Here’s my take on what is a hybrid event, and what are some best practices on the technical side of hybrid events.

We’re often asked: What is a hybrid event?

To me, a hybrid event is where some of the presenters are in the room and some of the presenters are online, brought into the room using, Zoom, Teams or another video conference system.

The audience will be in the room in person and can optionally also be watching remotely at the other end of a live stream.

So, we need to consider two different parts here. The online audience are treated as a regular live stream. They see and hear what happens in the room and can participate in any Q&A sessions via, ideally, live text chat.

A top tip here is for the host to read the online questions out first, which makes them feel more part of the physical event.

The online presenter or panellist is a slightly more complicated thing – our aim is to give them a great experience – as close as possible to them being at the event in person.

On the day of the event, they are welcomed by one of our team when they join the call.

Once the event is running, they need to see and hear what happens in the room so that they know what’s been said before they step onto the stage, so to speak.

When they present or are part of a panel, they should see the other panellists and audience members but not themselves. Ideally they would also see the faces of the audience members asking questions in the room, so a manned camera or PTZ at the front is a great feature for them.

Finally, one thing to consider is lip-sync on the big screen in the room. We always delay the audio when the online presenter speaks so that the video shown looks nice and natural.

🚀So, there you go – that was my take on what makes a hybrid event, and some best practices on the tech side to consider. I’ll dive deeper into specific elements in the coming months.

👇Ping me a DM or comment below with any questions or comments. Thanks for reading! ✨