Event Technology, Engagement, Experience: The Three Pillars of A Hybrid Event Budget

One of the three pillars of your budget and the foundation of any hybrid event is top-notch event technology that not only perfectly performs in both the live and virtual settings, but also connects in-person and virtual audiences as if they were together in the same venue.

Whether you choose to have a large in-person audience or a handful of physical attendees, the live segment of your event will need a certain amount of audio visual equipment that are adapted to the venue itself and provide the same quality of technology that you would ensure for any live audience. The virtual part of your event comes with its own set of AV gear that works specifically for your remote audience. The live stream input and output will require equipment that is separate from your live set-up, such as extra cameras, mixing, virtual platform, etc.

Without question, event technology serves as the bridge between your two types of audiences, as well as your presenters and MCs, and if it does not perform perfectly, your event’s engagement levels will drop, and the overall experience that people take away will be mediocre at best. Many clients make the mistake of assuming that hybrid events need minimal technical input for the virtual aspect, or worse, have a long list of requirements but do not consider the price tags attached to those, and create an event budget that puts technology providers and event producers in a tight spot: the less resources they have to work with or can afford to fit into the budget, be it equipment or human labor, the more difficult it is – if not impossible – for any AV company to provide the level of technology that  creates the event experience you desire.

In reality, expenses for the following elements absolutely must be built into any hybrid event budget:

Conclusion

Every cent you invest in the right event technology and the people that make it work, will pay you in dividends by helping you reach a much larger audience than you ever could with an in-person event. Bringing your virtual attendees closer to your live audience through technology, and connecting and engaging with them in a meaningful way while providing them with glitch-free, high quality content will create an event experience that will not only increase your ROI but also your value for your potential customers. 

At a hybrid event engaging your audience in a meaningful way cannot happen without robust AV technology backing you up, which involves providing glitch-free live streams, high-quality audio and video feed, troubleshooting, platform management, running a studio set-up for a virtual host, etc. All of this is imperative because what no client must forget is that treating in-person and virtual attendees as equals in terms of importance and involvement is the number one rule of hybrid events. A live audience can stay actively engaged throughout most of the event thanks to the constant interaction, impulses, and activities, but this is not the case of attendees who can log off at any time. This means that creating your budget, your agenda, and your content must be done with digital on your mind. Digital-first thinking allows you to factor in a range of tools and event elements that help you keep the focus of your online attendees, who have a different attention span thank your in-person audience due to real-time, face-to-face interaction.

Hybrid events have created, and will continue to create as technology continuously evolves, a brilliant opportunity for event planners, organizers, and AV professionals to come up with new and previously unthinkable ways to engage live and virtual audiences with each other, with the presenters, with sponsors, and with you. What feels like a completely new and perhaps unnecessary direction for events to take, will very soon become the natural way to connect with people, and it allows you to reach new target audiences that you did not have easy access to, if at all.

So how can you budget for engagement? By planning for costs that help facilitate it:

• Hire a virtual host who specifically focuses on engaging with your online audience and makes sure that you still have their attention even between sessions, or during times when your in-person attendees are off doing something that they are not able to, such as having lunch  and coffee breaks. Your host is able to connect your physical and virtual audiences with each other in a meaningful way, and can interact with presenters as well, asking them questions that your online attendees may have or even bring them into a live Q&A session via video chat.
• Budget for content creation to keep engagement alive! Prepare video content – informative, educative, entertaining, or a mix of all three – to bridge gaps in the agenda.
• Entertainment is another great way to maintain engagement levels during down-times, and will be appreciated by both of your audiences: pre-recorded or live musical, performance, or comedy acts work like a charm not just for in-person, but also hybrid events.
• Invest in virtual tools that help facilitate engagement! Virtual platforms usually come with a range of built-in tools you can add to your package, but you can always ask for the advice of your event production partners to help recommend you features that are useful and can be managed seamlessly during your hybrid event. Incorporating functions such as a mobile app, Q&As, live chats, polls, social media walls, sweepstakes, competitions, and gamification allows your audience, physical and remote alike, to actively engage in networking throughout the entire event. There are virtual meeting tools that allow you to incorporate scheduled one-on-one meetings between physical and online attendees (as well as with sponsors), which can elevate the networking opportunities you offer to a whole new level!

Conclusion

Engaging two audiences at the same time a hybrid event is a challenging task that requires immense preparation, creativity, and it does come with a price tag – but the payoff will be worth every dime if you create a cohesive and memorable event experience for all of your attendees. Just like with event technology, investing in ways to engage your audiences is a fail-safe way to ensure your event’s success.

In the end, it all comes down to the event experience. In the industry we often paraphrase the famous quote by Maya Angelou and say that ultimately people may not remember what you said or did at your event, but they will always remember how it made them feel. If you dedicate the necessary resources and put in the effort to create something memorable, your attendees will not forget it. Sadly it is also true if they leave with the feeling that the event left much to be desired.

Besides meticulous preparation and testing, professional delivery and great content, it will be applying all the right event technology and creating deep, meaningful audience engagement will be what sets your hybrid event apart from the rest. Combining all of these elements will help you build a well-rounded and versatile event experience that will make your attendees, live and virtual alike, want to return  to your next event, most likely in person.

There are more ways to create the experience that your audience desires:

• Make sure that the health and safety standards you apply are impeccable. Investing a little more in making sure that your in-person audience feels taken care of will go a long way in making a lasting impression. Signage (digital or physical), sanitation stations, manuals, pre-packaged food, etc. are all features that many hybrid events have been implementing with success over the past year, and new creative ideas are popping up every day to help your in-person attendees feel safe and relaxed at the same time.
• Contingency plans are a must when you plan any event, and we have learned that circumstances may change at the drop of a hat. With hybrid events the risk of cancellation is significantly lower, and due to the blend of in-person and virtual elements you are able to quickly pivot your event to solely virtual without sacrificing your content. Setting aside expenses in your budget for unforeseen circumstances will help you smoothly make changes or transition into virtual (or solely in-person) and cover any last-minute cancellation costs for services.
• If you have a hefty event budget with a lot of room to incorporate extra elements, consider upgrading your virtual element to an immersive, xR (extended reality) based experience that will blow the minds of your virtual audience, as well as impress your physical attendees. While xR virtual production is at the highest price point in terms of AV technology, it is swiftly becoming one of the most desired features to use by large multinational corporations.