large sum to build it in the years to come. Virtual has really allowed event planners and their clients to get creative.
Cons:
Budgets can easily climb
Hybrid events can be expensive, especially if you are broadcasting in-person presentations or sessions for those online and want to engage attendees via games, virtual exhibitor halls, and more. Technology is expensive and one thing we have learned from our decades of experience is that you get what you pay for. Make sure you are pricing out exactly what you will need to pull off your event and then padding your budget number for anything that might “come up,” because it will.
Can be hard to engage both audiences equally without a team or support staff
Logistically speaking, both audiences, in-person and virtual, will have different needs, goals, and experiences when attending your event. Making sure you have adequate staff for an in-person event is incredibly important to the success of the event, but just as important is the number of staff you have “manning” your virtual event as well. Virtual attendees will need help, they will need someone to monitor each session, be on call for technical support, and have consistent communications via email or text throughout the event. If your staff is on the small side, spreading yourselves too thin with a hybrid event can cost you in the long run.
There are so many things to consider when planning a hybrid event and this is by no means an exhaustive list. Do your research and if you are an event planner, inform your client upfront about the limitations and more importantly, the costs of a hybrid event to ensure there are no surprises.
What do you think, are hybrid events here to stay?
