Swapcard held its two-day, highly anticipated Evolve Homecoming event last week, on a day jam-packed with major events including Hopin Illuminate and Airmeet Re-Engage Virtual.
The theme for this edition of the platform’s Evolve series was the comeback of the events industry and featured a keynote session with Arianna Huffington as well as a crossover session with IMEX BuzzHub, which is powered by Swapcard.
The event included an agenda full of valuable sessions about the future of hybrid, virtual, and in-person events. Here are some key learnings:
1. Let Go of Definitions
Maggie Baird, Principal at MB & Company, shared an insightful tip during the panel discussion “The Present and Future of Hybrid.” When asked to share a hybrid event success story, Baird explained that what has worked for her company is not approaching events as hybrid or getting to caught up in the technical definitions. Instead, her team focuses on creating thoughtful, engaging, and impactful events.
“By letting go of those definitions, or all of these Clubhouse conversations and blogs about defining hybrid,” she explained, “we were just able to focus really, really strongly on making a great event, which ultimately, as event professionals, we know how to do.”
2. Connect With Audiences on New Channels
Leveraging social media to engage event audiences was a key point during the session, “Where Do Virtual Events Go From Here?” Marisa Brown, Owner of Venus Promotions, noted that many events aren’t yet using platforms like Discord and Twitch, which are big in the esports and gaming industries but have yet to catch on for many other types of events despite their benefits.
“The thing that you want for your event is an already-engaged community,” she noted. “And there are multiple avenues to do that. One of my favorite ways, in all honesty – and I think it’s going to be a big one for the future – is using communities like Discord, where they already have live streaming with Twitch. There's a whole already social aspect to it. It's file sharing, its video, audio, community, etc. I honestly think a lot of events try to strive for this with the app sharing that they have, but they just don't have the capabilities that something like Discord does.”
3. Design With Attendee Energy Types in Mind
Tahira Endean, Head of Events at SITE Global, discussed the importance of intentional event design during the session, “How To Kill It At Hybrid Event Design.” This includes the consideration of attendee energy types, i.e., whether they are introverts, extroverts, or ambiverts. The difference between introverts and extroverts, she explained, is not simply whether someone is outgoing or shy, but whether they’re gaining energy from interactions with people.
“Introverts absolutely are social. They want to interact with people,” explained Endean. “But they also need time to sit back, reflect, relax, and have that time to really think about what they’re learning. That applies digitally as well as in live experiences.” Designing with these different energy types in mind may mean building more breaks into the programming, or offering attendees a choice about whether to do video networking or reflect on the previous sessions.
“It’s okay to understand that we have different types of people attending our events and to cater to the, just like we might be catering to a meal allergy at a live event,” she noted.
Catch up on full Evolve sessions for free on-demand at evolve.swapcard.com.