1:01

welcome back to not the same as last

1:03

year the podcast where we put attendees

1:06

at the center of everything we do in

1:08

business events before I start I want to

1:11

apologize for my slightly stuffy tones

1:14

I've got a bad hand called so ignore the

1:16

dalc sounding voice because today I want

1:19

to talk about what I think is a real

1:21

game changer when it comes to

1:23

prioritizing the attendee and that is

1:26

hybrid events I believe these events

1:29

combin The Best of Both Worlds in person

1:33

and virtual they create what we all

1:35

really want from our events a truly

1:38

inclusive and engaging experience

1:40

because guess who benefits the most your

1:42

attendees And yet when I mention the

1:45

word hybrid in a room full of event

1:48

professionals I do get a little bit of a

1:50

mixed response hybrid events seem to be

1:53

a bit like Marite you know the British

1:56

spread that sort of brown yeasty weird

1:59

stuff that we put on our toast you

2:02

either love it or you hate it guess what

2:04

I love Marmite I am your Marmite loving

2:07

hybrid event adoring MC but let's leave

2:11

Mite to the side because the reason I am

2:14

such a proponent of hrid is because it

2:16

literally puts the attendee at the heart

2:19

of the event business event attendees

2:22

now have more choices than ever before

2:25

and they therefore want to go to events

2:27

and they pick the events that they

2:29

believe are worth their time and money

2:32

and that means we've got to offer them

2:34

options we've got to be as inclusive as

2:36

possible we can all imagine someone who

2:39

is unable to travel due to either budget

2:42

constraints health concerns family

2:46

obligations sustainability rules at

2:48

their business about how many events

2:49

they can go to Etc now a hybrid event is

2:52

going to mean that they can come and

2:54

participate virtually connect with this

2:56

content and the speakers and the brand

2:58

holding the event

3:01

and hybrid to me isn't just about

3:02

technology it's about a tendy Centric

3:06

design you are going to reach a wider

3:08

audience by removing barriers to entry

3:12

you let this wider audience regardless

3:14

of where they are how much money they

3:16

have anything else going on someone who

3:18

can't travel comes participates

3:21

virtually and of course those who attend

3:23

in person will get a very special

3:26

experience now we all know by now that

3:30

the in-person interaction is the special

3:32

source for most people and is the reason

3:35

why most attendees are going to make the

3:37

effort to travel to an in-person event

3:40

so if you think about it hybrid events

3:42

can actually Elevate the inperson

3:45

experience I want you to imagine an

3:48

event strategy with both virtual and

3:52

inperson components the inperson events

3:55

become very exclusive experiences that

3:57

focus on high value activities

4:00

like workshops like networking like Ono

4:03

one meetings eyeballs meeting together

4:06

in a room talking attendees can access

4:10

educational content like Keynotes for

4:12

example virtually beforehand which means

4:15

that in the inperson live event as is

4:18

time for deeper discussion and

4:19

collaboration and of course if you've

4:22

invested in audience engagement tools

4:24

like polls and Q&A features and breakout

4:26

rooms those virtual attendees who also

4:29

access the educational content can

4:31

remain engaged and talking to each other

4:33

and part of it all even if they've not

4:35

come to that sort of exclusive imperson

4:38

event so you think about it everyone is

4:41

accessing educational content beforehand

4:44

and then using the inperson event to

4:46

network participate in discussions and

4:48

build relationships but there's still

4:49

that going on virtually as well okay so

4:52

it's not going to be possible in all

4:54

situations I get that but if you really

4:57

consider at the inperson event you're

4:59

are going to be ditching the passive

5:01

lectures turning everything that's in

5:03

person into very interactive kind of

5:05

workshops discussions and that really

5:07

leverages the power of the face-to-face

5:10

interaction I want you to picture to

5:12

imagine your attendees that are coming

5:14

together to build on the knowledge that

5:16

they've already gained virtually so that

5:18

they have this really Dynamic engaging

5:21

inperson experience now common fear is

5:24

that hybrid events could technically

5:26

translate to fewer people coming in

5:29

person

5:30

and I don't agree that this is

5:31

necessarily the case because I think you

5:33

need to think about hybrid is allowing

5:35

you to focus quality over quantity in

5:38

person defense it makes them more

5:41

valuable because it's not about giant

5:43

crowds and crammed agendas instead you

5:46

are potentially focusing on high quality

5:48

networking opportunities oneto one

5:50

meetings this kind of interactivity the

5:53

workshops I talk about the seminars

5:55

where people are building all the

5:56

content and discussing and co-creating

5:58

and really getting involved

6:00

so actually then everyone gets the most

6:02

out of their travel and their investment

6:03

in the time to come to your event and

6:05

they have this really intimate focused

6:08

experience I'm going to make a statement

6:10

now hybrid is achievable and budget

6:13

friendly when I'm trying to get you to

6:15

realize is that hybrid doesn't have to

6:18

be scary or

6:20

expensive it's more about having a

6:22

hybrid strategy if you like for your

6:24

event year so instead of solely focusing

6:27

on hybrid events for example May we

6:29

discuss the implementation of a hybrid

6:32

strategy so it will be things like

6:36

marketing teams are often doing already

6:37

they're employing mixed formats such as

6:40

inperson virtual or a combo of the two

6:42

to create the right experiences for

6:44

their business so every event has a

6:47

specific objective whether it is

6:49

building a community providing training

6:51

disseminating content driving sales

6:54

whatever it could be and the chosen

6:56

format would then align with your

6:58

client's desired relation ship with

7:00

their customers or audience so it meets

7:01

them where they are so therefore it's

7:04

really important that you select a

7:05

format based on a specific objective and

7:07

target audience rather than go okay well

7:10

we're going to do virtual because it's

7:11

cheaper or more cost effec it well more

7:13

people will come that way and of course

7:15

if you do this you're going to have to

7:16

choose the right platform factors like

7:19

scalability interactivity features and

7:22

the ease of use for both you and your

7:23

attendees are going to differ and you'll

7:25

need to develop a communication strategy

7:29

so that means being clear with both your

7:31

virtual and your in-person attendees

7:32

about the format of this event what

7:34

their specific experiences will entail

7:37

and really advise against using terms

7:40

like hybrid and virtual because

7:41

everybody has their own interpretations

7:44

of what that means they might not

7:46

actually be that correct now because

7:48

what is now available in the marketplace

7:50

the technology that can help you deliver

7:52

these events will be very different from

7:54

what people have experienced for example

7:56

if your attendees only went to pretty

7:58

crap virtual events and that's what

7:59

they're going to understand from virtual

8:02

but the technology available now can

8:04

really allow pretty incredible

8:05

experiences and I have witnessed a lots

8:08

of different virtual and hybrid events

8:11

and inperson events of course over the

8:14

past few years I have hosted many and I

8:16

even have had the pleasure of Hosting

8:18

several times an extended reality stage

8:20

for a digital multihub event that

8:24

immersive experience was truly

8:26

remarkable and it really bridged both

8:28

the physical and virtual Realms but

8:31

obviously it was expensive it was big

8:33

budget but the point is I'm really

8:35

thrilled when I see clients embracing

8:38

the idea of a mixed format event

8:40

strategy because it's not only more

8:42

profitable for them as they can reach a

8:44

broader audience but is actually also

8:46

beneficial for the environment and it

8:47

promotes inclusivity because there's no

8:50

barrier to attendance and the investment

8:52

in the event materials from outstanding

8:55

in-person events and indeed these

8:57

multihub events is all being repurposed

9:00

and monetized and the opportunities for

9:02

data Gathering and using that data are

9:04

more extensive I love the variety as

9:07

different event formats allow me to

9:09

Showcase all my hosting

9:11

skills however as I've said some of

9:14

those events were very expensive and we

9:16

can't ignore the cost and added

9:18

complexity that comes with making

9:21

something a hybrid event now I believe

9:23

adding a digital element to All Live

9:26

Events is just going to become the norm

9:28

but it may still be a very gradual

9:30

process for many organizations some of

9:32

my clients returned after the pandemic

9:35

to inperson only events and they're not

9:37

shifted and it is interesting to hear

9:39

their perspectives about why I'd love to

9:41

know how you're finding it at your

9:43

organization as well and even if hybrid

9:47

to you is simply filming your imperson

9:50

event sharing it afterwards or setting

9:52

up a live stream for virtual attendees

9:54

you are still helping more people to get

9:57

involved to come to your event in some

9:59

form or other you are being more

10:02

inclusive attendees love this because

10:04

they can participate from anywhere in

10:06

the world accessibility is covered it is

10:09

flexible they can choose the format the

10:11

best suits their needs where they are at

10:12

that time it is valuable because they

10:15

will get access to both inperson and

10:17

virtual content of course it's

10:19

sustainable people will reduce their

10:21

carbon footprint if they can only attend

10:23

virtually and you are making it as

10:26

engaging as you can people can go beyond

10:28

the passive learning and participate

10:31

actively I do believe that hybrid events

10:33

are the future they put your attendees

10:35

first and that's what it's all about so

10:38

if this episode has done little more

10:39

than make hybrid less terrifying for at

10:41

least one event planner I will sleep

10:44

better as a result I'd love to know

10:47

please share how you are already doing

10:50

this or how you are planning to

10:51

incorporate hybrid elements into your

10:54

events and join in next episode where

10:56

we're going to be exploring how you can

10:58

help your spe speakers enter the

11:00

attendee first era of business events so

11:03

it's called event speakers from Runway

11:05

lecturers to engaging facilitators and

11:07

it's available next

11:14

week