How can venues plan for hybrid events in the future?

The developments in event technology have forced venues for corporate events to rethink their strategy. These venues now are looking to become hybrid-event friendly and embrace smaller in-person events.

It always pays to be well-prepared for the future and we are going to look at what these venues can do to minimize losses and gain business.

The story of the hybrid event

From hosting virtual events, businesses have now switched to conducting hybrid events where a section of the audience is in-person and the rest of it is virtual. Hybrid events have helped businesses retain the intimacy of in-person while giving them scalability and reach of virtual. Naturally, 7 out of 10 businesses want to continue to host such events in the future.

Hybrid events and venues

While a large percentage of the audience is virtual, hybrid events still require good venues that can support their virtual audience as well. As the event goes on in the venue, video cameras do their good work of capturing the event and either streaming it to the virtual viewers or upload it to cloud.

Either way, your venue will be visible to hundreds of thousands of people. So, you need it look good, professionally done up, and polished. Moreover, you need to be able to support the business that is hosting the event through a stage or a podium, an audio-visual setup, broadband or wired connection to the Internet, while ensuring that it is able to accommodate the in-person attendees.

So, ensure you have the following available at your venue

Ability to support technology

The best hybrid event platforms can make a lot happen through a virtual event. However, they need the support of good broadband, like we discussed earlier. So, if you’re opening up your venue for hybrid events, check your broadband speed and confirm that it can support high quality streaming and augmented and virtual reality.

If there is 5G in your location, talk to your superiors to see if you can upgrade to it. Often venues that are unable to keep up with growth in technology lose out.

Good cameras and microphones

Some businesses insist on using their own cameras because they have partnerships and trusted vendors. However, it doesn’t hurt to know your own range of suppliers and keep them handy. Before you commit to the event organizers, make sure you have dry runs with these cameras yourself. They must be able to capture in ultra high-definition (UHD) and be of top quality.

The same applies to microphones as well. Since there is a virtual audience, high quality audio is a must. Deploy an audio technician who is constantly checking for noise and other disturbance.

Technical staff

This is almost a no-brainer. You need to be able to support the event in case of tiny issues or equipment failure. So, have a team of highly trained technicians ready at the venue on the day of the event. With virtual event platforms like Virtex, you can also seek support of their internal staff.

Rehearse

Push your event organizer into having at least two dry runs before the actual event so you too can identify gaps and fix them if needed. Make a checklist for each area of the event- audio, video, Internet, and so on.

You can also promote the event on your social media channels. A great way to promote and market your next hybrid event is through social media. So, try different platforms like vFairs, Airmeet, Almond Virtex, Hubilo, Eventcube and prepare the world for what’s coming.

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