Hybrid Event Management Platform
Less than two years into a worldwide pandemic has changed the workplace all over the world forever. In the early crazy days of the Covid surge, everyone started working from home and all events became virtual. These changes brought some semblance of order in a topsy-turvy world, and also sped up the resilience and innovation that made the event management industry-first survive, and then thrive, in the pandemic: the hybrid event management platform. A hybrid event brings the best of the two worlds: the in-person event married to the virtual get-together. The key is finding the right balance between these two in order to host a successful event. Luckily, with the development of hybrid event management software, it has become a lot easier than it was in the early days of the Covid epidemic.
This article will discuss in length the features and advantages of using a hybrid event management solution as well as some of the options that are currently available.
Using Hybrid Event Platforms
The easiest decision to make, while hosting an event these days, is the kind of event to host. Obviously, a hybrid one is the way to go forward. The reasons are also obvious. A lot of potential attendees are unable to travel or do not wish to travel due to health or safety concerns. Some organizations have limited travel funds, or the venue has capacity limitations to host all the potential events. Whether it is a trade show, a conference, sales events or a global town hall, a pre-event survey can further gauge the mood for the design of the hybrid event. When the constraints on people aggregating together for an in-person safe and socially distanced event continue, the use of hybrid event management software offers immense features that are a win-win situation for everyone. Let’s look at some of these.
Features of Hybrid Event Management Platform
- Hybrid event management software offer a quick way to build appealing on-brand websites for your special event. It helps in launching a professional-looking, mobile-responsive website that can also be made multilingual to attract a diverse international audience.
- Based on the location of your attendees, you can promote your event in many ways and reach a larger audience, by using a combination of SEO, promo codes, email campaigns, social media, referrals, and other such marketing outreach.
- Hybrid event management solutions become a one-stop shop covering all aspects of the event. It starts with ticketing, including both digital and offline, private ticket classes and tax support. What’s even more fulfilling is that the payout happens almost instantly without any deductions.
- Virtual event platforms allow businesses to rehearse the sessions for a snag-free event and get a better sense of the platform and its source of hitches and glitches.
- The hybrid event management platform seamlessly streams the virtual speaker to the onsite audience as well as the onsite event for a virtual audience.
- These event management tools also provide features that connect sales, marketing and communication teams together, either through pre-existing integrations or a customized one.
- Whether it is the management of attendees at a venue or accessing events through different devices, these hybrid event management platforms allow for both. In-person attendees can be checked-in at an event with easy to use, contactless using mobile tools. For a virtual attendee, these event planning platforms make the event accessible whether it be from a laptop, tablet or a smartphone.
Advantages of Hybrid Events
Increased Participation
The most obvious advantage of hosting a hybrid event is the increased participation. These event management platforms have allowed businesses to woo customers and participants who were constrained from attending an in-person event.
Constant Content Engagement
The hybrid event software allow the sessions to be recorded and archived. This content then can be shared with everyone, especially with those who were unable to attend. It makes for better recall value for your event and your company in your attendees even after the event is done.
Reduced Carbon Footprint
With a reduced number of in-person participants, the carbon footprint of your event automatically goes down, all thanks to the hybrid event management platform.
Expanded Sponsorship Exposure
The hybrid event allows for the sponsors to find themselves in its forefront. Their exposure increases as they reach both in-person and virtual attendees. The digital nature of the event engenders new opportunities for brand awareness and lead generation. This, in turn, will bump the value of sponsorship as well as sponsors and offset the technical costs of executing a hybrid event.
Streamlined Event Management
These hybrid event platforms end the laborious tasks of hosting an event by streamlining events management through different tools that make up the software platform.
Metrics Determined Decisions
At the backend, the hybrid event software provide real-time insights into the event and meeting performance. Once the event is over, it becomes easier to look at the difference between the planned goals versus the data generated about the attendee behaviour for both in-person and virtual events.
Safe and Secure Event Data
The audience and company data and other metrics fed into the hybrid event platforms are always safe, secure and private. Most of these event management softwares are regulated and compliant with security protocols, with data centers localized to the businesses’ geographic location.
Increase Brand Influence
Businesses are only set to gain by hosting hybrid events through different platforms. The increased participation makes better recall value for your brand. The various aspects comprising an event, now virtual, provides multiple avenues to reinforce the brand credibility and commitment to their customers.
So, what are you waiting for? Don’t cancel or postpone your event. Use hybrid event management platforms like Eventdex’s Virtual Meeting App and let your attendees NFH — Network from Home! These solutions make virtual workshops, panel discussions and seminar possible while giving the feel of being in a real event in a virtual setup, with their virtual tradeshow booths, roundtables, clubhouse video rooms, and virtual poster walk for events. Eventdex also provides specific tools for B2B events where businesses can virtually connect to buyers and sellers, start-ups and investors, corporates and MBE, exhibitors and attendees online. Finally, the attendee wall specifically for virtual events brings different profiles of attendees in a convenient way to connect and share.
Once you host a hybrid event, the advantages and benefits are so many that it will be difficult to go back to the pre-pandemic way of event management. And hybrid event management tools are pointing the way forward of connecting businesses with their clients, no matter where they are.
Read about: AI Business Matchmaking: Future of Events