There is a theory in the event industry that there is a large part of society that just doesn’t like events. They aren’t face-to-face people exactly and no matter how great the experience you put on; they just don’t want to be there. Such people tend to run from these gatherings. Therefore, we have observed a rise in hybrid event companies that cater to each audience type and it’s something we’ll discuss in detail in this article.
Moreover, there are people who can’t make it to the event. They had to go somewhere else or attend some family matter, or just couldn’t attend the event due to short notice. Some may be out of the city or country and want to attend it but can’t. Others cannot or do not want to attend it due to travel, health, or safety concerns.
What are the Challenges of in-person Events?
We all know the challenges of in-person events. Many people don’t like shuffling from conference room to conference room, running to catch the first train to reach on time or the last bus to reach back to your hotel, too much crowd, feeling overstimulated by exhibition spaces full of businesses competing for your attention. Simply put, in-person events can be incredibly stressful and frustrating experiences for many attendees, particularly with large gatherings.
As Microsoft’s Bejan puts it, “The Dirty little secret of in-person events is you’re all competing for the biggest number- but the bigger the number, the worst the experience for the attendees”.
Also, the past 2 years passed with lockdowns and restrictions and staying at home made in-person events/meetings/conferences just impossible. Such incidents also play their part in making face-to-face events a challenge and incompatible.
What is the Alternative for this?
However, some people still prefer in-person events. Considering the above challenges and the ease of people altogether, an alternative or a middle ground was necessary to find. As meeting face-to-face became more challenging throughout the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, the events industry looked to technology to find a solution that would allow them to bring groups of people together.
‘Hybrid’ was a phrase already much used within the events industry; already having previous incarnations of ‘out of the room’ audiences, and virtual events. Hybrid events or multilingual hybrid events are the perfect solution for all this that effectively be held both on-site and virtually fulfilling everybody’s needs.
What is a Hybrid Event?
A hybrid event or Multilingual hybrid meeting is a tradeshow, conference, unconference, seminar, workshop, or other meeting that combines a “live” in-person event with a “virtual” online component with remote participants and interpreters.
A multilingual hybrid meeting refers to the amalgamation of hardware equipment and remote solutions that give participants the ability to connect to meetings or events from anywhere in the world. As a result, some attendees may be physically present in a conference room and others may be using their devices outside of the room (or even country) to follow and participate in the meeting. Hybrid events provide the same access and equal participation for attendees both on-site and remote, particularly where language interpretation is concerned.
How do You set up a Hybrid Meeting?
A hybrid meeting requires both a good physical venue and a tech stack for the virtual experience. Moreover, there are platforms that can make virtual, onsite, and multilingual hybrid meetings happen and thrive assisting you from the preparation stage to the last minute of your event. They interconnect the audience, speaker, interpreter, and all. For example, Interactio, Kudo, Zoom, etc.
What are the benefits?
- It offers audiences flexibility by combining physical and virtual spaces. it incurs the logistical requirements of both.
- With online audiences adding to your funds, hybrid events minimize the risk of planning costly physical events.
- More marketing opportunities.
- Increased Reach and Attendance.
- Better Sponsorship Opportunities.
- Seamless networking.
- Integration of other social media tools.
- Reduces the carbon footprint of the event.
How do You Engage the Audience for Multilingual Hybrid Meetings?
1. Create quizzes and Questionnaires- help your virtual audience and in-person audience to get more information about the topics and speakers, letting them ask and answer the questions before during, and after the event.
2. Encourage Voting during events- get your audience involved by creating fun live polls. They boost up the attention and engage your audience.
3. Communication- enable real-time chat between the attendees and the organizers. Encourage your audience to organize online meetups and to share similar interests with other like-minders and chat directly.
4. Engaging content- your content is arguably even more important at a hybrid event. Not only do your in-person attendees have to be engaged but your digital attendees should also be involved throughout the event. Make sure that all your presentations are engaging.
5. Appointments- enable virtual attendees to make appointments with exhibitors. This will attract them to the session.
To Wrap upFor many, hybrid offers ‘the best of both worlds, marrying the versatility and ease of online with the personality and engagement of live – and it’s never been more popular. A multilingual hybrid meeting is a solution where you no longer have to pick sides between in-person and online, software or hardware This is how a face-to-face event can be turned into a hybrid meeting without losing an audience, because, with multilingual hybrid meetings, you can have it all!