Many clients are holding hybrid events to include attendees who are unable to attend for environmental, economic, social, or health reasons. With creativity and inclusiveness at the forefront, hybrid events are now designed to be more inclusive, entertaining, and interactive. By having a virtual component, they also save the host organization additional in-person attendee costs for travel, accommodations, meals, and ground transportation.
MeetGreen provides our strong expertise to walk the host organization step-by-step through the process of producing a hybrid and/or virtual event. The first three steps are crucial.
Step One: Define the Scope
MeetGreen asks the organizers a list of questions to ensure we guide them in the right direction when planning the hybrid event. A few of the strategic questions are:
What are the goals of providing a virtual component to your regular conference?
- Broaden audience
- Inclusivity
- Revenue generation
- Continuing education
- Travel restrictions
- Flexibility
Do you have any concerns about taking part in your event virtually? If so, what are they?
- Budget
- Cannibalization of the in-person attendance
- Ability to network with others
What part of your events do you want to take hybrid?
- Sessions & Q&A
- Exhibitors/Sponsors
- Networking/Interactivity
- Post-event content
Is having a hybrid or virtual event something you’d like to include or have in all of your future events?
Will the cost/outcome make a difference?
Step Two: Determine What Virtual Component(s) Are Required
MeetGreen will assign a team to work on the virtual component(s). Responsibilities can include registration, platform selection, sponsors/exhibitors, and speaker management. Once the virtual requirements are established, MeetGreen researches and recommends solutions for the right programs/platforms that best suit your needs.
Step Three: Develop a Timeline and Budget
Creating a timeline and budget for both the in-person and virtual costs of the event is an integral component of its success. We review the timeline and budget on a regular basis to ensure that everyone stays on track.
What does success look like?
A recent hybrid event was wildly successful in environmental, economic, and attendee satisfaction. Savings in greenhouse gas emissions combined with the cost of air travel and accommodations (for the organization) and the added benefit of work/life balance for attendees made this vision a reality for an environmentally focused client on a budget.
The savings behind hybrid meetings are especially prominent when all of the economic costs are paid by the host organization, such as a company-wide sales meeting, annual retreat, or internal training event. While some people may need to be there in-person, not all team members may be required.
Looking for data to back it up?
When attendees registered for this event, they could select how they would attend. Here is the breakdown of each:
- In-Person: 247
- Virtual: 640
- Both in-person & virtual: 135
Each registrant could select the sessions they wanted to attend, with 49 sessions available in total.
By holding a hybrid event, this event received plenty of positive feedback; we have provided a few comments below.
- “I appreciate being able to attend virtually so I could participate. Thank you!”
- “Thank you for providing the presentations and recording the sessions – a lot of information to digest!”
- “The rooms were very full with in-person attendees, so I attended the training in the cafeteria via Microsoft Teams. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend virtually and not miss the content.”
This event was successful because it offered both an in-person and virtual option. It is one example of many where businesses strive to include ALL potential delegates whenever possible and increase their ability to be inclusive.
Author: Kate Wilson
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