Opinion 31
Hybrid - the new live experience ?
Dave Harding-Lyle , strategic account director at Showcase details how his company is preparing for a hybrid future
How many times have we all been told “ you can ’ t have your cake and eat it ”? Well I ’ m pleased to say that when it comes to hybrid events , you can .
With everything our industry is going through , the ability to have an element of live with the approved number of delegates in person at your venue , combined with a live stream for your virtual audience , is a tempting proposition .
This could go some way to explaining why we at Showcase are seeing a dramatic rise in the number of enquiries for this type of event . Recent hybrid events that we ’ ve secured include : Local Government Association , McCarthy Stone and BlueFort Security , with many more in the pipeline .
As we all start getting back to another form of normal , clients are taking advantage of the new guidelines and beginning to appreciate the benefits of a hybrid option . The opportunity to have a real live audience is something most of our clients are craving , hence the increase in hybrid ’ s popularity . We were ahead of the curve on this one , as our experience told us that this shift was on the horizon , so we made sure all our ducks were in a row .
Obviously for hybrid you need a venue , which ideally should act as the live stream studio as well as hosting the event for your chosen audience .
We have two London-based hotels that provide us with both of these facilities , which makes for a more efficient , user-friendly experience for all involved . The fact that they are hotels means that the invited guests are treated to some amazing hospitality , which is never a bad thing .
Being hybrid means that you will have a virtual audience , so that requires an online platform and preferably one that recreates the live experience that the in-situ audience is enjoying .
Our bespoke platform , EVENT @ does that , alongside our ability to create engaging content .
We created it especially for the events industry , based on research and discussions with our clients . EVENT @ is available at an entry level model to which clients can add their own bolt-ons , so making it a truly bespoke offering .
How successful was the event , who liked what , who left early ? With the live audience segment of hybrid that ’ s easy to gauge , but not so with the virtual audience .
The good news is that our platform tracks the virtual audience ’ s movement whilst on the event , tracking what they have watched and for how long , as well as giving vital
“ THESE PROFESSIONAL REPORTS CAN THEN IN TURN BE PRESENTED TO SPONSORS , ENABLING THEM TO SEE THEIR RETURN ON INVESTMENT ”
information about the delegates themselves such as geographical location and job role .
The even better news is that we have created our own event specific software EVENTalytics , which turns all this information into post-show data that is easy to read and accessible .
EVENTalytics then gives event professionals what they really want , analytics of the data , presented in easy-to-adsorb reports , top level graphs and tables rather than lines and lines of raw data .
These enlightening professional reports can then in turn be presented to sponsors and stakeholders , enabling them to see their return on investment as well as being used to secure future event sponsorship .
I truly believe that hybrid events will have a permanent place in the events calendar improving the event reach into international attendees and new markets for client events .
Meanwhile , the live element gives you the opportunity to make the invited audience feel really special .