Friday, December 2, 2011

Hybrid Meetings: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

"Most hybrid events are like bad cable access TV."

That's from consultant Sam Smith, managing director of Interactive Meeting Technology, and a co-founder of the successful hybrid meeting, Event Camp Twin Cities.  And I know exactly what Sam means, having suffered through a dismal livestreamed event this week. I actually didn't suffer for long -- after just a few minutes, I turned to something more interesting.

That's one of the points that Sam makes about creating effective hybrid events: People have a lot to distract them, and meeting organizers are not going to engage viewers by simply sticking a camera in the back of the room and switching it on.

For guidance on how you can do a better job, check out the following presentation by Sam and  Event Camp Twin Cities co-founder Ray Hansen.

 
View more presentations from Samuel Smith

1 comment:

Charlotte Bye Andersen said...

Hi! My name is Charlotte and I am a student at the UK centre of Events Management.

I am in the process of writing a dissertation about the rise of hybrid meetings and the links this may have to original values, or what new values it might present. I am looking at the growth, development and value of ‘normal’ face to face and virtual meetings as well am aiming at people who are involved with meetings, which obviously a lot of people are. If they have been involved with a virtual meeting, or better yet a hybrid meeting, their experience and thoughts on the subject will be interesting.

I have created a questionnaire in order to get opinions from people who are experienced in these forms of business communication.The questionnaire is simple to fill out. It is based on literature I have gathered, and is asking about the importance of things you gain in a meeting such as eye contact, body language, or the efficiency of a virtual meeting or saving money and reducing carbon footprint with a hybrid meeting etc etc.

If I could steal ten minutes of your time, can you please answer/fill out my Online questionnaire? http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/lsif/the/surveys/andersen/hybrid2.htm

Also, if you feel like the questionnaire is something your colleagues will be of help with, could you please forward the link?