It doesn’t matter if you are planning your first, fiftieth or five-hundredth event. Sooner or later you’ll be asking yourself the big question: should I go hybrid?
The answer, according to Dreamforce, Citrix, VMWare, AutoDesk, PCMA and at least 700 more corporations and associations, is a resounding “Yes.” As conferences evolve, many planners are turning to video to fuel that evolution. From large tech companies hosting their annual user conferences, to town hall meetings, product launches, investor meetings and more, the common thread among them is that they are all being streamed live and on-demand with GigTV, the leading providers of live and on-demand conference webcasting.
GigTV webcasting experts have come up with a few solid tips to ensure your next hybrid event hits the mark.
- Define your video strategy. What’s your goal for adding video? Capturing conference content with video can help you provide greater reach for your event, generate additional interest among new audiences and fill your video-marketing engine for next year’s event.
- Prepare your speakers. Make sure they understand they’ll be going live in front of not one, but two audiences – the one onsite and the one online. The online audience may be watching on their smart phone on the train, in the office or anywhere in between. Wherever they are, they’ll have questions, they’ll be tweeting, and they’ll want to engage. Consider having an online concierge, who can answer questions, help out if someone is having technical issues or even just tweet back at them as they’re watching the conference. Also, if presentations include exercises to engage the in-room audience (e.g. polls, group/collaborative activities, games, etc.) think of ways for the online audience to participate as well.
- Open select sessions to the public. To people who may not even be in your sphere of influence? Sounds counter-intuitive. You’ve worked hard to create this exclusive hybrid event and you set the right price for the online pass, so the last thing you want to do is open up sessions for public viewing, right? Anecdotal research tells us that if you open up one or two sessions – a keynote or a particularly interesting breakout session – and promote it, you’ll generate more engagement and interest in your conference and your industry.
These tips will get you started on the road to preserving what happens at your conference, ensuring you can leverage it long after the event is over. Learn how GigTV can help organise your next hybrid event or contact us to arrange a no-obligation consultation