With an event that isn’t hybrid it could be argued that as you
have just one audience in the same room it doesn’t matter as much if the
timings slip. But I think that is just a way out of not making some brave
decisions e.g. moving the CEO or speakers on if they start to over-run.
I have been at events where planners have waited and waited
until more people finally turned up. How does that help anyone? If some people are not there, just start the
event with the people that have arrived. No excuses please. It’s basically unfair to those people that made
the effort and were on time. Plus you can guarantee that once you start late
the rest of the programme will carry on late as well.
If you don’t start on time it sends a very clear message to
the participants that you don’t care and I would suspect that would be the
furthest thought from your mind.
If you are late for a train it goes without you. The
timetable doesn’t change because a number of people haven’t made it to the
platform.
Speakers would never want to be seen as ‘time thieves’ and so
if they start to exceed their agreed time slot then you will need to have a way
of politely moving them on. A good emcee or host will be able to facilitate
this for you.
The whole issue of time and punctuality becomes even more
pronounced at hybrid events. The on-line participants may just be interested in one
aspect of the programme and if your event is not on time then that wouldn’t be
good.
Run your event according to schedule and you can be sure
that everyone (on-site and on-line participants) will be happy. After all time is the one item that can never
be replaced.
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