NEVER LET A GOOD CRISIS GO TO WASTE (W. Churchill)
The way in which we meet people, give them information and entertain them has changed forever. For the past 2 years, companies all over the world have been looking for new solutions that enable them to get their message across in the best possible way. New ways of meeting have been created, as well as new ways of organising events. In addition to all of the misery that the Covid-19 crisis has brought with it, the pandemic has also laid the foundations for making online hybrid events more accessible than they have ever been.
That fear that we all used to have of meeting one another online has disappeared now and everything has stepped up a gear in terms of speed. As a result, we find ourselves technologically at a level that, theoretically, we wouldn’t have reached until much later.
SPOILERALERT: A Zoom meeting is not a hybrid event
As is always the case with new terms and buzzwords, after a while people begin to use them in the wrong way. This also applies to the word ‘hybrid’. All too often we see business e-mails in which hardware or software is promoted in the form of ‘hybrid solutions’. Yet much of this information barely even comes close to what constitutes a genuine hybrid.
REFRESHING
Hybrid events or meetings are simply a mix of live and virtual events. You take your standard live event, complete with an audience, content, technology (video, IT, audio, lighting and structures) and so on, and you add a virtual component that enables you to reach your audience and allow them to participate. That way, they can become involved in what’s going on, regardless of where they happen to be. Engagement is the essential ingredient in hybrid events, although it also presents new challenges at the same time.
Hybrid events and meetings combine all of the elements of live and virtual interaction between live or virtual presenters, as well as involving people who are taking part in the event in person or virtually.
HYBRID IS HERE TO STAY
So, has all the experience of hybrid that we have gained to date – whether we wanted to or not – been for nothing as we approach the joys of our impending freedom? Definitely not! Live face-to-face events will certainly come back, of course, although possibly not in the form that we can now barely remember. No, the reality is that the new technology we have surrounded ourselves with will continue to exist as an essential part of live events – while also offering the indispensable added value of live events. The main reasons for this are cost controls and time management, as well as – and to no lesser extent – the globalisation of both target audiences and potential speakers. The ultimate result will be more valuable and more attractive events.
100% LIVE IS EXPENSIVE
Strong live events stand or fall by the quality of the act they present, which in this instance usually means the level of the speakers. However, good speakers are expensive; they tend not to live nearby and are not always willing to travel halfway round the world to deliver a 30-minute talk. Which translates to eye-watering invoices from speakers and costly travel and hotel expenses on top.
By making your live event a hybrid event, you can:
- Make huge savings on travel expenses by having your speakers engage virtually with a live audience
- Overcome strict Covid travel regulations, which in turn means it’s easy for you to present speakers from non-EU countries
- Put truly outstanding speakers on the bill who would never have been able to perform live otherwise.
PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACH
It is no coincidence that Auvicom, as a professional audiovisual company, attaches a great deal of importance to the way in which certain terms are used – in this instance ‘hybrid events’. Throughout our many years of experience supporting countless in-house and external events, all too often we have seen apples presented as pears.
Putting on genuinely successful hybrid events, as described above, can only be achieved with the support of a highly qualified team working with the latest A/V equipment and technologies. Auvicom is one of the biggest audiovisual companies in Belgium and has staged innumerable live, virtual and hybrid events. By coming to us, your hybrid event is 100% in safe hands.
Did you know that Auvicom always contacts all of the virtual speakers it works with to check, adjust and optimise the audio and video quality of their presentations beforehand?
If you would like more information about our hybrid event or meeting solutions, we’d be delighted to tell you all about them in a face-to-face conversation.