A NEW style of ‘hybrid’ conferencing may become the norm as the corporate world finds ways to adapt at a time when working from home is the safest option.
Hybrid conferencing combines the traditional face-to-face event with digital attendance. Delegates who attend in person adhere to physical distancing and others can attend the conference from home.
Spier Wine Farm, for many years a favourite conferencing facility with local and foreign companies, now offers hybrid and virtual conferencing. "Since the start of the pandemic, we immediately switched to innovation mode and have been able to re-invent some parts of our business to continue serving customers," says Spier gm, Joep Schoof.
As an example, the venue offered a virtual chocolate and wine tasting experience at the hybrid conference launch – each launch attendee was sent a box of wine and artisanal chocolates in advance to ensure that they could interact with the experience first-hand.
During every event, Spier oversees the virtual participation platform (including live Q&As, polls and breakout rooms), live streaming of sessions and attendance analytics.
The Durban ICC says it is ahead of the curve as it has been operating hybrid conferencing since September 2019. “We have run a number of international hybrid conferences with several simultaneous streams from various venues, which were streamed to audiences all around the world,” says Durban ICC ceo, Lindiwe Rakharebe.
She says hybrid conferencing could become a profitable venture because it allows organisers to reach much larger audiences than they would normally have, and monetise them accordingly.
“The best part is that companies are taking advantage of this kind of solution, even during lockdown conditions. By using the technology now, they do not have to wait until live events start up at full capacity again,” says Lindiwe.
Alan Stuart, owner of live-streamed events company, JellyBottle Media, says corporate clients can save on travel costs by using this style of conferencing.
Alan’s company offers a product called ‘conference in a box’, which offers a full package of all the elements needed to host a virtual conference. He says it is a solution to the limitations put on conferencing during lockdown. The package includes event promotion (for public or internal conferences), live streaming capability with all the equipment required to do so, and an assisted online framework that allows participants to interact with speakers and each other.
He believes, however, that this kind of conferencing won’t replace the need for event organisers, as clients will definitely still need the help of experienced event organisers and event management companies to host an event that looks professional and is up to company standards.
