The participants in this virtual meeting were: Miquel Fortuny from Shocklogic, Alex Barbero from Eventscase, José Luis Fernández from evenTwo, Jonathan Ysaye from TechForMICE, Marcos Eguillor from Vidiv, José Aguilera from Xpansion digital, Charlie from Redtorres, Robert Masana from eTechSuite and Fernando from Le Monnier.

Events are back stronger than ever and as we have seen, we are in a moment of positivism, with a year full of activity at the end of the year. After so many restrictions, face-to-face is the jewel in the crown, as people want to see each other and share a few drinks face-to-face. However, virtual and hybrid events have not completely disappeared. We sat down with some representatives of technology companies to get a first-hand look at the current situation.

Surely before considering whether to hold a face-to-face, virtual or hybrid event, we should be clear about the characteristics of each. In this sense, the format that can cause the most confusion is the hybrid format, even among the professionals who work with it, there are certain discrepancies. What is clear is that they are events that combine a face-to-face part with a virtual part, but it is more complicated than that. As Marcos Eguillor of Vidiv says, when we had to move to virtual and hybrid events, most people wanted to take their in-person events and move them to the digital realm, but these events require their own codes and language.

“A hybrid event is not a physical event relayed by any technological solution, it needs to make certain adaptations,” he says. In addition, there are other aspects to take into account such as duration, content or interaction; in this sense, for Alex Barbero from Eventscase, it is essential to have “a two-way relationship to be able to talk about a hybrid event, otherwise it is just a streaming”.

However, although for them interaction is a fundamental part that must be taken into account, they find that many times the virtual part of an event is understood as a back up. As José Luis Fernández of evenTwo tells us, in his case they receive few requests for hybrid events and in many of them they see it as an insurance in case the on-site event should fail in any way.

“Attendees who come to the on-site event are like VIPs, they have access to the whole experience, while those who connect remotely can only access streaming and little else (although the platform offers them more possibilities),” he says. Charlie de Redtorres agrees with him, stating that in hybrids “the possibility that those who are remote can participate live is being restricted, only to see the streaming”.

The opinion of this meeting is unanimous: face-to-face events are the first choice. Looking ahead to 2023, they foresee that there will be more face-to-face and larger events, however, José Aguilera of Xpansion digital, is confident in stating that: “the hybrid event or streaming will return, either by crisis or budget cuts”. In this sense, there are companies that see these formats as an ally for certain types of events, especially short training sessions, press conferences or events where internationalization is a priority (although they are also being used for congresses, fairs and large-format conferences). Beyond the economic aspect, there are other factors that determine the format that companies choose and these are the objectives. In this sense, Jonathan Ysaye of TechForMICE, believes that it is necessary for companies to work with a medium-term planning that defines the formats of the next 5 events according to their objectives.

However, for Fernando de Le Monnier, beyond the format, the important thing is to find out how technology can improve the interaction of an event, since for him “an event has to be a dynamic that generates engagement” and that, in addition to interacting at the level of being able to ask questions remotely, there must also be the possibility of sharing knowledge.

Everyone talks about the importance of data and measuring results, but do companies really pay attention to the reports? On this issue there seems to be quite a lot of awareness among everyone “no one looks at each other or analyzes anything”. Although they are asked to make developments to capture a specific data or, they are asked that the options to measure the votes are active, in the end they do not download the report or ask for the results.

The most requested data is the tracking, which is the time that each attendee has been connected while watching the streaming.

There is still a great lack of knowledge on the part of agencies and clients about what technology can offer to events, which is probably why, in most cases, technology integration is only applied during the event.

In this sense, we are talking about the use of an application that, among other things, allows them to register attendees and keep track of attendance, upload the program, etc. But beyond during the event, it is rare that the client uses the app prior to the event or for continuity. However, Alex from Eventscase says that, increasingly, they find that in briefings clients ask them (even if superficially and poorly defined) how they want technology and digitization to be present in certain aspects of the event.

Source – https://www.eventoplus.com/articulos/cual-es-el-futuro-de-los-eventos-hibridos-y-virtuales-conclusiones-del-encuentro-tech/