3 Tips - Planning Your Online Programme

You have decided to hold your hybrid event and are now busy working on your programme designs. Yes no longer can you develop a programme for your face to face delegates and promote the same for your online delegates.

Now you have a second programme (unless your hybrid event is on a tiny timescale) to develop which is for your online delegates.

A face to face audience at a conference has made a decision to be there and be totally immersed in the event experience. Apart from checking in with their work and family on occasion they have no other distractions.

Your online delegates have also made a decision to be immersed in your event but they have many more distractions whether they are taking part from their office or their home.

In my experience, the online delegates require their own programme which of course can be worked around the face to face programme but the planning needs to be carefully considered.

3 Key Considerations 

Scheduling 
When will your online audience be able to devote the biggest part of their time to your programme?

This question will ensure that you understand where the majority of your online delegates will be joining from.

You could argue that as your event is global it’s difficult to know but as with all events you will have a target audience that you are catering for so be sure to look after them as your primary consideration.

Time
Are you giving your online delegates enough time for eating, drinking, comfort breaks and time to reflect on sessions?

Some online programmes can become even busier than the face to face programme as there can be a desire by some event planners to add in studio interviews following presentations from speakers.

There is nothing wrong with this of course but please ensure that you have allowed your online delegates enough time for them to be comfortable throughout the programme in the same way that you will have considered the needs of your face to face delegates.

Interaction 
How does the online delegate interact with the programme?

How do they send in their comments or questions? Have you ‘walked them through’ all the things they need to know to be able to make the most of the event?

The easier you make it for your online delegates to become involved the better results you will have.

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Choose Your Words with Care it’s a Hybrid Event

What’s in a name? Really why do some words strike fear in the heart of many before anything else is said?

Let’s take insurance as an example. Mention the word insurance and in my experience many people will run for the hills. It either sounds complicated, boring or too much trouble. Again this is my experience but believe me I have spoken to a number of people over the years and I am yet to have an ‘insurance – brilliant’ reaction.

Mention the word creative or inspiring and I believe we have a different set of emotions being triggered. Again in my experience, I have known people become excited by these words.

So if the power of words has such an impact are we in the events industry in danger of putting the wrong words in front of our clients/audience members etc when we describe our hybrid events? Does the expression ‘hybrid event’ mean pain or pleasure for people hearing the term?

For people inside the ‘events industry’ the term ‘hybrid event’ may be completely common and known to all. But outside of the ‘events industry’ does it have a meaning which really demonstrates what a hybrid event can help achieve for a business?  Could the term actually be preventing event planners from obtaining more work from clients?

Even in the ‘events industry’ there are differences between event professionals as to what a ‘hybrid event’ is and we could spend a huge amount of time debating the definition (for someone to come along later and change it all again anyway).

But I think as long as you (the event planner) are clear on what your ‘hybrid’ event will deliver to your  particular client and the subsequent business benefits that will result then that is effort better spent than spending lots of time and energy arguing about the actual definition.

At the moment, my experience is that many people are still cautious when it comes to hybrid events so we all have some work to do to ensure that the term ‘hybrid events’ sets the excitement racing in the heart of our clients, as they immediately are able to see the business benefits that will follow.

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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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Bringing Your Remote Speaker In to Your Event

Having decided on the content for your event you may discover that some of the speakers you would like to take part are actually based some physical distance away from your event which could mean you have to incur some travel and accommodation expenses for your speaker(s).

This is fine as long as you have sufficient budget but sometimes it doesn’t work that way. You still want the speaker but have limited budget and this could naturally lead you to asking your speaker to join your event as a remote speaker. This would mean that you bring your remote speaker(s) into your event from their location(s) by using the wonders of modern technology.  

You might also have made a conscious decision that you are not bringing in speakers that are based outside the immediate location of your event. This could be particularly the case if you are demonstrating strong environmental credentials.

Bringing speakers into an event can be both exhilarating and challenging and usually both at the same time. You definitely need to make sure that the remote speaker is aware of how everything will happen and what they need to do at their end.

After all there is a limit to how many times someone asking ‘can you hear me’ becomes just annoying and I have yet to hear an outside news reporter shouting at the camera asking the same (can you hear me) question. It doesn’t happen.

You can be sure that the news reporter is aware of how he or she is looking and sounding. All the pre-production work has been done.  

If a speaker isn’t able to understand how to run the presentation/technology at their end, if they don’t have the correct technology and as importantly if they are unable to for whatever reason join you for a rehearsal then my advice would be to evaluate whether they really are the speaker for you.  There is just too much at stake for you including your reputation.

You can imagine the scene; you as the event planner have a room full of delegates, press, other VIPS etc and the event has been running really well. All is good until the hook up with the remote speaker melts into chaos as the remote speaker isn’t able to deliver. Now how is your reputation looking?

But don’t panic just make sure the pre-production work is executed well.

The important thing is that there is lots of communication between you (the event planner) and your remote speaker(s). Make sure all expectations are met; test the equipment until you are happy that the sound and vision are working in the most effective way for your audience(s).

And above all, trust your instinct. If you have a feeling that a remote speaker isn’t going to deliver for you, well that could well be right so make your decisions and do not compromise on speaker delivery.

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Designing Your Passive or Active Hybrid Event

When it comes to hybrid events, there is no one size that fits all. Your hybrid event which brings together on site and on line delegates will be just as unique as any other event you have planned.

The question that needs answering is “What are you seeking to achieve”? Having answered that, you can then begin to construct your hybrid event.

In my opinion, there are hybrid events that vary on an activity scale that ranges from very passive to very active. A passive hybrid event is one in which the on line attendees don’t do much more than send in a few questions via twitter or via a Question facility. In effect these on line attendees are really doing little more than viewing.

At the other end of the scale we have the very active hybrid event where this is a multitude of activity going on with the on line attendees. Maybe they can be seen and heard by everyone. Possibly, they will lead the whole hybrid event at some point(s) in the programme.

Having decided to what degree your hybrid event is on the passive to active scale, now comes the business of what you want your delegates to do both on site and on line. What do you want them to go away with at the end of your event? This will then naturally lead you to being able to create the programme.

There is little point in creating a very active hybrid event unless the objectives will be met. Yes, you can create a lot of activity and noise but if it doesn’t lead to further benefits for everyone well maybe then you could have settled for a more passive approach. There is after all, no one size that fits all.

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Respect the Microphone

You are in a conference session and have a question to ask the speaker. Your opportunity comes along when the speaker chooses you to speak. Being excited you quickly ask your question but without the aid of a microphone. The result is that only the speaker (possibly) and those closest to you have any idea of what you asked.

But just by waiting a few seconds will ensure that everyone will be able to hear your question. Just hold on until the person with the microphone (the runner) can reach you.

Now everyone can benefit by being able to hear clearly. And this is really important at a hybrid event (event that brings on site and on line delegates together) where on line delegates will be participating in the event. 

You could be nervous about speaking into the microphone and having the ‘spotlight’ turned on you but take a couple of deep breaths and then just ask your question.  

When I am in conference sessions, I often ask what I think are obvious questions and then realise that a number of people in the room were thinking along similar lines. There really is no such thing as a daft question. Everyone has different levels of understanding and experience so go on and take the opportunity. 

Even if there is no on line audience in attendance it is just good practice to wait for the microphone.  At many events ‘content’ is now recorded and having quality audio throughout the session and not just when the speaker is speaking is imperative.  

If you are the speaker, please allow time for the microphone to reach the audience member and let everyone hear the question.

If you are the conference/event/session planner please ensure that you have enough hand held microphones and runners relevant to the size of the event. Critically; keep an eye on your microphone runners so that the microphone delivery is as smooth as possible. 

Questions are very important in sessions and they have a right all of their own to be there and treated with respect. Go on, wait for the microphone as everyone will benefit by being able to hear.  

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Dealing with the Unexpected

Having a back-up plan is always useful at any event but it’s especially critical at a hybrid event when you have both on site and on line audiences to look after. 

The simple fact is that you cannot afford to lose the attention of either audience but it’s a lot easier to explain what is happening (what has gone wrong) to the onsite audience as usually you be with them on the spot. 

The more challenging part can come when you need to let the online audience know what has happened or is going on. 

Imagine that the online audience are at their PCs, on their tablets or their mobile devices and they are enjoying your hybrid event and then the streaming stops. No longer do they have any image or sound coming out of their device. What happens next?

If nothing happens fairly quickly then you can guarantee that the online audience will probably move on and leave your event. It’s vital therefore that you have a means of communicating with them, maybe via a help number or maybe by using social media channels but the important thing is to let them know what has happened. 

You must not wait either, what may seem like a few moments to you on site will seem so much longer to that on line attendee that is literally in the dark. Don’t delay put your Plan B quickly into place and manage the expectations of your audience.

Usually people are sympathetic when problems occur but they can rapidly lose patience through lack of information.

The key for your successful hybrid event is to keep everything moving which means understanding your Plan B and executing it if needed. 

Powerpoint Presentation Considerations at Hybrid Events

Over the years I have heard speakers actually apologizing for their PowerPoint (PPT) presentations! This came as something of a shock to me initially, after all why would anyone present their content in a way that they were not happy or proud of? But, there are some speakers/coaches/facilitators that do just that. To be fair they probably don’t mean to present in such a way but it does happen.

At a recent event I was listening and looking at a presentation and all was going well until the dreaded graphs appeared as part of the PowerPoint. It was at this point that the speaker made an apology for the slide(s) and I rapidly lost interest in the presentation.  

There was something of significance on the slide but I couldn’t see it and the graphs were not explained so I found myself unable to follow the point of that slide. Was it essential to the presentation? I will never know. Did it affect my ability to follow the key point of the presentation? Unfortunately, my concentration was disturbed and I was no longer in the flow of the presentation.

I have been to live events, where to have seen the PowerPoint I would have needed a telescope!

If graphs are going to be used that is fine but I think the key point of the slide needs to be developed in such a way that it becomes obvious without the need for the audience member trying to figure out what all the miniature figures/statistics actually mean.

I think there is little point in saying that if you cannot see the figures don’t worry as they will be e mailed after the presentation. What’s the point? The speaker has the audience there and then and that is the time to make the presentation really work.

A bad PowerPoint has no place at any event and even more so when a hybrid event is being produced. Just think how quickly your online audience will turn off if they cannot understand the slides or even see them.

Be proud of your presentation and never apologise. If you think you have to apologise then that is a sign to re-think the point of the slide in your presentation. 

Remember also that you have an online audience to consider and you certainly will not see them leave the room but they will go if your presentation isn’t keeping their interest. 

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