PrinciplesNavigation
Keep It Simple
Do Less
Do less and keep it as simple as possible. Less is more might seem cliché but it is a good rule of thumb.
Use Tech Wisely
Use technological features, apps, and software wisely. Beta-testing new features and using the latest technology can be tempting. New innovations can be exciting purely for novelty reasons. But the most important consideration is whether the tools you are using support the vision of the event you want to create. Technology can promote interaction, but it can also just as easily stand in the way. Be sure that all aspects of your design add to, rather than take away, from the kind of personal interaction you want.
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Make it Participatory
Everyone is a participant
Make everyone a participant. Even events that have a presenter-spectator division are made better by everyone feeling invited to participate. Minimizing the division of roles between presenters and audience can promote active engagement and a more open exchange of ideas.
Be Clear
The quality of audience engagement is only as good as the instructions you give them. Encourage people to interact and make it clear how these interactions can happen. Give clear prompts and offer a clear structure. People need to understand what they can do and how and when they can take the initiative to interact.
Make it fun
Game and play concepts stimulate our brains better than boring ones. Playful approaches and games create welcoming settings that can lower the threshold for participation. Set clear rules and expectations for the space and invite attendees to get creative and have fun.
Language!
The language you use shapes the space. Use the language that includes your potential audience in the best possible way. This is not just about the choice between English or Dutch, but also the choice between colloquial, conversational, academic or analytical approach of your event.
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Cultivate Collectivity
Show Your Audience
The way people can see or feel the presence of each other will help create a collective experience. This can be done via video, with avatars, signals, numbers, names, et cetera. Choose the visibility that fits the mood of your event.
Synchronise
Having the audience simultaneously engage in the same activities can create a synchronic connection. Spatial distance from one another seems less important when invited to participate in a particular moment with others.
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Create Comfort
No-pressure
The way you approach your audience can also make them feel at home, safe and comfortable. Some people are shy. Some people need time. Create a no-pressure atmosphere. In some ways this links back to the suggestion to use playful elements. However, this point speaks more broadly to the need to not overly direct how participants engage in an event. Avoid creating situations where attendees feel put-on-the-spot.
Personal (but not too personal)
Addressing people directly can make online interactions awkward. At the same time anonymous interaction can be alienating. Make it personal (but not too personal).
Low-visibility-interaction
People that prefer a more laid-back or anonymous kind of participation will feel more invited to join if you offer Low-visibility interaction modes. Consider working with avatars, virtual masks, text-based interactions, et cetera.
Mimic the familiar
Offer settings that look and feel familiar, that people understand immediately and that are easy or even fun to navigate. This can be done by having front-of-house hosts that welcome your guests as they would be welcomed at a physical space, or by using visual metaphors to structure your online environments.
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Contextualise
Make it relatable
Try to address or include things everyone can relate to or has an opinion about. This will make conversation between online and offline easier.
Find Your Audience
Connecting hybrid/online events to existing (offline) events can increase your chance of a bigger turn-out. An additional plus is that connecting hybrid/online events to pre-existing offline events can attract an audience that is already likely in an outgoing mood and interested in being extroverted.
Connect
If you can offer your audience something they are very interested in and actively involved with they will be more interested in interaction and participation. An extreme niche topic can be very suitable for an online event, as long as you find the audience it connects with.
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Fair Tech Choices
Ethics, Terms and Conditions
A lot of platforms and services provided by (big) tech use extractative and exploitative business models. Many do not respect our privacy, or extract a lot of data from us. Do you want to support Big Tech, or rather opt for smaller tech producers that use and develop open source. Proprietary and ethical concerns are both at stake in these questions. Use the technologies that you and your audience are happy with.
(Un)Familiarity
The main benefit of using big tech options is the familiarity that many people have already built up with these platforms and products. Some of more ethical choices might be less familiar to the general public, and therefore somewhat daunting. Deciding who the target audience is for your event and what they would feel most comfortable using can help decide what will work for any given event. Keep in mind, you can also create (or use existing) tools that guide your audience through the process of using big tech alternatives– don’t underestimate the strength of a wiki how-to or a video tutorial.
Low Bandwidth and Low Tech
By organising your online events in a way that allows for participation with low bandwidth or easy and generally available software and hardware your event will be inclusive and open to all participants, regardless their budget or the region they are in, but these technology choices might be at odds with the artistic experimentation you want to do.
Sustainability
Digital technologies can have a big footprint. Consider doing your project in the most sustainable way.