In Malaysia, you’ve definitely heard of the Baba Nyonya culture, the very unique culture in Melaka, as a result of mixed marriages between Chinese immigrants and Malayan locals.
While in the event industry, we have a unique mixed combination of live and virtual events, and we called it the Hybrid Events.
Returning to the old daily routine and the rhythm of work as lockdown eases, event organizers are now welcoming the reopening of indoor and outdoor events. As with any type of event, event planners have learned the hard way to be dynamic, to quickly develop new skills, and exploit those contingency plans. We have witnessed the rise of virtual events serving to keep the industry alive. Today, event planners began to incorporate digital components into physical events.
Have you watched TED Talks before?
There is one episode with the speaker named Jinsop Lee, he is an industrial designer and his topic was Design for all Five Senses. For an immersive and satisfying event experience, we cannot ignore the senses of smell, touch, sight, sound, and taste. Hybrid events are not two separate events. Instead, as the event organizers, we have to deliver two experiences in one event that complements the five senses to lead to the success of the hybrid events.
Anyway, TED Talks is a good example of hybrid events. Millions of us have never attended the talks, but have watched them on video.
Back to our topic. We all agree that human connection cannot be ignored and people crave the in-person experience. For now, hybrid events are a brand new event trend following the new normalcy of remote work models. They are exciting and rewarding, merging the best part of both online and offline events. They offer the flexibility to participate either in-personly or from home.
We believe that hybrid events are just the beginning. Among the advantages that such solutions for event organizers, they are challenging. Event organizers who are new to hybrid events have always made the following mistakes.
We have sorted out the 3 not to do when running a hybrid event.
- Ignoring the COVID Safety Measures.
Let’s talk about the offline aspects first. There are too many possible risks that make your event become an outbreak zone. This is extremely important for the event organizers to adhere to safety guidelines. Everything should be priorities around safety and social distancing. One thing that all event organizers have to be aware of. People nowadays take COVID safety measures as an assessment to evaluate the event quality. It’s the key for the event organizers to implement and create a quality in-person experience.
- Ignoring the Powerful Event Tech Team.
Secondly, we talk about the online aspects. One of the biggest challenges faced during hybrid events is always the tech parts. Nothing is perfect, so work with the trustable event tech partner who gives the best advice for you. A hybrid event is not a live-streamed event. They are both different methods. This way, works closely with the event tech team for the virtual event platform that fits your requirement. In addition, do testing and rehearsing for microphone and camera for live streaming to make sure the quality of final output.
- Ignoring the Virtual-Live Balance.
Managing both sides of attendees can become overwhelming, it’s almost like handling two events at the same time. While having a connection between the online and offline attendees are beneficial for engagement, but not all parts of the events are relevant for both attendees. In-person elements are much easier to be fully delivered, the online elements might bore the online attendees assuming that it was just exploring another ordinary website. When planning a hybrid event, event organizers have to customize the different contents as well as different communications tools for both attendees.
No one likes to be ignored. As mentioned earlier, approaching a new event trend is bound to make most of the five senses in terms of smell, touch, sight, sound, and taste. Essentially, adding professional event management can avoid these hybrid event mistakes and lead to event success.
ABOUT a.c.e
We are the magic makers!
Our passionate event team is always bringing the events to life with the strong knowledge and resources needed. If you need any service in any aspect of event planning, drop us a message or send in your email to us. Also, visit our Facebook and Instagram to know more!
