IMPAKT Hybrid Principles
Hybrid Formats is the fruit of the research being conducted over the past year at IMPAKT as part of the project The New Social. We have been designing and testing different innovative event formats that engage both online and in-venue event participants. The best of these strategies blend audiences and curate experiences that make the best of both environments.
Successful hybrid (online/offline) events activate and involve all of its attendees. In-venue guests are treated as the default, while online audiences are too often treated as an after-thought. It is easy to overlook how alienated and isolated an online guest can feel during a hybrid event. But, on the other hand, online formats also provide the opportunity to give access to content in dynamic and personal ways. These online experiences– and the groups enjoying them– are often out of view from the in-venue participants who remain ignorant to their existence. Designing events needs to be multi-faceted and account for psycho-social experiences as well as practical production issues.
The following 6 principles are a framework that we have used when designing hybrid events when considering the various dimensions at work in any given event. These are not dogmatic one-size fits all rules. Rather, these principles offer a criteria of the core considerations for successful hybrid events that need to be weighed against one another. The tools and strategies that you take away from this documentation are best applied when they are customized to the particular demands of a specific event.
Clicking through each term will bring you to in-depth explanations of each concept. Each principle is elaborated in concrete terms through examples of how we implemented it in our past events through case studies.
Feel free to navigate per principle, or to browse per event to understand our perspective on hybrid event design.
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Note: If you are looking for hands-on practical advice we have developed from past experience check out our Tips & Tools page.