Sophie Eke of Incisive Media points out that if 2020 taught digital event organisers anything, it is the need to be creative and adaptable. “For now, it’s digital but be ready to embrace the opportunities and challenges of hybrid events.”

For Rhian Berry of EventMindPro, “hybrid is going to be a hot topic this year… as so many people are enjoying attending events from home, at their own convenience, we can certainly expect to see these.”

Adam Parry organiser of Event Tech Live believes events will be shorter, smaller and more focused. “I feel we will see a shift to focusing on a topic and attendee type events which will be much easier for attendees to fit in and digest with the rest of their work/life. The world hasn't moved to a place yet where its accepted to ‘log off’ from work for a whole day to attend an online event - these will help bring balance and focus.”

Eke believes the key challenges for virtual event organisers in 2021 is to keep event design fresh “shorter sessions and [to] move away from the more traditional conference format to high-quality production events. Continuing to be flexible and adaptable to external factors and offering more ways to access the event through different ticket types and new sponsorship opportunities.”

Berry, Parry and Eke all believe audience expectations have changed. From general ineptitude and forgiveness in the spring of 2020, professional standards are now expected from both major brands and individual users alike. Some excellent events have raised the quality bar for the overall event as well as the various elements. As Eke points out;

“Attendees are becoming more aware of the technology on offer for virtual events and have been exposed to a wide range of formats and features, meaning there are less excuses for a bad experience.”

“I think audiences expect a high level of quality from speakers, easy to use tech and engaging content”, says Berry. “Organisers can ensure these are met by creating feedback forms or questionnaire prior to the event. How do organisers know what their audience wants without asking them?”

Parry agrees and points out that “organisers will need to deliver high-quality content, whether written, video or audio, in order to meet with the expectations of attendees.”

At digital events, audience engagement can be a real challenge and one that is necessary to overcome. Parry points out that we tend to think about engagement during an event, but it is just as important to build the shape and direction of the content in the run-up to the event to increase the overall satisfaction of the attendees.

For Eke, ensuring the right technology supplier is on board is critical, as are reporting capabilities that allow organisers to continue to make data driven decisions to evolve and improve the event: “a focus on high quality production is fundamental.”

Berry offers some practical suggestions to involve audiences from the very start of them signing up to the event, through to the event itself.

“Why not send the audience a gift prior to the event? This will make them feel involved and therefore engaged. Not only this, but regular emails to those who have registered will make them feel welcome. There’s so many engagement tactics that can be used including polling, live streaming and Q&As. Anything that involves the audience taking part in something will lead to enhanced engagement as they feel like they are wanted and are being involved in activities.”

Eke agrees that live chat and Q&A sessions are “must-have features.” Along with gamification to generate excitement and provide even more value to your attendees.

For event organisers of tomorrow, as before, it is so important to experience other events both as organiser and attendee in order to learn what works and what pitfalls should be avoided. Parry points out, “organisers should attend and experience other events that are on the same platform or using the same tools. Experience is key here.”

Eke stresses the importance of designing the event experience to ensure your offering is valuable and appealing. “There should be something unique or exclusive to each experience”.

To keep the digital event experience fresh, Berry exhorts delegates to take “regular breaks! At any live event you regularly have a coffee break or a break to wander around. This should be the same with virtual.”

However, Parry also believes there is some responsibility on the shoulders of attendees to avoid digital fatigue.

“Digital fatigue is a myth. I just watched 10 episodes of a new series on Netflix in 3 days after working on a computer interacting with content all day – I’m not fatigued I’m actually inspired. Digital fatigue for me actually means uninspired and bored by the content.”

The last word goes to Parry who offers this piece of advice to digital and hybrid event organisers in 2021 and beyond: “Fail fast and fail often, the more digital events we do as individuals and as organisers the better they will be, they will be more engaging, more appealing, better at delivering on objectives.”