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How Corporate Event Planners are Transitioning into Hybrid Meetings

How Corporate Event Planners are Transitioning into Hybrid Meetings

by | Apr 22, 2021 | Hybrid Meetings

Restrictions on travel and in-person meetings are lifting, but uncertainty still exists for the event industry. For much of 2020, and even in 2021, corporate meeting planners had to quickly pivot to virtual meeting platforms, if not cancel long-planned events. Hybrid meetings will likely bring large gatherings back into the public space and may become the new normal for the corporate meetings industry.

Thankfully, this last year has helped shorten the learning curve, improve the technology, and built a foundation for best practices in the virtual and hybrid meeting arena. Virtual and hybrid events will continue to be elevated in their capabilities and acceptance.

Finding Solutions

Event planners will need to rely on their never-ending resourcefulness and creativity, just as always, just in the new meeting normal. This means that understanding live, virtual and hybrid events is more critical than ever. Understanding the benefits of each event type to best match client needs is vital. From there, using the right tools becomes the foundation of the event.

In live events, this could look like having the right team and venue. In virtual and hybrid events, it is critical to have an effective digital platform. For example, Zoom, one of many AMI partners, offers meetings for under 1,000 participants and webinars for up to 50,000. They also integrate with marketing softwares like Hubspot, payment portals like PayPal, and even transcription services.

Being Creative and Engaging

Don’t shy away from virtual tradeshows, keynotes, live entertainment, or town-hall-style panels. Technology and production teams are dedicated to hosting nearly anything virtually or through combined live and virtual hybrid presentations.

Regardless of the type of event, creativity and a focus on participant engagement help the event be successful. Understanding the target audience, using good pacing and/or layout, an engaging master of ceremonies, event swag, and opportunities to connect are all part of this engagement piece.

(Read this interview with AMI Partner Jason Alpert on why and how to hire a master of ceremonies for virtual events.)

Promoting Wider

One benefit of virtual and hybrid events is the ability to market and promote them outside a specific location while not requiring participant (or speaker) travel. Utilize QR codes to drive those engaging with tangible marketing materials online for information and registration.

Seamlessly connect registration and attendance for security and valuable data gathering, such as surveys, polls, and feedback forms.

Event planners, if you need support in building your hybrid production skills and teams to better prepare for virtual and hybrid events, AMI can help. Contact us today for more information.

5 Benefits and Challenges of Combining Live and Virtual Experiences for a Hybrid Meeting Model

5 Benefits and Challenges of Combining Live and Virtual Experiences for a Hybrid Meeting Model

by | Mar 25, 2021 | Hybrid Meetings, In-Person Meetings, Virtual Meetings

If 2020 was the year of virtual meetings, it looks like 2021 might be the year of hybrid solutions as we begin to reconnect in person. With this shift comes some challenges as well as exciting benefits of the virtual combination of live and digital meeting experiences.

Hybrid Meeting Benefit: Smaller Crowds, Larger Attendance

Large-scale live meetings will likely be slow to return this year. With hybrid meetings and events, however, smaller clusters of groups can meet in a variety of locations to boost attendance without the risk of travel or large gatherings that many are still leery of in a post-pandemic world.

In the case of our client Stratus, they used a hybrid model of combining virtual and live meeting components to support the need for in-person training. A 100% virtual option was not sufficient for their national sales meeting, so technology was used to stream the general sessions to sales teams located in six U.S. locations where their sales team could safely travel the short distance. Small groups of a dozen team members each were able to safely get together for team building, training, and product launch information sharing while social distancing.

READ THE CASE STUDY HERE

Hybrid Meeting Challenge: IT & Security

A remote workforce interacting on virtual platforms can mean less control over client information, meeting access, and an increase in cyber threats. Creating processes for how information is accessed and shared across an organization is a priority in a hybrid meeting situation. Thankfully, the need has been presented and solutions created, often by the platform providers themselves.

Verifying users and participants can help control hacks and disruptions, and there must be a balance between attracting attendees and protecting data. With strong controls and systems in place, AMI has never had a data or security breach and neither should your organization.

Suggested reading: “How to Hack-Proof Your Virtual Event”

Hybrid Meeting Benefit: Built-in Technology

Because the demand for video conferencing and work-from-home platforms have dramatically increased in a short period of time, technology has been forced to improve. In the past, virtual meetings were often limited to corporate or business use, but now collaboration platforms like Zoom feature background noise reduction, appearance enhancement, low light adjustment, and high-fidelity music for almost any kind of meeting.

Large virtual events have also evolved to include more accessible technology that offers TV-quality production to increase engagement and interest. We’ve all learned in the last year how to use technology in new ways, and this comfort level is equipping us to take it to the next level in terms of registration, interactivity, production, and more.

Hybrid Meeting Challenge: Thinking Creatively

Tradeshows, demonstrations, swag… there are things we have come to expect from live events that will need to be managed more creatively. Again, services exist to support virtual and hybrid events, but it takes innovative solutions to garner attendee engagement.

Suggested reading: “7 Tips for Planning a Virtual or Live Tradeshow”

Pre-sending swag to meeting attendees helps build comradery even when distanced. Using break-out rooms and live streams can help facilitate demonstrations, networking, Q&A sessions, and more. Even delivering your attendees a delicious lunchtime meal enhances their virtual experience.  Best practices for bringing live and virtual components to hybrid events will continue to evolve through the next year and beyond.

Hybrid Meeting Benefit: Cost Effectiveness

Virtual events can help reduce the expense of large venues, travel, and staffing. Using budget spend on more powerful AV, production, and attendee swag is the way to successful hybrid meetings. Use less space, limit the need for on-site staff, and reach a broader audience by allowing guests to participate in-person or remotely.

Local events can now promote on a larger scale to attract attendees where travel may have prevented attendance in the past. For many organizations, a hybrid meeting model can allow for more cost-effective production, with just as much bang as a fully live event.