Last week I took part in (and helped to organise) the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Speakers’ Academy 2021, an event which had been in the planning since 2019. Pre-COVID, the concept was a ‘traditional’ conference to be held in Miami, but when the world changed abruptly in 2020, it became clear that we were now organising a hybrid event, bringing together online and onsite delegates. This added several layers of complexity to the challenge, but as I reflect on the programme – both as a co-organiser and a delegate – I think we can be justifiably proud of our achievements.
For anyone who is organising a hybrid event, I offer you my learnings on the experience, in the hope that they are both a practical help as well as an inspiration for what is possible in this new reality we’re all inhabiting:
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- Have a coordinator/facilitator permanently with the online group to help gel, connect and coordinate them, and be the ‘go-to’ person for the onsite leader. We were luckily enough to have Diana Swillinger, who did an amazing job.
- Have a ‘person of significance’ in the online group to give this cohort focus, credibility and relative importance in the context of the wider conference. As I was a champion of the whole programme and participating online, this helped everyone recognise there were two parts of the whole (online and onsite). We also had a global board member online too.
- Keep the breakouts uniform. By this I mean, the breakout sessions were either totally online or totally in-person, rather than trying to mix online and offline delegates in the same breakout group. This meant the depth work could flow more easily and more learning was achieved.
- Have a strong and able main facilitator onsite at the in-person event, and ensure they are able to deal with complexities. Our thanks go to Patrick Quinn for taking on this role so brilliantly.
- Spend money on great AV equipment and people who can operate it properly. We had two cameras, one focused on the speaker and one on the onsite group, a screen (for slides) and a large TV to show the online group, plus great sound connections (speakers and microphones).
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There were two things which we did not do so well but have learned for next time:
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- 6. Bring the two groups of delegates together early. Get everyone on some Zoom calls and break into smaller groups to get to know each other and connect on a personal level.
- 7. Agree upfront the best way for individuals, whether online or onsite, to debrief and feed back to each other without delay.
Overall, I found #EOGSA21 to be an amazing experience with great learning, connection and fun in both groups. As one of the online attendees I can honestly say that, in many ways, it felt like an enhanced version of being at an in-person event ‘in the old days’.
Organising a hybrid event may be a daunting prospect as we all learn to navigate the post-COVID world, but I firmly believe that there are many positives to be gained, not least increased accessibility and a lower carbon footprint if people are able to attend virtually.
If you’d like help or advice on bringing people together in a hybrid world, either at events or in the workplace, please get in touch.
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