Experiencing hybrid
Digital Event News editor , Mike Fletcher shares his experience as a hybrid delegate , attending Glisser ’ s Hybrid Events Ignited
It ’ s perhaps strange but Hybrid Events
Ignited - Glisser ’ s recent dual location conference blended with an engaging online audience experience , only felt real to me once I saw delegates arrive in London and have their temperatures taken .
The act of taking someone ’ s temperature as they arrive at a venue ( whether it be a restaurant , stadium or office block ) has become so normalised that it ’ s now almost synonymous with the promise of a safe visitor experience .
If someone had pointed a hand-held temperature gun at my forehead at any time prior to March 2020 , I ’ m sure I would have backed away slowly and tried a different restaurant . This is however , the world we now live in . For conferences and business events to happen safely , we not only need to have measures in place to provide reassurance that the live environment is a ‘ safe space ’ to be , we also need to provide an online ‘ safe space ’ for a much broader reach and an alternative attendee experience .
Exactly what this blend of in-person and online will look like has been the subject of much discussion , editorials and webinars for a while now . So it was fascinating to see Glisser drive the narrative by acting brave and staging its own version of what a hybrid could look and act like .
The decision to stage Hybrid Events Ignited at etc . venues on both sides of the Atlantic and through the Glisser platform appeared even braver when I saw the complex , high-spec set-up of cameras and production desk at the back of the London room , primed to transmit and receive between New York , the UK capital and the virtual events platform .
It ’ s one thing to be a conduit for online presentations and on-demand content but when you add television production values into the staging mix , the evolution of events may well appear quite daunting .
It ’ s reassuring to know therefore that the events industry is resolute and prepared , with production suppliers , speakers and moderators having up-skilled themselves to embrace this new way of working .
Samme Allen , Glisser ’ s London anchor did a superb job of marshalling virtual speakers and her New York counterpart , while keeping energy levels high in London , the live audience engaged , questions from the virtual viewer flowing and the auto-cue rolling .
Audience engagement tricks ranged from surprising a New York in-person delegate with a Tiffany necklace hidden under their chair to encouraging poll interactions and virtual participation .
When the in-person audiences in New York and London paused for coffee and networking , the US virtual audience was treated to morning online exercise classes . While in between sessions , everyone got to have a play with the virtual / physical photobooth tool , which when the faces appeared on the stage screens , helped as an added reminder of how broad the audience was outside the London conference room .
The secret sauce to successful hybrid events will certainly be in venue infrastructure and their ability to cope with the bandwidth and technical requirements of planners serving multiple audiences . At Hybrid Events Ignited in London , etc . venues certainly delivered on that front and I ’ m sure a plethora of conference rooms have already been rigorously testing their connectivity so that they don ’ t fall short when faced with a similar brief .
As for the London attendees - they arrived at Hybrid Events Ignited and had a temperature gun pointed at their forehead but they each left with a bottle of Champagne , having witnessed not only the thoughts and opinions of global event industry leaders on the potential for this evolved format , but also having experienced it for themselves .
As one delegate told me on the way out , “ it doesn ’ t matter anymore how you engage with an event , if everyone is given that level of personalised experience to suit their preferred environment , venue walls will disappear , timezones will dissolve and content will emerge as the overall winner .”