For hybrid meetings: Digital Event Hub Kranichstein

Hybrid events are the combi­na­tion of a purely digital event and the classic “on-site event”.

Let us assume that a confer­ence consists of the following compo­nents:

• General session in a large hall or hall, with large numbers of partic­i­pants and lectures
• With many breakout sessions and one on one meet­ings
• Coffee breaks and networking
• Exhibitor area and product presen­ta­tions

So if you want to hold a hybrid event profes­sion­ally, we have to build a bridge between the analog world and the digital world.

Let’s start at the begin­ning: It starts with the event loca­tion, in which I can move freely to enter rooms, visit exhibitors and, above all, to be able to commu­ni­cate with other visi­tors, exhibitors and orga­nizers.

Digi­tally, an inter­ac­tive plat­form is required that creates its own “digital iden­tity”, with which I can also play a role as a person, in which I can acti­vate my webcam with audio in order to be able to partic­i­pate inter­ac­tively. For example at breakout sessions, at one-on-one meet­ings, at a trade fair stand, when networking during the coffee break or in the help desk at recep­tion.

So that all of this doesn’t just stay digital, we come to the bridge now. “Inter­faces” must be installed at every possible inter­ac­tive point. Audio, video and presen­ta­tion must be trans­mitted on stage and there must also be the option of inte­grating remote speakers.

The exhibitors can use an iPad or note­book with a camera to reach digital partic­i­pants in parallel, just like at the real stand. The breakout rooms also need a connec­tion to the digital plat­form.

The key to a successful hybrid event is not only to transmit the infor­ma­tion from the on-site event, but to appre­ciate the partic­i­pants on both sides through clear struc­tures, modern design and, first and fore­most, to focus on the possi­bil­i­ties of inter­ac­tive exchange. Our plat­form lives up to precisely this require­ment.

With over 200 devel­opers who work on new func­tions every day, our “Digital Event Oper­a­tors” who take on tech­nical support, designs, struc­ture and direc­tion and our event tech­ni­cians who realize the show on site, we success­fully set up digital, analog and hybrid events at the around the world.

There are innu­mer­able good reasons, but first of all the most impor­tant ones first. YOU CANNOT WAIT WITHOUT! As concise as it sounds, the days of pure live events and pure trade fairs have been over since March 2020. Just to give the partic­i­pants, exhibitors, spon­sors and orga­nizers a touch of plan­ning secu­rity, the event must either already be completely digi­tal­ized or created as a hybrid variant.

Regard­less of pandemics, the digi­ti­za­tion of events is the next evolu­tionary step in the event industry. We are talking about a Coper­nican turn. You shouldn’t ask your­self whether you will switch to digital event concepts, but only when. This situ­a­tion is compa­rable to the inven­tion of the light bulb, of course there will still be candles in the future, but nobody will want to deny the triumph of the light bulb.

In the case of a hybrid event, the event is carried out both on-site and digi­tally inter­ac­tive. The term “inter­ac­tive” is rele­vant here, because the pure streaming of an event is like a cinema. I just watch, but can’t get involved.

From a tech­nical point of view, a hybrid event can be added to each event. An adequate internet connec­tion is always rele­vant. It makes sense to declare every event a hybrid event since March 2020, as restricted travel regu­la­tions and quar­an­tine and hygiene measures often make it more diffi­cult to reach the partic­i­pants, speakers or exhibitors of the planned event. Thanks to our plat­form, events planned for hybrid vehi­cles no longer have to be canceled in an emer­gency. They can simply be done completely digi­tally.

In prin­ciple all event vari­ants. Even complex medical congresses with live oper­a­tions, count­less parallel lectures, large discus­sion panels, inter­ac­tive network sessions and exten­sive exhibitor areas.

Meet­ings, confer­ences, exhi­bi­tions, press confer­ences with different languages, board meet­ings, conven­tions, product presen­ta­tions, sales meet­ings and many more.

At the end of an event, people always come together who are enthu­si­astic, informed and want to exchange ideas. Our plat­form is designed to do just that.

The smallest number of people is 2, because you could read a book on your own. In the stage situ­a­tion up to 100,000 people. Up to 500 partic­i­pants per inter­ac­tive session.

The orga­nizer continues to send the invi­ta­tions with the access link to the event.

Access will be acti­vated 5 minutes before the start of the event and the partic­i­pants can then move freely. Before that, the regis­tra­tion page is avail­able, which shows a greeting, spon­sors, infor­ma­tion about the event, the agenda and all exhibitors. The partic­i­pant is then reminded of the upcoming event through auto­mated reminder emails.

The plat­form is GDPR compliant, other­wise we would not work with it. The partic­i­pants have the chance to create their profile before the event, with some infor­ma­tion such as profile picture, name, company, posi­tion, website, LinkedIn. This infor­ma­tion serves as a digital busi­ness card and is only shared with indi­vidual people if the partic­i­pant actively hands over his “busi­ness card” — this works, for example, in the area of networks, at the exhibitor stands or in the one on one meeting.

We are addressing the only real bottle­neck. Internet band­width. Before each event, one of our IT tech­ni­cians measures the band­width of the location’s internet connec­tion and contacts the in-house IT depart­ment.

In order to ensure a smooth inter­face, sepa­rate inde­pen­dent networks are set up for each trade. Stage, exhibitor, session and partic­i­pants. As a rule, the loca­tions already have a profes­sional service provider who can imple­ment this struc­ture. But we are also happy to bring our own service provider who special­izes in this.

No, because that’s what you have us for. We under­stand how to make you look good and to enable your partic­i­pants a maximum posi­tive “user expe­ri­ence”. You should concen­trate fully on the content and partic­i­pants and we take care of the infra­struc­ture, design, oper­ating and you 🙂

No, because in prin­ciple every­thing is already there that we need: partic­i­pants, agenda, presen­ta­tions, key visuals and speakers. We trans­late it digi­tally at short notice and, depending on the size of the event, we can go digi­tally “live” after just one day. In order to avoid this heartache and gray hair, however, we recom­mend all orga­nizers to offer all events hybrid since March 2020.

Once the event is hybrid, what­ever may come in between. The event can take place. We are prac­ti­cally the digital bad weather variant.

Highly Recom­mended! The speakers should defi­nitely go through these 5 minutes before the event, so that they are just as enthu­si­astic and self-confi­dent on the “digital stage” as they are at the on-site event. For all of the following events, expe­ri­ence has shown that, depending on the complexity, a short dress rehearsal is recom­mended, but not absolutely neces­sary.

The costs consist of the provi­sion of the plat­form depending on the number of partic­i­pants and the support of our digital event oper­a­tors. Depending on the size and complexity of the event, there are of course audio tech­nology, video tech­nology, lighting tech­nology, camera tech­nology and other hard­ware and service. To get an overview of the platform’s entire range of func­tions and the tiered prices, either give us a call, write us an e‑mail or arrange your personal demo session here, in which you can ask all your ques­tions and the plat­form itself expe­ri­ence live. But you will be amazed how inex­pen­sive this wealth of features really is. For recur­ring events, we are happy to arrange volume offers and grad­u­ated prices with our customers.

First of all, we need your trust, and we can do this through an exten­sive personal demo session on the plat­form. For this you can secure a binding, of course free appoint­ment here.

But what we also need from you is the date of the event, the number of partic­i­pants, if hybrid, then the loca­tion of the event. In order to give you some tips from our many years of expe­ri­ence, the idea of the event is rele­vant for us. Because we would be happy to work out your event concept together with you. Because since there are no longer trade fairs in the “old form”, the marketing behavior of the exhibiting compa­nies has changed dras­ti­cally, and we are happy to give you helpful prac­tical tips.