Oliver Heinke shares with us his valuable experience in the field of hybrid and digital organization of congresses and exhibitions from the perspective of a PCO (Professional Congress Organizer) over the last two years.

Basically, digital or hybrid congresses evolve over time, so the knowledge gained should be incorporated into the development of further formats - so they grow and are increasingly adapted to the needs of the participants.

Some of his key learnings and experiences summarized:

• The no-show rate for online events is higher than for face-to-face events, as the overall investment (e.g. no costs for travel/accommodation/time) is lower and this lowers the inhibition threshold for non-participation
• in return, the length of stay and engagement of participants with the selected online offerings is longer/higher
• Chat programs and other channels for networking are used by approx. 25% of participants
• Online exhibitions are less frequented, guests generally rarely take the time to visit the virtual exhibition, as they only visit the event for individual presentations; Interplan has already tried out a number of virtual presentation options and has come to the conclusion that virtual trade fairs/exhibitions are not well received
• How can companies be integrated into the program instead of a presentation in an exhibition? For example, slots can be created in the lecture program, short keynotes, the companies can introduce themselves to the audience and refer to their profile. This has led to a higher level of interaction with the company profile!
• Acceptance of the event depends on the organizers' objectives: Knowledge transfer can be covered well with the online offer, emotions are conveyed through face-to-face events!

Important questions that need to be answered:

• Do we stream all sessions?
• Are they all live or should some of them be made available afterwards?
• Do we stream in two directions, i.e. is interaction with the guest desired?
• Is there exclusive content only for online streaming or for the on-site event?
• Do I need a virtual exhibition or a supporting program?
• How do I brief the presenters so that they involve the online guests?
• Do I need a separate concept for the online event?
• What is my pricing policy so that the additional costs for online streaming are covered?

Here are a few tips on the technical components to consider when organizing a virtual congress:

• Make log-in processes as simple as possible
• Design the navigation of the pages intuitively
• Pay attention to content management, plan coherently
• Offer interactivity, e.g. through group forums
• Make the platform available a few days in advance so that participants can familiarize themselves with the platform

Our next speaker, Natascha Kneissl from the event agency Jazzunique (opens in a new tab), shared her views and experiences with hybrid events compared to live events.

According to a recent study in the US, hybrid is a new normal and around 80% of companies are planning hybrid events in the future. What is this trend all about? Is it a new fashion or a necessity? Let's take a closer look.

As Natascha explains: event conception is a craft and requires precise and thorough planning. The first step that event managers need to take is the strategic selection of a format. The question should not be "how do I plan a hybrid event", but rather "which format meets our parameters".

As far as the parameters are concerned, there are always three, regardless of the event format:

• Information
• emotion
• Involvement

The format of your event must therefore be analyzed according to these parameters.

For example, informative formats with pure knowledge transfer (e.g. specialist lectures) contain little emotion and require hardly any involvement on the part of the participants. Brainstorming , on the other hand, requires the active participation of the participants and aims to find solutions. Concerts or team-building events definitely require emotions.

When choosing between hybrid or digital, involvement is the most important evaluation criterion.

Natascha also emphasizes the fact that people are just as central to hybrid formats as they are to live events. In order for participants to feel valued, some of the characteristics of live communication must be transferred to digital. For example, spatial elements that are available to digital participants, immersive staging with videos as part of a webinar series or onboarding video training and a look behind the scenes at digital events can have a lasting effect.

Last but not least - "Let's dare to plan for the imperfect".

Surprising program points, such as a short personal video greeting, even if it is only a brief moment, enable spontaneous and individual discoveries and allow closeness.

Anne Motzki, Head of Convention Sales at Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing, also addresses the parameters of the event mentioned by Natascha Kneissl and reports on her experiences with the organizers of RMCC 2021.

It has been observed that events such as trade fairs and entertainment formats that require emotion and interaction are difficult to implement digitally. A good example of this is the annual conference of the DGKFO e.V. (opens in a new tab) with 1000 participants on site and a further 1500 online participants. The international speakers were also able to participate digitally, which saved them the time and expense of being physically present. However, the industry exhibition was better held live, as the industry attaches great importance to being able to touch the products and this can hardly be reproduced virtually.

Joe Wippel, Senior Project Manager & Key Account Manager at schoko pro GmbH (opens in a new tab), also addressed the topic of the virtual trade fair stand. His experiences and those of his customers were positive all round.

Trade fair stands were digitized and recreated in 3D, participants were able to walk around the stand digitally on the platform, download videos and PDFs and even get in touch with the stand operator. Finally, an evaluation of the length of stay and interaction of the participants was created for the customer.