Hybrid events: the new trend inherited from the pandemic
Until now, digital and virtual solutions had been of little use in the event industry when it came to interactions between attendees, but the global pandemic changed the rules of the game.
If face-to-face meetings have always been perceived as the most powerful way to generate engagement, it’s simply because the entire event ecosystem was first conceived in physical mode and not digital. How can we turn this around and create memorable experiences from a distance? Halfway between the physical and the virtual, event hybridization could well be the answer as hybrid events combine the best of both worlds.
What are the advantages of a hybrid event?
– Multiply the audience: this type of event allows you to reach a larger audience by combining on-site participants with virtual participants. This triggers a new relationship with a larger community. The reach of the event is then much more important.
– Enrich the storytelling: it’s about staging two event paths in the same event. There is the experience of the participant in the room and the experience of the participant in a remote location, and your storytelling is there to create a synergy between these two experiences.
– Benefit from the durability of the content: the implementation of a hybrid event makes it easier to record the event and select highlights to be reused later online to multiply the content according to the targets.
“Hybridization is a responsible and sustainable solution that amplifies messages and engages audiences on a larger scale.”
Caroline Masse, head of the events division at Oxygen, WIN representative in France.
– Optimize target satisfaction and engagement: this type of event can benefit from a VIP and small group aspect for face-to-face participants, and engage an online target through the use of interactive features (adapted content, networking, interactivity). The participants’ experience can be fully customized according to their profile.
– Gain in Responsibility: hybridization means reducing the number of physical participants and therefore having a positive impact on mobility: less transportation-linked emissions, fewer logistics (catering, etc.), smaller venues, etc.
“It’s an enhanced event experience that requires relevance, creativity and innovation in its format…so that two scenarios, face-to-face and remote, meet subtly.”
Caroline Masse.
Thus, being halfway between the physical and the virtual, the hybridization of an event seems to be the answer to the current constraints of our society. Even if the “phygital” will never replace a physical gathering, it has become a valued and viable alternative.