Being an Experience Maker in the Digital Integration Era

Overview:

The word “hybrid” is thrown around a lot right now in the event world…  but what does it really mean? A hybrid event is essentially a live event, with in-room presenters and an in-room audience – but there is a digitally integrated component. Perhaps some presenters are going to be presenting remotely and/or part of the audience will be jointing remotely.

A positive result of the global pandemic is that we now have a greater understanding of how we can better engage and grow our audiences. Both live and remote audiences have access to additional options that may have not previously been available, all while offering a similar level of engagement and educational experience regardless of how they participate. 

Pre-Event:

Don't just plan for the day. Instead, think about how you can be more holistic in your approach. In terms of creative content, there are a lot of opportunities to "up your game" both in advance and during the event. 

Leading up to your event, think about how you can utilize creative content and creative strategies. Ask yourself, “Is the team taking care of the marketing in advance also involved with the team creating the content for the actual live event?”

Think about how you can generate excitement leading up to your event. How can you involve your online community, using tools like Yammer or traditional social media, in the conversation?

During the Event:

Don't just use the technology for the sake of using the technology.

New digital integration should be empowering planners to have more tools in their toolkit. By exploring different ways to design the event, you can aim to simulate the same fanfare and engagement for the remote audience as you plan to do for the live audience. Event platforms, such as Chime Live, can help tie everything together.

The event platform can be a second screen technology for the in-person audience, keeping them focused with what is on screen in the room, to coincide with a fully produced and rehearsed virtual experience for the remote audience. This can keep attendees engaged and reduce the need for the live audience to be checking personal mobiles as a distraction. 

The main challenge planners are facing right now is budgeting for the additional technology and technical support that is needed to move their events from a traditional in-person experience to a fully hybrid event. Ask yourself this, “why does it need to be made available in real time? Can it be pre-recorded and made available later?” The answer really depends on the objective or outcome that you're trying to achieve. 

Hybrid Event Checklist

Find an event technology partner that is not trying to simply sell you the technology. Find one that wants to collaborate on the event experience that you are creating. It is all about heightening the attendee experience, and the technology features are just tools to extend it remotely when there is a requirement to do so. 

Post Event:

Events can live on through On Demand content. This can be a better return on investment for attendees, as they no longer have to choose which session they will attend, and which sessions to miss out on. Attendees will be able to attend live sessions, and then catch anything they have missed through On Demand content which is something you can consider to include in the registration price.

Digital event analytics available through platform providers can showcase the personalized interests of both the live and remote attendees – where they clicked, peak viewership, etc. The rich amount of data available is useful to help plan and give attendees more of what they liked the next time.

Wrap Up:

For events in 2022 and beyond, we can use the key takeaways from our lessons learned over the past two years. Look for opportunities to increase the event budget through new event sponsorship. If you already have an event platform and a creative strategy in place, now you have sponsor opportunity that reaches beyond just the live event day.

Maybe one day a hybrid event won't be called a hybrid event, and it will just become a standardized part of the meetings and events landscape. We can really reach a lot more people through this new creative strategy and technological innovation, and finally be off to the races!

Name and designations: 
Name: Disa-marie Cameron
Position: Account Manager 
Employer: Encore Canada 
Joined MPI in: 2017

Contact information: 
Email: disa.cameron@encoreglobal.com 
Linked IN: Disa Cameron - Virtual Events Professional, Account Manager, & Tech Goddess!

 Article edited by Cynthia Beaudin, Canada Foundation for Innovation