Over the past year, I’ve seen alot of excitement from event and meeting planners about the hybrid event. That’s where you host a non-virtual event, such as a conference or trade show in a city and supplement it with a virtual event that takes place over the phone or online.
The hybrid event can take place consecutively, meaning that you host one, then a few weeks or months later you host the other. Or, it can take place concurrently, meaning that you host both together. Andrea J. Lee’s The Wealthy Thought Leader will have both a non-virtual component, taking place in Vancouver Marchc 18-20, 2010, and a virtual component happening at the same time for those who couldn’t travel to Vancouver.
Part of this excitement is due to the fact that event and meetings planners now see virtual events complimenting (and not replacing) non-virtual events. I guess it’s easier to support something if it no longer looks like it’s going to wipe out your bread and butter.
But I digress…
My point is that the hybrid event is nothing new. Those in the online marketing space have been using hybrid events for years to connect with their consumers.
The typical scenario is this – an online marketer hosts a virtual training or coaching program. They do this program annually for about 3-years. Over that time, they’ve not only trained hundreds of people, but for the thousands who didn’t sign up for the training, they are aware that it exists.
The online marketer decides to host a reunion event in a city somewhere in North America. Most will host this event in advance of a conference or trade show that relates to the content of their training or coaching program and that they’ll be speaking at.
For example, my buddy Paul Colligan, who co-hosts Podcast Secrets virtually with his co-trainer Alex Mandossian, would organize a Podcast Secrets reunion workshop one day before the Podcast & New Media Expo (PNME) started (now Blog World & New Media Expo). His students would fly in to attend the reunion, then stay on to attend PNME.
Paul’s first “hybrid” event was in 2006. So, perhaps it didn’t have a fancy name, but it’s nothing new. I’m happy to see virtual events grow as a strategy, but the excitement about hybrid events is not warranted given that it’s existed for quite some time.
Hi Leesa, While I do agree that different types of hybrid events have existed by using podcasts or webcasts to augment physical events, I believe the excitement is how quickly technology has advanced to provide more engaging and interactive experiences.
Twitter is a great technology that changed the back-channel conversations at physical events in real-time. Virtual event technology platform providers, like my company, take webcasting one step further with multiple spaces, chat capabilities and integration with these social technologies. The possibilities are only limited by our imagination and I think that is why our excitement is palpable!
Thanks and keep up the good work,
Cece of InXpo