Now that the pandemic situation has eased and the quarantine has been removed, numerous companies and enterprises have resumed normal operations. As a result, meetings, events, and conferences are becoming more physical. However, some people continue to work from home on a daily basis.
People have begun to contemplate hybrid meetings to assure productivity during these periods, as opposed to having business operations done electronically. With the limits of face-to-face and virtual meetings, hybrid meetings have emerged as a viable option for speedy decision-making, particularly in the new normal era.
So what is a hybrid meeting, and how does it work?
What is a Hybrid Meeting?
A hybrid meeting is one that mixes offline and online meetings. This method is appropriate for meetings with many participants who can meet in person while others can attend online.
Hybrid meetings that rely on additional and more interactive technology can also improve meeting effectiveness. In comparison to online meetings, which can have more connectivity concerns because they are connected individually, hybrid meetings are more versatile because they can connect groups of participants as hosts and other groups or individuals who join online.
What is Needed for a Hybrid Meeting?
There are various elements that must be provided for a hybrid meeting to go smoothly, including a high-speed internet connection, a smart projector, centralised content management, and cloud storage access. Hybrid meetings can be more interactive with the correct software and hardware, such as if the meeting equipment supports a cloud whiteboard for brainstorming purposes.
Companies cannot perform hybrid meetings to their full potential without excellent internet connectivity; videos frequently delay, lag, and voice is cut off.
Furthermore, it is critical to select a suitable interactive flat panel or smart projector with internet connectivity that may be instantly connected to a laptop or smartphone device.
It is also critical to select a projector that supports document management systems and storage space, such as OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox. As a result, everyone in the hybrid meeting may simply access files, change content, or collaborate on projects.
How to Plan and Execute a Hybrid Meeting
There are a few things to consider while planning and executing a successful hybrid meeting, which are listed below.
Interactivity
Even when watching live presentations, audiences will require participation in the future. Presenters want to give their audience more. Similarly, audiences anticipate more engaging presentations. It is not enough for a speaker to go through the presentation deck, hit all of their talking points, and then close the presentation without engaging the audience.
Useful Material
It is critical to share information with our audience after the event, especially with our offline audience. It’s probable that many of our participants came prepared with notebooks and pens, but it doesn’t indicate they understood all we said. It is critical that we share material with our audience after the event. This not only refreshes them on our subject matter, but it also keeps us in mind when they contemplate their future business requirements.
Feelings of Connectedness
During virtual presentations, virtual audiences may feel distant. Use a hybrid event to cut it down. Allow viewers to submit questions, which you can then directly address. Include a live social stream with tweets and postings from participants that will broadcast throughout our presentation. Small additions like this may appear insignificant, yet they have a significant impact on readership. Not only can the online audience engage, but so can your remote audience.
Immersive Environment
To ensure that your virtual audience feels connected, provide them with an immersive setting that makes them feel as if they are watching a live presentation. Create a gorgeous 3D virtual auditorium with your own venue model so that the virtual attendees can imagine speakers that are on stage.
Screening on Demand
Your virtual audience may not be present at the same moment as you are. As a result, following the hybrid event, it is a good idea to provide a recording of the presentation. This allows the virtual audience to watch it at their leisure. In fact, live audiences may wish to see the recording afterwards as well. Allow all of participants access so they can watch the event again, take notes, and share with their colleagues as needed.
Examples of Successful Hybrid Meetings
Apple Special Events
Unsurprisingly, Apple has been at the forefront of hybrid events, live-streaming in-person product demos to millions of people online with broad reach.
With Apple’s recent turn to wholly virtual or pre-recorded special events, it has held the audience’s attention from any place by presenting dynamic speakers with short statements from their own unique destinations.
TwitchCon
TwitchCon is held in San Diego every year and features live musical performers on stage. Unlike other events that live broadcast their content through an external network, Twitch streamed their content over its own platform. This enabled its online users to participate in a social experience alongside those in attendance.
INBOUND by HubSpot
Firm professionals, as well as comedians and entertainers, are asked to present to a big audience of professionals interested in learning about marketing and best practices to help their business.
The best thing is that all of the sessions are videotaped and made available online for attendees to watch at their leisure. This is especially useful for business owners who wish to communicate critical information with their teams after the event.
The Benefits of Hybrid Meetings
Participants in hybrid meetings can remotely attend live activities.The opportunity to attend remotely alleviates the pressure to attend in person if they are unable or unable to do so. Especially for C-level executives who need to be in two places at the same time, or freelancers in various regions of the world.
Unlike traditional meeting methods, adopting a hybrid meeting style provides for variable containers. Attendance increases and collaboration improves when more people are included, resulting in more engagement and decreased absenteeism..
When it comes to meetings, hybrid meetings are a far more cost-effective option. Combining face-to-face and virtual meetings allows you to obtain the best of both worlds while addressing the needs of a larger number of participants.
Hybrid meetings help combat the fatigue we get from reduced commutes, conference room meetings, conversations with coworkers in the lunchroom, face-to-face chats, and more.
Hybrid meetings help reduce screen time by giving certain individuals the option to attend face-to-face or remotely. Employees can balance “home” life with “office” work.
Choosing the right technology allows employees to work at peak performance and optimise their time. Using a sophisticated, zero-touch browser-based video conferencing system that can be accessed via laptop, desktop and mobile allows employees to work on the go or from wherever they are. Add the hybrid meeting element, and you can host a meeting for anyone either in person or on another continent!
Vital Elements of Hybrid Meetings
Marketing
Promoting a hybrid event is the same as marketing a virtual or in-person event. Many of the fundamentals are the same. However, when you decide to conduct a hybrid event, your audience becomes more complex. Managing that complexity so that the proper guests get the correct experience is critical to hybrid event success.
Venue
Venues are critical to the success of hybrid events because they not only provide a secure venue experience, but also the technological infrastructure and knowledge to support the retrieval and distribution of virtual content. Ensure that your venue satisfies space and security standards early on, and then work closely with venue owners to assist your team in putting on a successful event.
Content
Hybrid events necessitate programming for two distinct audiences, each having its own set of requirements. Simultaneously, you must be able to bring those two audiences together in a shared content experience when necessary. This necessitates new types of material as well as the technology and tools to convey that content from capture to playback. Produce and deliver material for both live and virtual audiences, including content that will be seen by both.
Exhibitors and Sponsors
Sponsors and exhibitors are essential components in the planning of a hybrid event. Especially if you are simultaneously hosting a physical or virtual show. Face-to-face displays may be more expensive than virtual exhibitions. However, there is no harm in creating a virtual exhibition that is identical to a face-to-face one. The bottom line is that if you want to have a face-to-face exhibition and a virtual exhibition at the same time in a hybrid event, don’t forget to organise with sponsors and prepare your staff.
Tips for Making the Most of Your Hybrid Meeting Experience
Improve Audio
A good audio system in a meeting is critical, especially for meetings with distant participants. To avoid having bad audio, ensure that the conference space has a high-quality microphone that allows distant attendees to hear well.
If the meeting or meeting is being conducted in a hotel or other temporary meeting space and just a few microphones are available, you could invite face-to-face participants to hand out hand-held mics before speaking.
Examine Technological Advancement
Since the pandemic era, when the WFH system was adopted, the usage of video conference technology, which allows virtual meetings via computers and mobile phones, has increased. You should look at what technical advancements are available to make your team’s experience in a hybrid meeting more engaging and authentic.
Video conference platform vendors are investing substantially in order to improve the quality of hybrid meetings. Many new features are introduced by these providers to facilitate face-to-face communication between face-to-face participants and distant participants.
Consider Video Through the Eyes of a Remote Participant
When preparing a meeting, consider what remote participants see so that they may participate completely. The remote participants should be able to view the faces of the face-to-face participants, the presentations presented, the physical documents shared, the content created on the whiteboard or flipchart during the meeting, and so on.
Make Long Distance Participants Full-size
Giving remote participants a stronger presence in the room is another technique to give them equal standing in the meeting. This can be accomplished by projecting a “life-size” panel of remote participants on the primary screen in the middle of the room, which can be complemented with two extra large monitors, one on each side of the room. Remote participants’ voices, if possible, should originate from the same monitor as their faces.
This has been shown to assist face-to-face participants in accepting remote colleagues as full participants and to provide ongoing reminders to include them in the dialogue.
Test the Technology You Use First
Test the audio-visual settings for both face-to-face and remote participants before the meeting begins. This is critical since disruption to the audio or video might derail the meeting’s momentum, resulting in time lost to fix the damage.
You can arrange for a 10-15 minute one-on-one training session to familiarise remote participants with what they will see and hear during the meeting, as well as to go over any software they may be required to utilise.
Hybrid Meeting Technology
Evenesis has invested in new technologies to create unique hybrid event solutions. Among the comprehensive range of services that will ensure the success of your hybrid event are Registration, RSVP and Payment Gateway, Attendees Management, Event Analytics, Facial Recognition Check In, and Live Monitoring and Contact Tracking.
Why Hybrid Meetings are Taking Over the Corporate World
Hybrid events allow organisations to expand their reach and attract more people rather than fewer. According to one survey, nearly 98% of hybrid event participants were not planning to attend live, implying that your event can reach a new audience that is either disinterested in attending your live event or is unaware of the benefits.
Furthermore, a hybrid meeting helps organisations to save money by eliminating several parts of physical meetings that require a significant investment.
Organise your Hybrid Meeting with Evenesis Hybrid Meeting Platform
A survey from McKinsey in 2021 said that more than half (52%) of employees globally want their companies to adopt a more flexible hybrid virtual work model, where employees can sometimes be in the office or can work remotely. This is why it is critical for organisations to adapt fast and consider making the working environment more hybrid.
However, both hybrid and in-person or physical meetings have various difficulties to be able to be carried out smoothly. Installing screens, computers, speakers, cameras, and various meeting support devices will be quite time-consuming and make meetings run inefficiently.
As a result, at Evenesis, we have created a comprehensive solution that will assist organisations in ensuring the success of their hybrid meetings. Contact our team today for a tailored solution to your corporate needs.
