Table of Contents
Introduction
According to Markletic, 34% of marketers will add hybrid events to their event portfolio shortly. Also, 62% of event organizers plan to keep their virtual audience once the world starts going back to live events.
These statistics show the trend shift in the event industry to hybrid. With the world gradually opening up for business thanks to Coronavirus vaccine roll-outs, many events are shifting from virtual to hybrid. In this article, we discuss hybrid event ideas you can adopt.
What is a hybrid event?
A hybrid event combines a virtual and an in-person event and allows attendees to attend either or both.
While in-person events are the most engaging, not everybody can join these meetings due to limitations in time, distance, health, travel restrictions due to coronavirus, and more. Some attendees may also be afraid of in-person events due to their fears of contagion.
Last but not least, event organizers may not be able to secure a venue large enough to house all prospective attendees. Provision is made for those who may not get space at the venue to access the event virtually. Hybrid events help accommodate needs that arise due to the current health concern and other concerns.
As market research data suggests, there is a greater preference for in-person events; however, event industry trends show an increased desire for virtual options.
The following chart from Markletic demonstrates this phenomenon. 33% of survey respondents would be interested in virtual events, while 57% prefer in person, and the remaining 10% are indifferent. By catering to the needs of your participants, you stand a greater chance of having a successful event. Enter hybrid events to save the day.
We would say the increase in preference for hybrid events is a plus to the event industry. Hybrid events help events marketing professionals attract more registrants, increase revenue, and track attendees to gather valuable data. So let us discuss some hybrid event ideas.
7 Hybrid Ideas
1. Exhibitions
Exhibitions allow you to connect consumers with sellers. Gone are the days when consumers could only visit exhibitor booths in person. Today, event technology will enable consumers to access exhibitor booths virtually. As a result, there is an opportunity to connect consumers and sellers by combining in-person with virtual components, which broaden the range of prospects that can attend the event. In addition, it allows for more participants to join an event, regardless of distance or other restrictions.
Recently, baby care products giant Johnson & Johnson organized a successful hybrid event. They used this to reach their target audience through an easy-to-use User Interface. In addition, they took advantage of customized branding to capture the attention of their audience.
2. Conferences
Conferences are another way professionals get to learn about new developments in their industry and exchange ideas. Unfortunately, current health and safety concerns have led to the cancellation of many conferences.
With hybrid event technology and your expertise, there are great opportunities to continue with conference objectives seamlessly. For example, you can maintain high registration and participation by making the speakers and a few attendees run the event in-person while other participants access the event from home.
An example of a successful hybrid conference is the 2020 hybrid version of the Yellow Conference. The conference brings business-minded women together, and in response to the global pandemic, the organizers took the conference hybrid for the first time.
The organizers refused to cancel the 2020 edition and instead used the hybrid approach to include those who could attend in-person with those who could only participate virtually.
3. Product Launches
Each year, there are a plethora of products that are launched. However, in many instances, product owners have wondered how to make their launches successful in this era of restrictions and fewer people willing to join public events.
With your expertise in the event industry and virtual event technology, you have a chance to wow guests by fusing the best of in-person event magic with virtual technology innovation.
Apple had three (3) launch events in fall 2020, which saw millions of people watching live on YouTube. Apple used the hybrid approach to launch one of its new products, and it was a great success. As the status quo, most of Apple’s product launches are much anticipated.
In their most recent product launch example, Apple CEO Tim Cook showed their latest products to the expectant in-person audience. In contrast, the super-excited virtual audience enjoyed the grand reveal from home.
4. Music concerts
Music, they say, is food for the soul. It is one thing that transcends languages, borders, cultures, and more. It’s tough to find someone who doesn’t have a love for music. One thing many people will likely miss is the opportunity to see their favorite artists perform live. During our current global crisis, holding a large concert is not advisable and, in some places, may still be illegal. In 2020, for instance, organizers canceled several significant concerts.
In a recent poll of 1000 music lovers organized by performanceresearch, only 33% said they would likely go to indoor concerts post-pandemic, and only 26% said they would likely attend an outdoor concert. Today, the music event industry has a way around this obstacle; virtual concerts save the day. On November 27th, 2020, Dua Lipa sold an astonishing 284,000 tickets worldwide for a live-streamed concert. (mi.edu).
Hybrid concerts allow you to organize a small-scale show- with a big stage and a vast audience. While the few that attend the event in-person experience the euphoria, the virtual audience stays glued to their devices and enjoys every bit of the moment, interacting and creating even more hype on social media.
5. Career/Job fairs
Today, many people are searching for jobs worldwide. As an event marketer, you can help your clients coordinate groundbreaking and impactful career fairs if that’s your niche.
At these events, prospects can attend virtual employer booths, speak directly to recruiters or experts via live chats, secure internship opportunities and get advice from career advisors. Hybrid job fairs are easier to set up, cost-effective, open global opportunities, and prevent the need for recruiters/applicants to travel.
Finally, they allow for access to vital data for future decision-making. A great example of virtual career fairs is the one being run by ACCA (the global body for professional accountants). ACCA offers international virtual career fairs throughout the year for its members.
6. Sporting Events (live entertainment)
Fans will be fans, whether they are watching live, on tv, or online. The reality is live sporting entertainment is big business and lots of fun. The pandemic resulted in many canceled sporting events and significantly impacted the earnings of athletes.
Sporting organizations such as the NBA have had to innovate quickly. The NBA created the 2020 NBA Bubble that resulted in players being isolated together in a quarantine location. Fans were treated to The ‘Virtual Fan Experience’ aimed to engage fans creatively.
This ‘Experience’ created exclusivity through limited seating. It also included special sponsor giveaways to fans, and fans had a live video and audio feed that allowed them to connect to the venue. Rather than being just views, they got to take part in the game, real-time.
7. Literature Fest
Some people love reading and are always searching for opportunities like literature festivals. They look out for books and sessions from their favorite authors. With a hybrid literature fest, you can capture a global audience. This year many book festivals have moved to a hybrid format. These include Texas and the DSM book festivals.
Conclusion
In a perfect world, all the event ideas discussed would naturally attract in-person attendants. Today’s situation is different, but with millions of people vaccinated, we are slowly getting back to pre-covid human interaction.
While we are not yet entirely out of the woods, hybrid events hold the promise to bring back the successful events industry. Consider taking full advantage of it as the trend even shows signs of continuing in the future.
