Cut Cut Cut the Clattering Coffee Cups

One of my pet hates is being at an event and really wanting to focus and learn from the speaker who is presenting but then being caught up in the medley of noise that comes from coffee cups or food being cleared away.

The noise is a distraction and puts pressure on the speaker and affects the participants in the room. Somehow the moving of coffee cups, saucers and spoons creates a life all of its own. 

Usually I wouldn’t notice as much but at an event to me the distracting sound becomes even more pronounced. I have no idea really why it is allowed to happen? The event planner can clearly state as many do that certain things can or cannot happen and most venues or caterers work accordingly so all should be well. But, sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

Only recently I was at a charity fundraising dinner; the coffee had been served, the key speaker was talking about her experiences of people and their moments of personal anguish, the audience were captivated as they were on the emotional journey and just as the speaker was reaching the pinnacle of her speech along came the people to clear away the coffee cups. The noise affected both the speaker and some of the audience and I was left wondering why it had been allowed to happen?

Imagine that you are reaching the breath-taking finale of your favourite film and in the background you hear some noise that distracts you. Well it would be annoying (to put it mildly) and on a film production you can be sure that the Director would have called CUT!! so why don’t event planners do the same? Yes the events are not films but they are still productions and should be treated with the same professionalism as any great film producer will bring to bear.

A clattering coffee cup certainly has no place at any event and even more so when a hybrid event is being produced. Just think how quickly your remote audience will turn off if all they can hear is the clinking together of cups and cutlery?

It is essential that the catering staff understand that there are only certain times when they can deliver the food and drinks to ensure that they don’t appear as extras in your event.

Attention to detail is key to producing professional events and if you believe that your event is about to be affected by the clatter of coffee cups you should shout "CUT" very loudly. 

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Five Quick Tips For Your Hybrid Event Planning

I really enjoy the challenges and opportunities that hybrid events bring. To me, a hybrid event is “bringing together a face to face and remote audience for a shared participatory experience in real time.” Here are a few quick tips that I hope will help you with your hybrid event planning.  

Tip 1 – Event Objectives

Is the hybrid event really the right format that is going to deliver according to your event objectives? Do not have a hybrid event just because you think it is the latest thing you have to do. It always has to be appropriate and not every event needs to be or should be a hybrid.

Tip 2 – Two Audiences

Never forget that you have more than one audience. There is absolutely nothing more annoying than to be the remote participant that has been forgotten.

Tip 3 – Planning The Programme

Programme planning is very important as you need to be able to visualize how the remote attendees will be able to participate and how you will let them know to return to the programme.  With a face to face audience it’s simple, at the end of the coffee break people return to the main room. But with remote attendees how will you ensure that they have come back and are ready to join you again?

Tip 4 – Exercises Do Not Always Translate

An exercise that can be easily carried out in a live environment may make for some challenges when trying it with remote participants.  Networking is a good example. It is easy for people to get to know each other in a two minute ice breaker style session in person but how will you do that with remote participants?

Tip 5 - Focus Your Speakers

Many professional speakers will not have a problem in speaking at a hybrid event but they can still forget (albeit inadvertently) that there is an audience outside of the room. So it’s always worth prompting them to be on the safe side and do let them know which camera to address.  With those speakers that may not be used to being filmed you may need to help them so that they become comfortable before speaking. 

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The Skill of Balancing Remote Audience Engagement

There is definitely a skill involved when it comes to planning the programme for remote participants at a hybrid event. A hybrid event for me is “bringing together a face to face and remote audience for a shared participatory experience in real time.” Clearly there is also another skill involved in planning the programme for face to face participants. Creating a programme that combines both audiences to have that unique seamless participatory experience has to be the goal for any effective hybrid event.

In my experience what is happening at the moment for remote participants is a little like the idea of ‘feast and famine’ and there isn’t enough balance. For some of the events, the remote participant has quite clearly been forgotten (and that of course is tough for any remote attendee). The result really is that the attendee will simply switch off from the event and leave (virtually of course).

Here are some common (famine) issues that I have come across. There is the planner/speaker who hasn’t considered how an exercise will translate from physical attendees to remote attendees. For example, it’s quite easy to have a networking exercise amongst face to face attendees, but it needs more thought when planning the networking for the remote participants. 

Then there is the panel debate that forgets there is an on line audience and so only takes questions from the face to face attendees.  A third issue is when questions taken from the physical audience are not spoken into a microphone or repeated back into a microphone by the speaker.

On the counter to the famine we have some other (feast) issues. Whilst, remote participants do not want to feel excluded they do also need a break during the event as well. Some programmes have invited remote participants to be involved over a number of hours but is that realistic? Can you really ask someone to sit at their desk for hours?  If your programme is long then just plug in some breaks for the remote participants.

Sometimes there seems to be an idea that you have to keep pushing content at remote attendees to make sure they are fully engaged (whatever that means). This could translate to separate interviews with speakers, polls, chats and all sorts of other activities whilst the face to face attendee is enjoying his/her break.  All participants need time to reflect so allow time for that with your remote attendees.  

Ensuring the programme is effective for both face to face and remote attendees is truly a balancing act which has challenges. The good news is that in our events industry there is a lot of fast learning going on right now and seamless hybrid events will become the norm in the near future. 

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The Hybrid Event Question

The debate around whether a hybrid event (I define a hybrid event as “bringing together a face to face and remote audience for a shared participatory experience in real time”, will destroy the traditional face to face event still continues.  And it’s set to continue for some time I am sure.

Whilst this argument is valid to some degree I believe that it is getting in the way of expanding the event horizons from which everyone can benefit.

For a number of event planners the fear is that once their delegates know that they can attend either in person or remotely; then a number of their audience that used to attend the face to face event will decide to attend remotely. Any true event planner will assess their situation and decide from there whether a hybrid event will be the best way forward to achieve the ultimate objectives of the organisation.

Let’s look at an example of a two or three day event that requires people from across the globe to travel to one location. If we factor in a day either side of the event for people to travel and get ready for the event then we are effectively looking at a week away from their office.   Due to all sorts of reasons the number of people able to travel to this annual event has been decreasing over recent years and now the attendance is at 50% of what it was four years ago.

Depending on the objectives of the organisation there could be a call for a different way of making sure attendees are still involved and one of those ways would be to include elements of the event for remote participants.  

Now we are starting to look at using a hybrid event model.  Whilst this will have some challenges in terms of extra costs there are also extra benefits that can occur so the hybrid event shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.  The question of whether to hybrid or not should be on the table at the outset of the planning process.

Hybrid events are not going to be relevant in all event cases; there will always be the traditional face to face behind closed doors event and there will continue to be remote meetings on line but the blend that can come from a hybrid event is one that is here to stay.

Have a look at it and if it’s not going to work for you that is ok as well but at least get involved in considering the question of developing a hybrid event experience and enjoy the blend that comes from mixing your audiences together.

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Speaking in the Rhythm of Hybrid Events

Earlier this year I was invited to speak at ‘Event Camp Down Under’ which was an experimental Hybrid event from Sydney, Australia.  

The event had a mix of international speakers who were being beamed in remotely. This was deliberate as the planners wanted to keep their costs under control and also one of their other key objectives was to make the event as sustainable as possible.

I discovered that my speaking slot was going to be towards the end of the final (second) day of the conference which in Australian time was mid afternoon on the Monday but for me it was at the rather early start time of 04.30 am (GMT) in London. I thought this could be a little challenging but put on my ‘visualisation hat” to see how it would work.

I knew (as always for any speaking opportunity) that I would need to be at my very best despite the early start so my first task was to get my head in the right frame at the outset. I needed to be in the “rhythm” of the event and to understand that for physical attendees at the event they could be tired coming to the end of the day. They could also be distracted by the drinks and nibbles that would be served at the end of the conference.

In the end my experience as a remote speaker can be summarised as: it was dark outside, I had no one in the office, I had no feedback and a static camera was watching my every move. But, I loved it. To join the event, become involved in the rhythm and deliver to a live audience 12,000 miles away and to remote attendees worldwide was just brilliant.

The key was to become immediately immersed in the event and deliver great content even though the face to face location was half a world away.   

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Fully Brief Your Speakers for a Hybrid Event

   

You have been planning your hybrid event for some time now and all is looking good. You have been on a number of social media channels, you have been interviewed by traditional media and the buzz of your event is literally set to explode. All you have to do now is to execute your hybrid event.

If your event is hybrid, which for me is “bringing together a face to face and remote audience for a shared participatory experience in real time” – (Paul Cook 2012) then you will have been planning the finer details for some time. I know that your event will be a success because of all the attention to briefing and testing that you have taken. 

Briefing your speakers is a very important element in the success of your event. Whilst this is nothing new as all speakers need to be briefed for any event they happen to be working at, there are some extra considerations when it comes to your hybrid event.

The most obvious point is to let the speaker know that your event is a hybrid event and what that means to them. If the speaker is used to moving around the stage or within the audience, is that something that can still work? Or not?  If the speaker is to remain static will that hinder their actual performance? Some speakers like to move and some don’t, but the key for them will be to understand what you need them to be doing for your hybrid event. 

Have you advised the speaker of where they are in the speaking schedule? Earlier this year I was a remote speaker from the UK finishing the second day of a tour day conference in Australia. That had some challenges as it involved me waking up at 3.00am and being bright and ready to go. I knew that the live attendees could be thinking of the finish of the event and relaxing at the BBQ and drinks reception. My job as a speaker was to be able to automatically get into the ‘rhythm’ of the event with ease.

Have you worked through what will be involved in the presentation from the speaker? This is an absolute must. With a live face to face audience it is easy to make exercises work. The ice breaker or the ‘getting to know you’ networking exercise are just two that spring to mind. But, will these translate with the remote attendees? They can work with the remote attendees but it does require some extra thinking. Believe me, there is nothing worse than watching the face to face attendees participate in exercise and realise that somehow along the way, the remote attendee has been left out. It’s a sure way to lose your remote attendee participants.

Keeping to time is a must. It should be this way for all events but in my experience, many events do not always keep to the schedule. But, this is where you as the event planner have to be decisive and cut off any speaker that looks as though they are in for longer than their allocated time slot.  It is worth remembering that some remote attendees may only participate when their ‘speaker of interest’ comes on and that means the remote attendee is expecting them to be on time.  If not, then it’s likely they will leave your event.

Briefing your speakers comprehensively and keeping everyone to time will pay dividends and will be bound to have benefits for the success of your event. 

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Sit in the Seat of Your Remote Attendee

Having attended a number of hybrid events as a remote attendee I have experienced some great events and then also some that were really just not that good.

If the event is truly hybrid, which for me is “bringing together a face to face and remote audience for a shared participatory experience in real time” – (Paul Cook 2012) then let me know just that. But, if the event is basically, a face to face event with some live streaming then tell me. But, please don’t call it a hybrid event.

One of my biggest frustrations attending as a remote participant on a hybrid event was to discover that the event wasn’t a hybrid. It was a live stream. I had no means of asking questions and basically all I could do was to watch the stream.

But, whether your event is a hybrid or is basically a live stream please don’t forget that all-important audience of remote attendees. For me, too often the remote audience can be easily overlooked (probably not on purpose) and this is a shame and also a failure for the event so please don’t let it happen to you as you plan your remote attendee experience.

Have a look at how the image will appear for the remote attendee. Exactly, how will the image look to someone working from their office/home?

Can the remote attendee look at their screen and see the speaker with their presentation or will they just see parts of the speaker or parts of the presentation? Anything that looks to be chopped off leads to a poor experience for the remote attendee.

The timetable or schedule/programme is another key factor that remote attendees need to be aware of right from the start. When are remote attendees able to join the event? Is it for the whole event or just a part? If just part then what times do they need to know to be able to join? Times of course should be across different time zones. Make it easy for people to be able to become involved.

Don’t just block out part of the programme either with some vague description for remote attendees. They will want to know how long the session(s) will be and what will be happening (basically the same as any face to face attendee would want) so don’t make it a mystery. They also need to know when they can leave for comfort and food/drink breaks. Having this information will really help plan their time.

If the event is a hybrid event, does the remote attendee understand how to interact? How do they send in their questions/comments? Is it via the platform being used or is it by some other means, maybe a twitter hashtag? But whatever it is please let people know well in advance so that they can become familiar with how it all works.

So the next time your are planning the programme for the remote attendee take the test, go and sit in their seat and imagine what the experience will be like from the start. Getting inside the head of the remote attendee will be bound to have benefits for the success of your event.

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