Introduction:
Hybrid entertainment events have been on the rise since Covid-19. Hybrid events are an opportunity for an audience to watch in event in real-time either in person or virtually from the comfort of their home. Viewers will be able to participate from anywhere within real time. Hybrid entertainment offers a combination of events either in-person or virtual. Advancement in technology has continued to further the expansion of virtual events, it has allowed for more high quality streaming and content while being able to reach more people, thus making it more inclusive and accessible to the general public. Hybrid events come with a set of benefits and challenges, but with the right strategies, they can be successful.
Planning
Taking the time to plan out each aspect of hybrid events is essential to success. It is important to think both about in-person and virtual audiences when planning. Offering a hybrid event requires coordination to ensure both modalities can run smoothly. Before the event, it is wanted to decide where the event will be held, where it will take place, and where it will be live streamed. The event could be live streamed through a variety of channels such as social media, television, or service providers
Defining Goals
When starting to plan an event, it can be beneficial to define a goal; the number of people that were reached, attendance, or revenue could be set as goals. It will be important to identify the audience to help drive marketing and engagement as the event is planned out. Creating a buzz with your intended audience will get people excited to both attend and view the event. There may be different goals for those that are viewing the event in-person versus the people viewing in event virtually.
Technology and Production
There will be a wide range of aspects that will need to be planned with the venue, such as sound, lighting, seating, and equipment. All are vital parts of an in-person event. While for the virtual aspect, the video quality, how and where it will be streamed, online moderators, and the production crew will all need to be considered. Before the event, it will also be essential the equipment for sound, lighting, and streaming are tested to ensure there are no problems present during the event.
Monetization and Sponsorships
Between in-person and virtual, there are opportunities to monetize and offer sponsorships for an event; this could mean paid promotions throughout the event, booths both in-person or virtual, sponsored content, the sale of content, or opportunities for exclusive content. Sponsorships can help to fund the event while also assisting with leading promotions and increasing awareness of the event. There is potential to increase the revenue of events because it presents the option to sell both in-person and virtual tickets. Offering a mobile app for those attending in-person could be another way to track metrics for those in person. A mobile app could provide online ordering from food and beverage vendors or give access to purchase merchandise through an app. Beside monetization an app could help enhance a hybrid experience for those at the festival. Additionally, through an app attendees could have access to their ticket, exclusive content, maps of the venue, provide real-time updates, and provide information about the artists and vendors.
Post-Event Analysis
After the event, it will be easier to track metrics from the event from the app. The metrics obtained through attendees are performance numbers that can be used to better understand what could be improved for the future. Marketing any event is an essential part of planning. Marketing can be done through promotional events, social media, exclusive content, and presales. Helping consumers to gain awareness and get excited about the event, whether in person or online, will help to drive engagement. The analytics of attendance, viewership, revenue, and engagement will be helpful in aiding the improvement of events in the future. Asking for consumer feedback through surveys to determine the satisfaction of the event through the consumer’s eyes allows for changes to be made to improve the overall experience.
Effective planning through each step can help to enhance the experience of each attendee and viewer. Taking the planning process into consideration it can foster improvements within the event and highlight areas of success that have the opportunity for growth.
Essential equipment
To produce a successful event it will be important to have the correct equipment. Live streaming an event for a hybrid model will require additional equipment than would be required for a normal show or event. It will be important to consider the bandwidth and the range of frequencies available to be transmitted through a signal. Dacast recommends that 11 Mbps would be ideal, but as a stream increases in traffic or the higher the quality the more bandwidth is required. A content delivery network, CDN, will be necessary to ensure minimal interruptions or buffering during a live stream. Online platforms such as Brightcove, Brandlive, and OnJam are established companies that can be used to stream events. This utilizes cloud computing, the management of servers, storage, databases, and networks. This allows for video to be streamed and hosted by different platforms, which makes it easier to scale the streaming for a larger audience. It is recommended to use a high-quality camera, these cameras can range anywhere from $1,500 to $25,000. Panasonic and Sony are two options that offer high-quality professional cameras that could be used for live streams. To then stream the audio with a high-quality microphone, an XLR microphone will be important and can allow for quality streaming. The mixing equipment can be used to switch between cameras. Having multiple mixers allows for separate use of the audio mixer that captures the sound, while a second mixer can control the video. To ensure that sound is clean an encoder will be an important piece of equipment. Both video and audio will be encoded, meaning their file sizes will be compressed to maintain quality and reduce buffers on a stream. The viewers at the other end of the stream will receive the encoded data and their devices will decode the information.
Challenges
Every type of event comes with its challenges; hybrid events are no different. Techbullion discussed “the potential for technical glitches, internet connectivity issues, and the lack of a tangible audience presence” as a variety of issues that artists could face. It may also be hard for artists to feel connected and engaged with the fans supporting the virtual means. If fans and artists do not feel engaged, it can create a disconnect; this may mean that fewer people could be interested in viewing from a virtual perspective, and the viewers may face fatigue from watching through a screen. When hosting a live hybrid event, it is important to give attention to both the in-person and virtual formats and have seamless interactions.
Along with keeping both audiences engaged comes potential higher production costs, as there needs to be more staff for production for the digital format. When a range of challenges is present, it offers the chance for both innovation and growth within a field. As technology continues to advance, it will open up for the continuation of growth within this field.
Hybrid Events in the Future
Looking into the future of hybrid events, there is a possibility for growth in viewership and revenue. In recent years, it has become increasingly harder and more expensive to get tickets to concerts. Based on ticket price statistics from Statista the average price of a concert ticket has risen from 78.3 dollars in 2015 to 135.92 dollars in 2024; this does not include additional fees that may be part of the ticket purchasing process. The prices of tickets can change based on the artist, venue, seat selection, and other factors. The sky-high prices of tickets continue to make them less accessible to the general public; hybrid events could be a solution to making events more accessible again. Consumers would no longer have to deal with online presales, resellers, or high ticket prices. According to Scoop Market, there is a predicted 18.8% increase in revenue in the next 10 years of virtual events, with revenue reaching 740 million USD in 2030. North America is the current leader in virtual events at 38.4% due to high adaptations of virtual infrastructure since COVID-19. Hybrid models could also offer more opportunities for sponsors to expand their revenue streams. As more events provide hybrid options, it opens up the availability of more data analytics that could be used to make improvements in the future.
As virtual and augmented reality develops further, it could facilitate more hybrid events. The Medium looked at an example of The Weeknd hosting an augmented reality concert. The event was held over TikTok and received over two million views, with 275,000 at peak viewership. Throughout the augmented concert, The Weeknd played hit songs as well as interacted with fans as they were guided through a visual and auditory experience. Virtual or augmented reality concerts give viewers the chance to experience music as if they were live in person at an event. This could also give people a chance to relive and reconnect with a concert in an immersive way. When people attend a virtual event through augmented reality they would have the opportunity to enter a virtual venue, similar to the real-life venue. This could feature art installations or games to play to get deeper engagement to the event.
Coachella has been live streaming their festival since 2011; over the years, they have tweaked and improved their streaming and viewer experience, along with adding more channels. After coming back from Covid, Coachella added live chat feeds along with more personal content with artists. Coachella has live-streamed the festival via YouTube, and they have confirmed their partnership through 2026. Live streaming not only benefits the festival, but it can also benefit the artists by increasing awareness of smaller artists, which can help to accelerate their growth in a tough industry. In 2019, Coachella saw a 90 percent increase in views, earning over 82 million live streams, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This year Coachella will be adding split-screen viewing options so viewers will have the chance to watch up to 4 performances at once. Coachella has continued to grow its hybrid viewing option, optimizing its reach and experimenting with ways to keep viewers engaged from home.
Conclusion
Hybrid events are on the rise and reshaping the entertainment industry. Moving forward blending in-person and hybrid events in the future will allow for maximization for reach, engagement, and accessibility for consumers. As events are able to expand their reach it will create more inclusivity as it will be more accessible. Hybrid may involve a range of issues with technology and balancing engagement with in-person and virtual viewers. However, as technologies continue to advance in the future it will enhance ways that events can be streamed for those not able to attend in person. It is important to experiment and evolve with new trends to ensure improvement for all viewers, while keeping them engaged.
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