Virtual and Hybrid Conferences

Virtual and Hybrid Conferences

Virtual and hybrid conferencing represents a new and exciting vista of member participation for CAP. These methods extend the conference experience of the wing conference to the online world. In these instances, the F2F experience is either added to or replaced by an online experience.

Until just a few years ago, the idea of having a hybrid or completely virtual wing conference was considered merely a dream; and the technology was prohibitively expensive or simply did not exist.

Today, the technology not only exists but is readily available and, depending on how one goes about it, at reasonable cost. It holds tremendous potential to not only extend the reach of wing conferences but to also expand the possibilities of what can be shared with the membership. Additional considerations for virtual conferencing can be found in Attachment 9.

Hybrid Conferences

The hybrid conference extends the reach of a preexisting F2F conference to CAP members who may not otherwise be able to come to the live site. Using a mix of pre- recorded, live streaming and on demand content, a hybrid conference gives all attendees the most “bang for the buck”.

Key to this format is the thoughtful planning and access to technology to marry two audiences: the live audience participating at the main site, as well as the audience participating remotely. Live audiences benefit from the in-person experiences and can provide enthusiasm and live reaction to content. Remote attendees share in this experience while providing additional context from which the live attendees benefit.

Additional Costs

Additional costs for providing a hybrid capability stem from the additional technology to record and transmit live presentations to the remote attendees as well as the provision for prerecorded content and saving and platforming said content for on demand viewing at a later date. Other costs include provisions to allow remote attendees to participate in live question and answer sessions as well as hands-on activities from remote locations.

Depending on the platform used, it can be up to 2.0 times the cost to hold a hybrid conference as it would a traditional F2F conference. These costs are in the form of recording and storing content as well as making the content available to members long term.

Quality Considerations

Even more than cost, quality of transmission is paramount. Virtual or hybrid attendees are forgiving of mediocre speakers or of content they have seen before. What is not forgivable is poor audio, visual, or streaming quality. Please, please, ensure that streamed and recorded content can be (1) heard, (2) seen, readily downloaded.

Virtual Conferences

The virtual conference contains all the technology and streamed content of the hybrid conference without the F2F component. This is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is that the logistics of holding a F2F conference at a conference venue with food and beverage as well as sleeping accommodation are avoided. This is where the blessing ends because the rooms as well as the F2F are supporting the meat of the conference: the conference content.

Remember that the purpose of the conference isn’t the sleeping accommodation or the food, but the content. And that content must be made attractive and inspirational to a remote audience.

Remote conferences differ from F2F conferences in several ways:

• individual segments tend to be shorter to keep attendees interested.

• presentations are more visual.

• audio must be more impactful.

• more breaks between segments are required to keep attendees fresh.

• production is tailored to a broadcast audience, much like newscasts or awards shows.

• segments are designed for remote interaction (polls, Q&A).

• segments are also designed for on demand viewing after initial broadcast and therefore must have less perishable content.

For these reasons, virtual conferences can cost as much as F2F conference, but the cost is directed towards broadcast technology rather than food and beverage.