What does the future of events look like? How can you plan events, conferences, and meetings with so much uncertainty in the world? Here are our insights into the future of in-person, online, and hybrid events:
Hybrid Events will become more common
A hybrid event is a mix of in-person and online event components. For example, you could have a hundred people sitting in an auditorium and another five hundred interacting via a live stream from home, office, or anywhere in the world.
Why are hybrid events going to be a key driver for the events industry in the coming years? There are three big reasons we predict this trend to continue long after the pandemic is over:
1. Hybrid events will provide continuity and security to event planning
In the past, when you plan an entire in-person conference or event, and something happens (be it a pandemic, natural disaster, or your venue burns to the ground a week before your event) you would have had to cancel it altogether.
The future of events provides more certainty. With hybrid events, it’s less cost and effort to pivot to a completely online event at the last minute because you’ve set up the digital and physical infrastructure beforehand. It’s a great way to help guarantee your event takes place, no matter what happens.
2. Hybrid events increase your reach
When hosting national or international events, many guests struggle to afford the time and cost to travel to the conference location. With virtual and hybrid events, your event is accessible to more people. This past year we’ve heard stories of more people virtually attending national or international conventions for the first time because they couldn’t afford the time or money to participate in live conferences in the past. This “excuse” will soon be a thing of the past; as long as they have an internet connection and a computer, tablet, or smartphone, they can attend your event.
3. Hybrid event technology is growing quickly
Three years ago, most people never heard of ZOOM, but now it’s become a household name in the business world. Likewise, with the popularity of virtual and hybrid event models, we’re already seeing new cool technology popping up to make the experience more user-friendly and interactive. We think the best is yet to come in terms of virtual event technology and experiences.
In the past year, we’ve seen what the future of the event industry can look like. In our opinion, the best is yet to come. We expect to see new technologies being developed to enhance the experience of virtual attendees further, so it more closely mimics the in-person experience. The potential is inspiring for event and production geeks like us, and we’re excited to bring you the latest technology, strategy, and support.
If you are planning any events, conferences, or large meetings and would like to talk about what a hybrid event would look like for you, contact SmartLink today, and we’ll give you some ideas and help you plan a seamless hybrid or virtual event.