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How Event Pros Plan on Fusing Virtual and In-Person Elements at Live Events

Even when in-person events make their full return, catering to a virtual audience won't go by the wayside. Here's how to get the best of both worlds, according to 16 event planners across North America.

Marriott Connect With Confidence, MeetingPlay
Looking for ways to merge virtual and in-person elements at future live gatherings? At Marriott's Connect with Confidence hybrid event in November at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner in Virginia, in-person participants could connect with those present virtually via the MeetingPlay app and online dashboard. The at-home audience was able to upload their photos to the gallery wall (pictured, far back) that was displayed in the ballroom. High interaction levels were encouraged via the MeetingPlay platform’s leaderboard, with prizes awarded to the top five participants.
Photo: Rachel Ayotte

While the comeback of live events is looking more promising, many event and meeting professionals don’t plan on kicking their newfound virtual skills to the curb. Here, industry pros from across the United States and Canada share their plans and bonus tips for merging virtual and in-person components into future gatherings.

Joe Schwinger, Founder, MeetingPlay, Frederick, Md.
“What we love about the virtual world is that it empowers attendees to have a voice. Historically, it would be hard for an event attendee to stand up and say something in the middle of a keynote, but with virtual events and all the engagement tools we wrap around the content, attendees have a powerful voice and can be heard loud and clear. We’ve built our hybrid solutions with many of these same engagement tools to unite audiences and give on-site and virtual attendees an equal voice.”

Raviv Kunets, Creative Director, R5 Event Design Inc., Toronto
“We love incorporating interactive and immersive experiences at all of our events, so adding virtual elements that help connect the two need to be fun and interactive. By combining fun and well-designed experiences, you can mesh the two worlds together in a seamless environment and provide a unique experience for live guests to interact.”

Rolando Espinoza, Creative Director, Champagne Experiential Studios, Las Vegas
“I hope that fun virtual activities and online games for remote guests stay alive and well as live events make their eventual full return. Having games and amusements open to off-site guests is a no-brainer; good old-fashioned fun, combined with contemporary technology, ensures that everyone gets to network, play and laugh together. We’re adding hybrid-enabling elements, like cameras and chroma key effects, to traditional casino-night games that feature live, in-room dealers that marries both online and offline environments. The added tech and Vegas-feel of our Virtual Poker Tournament and Virtual Blackjack make everyone a winner, winner—chicken dinner.”

Janet Holliday, President & CEO, The CE Group Inc., San Antonio
“Virtual engagement will continue to be a key element in live gatherings. Virtual event registration, virtual goodie bags and virtual lounges can allow for folks to have a contact-free and travel-free check-in process. The reach of a meeting or event is now much broader with the ability to livestream and have a deeper pool of speakers and content available both in person and virtually. During the pandemic, the power of technology was here to support event best practices. It will be so great to have safe live events again with the enhancement of innovative virtual platforms.”

Yvonne McNair, Chief Experience Officer, Captivate Marketing Group, New York
“By fusing virtual and in-person elements through several different methods, I have been able to gain global reach with a high level of engagement virtually. I use livestream studios around the country to allow for live performances and speaking segments in exchange for overloading participants with prerecorded content. Being live brings a different energy to events, but as they make their return, 2021 events will have reduced physical capacities. Because of this, all of my events will have a livestream component, so that I can continue to push out content to a larger audience. And it will allow for partners to receive the same, and more likely greater, return on their sponsorship investment.” 

Alicia Jenelle, Event Director, Alicia Jenelle Events, Toronto
“Our team is beyond excited for in-person events to return. When they do, we will leverage the intimate at-home feeling we all enjoy from a virtual event experience and apply that to our live events. By reducing attendants; being more intentional with invites and content; and providing non-branded swag, comfy lounge areas, casual dress codes, longer break times and an opportunity to watch the event on-demand, among many other tools, we will leverage the impactful elements we’ve learned from virtual events and incorporate them into our live experiences.” 

Kellie Mayrides, Account Executive, CORT Events, Philadelphia
“Production value for the virtual audience will continue to be important. Simply livestreaming the general session won’t cut it going forward. The staging sets we use need to work just as well in person as they do on screen. When consulting with my clients on the right look for their hybrid meetings, I’m recommending we approach the look and feel as something more akin to a television broadcast. I also love the trend of swag boxes mailed in advance of the program, and think that will become par for the course for hybrid and virtual events.”

Krislyn K. Rojas, Owner & President, Eklectic Entertainment, Orlando
“After truly embracing the dynamics of the virtual stage, we’ve been able to showcase our talent to a world-wide audience who were previously beyond our reach. My personal favorite involved a livestream to over 30,000 global attendees featuring a massive interactive video wall where the first 500 attendees were the stars of the show! To virtually reach through the camera and connect with folks at home will allow us to proceed forward with all-inclusive hybrid events for those who cannot celebrate with us in person, as well as our live audiences. A win-win for all.”

Samantha Houser, Events & Project Manager, BIG HQ, Toronto
“As in-person events return, our team at BIG HQ plans to include virtual options to create more inclusive and accessible events. For the past year, we have been producing immersive digital experiences using a customized 360-degree platform for clients, and our goal is to integrate the platform into future in-person events. This will enable a wider audience to attend events when it otherwise would not be possible.”

Seth Dolan & Eric Faamausili, Co-founders, Gladiator Productions, Los Angeles
“This year especially, the virtual space has allowed us to design and create environments that can’t really exist in the real world because of pure physics! That unique first-person POV that places you somewhere you could never go in real life is definitely one thing we will hang on to. Whether that moves into on-site VR experiences or screen immersion, or is even still accessed at home for convenience, the dreamscape of blue-sky possibilities will definitely stay with us.”

Susan Lacz, Principal & CEO, Ridgewells Catering, Washington, D.C.
“We’ve seen a focus on interactive components at virtual events, such as cocktail- or sushi-making. We’ve developed event kits and ‘experiences in a box’ for a few of our clients recently, and the requests continue to come in. It’s all about delivering an impactful experience, and these fun, interactive elements do just that—virtually and in person. One thing that we’ve learned through the pandemic is that event pros are resilient; we are experts in troubleshooting, pivoting, and creating value, regardless of what is thrown at us. As live events make their return, creativity and innovation will be at an all-time high!”

Mahoganey Jones, Founder & Event Producer, Event Specialists, Toronto
“My focus is on creating micro-experiences that allow the audiences to feel connected through layout design, lighting and platform choice. Allowing both audiences to feel like they are experiencing the same event, only in a different way. The focus on layout for the in-person audience will allow both in-person and online audiences to feel comfortable with how the event is being delivered.”

Sean Hughes, Managing Partner, aVenue Event Group, Orlando
“We have really enjoyed the interactive component that virtual events have offered, such as live polling, surveys, etc. We would love to see this in live events even more with easy-to-use platforms that integrate seamlessly with that interactive component, even among large in-person gatherings.”

Christine Kiesling, VP Customer Experience, Hargrove, Lanham, Md.
“As hybrid emerges, so do the options for audience engagement. The experience must be seamless for both in-person and remote audiences. No matter the spectrum, number of people, budget or technology utilized, you must have a roadmap and experience design that sets the event up for success. The critical components will be proper planning, selecting the right platform for your unique needs, reliable streaming and bandwidth, production quality and an absolutely killer production team—both on-site for the live event as well as behind the scenes remotely.”

Nicole Pimentel, Owner & Creative Director, Cole + Co Events, Toronto
“As we start to get back to a new sort of normal with in-person events opening back up at reduced capacities, we’re fusing our in-person events with a virtual livestream element that allows guests to tune in to watch ceremonies, speeches and entertainment in real time. Guests can also join separate virtual rooms where they can connect with other attendees and join in on interactive discussions and activities. To make this appealing to our guests, we’re creating a fully engaging experience and delivering customized gift boxes to virtual attendees that include food, wine and other goodies to enjoy.”

Washington Arias, President & CEO, Everlast Productions, Miami
“We’ve learned so much over the past year. During the pandemic, we merged our technology and creative teams to work together while thinking outside the box of what we could deliver to our clients for their virtual events. Having that passion to think creatively has opened a new world of design elements for our clients and their audiences. We want to continue to incorporate opportunities for both live and virtual attendee engagements, like integrating augmented reality and 3D virtual environments.”

A version of this story also appeared in BizBash's spring 2021 print issue 

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