Phygital: Hybrid Format and Tools for Conferences

Despite the fact that the pandemic restrictions on holding offline events have already been lifted, online opportunities remain in high demand. According to a recent report by Grand View Research, the global virtual events market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 21.4% from 2022 to 2030, reaching a revenue of $657.64 billion.

The first reason for the continued popularity of online events is their reach. For instance, the Adobe Summit, a popular digital marketing conference, was held virtually in 2020 and attracted over 500,000 registrants from 195 countries. This would not have been possible with an in-person event. Furthermore, virtual events can reduce costs for both the event organizer (the ability to rent a smaller space and equipment for a smaller number of in-person attendees) and the attendees (the ability to not spend money traveling to the conference site).

However, instead of a fully remote conference format, a hybrid is often used: some of the participants are present in person, and the other part is connected via video. This hybrid format, also known as “phygital” (which is a combination of physical and digital, meaning a mix of two formats of presence)  has become increasingly popular in the current landscape. For example, the Mobile World Congress 2021 in Barcelona offered both in-person and virtual attendance options and attracted over 20,000 in-person attendees and over 100,000 virtual attendees from over 200 countries.

By combining the benefits of both physical and digital formats, phygital events provide a unique and engaging experience for attendees while still offering the convenience and cost savings of virtual events.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages of hybrid conferences

• The combination of advantages of online and offline formats — face-to-face communication on the one hand, flexibility and mobility on the other
• Freedom for participants — they are given the opportunity to choose a convenient format
• Testing a quite atypical, but promising format of conferences

Disadvantages of hybrid conferences

• The combination of online and offline formats means the need to take greater responsibility for the quality of conferences
• The need to create comfortable and high-quality technical conditions for participants of both formats
• The selection of a program that creates comfortable conditions and entails equal experience can be quite difficult, because today there are not so many services adapted specifically for the hybrid format

Hybrid Events: Key Components & the Way to Success

In the process of organizing a hybrid event, it is necessary to take into account some features of this format. 

• Teamwork. For the proper level of technical equipment of a hybrid conference, you will probably need a lot of equipment. Therefore, it is better to distribute the responsibilities of monitoring various aspects of equipment operation among several assistants — this way it will be more likely to prevent the occurrence of a problem or eliminate it faster.
• Technical & in-office equipment. For a successful event, which will involve at least 5 people, you need good equipment: powerful computers, projectors, and the fast internet. It is also necessary to take care of the comfort of offline participants and fully equip the room for their comfortable accommodation.
• Communication. One of the fundamental principles is to arrange a space for communication so that participants feel equal. A hybrid conference loses its significance when online and offline begin to form two parallel disparate communication spaces. It is necessary that they coexist simultaneously, and this can only be done by forming a two-way connection.
• Infotainment. Even in the case of formal events, it is necessary to remember that a person’s attention is not constant, and dry information is processed and remembered harder an hour or two after the start of the event. It is worth introducing an entertainment element, for example, quizzes, which can be solved online and offline with equal success.
• Online tools. In order to avoid incidents during the conference, it is necessary to take care in advance of equipping lag-free equipment with programs and tools. In addition to online platforms, computer programs and mobile applications, the top of which we will give below, it is worth considering the need to register event accounts in social networks, chatbots, interactivity in streaming and gaming services.

Let’s study some tools and programs that can help create a favorable environment for holding a hybrid conference and remove any problems during the negotiations.

Tools for Success in Phygital

To make the process of organizing a hybrid event easier, we have compiled a list of services that will help you find the keys to success in phygital.

Stova

A service that allows you to organize hybrid events from several to 100,000+ people. It is easy to use for both organizers and participants. There is also a function for selecting an event template, which allows you not to worry about organizing an event from scratch.

EventMobi

The service, considered one of the most budget-friendly in this niche, has about 120 conference gamification functions in its arsenal: the format of a questionnaire, voting, thematic quizzes. Users attribute insufficiently modern design to the disadvantages, but in general the platform is promising in its development.

Bizzabo

The platform has gained its recognition due to the fact that it is quite integrated with a number of third-party marketing services (such as Slack and HubSpot), and also offers a simple function of creating a personalized website for the event.

Hopin

A powerful platform for hybrid events that allows participants to split into groups and work both among themselves and as a whole team. A distinctive feature of Hopin is the complete similarity of the virtual space to the real one, imitation of the entrance and exit from the online-rooms, etc.

Glisser

Software for hybrid events that solves the issue of interaction of participants. The service has a wide range of tools for establishing communication between participants — here you can take notes, have access to presentations and receive information content on request.

Vfairs

One of the few platforms that provides extensive animation opportunities in the process of conducting hybrid conferences. The ability to customize a realistic 3D environment fully engages virtual participants in the process, which contributes to the establishment of mutual understanding between participants.

Webex Events

The service has both an application for holding real-time events and a platform for hybrid conferences. Organizers can manage several events at the same time. A separate advantage is the gamification capabilities implemented in Webex.

Conclusion

The phygital format has emerged as the way of the future, combining the benefits of both face-to-face and online interaction. By leveraging the best technologies and tools, the challenges associated with hybrid events can be effectively addressed, leading to more productive and mutually beneficial conferences. Therefore, choosing the right platform and tools is crucial for making your conferences advanced and successful.