WTF is a hybrid event anyway? The new challenges & opportunities for events

Virtual events proved their worth during lockdown. Now with more and more live events looming on the horizon, marketers are spending a lot of time talking about a hybrid approach. But what exactly is a hybrid event? And what will it take for marketers to succeed as expectations grow for both live and virtual interactions? Here’s what you need to know.

Hybrid events are all the rage. But with no clear definition, high expectations and big budgets at stake, it’s an unprecedented moment for marketers and the events business as a whole.

The general consensus appears to be that live events will return with a larger focus on virtual audiences as well. The formulas for creating such activations are being hatched up as we speak. “There is no hybrid event in a box, no magical thing,” says Natalia Rybicka, senior director of event marketing at Attentive Mobile. “Hybrid, before the pandemic, was just livestreaming your event. Now people are talking about it in this really high-level way, but nobody has defined what that means.”

Read more in The Drum.