The corporate world witnesses multiple events annually. And last year, due to the pandemic, many of these were either canceled. Or were hastily shifted to the digital medium. And as you can expect people didn’t enjoy it. But now, as the situation is improving, we can see a potential shift to hybrid events.
It is no secret that hybrid events are taking over the event industry. And the trend is indicating that Hybrid events are going to stay with us for a long time. In fact, the popularity of hybrid events is ever increasing.
This trend will continue, especially in the post-pandemic world. Since people were restricted to their homes for many months and are also tired of attending online meetings. We will see a shift from online virtual events to hybrid events. But before we dive into this first, let’s look at the concept behind the Hybrid event.
Hybrid events – a revolution in the event industry
Hybrid events are those events that are organized in a physical environment. But they serve both virtual and physical audiences. Also, they provide the convenience of virtual events. And the engagement level is similar to an in-person event. Not only this, for the virtual audience, you can use virtual event platforms/software and the same equipment. It means if you have invested in virtual events, you can quickly shift to the hybrid event.
The list of benefits of the hybrid event is enormous. Let’s look at some of these benefits.
Reasons for the hybrid event as the right choice for corporates
1.Better engagement
Apart from technical issues, the digital events had a lack of engagement compared to their physical counterparts. And it took time for many to get adjusted to it. But with the hybrid event, this problem can be solved. Since the audience is part physical and part virtual, we can use the same methods to engage with them. Also, this will make the audience at home feel as if they are present physically at the event.
2.Higher flexibility
Just like a virtual event, a hybrid event allows more flexibility in terms of place and time. And this becomes more relevant when compared to physical events.
If a person interested in your event cannot travel to the venue. Due to any reason, they can also attend your event. Or by providing the option of on-demand video, your event can be accessed anytime. And all these advantages are simply missing from a physical event.
3.More room for interaction
In a hybrid event, your audience is not restricted. What does it mean? Unlike a virtual or physical event where the audience can interact with people of the same medium. In a hybrid event, they can interact across different mediums. Or we can say virtual and physical audience can interact with each other. And not just virtual to virtual or physical to physical interaction.
Also, it opens the door for innovation and possibilities. And who knows what exciting features we will see in the future.
4.Cost-effectiveness
When you compare the cost of hosting a physical and a hybrid of a similar scale. You would see a significant difference. And that is because you can cut your expenses on several things. To begin with, you don’t need a large venue since half of your audience can be shifted to the digital medium. Also, you save money on things like traveling, accommodation, food and so on.
5.Access to a global audience
You can really cross any barrier with technology, including the geographical one. And this is true for hybrid events also. It means in your next event you could meet with investors, clients, and customers from worldwide. Isn’t it exciting? Not only it contributes to your growth but also provides endless opportunities. And this is simply not possible with the physical event. So get ready to welcome a global audience to your event, which otherwise won’t have happened.
6.Greater returns
By selecting hybrid events, you can get a higher ROI (Return on investments). Since you get more attendees and from all over the world. And you dnt provides higher value for money than a conventional event. The few things that you have to invest in are don’t have to spend too much money like in the case of a physical event. We can conclude that a hybrid eveces of equip
7. Choice to the audience
ment and Hybrid a event platform. And too for one time only, if done wisely.
Generally, in a physical or virtual event, the audience doesn’t have much choice. The audience can only attend events depending upon the nature of the medium. But in the case of a hybrid event, you can either attend an event by simply going to the venue or virtually. It boils down to one’s preference and conditions around them. Also, you can do both, go to the place itself and later watch the recording of the event. Therefore, giving more choice to the audience.
8. Engaging a broader audience
In a hybrid event, you have more options to engage your audience. You can use physical activities to engage live as well as the virtual audience. Or can use engagement features of a hybrid event platform to engage both types of audiences. In fact, some features available on these platforms can be also helpful for the physical audience. Not only this, you can use technology to provide an equal and immersive experience to both types of audiences.
Some of our favorite engagement features are Gamification, AR photobooth, leaderboard, and live chats. But you can have more features.
9. Easier Networking
Just like engagement features, the networking tools can also serve all kinds of audiences. And you can also experiment with these tools. You can connect your virtual and physical audience with each other.
The networking tools available on hybrid event platforms can be used by physical audiences also. Let’s take this example. In your hybrid event, you decided to invite a guest virtually. So the physical audience can also interact with the guest using technology.
10. Live analytics and feedback
It is easy to track the audience and to collect feedback in the virtual event. And this simply is not possible with a physical event. But what about the hybrid event? You can use the same technology – virtual/hybrid event platform in the hybrid event also. All you need to do is use the technology to track your audience (both) to get analytics. And use text messages or emails to collect feedback.
We hope that you liked this article. So tell us about your thoughts on the future of hybrid events in the corporate world.
