Top 5 Hybrid/Virtual Conference Tips for 2022

1. Pre-Recording with LIVE QA is still the best virtual conference format

When given the option, we encourage our conference partners to pre-record all sessions whenever possible. With the added benefit of being able to edit, redo portions of sessions or even redo an entire session. By removing the stress of every presenter being live, you lower your overall odds of something going wrong during your live event considerably. Will a presenter show up? Will their internet be strong enough to broadcast? etc. By utilizing Calendly to its fullest potential, Playback Now makes pre-recording sessions a breeze for your presenters and organization. By pre-recording, it also gives us the ability to upgrade graphics such as lower 3rds, event graphics, etc. Best of all, you can have your presenters join in remotely at the end to answer questions live through the broadcast or they could even be answering questions throughout the video through the attendee chat tool.

2. Returning onsite means mobile event apps return as well. If possible, you should also livestream your event through your mobile event app

Not surprisingly, the biggest increase we have seen in our production requests is the increase in the live streaming component. While some organizations are venturing into live streaming for the 1st time, many of our association partners were live streaming content well before the recent transitions to virtual but are now increasing the amount of what is being live-streamed. In some cases, we have been asked to also livestream to multiple places including youtube, LinkedIn and even into the mobile event app. While it seemed redundant at the time to stream content to folks that were already on site, we have been very surprised how many onsite attendees gathered in small groups or watched quietly in their own space a session that they could have attended live in person. Playback Now can provide you with a full virtual/hybrid event platform that includes a mobile event app or Playback Now can directly integrate with your current mobile event app.

Attendees viewing mobile app

3. Encourage Polling/Chat/QA with both LIVE and In-Person Audiences

One of the biggest changes we saw when transitioning to virtual from hybrid events was the massive increase in overall engagement. It certainly makes sense that given that folks could no longer communicate in person and the virtual audiences increased significantly but what we are seeing and are excited about seeing is an increase in hybrid event engagement much higher than pre-covid levels. While it was extremely underused in pre-covid events, utilizing features such as polling is also a fantastic way to engage with your audiences whether it be to get some data about your audience before a session begins, or during a sessio n to help direct the way a presenter may want a presentation to go. Viewers want to feel a part of a session, of the viewership, and any way to encourage that type of engagement only makes your sessions more engaging and impactful. Another bonus is we now have the ability for the in-person audience to chat and ask questions as the virtual audience generates even more conversations throughout the collective chat tool One thing to keep in mind, is making sure you assign an in-room moderator that can relay questions from the chat tool to the presenters.

4. Adding graphics, overlays and lower thirds can turn a basic production into an extremely polished presentation very quickly.

One of the biggest leaps Playback Now made with the recent virtual conference period was in terms of video production enhancements. While we may have connected with presenters for their remote presentations via Zoom, our production team has the innate ability to create views that can help the audience not feel as though they are just stuck in another zoom meeting. Utilizing event logos and graphics, lower 3rds, and catchy intros, Playback Now can help make a standard session stand out from the rest with creativity.