7 tips from Halito! for a successful online or hybrid event

An online or hybrid event is not an offline event with a camera! Successfully organize an online or hybrid event with these 7 tips.

Important for any successful online or hybrid event

To realize a successful online or hybrid event, you have to take the online setting into account from the start.
You can read the difference between an online, hybrid and livestream event in this blog article.

1. Clear theme

This seems like kicking in an open door, but still. By naming the theme very specifically, you will attract the right target group. And that is even more important in an online environment than offline. After all, a dissatisfied online participant will also make this known more quickly at the event or outside of it and you can do without that bad advertising.

Conversely, a well-defined and clear theme leads to you attracting new participants online – through targeted marketing such as advertisements – that you did not reach before.

2. Interaction

Whichever way you look at it, an online participant sits on a chair (at best a couch) looking at a screen and listening. That can be interesting for 5 or 10 minutes, but not 2 hours. Moreover, as an organizer you have no control whatsoever over the possible distraction that a participant experiences when he is seated elsewhere.

All possible forms of interaction are therefore necessary to maintain the attention and involvement of the participant. This can be done, for example, via:

Chat: interaction between participants
Q&A: interaction between the participant and the guest speaker(s)
Poll: asking the opinion of a participant via a multiple choice question (and preferably processing the result in real time in the presentation)
Discussion tables: online conversations in small groups (approx. 10 pax) around a defined topic, preferably with a moderator
…

3. Location

A living room, kitchen or meeting room are locations from which we often work these days, but they are not suitable for broadcasting an online event. A good location therefore looks professional, does not distract too much and has all the technology in-house to take care of that area.

There are now many professional studios where you can choose the look yourself, ranging from a news studio, a sofa to a bar. Are you looking for some good addresses for this? Send an email to hello@halito.com and we’ll help you right away.

4. Dynamic Shooting

Make sure the event is recorded and broadcast from different camera angles. Switching between camera angles keeps you captivated as a viewer and gives you the feeling of being close by and ‘in’ the event.

5. Not a one man show

A lot of people are involved in an online or hybrid event, both in front of and behind the scenes. The minimum you need are

a presenter to talk the whole thing together
guests talking about the content of the theme
a moderator who monitors the offline and online questions and chat and is responsible for the interaction
technicians who take care of the recording and broadcasting.

6. Limited in time

As an organizer you provide an experience that participants are all over the country (or the world) watching the same content; the feeling of watching alone together. In order to cluster that energy, a good broadcast may last a maximum of 2 consecutive hours. Then it’s time to stop or at least take a break.

In the latter case, you might want to ask a fitness coach to help the participants loosen up their muscles. If everyone then puts on their webcam, you’re guaranteed to have an animated break and lots of energy for the next part. Just an idea!

7. Experience with a webinar box

Surprise each participant with a real box that will be delivered to your home (or office) the day before the online event. The box is full of pleasant surprises such as drinks and snacks, a notepad with pen, but also a board game to keep the children entertained.

This way the participant feels really involved and he/she has the feeling that he/she is present at a physical event.

By the way, you can expand the experience by making room in the webinar program for online musical intermezzos, online laughter sessions and so much more.