COVID-19 brought challenges to various industries. However, companies rose to these challenges and unleashed their innovativeness to continue striving and operating. Hosting company events is one of these challenges. It gave way to the increase of virtual events due to health and safety restrictions. But, with these restrictions gradually relaxing, there are now companies that have their events in person.
However, it doesn’t mean that the virtual events are going away anytime soon. They are here to stay. If you are having a company event and want attendees to come in person and cater to those who cannot be there for some reason, a hybrid event is the best solution. A hybrid event is a combination of a face-to-face and virtual event. There are several benefits to this, such as:
- Getting more attendees to join in
- Reaching more people, especially those who are far from the venue
- Getting more sponsors as they too can reach more audience
- Carbon footprint will be lower too
If you want to have a hybrid event for your company, here are some tips to make it successful.
Market the event and have a registration
Like any other event, you need to let your target audience know about it. Advertise the event on various platforms, including social media, email, and printouts. Ask attendees to register and choose if they will attend in person or virtually. Do this way before the actual event to ensure you can accommodate them all. For instance, if you expect to have a small number of attendees at the venue, there is no need to get a big place. However, if you expect a large crowd, you may get a bigger place and prepare entertainment that will let them enjoy. For instance, you can hire funfair rides and game stalls for an exciting and fun event. It’s a sure way to entertain attendees. You can visit https://www.wearetricycle.co.uk/ to see your options on the funfair equipment to hire.
Make the experience engaging to both personal and virtual attendees
Getting the full attention of your audience can be challenging, and it’s even tougher if you are hosting both for personal and virtual attendees. Incorporating ice breakers, Q&As and games in between talks and presentations are a great way to keep the audience with you. Let the virtual attendees participate too by letting them comment in the live video. Include them in the games as well. For example, you may ask them to take a picture of them holding a specific object, and the first to send the photo wins.
Have a representative to interact or assist with the virtual attendees
During the Q&A portion or the actual talk, it’s easier to interact with the audience who are in the venue. However, the virtual attendees shouldn’t be left out. Appoint a representative to read what the virtual participants have to say and interact with them. Then, the representative answers their questions or asks the panels or the person doing the talk for them.
Since it’s a hybrid event, people from around the world can participate. There may be differences in time zone, so have a recorded video ready to watch whenever they are available.