From a production perspective , this format felt like a TV broadcast event , rather than a traditional in-person conference , but this showed real benefits . The first three days consisted of a two-hour session from 10am to noon each day covering its own topic , with the final day being a full day of coverage . The benefit to this was that only a small portion of the working day was dedicated to the event , therefore the event did
not impact productivity nor interest .
The major challenge with the production was to adhere to the strict time schedule . This required discipline and was successfully achieved by tightly scripted rehearsals and running the event cue-to-cue . A professional show caller introduced a mix of live presentations , animations , video strings , and up to 10 hours of pre-recorded content .
The lectern-based presentations and the more relaxed couch-based discussions provided a contrast of dialogue . Interaction was achieved among both remote and live audiences using Slido polls and questions . The relaxed couch conversations provided a more inclusive feel on account of the more natural and easier-to-digest nature that they came with . Moreover , a recording of the event was also made available for on-demand viewing .
Why hybrid worked
With live audio mixing , we were able to swiftly cut to different people , locations , and mediums with ease , continually maintaining the dynamic feel of the event . This is where the hybrid nature of the event worked better than the traditional physical format . Numerous people were able to contribute to the conversation without it seeming like an endless stream of counterparts jumping up and down from the stage . Instead , a streamlined transition of seamless conversation was assembled , with the show-caller ’ s communications running in real time over the internet to technicians at each of the various locations across Europe .
From an observer ’ s point of view , you could see that everyone was engaged . The content was kept short , with no one individual speaking for much more than five to 10 minutes at a time . In a physical environment , this short , sharp delivery is significantly more difficult to execute due to various factors such as transition times on and off stage and natural human factors .
Consequently , having a rolling turnover of speakers presenting for as little as two minutes becomes too fast for a physical set-up and results in a clunky and disjointed event . In addition to this , the hybrid format meant that the production was able to cut people in efficiently and effectively across multiple locations .
The end result : two hours of content that flowed effortlessly . CN www . conference-news . co . uk