9 Tips For A Successful Hybrid Event in 2022

As we slowly switch back to in-person events, we can’t ignore the plethora of benefits that virtual events offer. That is why the mix of in-person and virtual as hybrid events are becoming extremely popular in the events industry. 

In this blog post, we will go over what a hybrid event is, and nine tips to an engaging and creative hybrid event that will leave your attendees wanting more next year!

What is a Hybrid Event? 

Hybrid events are made for both attendees from home and attendees that want to join in person. Events that are hybrid allow attendees who may not be able to travel, pay travel costs, or want to stay in the comfort of their home or office to participate and view the event just as those who are in person. 

If you started planning your in-person event and are looking to make the switch to hybrid, make sure to read our article Shifting Your In-Person Event Into Virtual In 2022.

1. High-Quality Content

The number one tip we have for hybrid events is for your content to be crisp and high-quality, both virtually, and in person. The main part of your hybrid event is the event and content that attendees are coming for! Therefore, the content in your event should be full of high-quality content to keep people interested and engaged throughout your event.

The production and view of your hybrid event should be kept in mind as well. Elements like virtual venues, animations, pre-recorded content, live Q&A and gamification are all engaging for your hybrid attendees. 

On the in-person side of your hybrid event, make sure that you have high-quality footage, branded backgrounds, multiple camera angles, a great sound system, lighting and more. 

If you want to learn more about some of the elements that make for an amazing hybrid event, check out Impact AV Solutions’ Virtual Services.

2. Captivating Breakout Sessions

Just because you had a long in-person day at the conference, that doesn’t mean people on the virtual side had that same experience. Do you know that feeling of watching Netflix for too long and needing a break? No matter what type of event, anyone could be struggling to concentrate on your hybrid event from home. That’s why you should keep your attendees engaged with shorter sessions and breakout sessions during your hybrid event. 

3. Animation And Custom Graphics

A great way to stand out while keeping your virtual attendees engaged during your event is custom graphics or animations within your virtual venue. On our platform, VX, Powered by Impact AV Solutions, we offer tons of customizable options for your virtual venue, including fun animations, and packaged experiences. For example, our Train Trip, Casino or our Blue Mountain Experiences! Check out more of our virtual venues here for your next virtual or hybrid event. 

4. Engaging Gamification & Prizes

Gamification during the virtual side of your hybrid event allows attendees to engage and participate in games and prizes online! You can do this by adding and creating tasks and challenges within your virtual venue. Gamification is also a great way to drive traffic to your sponsors with:

• Custom point earning opportunities
• A leaderboard to spice up the competition
• Advertising your real-world prizes
• Driving engagement towards your chosen targets

 Check out how we do gamification on our virtual platform here.

5. Create Communities And Networking Opportunities 

Virtual and hybrid events are a great way to create communities and networking opportunities! As we talked about earlier in this post, creating breakout rooms or networking rooms allows your virtual attendees to participate in the “real world” networking you would usually have at your in-person event. Having a separate area for networking and community building also gives your virtual attendee a break from the content to mingle! 

6. Event Push Notifications

Just in case you need a reminder, use your virtual event push notifications! It’s often that event planners worry that push notifications during the virtual side of your hybrid event can distract attendees. We’re here to tell you that is not the case! 

Push notifications help keep attendees on track, as well as remind them of the features you have included in your event (for example, filling out a session evaluation). You can even send out ones that remind them to get up, stretch or when it’s time to take a short break from your event. Push notifications can make your attendees on the virtual side remember that even though there is an event happening in-person, they haven’t been forgotten about!

7. Engaging Live Q&As

If you don’t have live Q&As in your event this year, you are missing one of the biggest engaging elements for a hybrid event! Anyone at your event can participate, engage, and feel heard from the comfort of their home with live Q&As. 

8. Session Evaluations and Polls

Virtual platforms, like VX, Powered by Impact AV Solutions, give you great opportunities to not only engage your attendees, but also gather the information that you can use for next year’s event, or other future events! By creating session evaluations and polls during your hybrid event, you can get to know how your sessions went and gather relevant information from your attendees.

9. Promote Your Event On Social Media!

Connect with your attendees before and after your hybrid event! Promoting and planning is a crucial part of running a successful virtual event. Marketing isn’t always top of mind when planning an event. Sometimes when putting tons of work into your virtual event, you can forget the most important part, getting people to come! 

Grad some more information on promoting your hybrid event on our blog How to Successfully Promote Your Virtual or Hybrid Event.  

Conclusion

There you go! Ensuring that your virtual audience is glued to their screens at this year’s hybrid event just takes a little creativity and innovation. We’re not seeing hybrid events go anywhere, this year, or next year. With hybrid events growing faster and becoming the future of events, it’s better to become a pro now rather than later! Still need some convincing? Check out our article 5 Reasons Your Next Event Should Be Hybrid.

Looking to start planning or switch over to a hybrid event? Contact us today or request a demo of our virtual platform!