I am planning my first hybrid event this spring - and through Cvent, we are able to create a permission-based registration experience. This allows our alumni to choose to attend in-person or virtually, through Zoom - but it only gives the the students the option to attend in person. We purposefully chose not to allow students to attend virtually because we knew we wanted their engagement to be live, during the event. Cvent will allow us to create one event with one segmented email/registration instead of having to send multiple emails to the three different invitation lists.
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Brianne Croteau
Assistant Director of Donor and Volunteer Relations
Bucknell University
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2022 11:01
From: Ridhima Krishan
Subject: 3 tips to streamline hybrid event planning and promotion
Hi all! Let's kickstart this week's Tip of the Week discussion!
Last year we went hybrid for the first time and since then our aim has been to elevate our customers' journey with our firsthand experiences. We're always looking for ways to use event technology to create efficiencies as well as a better experience for attendees. At Cvent CONNECT, we used hybrid event technology to support nearly every aspect of planning and promotion. Doesn't matter if you have hybrid event planning on your mind or not, this trend is here to stay, and we thought to share quick tips with you!
So, let's dive into today's discussion:
- Technology for designing a hybrid experience:
- Over the past few months, we saw how hybrid events offer highly scalable experiences with dynamic design possibilities, removing barriers that allow for community growth and connection. Global attendees can now join experiences that may have previously been limited with the help of options such as – Live, Simulive, and On-demand content. Helpful tools used during Cvent CONNECT:
- Cvent Event Management: Used this product to create a fully branded website with full conference details and built custom registration paths and experiences for virtual and in-person attendees.
- Cvent Passkey: For the in-person experience, we used Cvent Passkey to book and manage hotel rooms. Once in-person attendees registered, they could go right into Passkey to book their hotel and manage travel details.
- Abstract Management: Helped us collect, review, and accept or reject speaker submissions. To streamline communications with speakers on event logistics, speaker details, and session content, we used Speaker Resource Center.
- Diagramming and Seating (previously Social Tables): Our photo-realistic 3D visualization tool, was critical when designing spaces to meet health and safety goals. We used it to create appropriately distanced floor plans and to collaborate with vendors, teammates, and suppliers in real-time.
- OnArrival: Onsite, we used this product for contactless check-in and badge printing to minimize staff interactions and shared surfaces. We didn't do any hand scanning; we used passive RFID and NFC tap-and-go Attendee Tracking. In addition to capturing each attendee's journey and accurately awarding continuing education credits, we could monitor room capacities and ensure compliance with health and safety measures.
- Exhibitor Management: Exhibitors could manage tasks, register booth staff, and run their booth staff's schedules to maximize their time onsite.
- Technology for driving attendee experience:
- Your engagement strategy can differ for in-person and virtual experiences while planning a hybrid event. However, the end goal should be to utilize technology in a way that helps improve the experience for your attendees at every touchpoint. Helpful tools used during Cvent CONNECT:
- Cvent Attendee Hub: Attendees could easily access all sessions and their personal schedules - either through the attendee website or their Event App. Attendee Hub connected in-person and virtual attendees, providing flexibility for them to engage with event content and one another.
- Leveraged gamification & engagement tactics: We encouraged session engagement from in-person and virtual attendees with moderated Q&A, polling, and session chat within Attendee Hub. Attendees could network with each other either onsite or virtually through video conferencing. Gamification encouraged them to meet each other, attend sessions, engage with exhibitors and sponsors, and more.
- Technology for capturing hybrid event ROI:
- Collecting the data of attendees has become easier than ever, all thanks to event technology that can help get insights at every touchpoint of your attendee journey.
- Engagement Scoring: This allowed us to attribute engagement scores to attendees based on their unique journey throughout the event. Our entire suite of software tools worked together to capture data and paint a picture from registration through attendance, appointments, demos, and on-demand viewing post-event. We then brought all that data into our CRM so our Sales and Marketing team could take informed action for each attendee.
Questions for you:
- Which Cvent product(s) have you used for your hybrid events?
- Share some hybrid event planning and promotion hacks.
Are we meeting at Cvent CONNECT 2022? Reserve your spot now by registering here. See you in Las Vegas or virtually! We would love to hear your thoughts below!
#CventTip
#ManagingVirtualEvents
#PromotingYourEvent
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Ridhima Krishan
Sr. Associate, Customer Marketing
Cvent
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