The past few years have seen hybrid events quickly gain traction and make their mark among corporate events. With that in mind, we at ProGlobalEvents have made it our mission to master hybrid events, just as we’ve done with live events. That includes every aspect of a hybrid event, from the event concept right through to running the event itself.
Event Conceptualization and Design
Planning even a small hybrid event is a massive undertaking. It starts with the development of the event concept: its purpose and goals, target audience, and a rough outline of the event experience and content. Along with the event concept is the parallel development of the event design. That includes the attendee experience, media development, branding, and visual design elements.
For a hybrid, there are two audiences to consider:
- The live audience
- The virtual audience
It’s important that in-person and virtual attendees both have satisfying event experiences. Each experience should also have a comparable level of value. To ensure this happens, consideration for both audiences must be part of the event concept from the start of the planning process to host a hybrid event. This framework is a key part of our approach at ProGlobalEvents. It’s part of what enables us to design hybrid events that provide valuable experiences for both live and virtual attendees.
For a hybrid event, conceptualization and design typically includes:
- Developing an event concept that reflects the themes and goals of the event, as well as the host organization’s vision
- Developing an overall design theme for the visual branding of the event
- Ensuring the event offers comparable—but not necessarily identical—experiences for live and virtual audiences
Marketing Your Hybrid Event
Marketing may not be part of the event itself, but it’s arguably the most important aspect of any event. If your event marketing campaign can’t find and resonate with the right audience, it’s dead in the water.
Event marketing is a core strength for ProGlobalEvents. Our creative marketing team can help you connect and engage with your audience. We’ll devise a marketing campaign that generates interest in your event and gets your attendance figures where they need to be. That means we’ll:
- Determine who your target audience is and where to find them.
- Engage your audience with a campaign that proves your event’s value and sells tickets.
- Achieve objectives for both the live and virtual arms of the event – Hybrid events have the potential to attract a global audience, as your international audience can attend online. It’s important to consider whether this is possible and desirable for your event.
Content Development and Production
Developing content for a hybrid event is another area where it’s important to keep both of your audiences in mind. From content format to session length and speaker choice, this consideration should inform all aspects of your content schedule.
There’s also talent acquisition to consider. Finding speakers and other talent for hybrid events can be tricky. Your speakers must address—and engage—two different audiences at once. Ideal speaking styles for live and virtual audiences are similar, but not identical. It’s important to find speakers who understand the differences and can successfully engage both audiences.
ProGlobalEvents can manage all aspects of content development and production, including talent acquisition and management. We can find just the right speakers, then negotiate contracts and manage the talent on event day. We also have the technical expertise needed to broadcast and record content and run the content schedule as it unfolds.
Content development and production for a hybrid event can include:
- Developing a content schedule that considers the needs of your live and virtual audiences
- Finding and securing speakers and negotiating contracts
- Preparing speakers for the event and managing the speaker schedule day of
- Devising a plan to utilize evergreen content after the event is over
Live Venue Management and Site Setup
Finding the right venue isn’t always easy, especially if you have complex technical needs or are looking for an event space that’s out of the ordinary. This is especially true for a hybrid event because your venue must be able to accommodate both the live and virtual arms of the event. For instance, this means finding a venue with enough space for extra equipment and personnel, as well as a strong and consistent internet connection. Depending on your specific needs, you may also want to find an event venue that offers IT support and equipment rentals.
Venue management itself is a major undertaking. Along with finding a venue, there are contract negotiations, staff and vendor management, inspections, and site setup. It’s all essential work, but it’s also time-consuming. And it can be difficult when you lack experience.
Partner with ProGlobalEvents, and it all becomes so much easier. Leave these time-sucking tasks to us, and free up your own time for other important work. We’ll take care of it all:
- Finding and vetting venue options
- Contract negotiations for venue, vendors, and service providers
- Venue inspections, signage, and décor
- Event tech services setup
- A/V services
- Electrical setup
- Wi-Fi and telecommunications
Staffing and Labor Management
The right people can make your hybrid event run like clockwork. But first you have to find them. Like most event tasks, it can be time-consuming. But ProGlobalEvents has the expertise and industry contacts to get the right people for every task. We can:
- Find and vet candidates
- Negotiate contracts
- Manage live and virtual staff during the event
Event Technology and Virtual Services
Hybrid events have significant technical needs and a steep learning curve. Along with the hybrid events platform, a lot of tech is needed to deliver content to virtual attendees. That could mean live broadcasts, or it could mean recording live sessions to provide on-demand content online.
Hybrid events are complicated too. Because you’re effectively running a physical event and a digital event at the same time, a hybrid has a synergistic level of complexity. For instance, if you’re broadcasting live content to a virtual audience, you may need camera equipment and a camera operator, along with broadcasting equipment and software. That can cause time delays and other complications that affect the experience for the live audience.
Essentially, running a hybrid event means you have got two event content schedules running alongside one another. And those schedules need to stay in sync for the duration of the event. You have the virtual events platform to run and its audience to maintain, plus the live venue and in-person attendees. If it sounds complicated, that’s because it is!
This is easily one of the most involved aspects of running a successful hybrid event. It’s vital to have an experienced team on board. ProGlobalEvents shines in this regard, thanks to our association with XtendLive, a virtual and hybrid events platform with true 3D capabilities. We have all the technical expertise needed to run a fully hybrid event, including live broadcasting and immersive 3D virtual venues to keep your remote attendees engaged.
Managing event tech and virtual services can involve:
- Determining the best way to deliver content to live and virtual audiences separately and simultaneously
- Sourcing equipment and personnel, supervising equipment setup, and performing soundchecks and other tests
- Supervising broadcasts, livestreams, and other virtual content delivery services
- Coordinating the live and virtual content schedules
Exhibit Services
ProGlobalEvents is also affiliated with ProExhibits, the largest fully integrated exhibit design company in Northern California. ProExhibits has an award-winning design team and massive production, storage, and showroom facilities. That lets us offer a full range of exhibit services for hybrid trade shows, including
- Custom exhibit design
- Exhibit manufacture
- Booth rental
- Booth storage
- Trade show display maintenance
- National and international exhibit shipping
Exhibit services can be implemented for virtual audiences and digital experiences too. As part of a hybrid event, XtendLive can equip a 3D virtual venue with unlimited booth space, providing as much as you need for virtual exhibitors.
For hybrid events we can offer:
- Exhibit design and production services, including custom designs and exhibit rentals
- A unique, intuitive 3D virtual platform that is much more engaging than webinar platforms
Registration Management
ProGlobalEvents’ expertise can streamline registration management to make the process simple and seamless for both live and virtual attendees. We can take care of event registration and ticketing, set up registration stations at the live event, and manage online event access for the virtual audience.
For hybrid events registration management services include:
- Registration and ticketing services for live and virtual attendees
- Registration and check-in stations at the physical event venue
- Online event access for the online audience
Why ProGlobalEvents Is the Right Choice for a Successful Hybrid Event
Because they combine both live and virtual events, hybrids can be incredibly complex. But with more than 30 years in the events industry, ProGlobalEvents has experience on our side. We’ve got the expertise necessary to design, organize, and run flawless hybrid events.
Here’s what you can expect when you work with us.
- Original corporate event concepts, high-impact visual designs, and engaging content
- Event production management that provides a seamless attendee experience, both live and online
- Expert technical supervision to keep your corporate event running smoothly and on schedule
- Satisfying and valuable digital experiences for your virtual audience and the same for your in-person audience
ProGlobalEvents Is the Hybrid Event Expert: Let Us Put Our Skills to Work for You
Both in-person events and virtual events can involve a huge amount of work. Put the two together in a hybrid event, and that workload can more than double. For a hybrid event, the complexity of the task, combined with high technical needs, means having an experienced management team is a major advantage. ProGlobalEvents can provide that advantage for your next hybrid event. We have the perfect mix of skills, experience, and industry contacts to execute spectacular hybrid events—and we’re ready to put it all to work for you.
