Opinion 15
We ’ ve reached a hybrid crossroads
Chris Clipston , MD at Circdata discusses hybrid strategies for combining live and online events
As I write this , the anticipation is killing me as I am sure it is for us all ! Much like the nerves England fans feel each time the team walks out for a match in every Euro or World Cup tournament ; will they do it this time ? Will Boris lift all the restrictions on 21 of June ?
The hospitality and entertainment industries are desperate for it ; and so are we . When the doors are thrown open to events with no restrictions in place , it will be time to celebrate . And get back to the day job .
Once those doors are open , though , how are we going to seamlessly combine and service both our physical and virtual audiences ?
The pandemic has changed our sector beyond all recognition in the space of 18 months .
Prior to it , the majority of exhibition and conference organisers didn ’ t have an online audience . Now they have , it is clear the virtual offering extends an audience in numbers and geography . But will it impact the return of physical event attendees ?
Taking personal preference aside – as there will be many attendees who aren ’ t ready to return face-to-face yet and we can ’ t control that – what can organisers do to build back up their onsite attendance whilst providing a digital element that doesn ’ t affect this number ?
Not only that , how can organisers cope with the costs of a physical and a digital element , and how can they manage the data across both , ensuring they gain actionable insight ?
What we have seen our clients do well during the last year is to focus on generating content year-round for their attendees . Whether this be news , reports , white papers , webinars or broadcasting their conference agendas online .
The term ‘ attendees ’ has quickly evolved into ‘ community ’. Not because it is the new fad word ; there is more value in an engaged community .
Curating an event community has been the goal of organisers across the land for many years ; and the pandemic , for all the challenges it threw up , fast-tracked this achievement .
A hybrid platform can be utilised to drive physical attendees as its number one priority .
Consider why your community should leave the comfort of their home ? What experience can you provide that they cannot stream ? Allow visitors to plan their physical experiences by providing behavioural-based recommendations . Provide pre-event booking for at-show meetings . This can then be extended to virtual meetings after the physical event .
While there is an additional cost to service the digital audience , a virtual offering extends the reach of not only the number of attendees , but the benefits to sponsors and exhibitors .
It offers more value in their package that goes beyond just the show dates . Attendees engage with the digital platform much longer , offering more opportunities for vendors to generate leads and business relationships . A hybrid platform should be able to clearly show exhibitors where their leads came from and when , and what engagements – digital or physical – the attendee has had with them .
Data has been and always will be critical . In the same vein that we built our platform to give organisers a single customer view of their attendees across multiple events in their portfolio , Circdata ’ s Fusion platform ensures organisers have a clear view of their physical and virtual attendees , including all their engagements across both channels .
The attendees themselves can log in after they attend the physical event to refresh their knowledge , download content and pick up where they left off conversations with exhibitors and fellow attendees . Organisers have visibility of all this data in one single access point .
So , what place can digital play after the event ? A digital platform should provide the visitor with a timeline of their physical engagements after the event so they can reflect . With large exhibitions there are always features you never have time to engage with . A hybrid platform can enable the continuation of your physical event , generating more seminar views , exhibitor leads and ROI to the visitor .
In essence , the digital event not only extends the opportunities for enhanced engagement , lead capture , and behavioural insight into a community , it crucially offers a better user journey for attendees .