Scheduling Your Hybrid Event Success

The timing and scheduling of your event is always an important consideration when planning any event but producing a hybrid event makes those considerations even more crucial to your success.

If one of your objectives of your hybrid event is to connect people in different locations in the same country then the timing and scheduling choices may not be too much of an issue. Having said that, with countries that are vast in size e.g. the USA/Russia then there are still factors you will need to address.

Let’s take as our example, the USA where there are different time zones and where people on the East Coast (New York) will be awake and working, hours before the folks in Los Angeles (West Coast) are even thinking of having breakfast.  Deciding where to schedule your speakers to provide the best experience for your audiences provides your first set of decisions in your programme planning.

And if your hybrid event is going to cover different countries across various parts of the globe then the issue of programme planning has just become that much more complex.

Yes, it is more complex but ultimately you will make your decision(s) according to the objectives of the event. In the end, every decision you make as an event planner always returns the basic question of the event objectives.

Understanding who your audiences (onsite and online) are and where they will be in the world to listen and participate will start to lead you to making those decisions on the scheduling of your programme.

If your hybrid event is being driven from the UK to a largely European audience then the time challenge is really not that big an issue as contrasted to perhaps having an event from Australia involving remote speakers and audience from the UK (as usually there is a 12 hour difference between these two areas). You can of course with some careful planning produce a very successful hybrid event between the UK and Australia if that is your goal.

Scheduling will always remain a crucial factor in the success of your hybrid event and keeping to time is more important than ever especially as you have two audiences to consider.

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Priority Choices and Attendee Connectivity

In a previous post – (Lack of Connectivity means fail) I put forward the argument that event planners have to consider whether their delegates will be able to be connected to their various devices whilst at the event? Many event planners will confirm that they have arranged sufficient bandwidth to allow their delegates to be connected but I wonder if that goes far enough?

Mike Clanton of My Meeting Professional is a man on a mission regarding what he terms ‘network design’ at events. Having worked with Mike on a number of occasions I know that he has a great message. Simply put, having enough bandwidth at your event for your ‘attendee’s connectivity’ is not enough.  Event planners should now be considering how their network is designed to make the most of the bandwidth at their disposal.

Let’s start by exploring the idea of the network design with a simple thought of who is to be served first? Yes, you (the event planner) have arranged the bandwidth that will take account of all your attendees and their devices and that is a great start but how will you determine who is more important to be connected?

You could say that everyone is important and of course they are but I think you have to make priority choices.

For example, if you have the press at your event, and VIPs, a set of key speakers and major contributing sponsors, do you put them in the same category as everyone else when it comes to accessing the bandwidth? Well you could but it could lead to issues for you. For example, if a press reporter wasn’t able to make a connection (because other attendees were using the bandwidth) to send their report out on line swiftly and easily that could be a problem. This is where the issue of ‘network design’ comes in as it enables you to arrange your attendee connectivity in whatever priority order of attendees you like to suit your event.

As the event planner, it’s important that you have sufficient bandwidth for your ‘attendee/delegate connectivity’ and then your next consideration is who will you serve first? Begin making your priority choices to create your network design.

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Lack of Connectivity means Fail

For many delegates at events there is one issue above all that is now (and has been growing steadily for a while) of prime consideration and that is simply for a delegate to be connected to their device(s). It is expected, a ‘norm’ for many (regardless of how young or old they may be).

Look around an average conference room and you will doubtless see delegates bring at least a device if not more with them. For example, they could easily have a lap top and a smart phone. They arrive at the venue and will seek connection to the internet to take care of their emails and other business.

The office has become very portable and there are no signs of it stopping and the power that the portable devices need is on the increase so if anything you (the event planner) will require more bandwidth for delegate connectivity than before.

Discovering the wi fi is free at a venue can be a good thing but it’s not the whole answer. Some free wi fi is so slow that I have attended a two day conference and still my device hasn’t connected. Or maybe that was how it felt!  I think that the cry for free wif-fi misses the point at various levels.

Having free wi fi only goes so far. It doesn’t guarantee any of the things that I seek with my connection (and I don’t believe I am alone in my requirements). Namely; I want a reasonable speed to connect to the internet, I want the connection to be secure and I also want to know that the connection is stable. If the connection keeps falling in and out on a regular basis that becomes tiresome and there is only so much that I have in terms of patience before giving up on it completely.

I believe that lack of connectivity is a big issue and encourage you (the event planner) to make sure you include this key item in your event planning checklist.

Also, do not forget to factor in the need for additional charging points in the venue. You might have your delegates connected to the internet but if their device(s) runs out of power that could be a problem.

As the event planner, it’s important that you have sufficient bandwidth for your ‘delegate connectivity’ and that is your first consideration. In the next post we will have a look at making priority choices when it comes to your network design to establish how to make the most of your connectivity.

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Talking Hybrid Events with EIBTM

Hybrid events have been steadily gaining in importance in the events landscape over recent years and this is set to continue.

In talking to event planners, supplier and academics I have discovered one key message that comes time and again which is the confusion that arises when it comes to hybrid events. What are hybrid events? What can they do for us? Why should I care?

Love Them or Loathe Them
Some people love hybrid events whilst other people are more critical and of course everyone has their own view. In this one hour tweet chat hosted by EIBTM as part of their Online Education Week we will look at your questions on hybrid events.

In this tweet chat we will discuss hybrid events and see what they mean to you in terms of both the challenges and opportunities that they present.

International Conference in your Home Office
For the purpose of this tweet chat let’s imagine that our hybrid event is one where we connect people across different geographical locations for an experience in real time.One way I have of describing a hybrid event is “a conference bought to you (the online delegate) in the comfort of your own home/office” and I’ll use this as a means of starting our discussion and we can move on from there.

There are differences in how active or passive hybrid events can be and this is something that we will no doubt explore as we race through our hour. A tweet chat hour goes really quickly.

Join In
Come and join in the chat with me, Paul Cook on 23 April 2013 at 14.00 GMT +1. Just make sure you use the hashtag #EIBTM13 and let us have your questions. Your experiences will add to the discussion so please feel free to share with us.

I anticipate that the conversation will continue long after our hour so just keep using the hashtag #EIBTM13 and share our collective experiences and wisdom so that we can all benefit from understanding more on the exciting subject of hybrid events.

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Hybrid Event Tweet Chat with EIBTM

I am absolutely delighted to be taking part in the Hybrid Event tweet chat as part of the EIBTM Online Education Week.

Here is the information that you need from EIBTM:

This education week is back by popular demand and is set to take place from 22 – 26 April 2013. It is your opportunity to access over 40 thought provoking discussions, blogs, webinars and presentations based around the key themes of Technology, Hybrid Events, Sustainability and Global Industry Research as well as other key professional education sessions from EIBTM 2012, all of which can be accessed at any time via http://www.eibtm.com/eduweek

Key Sessions include:

• Making Digital Events Happen – your how to guide for virtual events with speakers

• Stories of Great Leadership in Times of Challenge and Change

• The Implications of Mobile on the Meetings Industry, Ewan MacLeod, Founder and Editor, Mobile Industry Review

• The IBTM Global Research Findings:

• Introduction to Sustainability and ISO 20121

We also look forward to welcoming Hybrid Event expert Paul Cook who will be leading a live Tweet Chat on Hybrid Events via the EIBTM Twitter profile (@eibtmevent). Make sure that you tune in at 14:00 (GMT+1) on 23 April to ask questions and join discussions around this hot industry topic using #EIBTM13.

Plus, on 25 April at 14:00 (GMT+1), Charlie Banks, from Sustainable Events Ltd will be leading a live Tweet Chat on Sustainability in the Meetings Industry via Twitter (@eibtmevent). This is your opportunity to find out more about Sustainability and the new ISO 20121 which is taking sustainability in the industry to new heights!

Make sure you join the EIBTM community and comment or share your views on LinkedIn, Twitter (www.twitter.com/eibtmevent) using #EIBTM13 and Facebook (www.facebook.com/eibtmevent).

We look forward to welcoming you to EIBTM Online Education Week!
_________________________________________________________________________________

Off now to prepare for the Guest spot tomorrow. Please come and say hello on 23 April 2013 and let me have your questions. I am looking forward to a great chat. 

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Producing Your Brilliant Hybrid Event

When it comes to hybrid events and their production a whole new set of opportunities and challenges come into play. The event planner becomes a producer looking after the needs of two audiences; the people in the room and those people that cannot be seen but are taking part online.

In reality, a hybrid event involves very careful preparation with everyone including the catering staff knowing what is happening. After all you wouldn’t want someone clattering the coffee cups whilst your production is web streamed across the globe.

Briefing your speakers is very important. The activities and engagement of the online audience are just as important as those for the face to face audience and your speaker(s) has to be able to deliver successfully for both audiences. Does the speaker know that their content is going around the globe? Will they be at your event on time? What alternative plans do you have in place in case a speaker is unable to make it?

The integration of speakers and event planners is just one key to producing a successful hybrid event. You also have to be working closely with the venue, the audio visual team, the web streaming team, the catering staff, and the on-site audience.

In fact everyone has a role to play even if only to understand where the cameras are pointing and to wait for a microphone before asking a question.

There are many considerations when producing a hybrid event and not least is keeping strictly to time as you cannot lose your online audience by being late. Imagine if the news at 6.00pm began at 6.10pm because a speaker/team member wasn’t in place! It wouldn’t happen as the news has to go on and it’s that mentality that is needed to produce your brilliant hybrid event.

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Don’t Ignore Your Production Crew

At any event, but especially a hybrid event you will be dependent in large part on the expertise of your production crew. By production crew I am talking about those fabulous people who sit usually at the back of the room or to the side of the stage fiddling with all sorts of buttons and lights to bring the audio visual and web streaming to your event.

These people are absolutely essential because without them no speaker will be seen or heard with any degree of professionalism.  And without the web streaming guys no content will ever leave the room.

With all this dependency you might think that production crews would be well looked after when on site. For those of you event planners that take great care of your production crew then I take my hat off to you. But, if you are a planner that doesn’t give your production crew a second glance then shame on you. It’s time to put that right and here are three simple tips to help you.

Brief Your Production Crew 

In advance of your event make sure that the production crew understand clearly what you want to happen as there can be a number of variations so be clear. If the content is being streamed how long is the streaming to be? How many cameras do you need? If you have a remote speaker, do you need to see them on a screen or just hear their voice? Once you have clearly worked out what you require then the production crew will be able to make it happen.

Show Your Running Order 

Provide the running order of the event to your production crew. It’s very simple and keeping everyone in the loop will benefit you. I know from experience that the production crew really add some great ideas when bringing all these logistical elements together. You cannot ignore your production crew and hope it will all work. A hybrid event requires more consideration than a traditional event as the hybrid element means you have on-line delegates to look after.

Feed and Water Your Production Crew 

This in my book is a basic. Ensuring your production crew are fed and watered is crucial. They are working long hours and need to keep their energy levels high.  Ensure that they can find the food and keep them topped up with regular non alcoholic drinks.

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