Industry Trends: The Rise of Hybrid Events

As the world continues to adjust to a post-pandemic landscape, there are a number of emerging trends in the industry that have skyrocketed in popularity within the past two years. One particular trend that stands out is hybrid events.

What exactly are hybrid events?

Each hybrid event, whether it’s the in-person or virtual experience, is designed to drive action and exploration that is tailored to the participants' needs. Hybrid events are able to re-think the limitations presented by both virtual events and in-person events.

Hybrid events are designed go beyond what the attendees traditionally expect from events for a more in-depth and personalised experience.

Those who choose to attend in person get a VIP experience with in-person engagement that will help foster a greater sense of networking and community. While those who choose to attend virtually will be able to access a wide range of content at home while still being a participant of the event no matter their location.

Due to the rise in video chat networks and platforms such as Zoom, it is only that much easier to attend these events from the comfort of your home or in a physical space. These events typically leverage different levels of audio visual technology with virtual reality, as well as incorporating video content and different opportunities for engagement through media in order to merge experience for both those in the physical event space as well as those in the virtual space.

How do hybrid events help us connect?

An additional benefit of these events is the ability to foster greater connection through technology for both parties. While in traditional events the limitations of hosting an event in one location mean you’re limited to those who choose to attend, opening up the floor for anyone in the world to attend via technology means there is an even greater pool of opportunities available.

Additionally, as technology is integrated into these events much more so than traditional events, there is a greater chance of connecting people through technology and cataloguing essential data for your business. This could include feedback, tracking engagement activity, or even just keeping track of businesses or brands that fit your needs.

How are Huddles different from other hybrid events? 

Here at Product Guru, we leveraged these interests for both brands and retailers in order to incorporate the main benefits of Hybrid events and create something even more innovative with our new Huddles event series.

Huddle events offer challenger brands the opportunity to get involved through different options, with the flagship in-person package providing the opportunity to interact face to face in guaranteed time slots with decision-making buyers from leading UK retailers in their categories.

Our other two available packages aim to target all local and international brands unable to attend in person. With our hybrid video package, brands deliver a 4-minute video pitch alongside product sampling for all buyers at the event. Our third and final package will offer brands the opportunity to reach attendees with samples of their products, to get buyers at the event to try their samples and provide feedback.

The Huddles experience will work in conjunction with the Product Guru platform. We’ve worked to level up an already immersive hybrid experience by facilitating interactions through our platform. Unlike traditional events, where the process of following up is fragmented and challenging - our strategy with Huddle is aimed at fruitful interactions with effective follow-up.

As buyers engage and come into contact with buyers and their products, they’ll be able to log feedback and take next step actions in real-time. Brands will be able to view all of this during the event so they can focus less on keeping track of which buyers they spoke to and more on showcasing products to buyers. Our connected technology means that all actions and feedback from buyers will be tracked for productive follow up with brands, and for facilitating meaningful connections and partnerships following the event.