Hybrid Events - Another Way to Learn

I first met Stephanie Pfeilsticker in another life for both of us, she as a corporate meeting planner and I was the Director of Creative and Production at Cantrav, where I had the opportunity to work on several events with their rather awesome team.  Since then she moved into digital and hybrid events and is currently following her passion for both educating the industry and hybrid events.  I caught up with her recently as she gets ready to launch a new program and here is what she had to say.

1.   Steph, can you give me a bit of history on your experience and where your passion for hybrid events began.

I have been a planner in the meetings industry for 16 years. In 2010, I discovered virtual and hybrid events at an industry event. After a successful hybrid pilot where I streamed a National Sales Meeting to those who couldn’t attend in person, a viable option to extend our message was born. Requests came in for more hybrid meetings and I started a Virtual Strategy Group to produce these events.I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was 10 years old. Late last year, I made that a reality by launching Hybrid Events Authority, LLC based in Minneapolis, MN. Through Hybrid Events Authority, I guide clients through the process of planning hybrid events or if they prefer, I can produce the events for them.

2.  You have created a new program for meeting professionals to better understand hybrid events. Can you tell me more about this and what it includes.  Also, are there CE HOURS available?

That’s right. I believe that education on hybrid events is necessary for planners to understand how and when hybrid meetings should be incorporated into their own meetings. Most education at industry conferences give planners 60 minutes to learn about hybrid events. To fully understand the process behind hybrid events, a more in-depth course is needed. To meet this need, I have teamed up with Digital Event Strategist, Mahoganey Jones from Toronto to produce a 5-part series online that will allow planners to walk away with the ability to plan their own hybrid event. We wanted the series of sessions to be comprehensive, yet practical so the information could be immediately put to use.

The course begins on Thursday, April 23rd at 11:30 AM CT via the internet so that anyone can attend! The course is Convention Industry Council certified and there is 6.25 CE hours available. Meeting professionals can register for it at www.planhybridmeetings.com. Enter code NMID to receive the early bird rate!

3.  How is this different than the DES program? 

Great question! I had an excellent learning experience in the DES program and encourage others to consider it. This course was designed as a pre-cursor to the DES. If you have minimal digital experience, our Hybrid Series will give you a sound foundation of practical knowledge to build on.

4.  Who developed the program?  I know there is a story to this. Can you tell me more?

Mahoganey Jones of Event Specialists in Toronto was the originator of the idea. She reached out to a mutual colleague to potentially partner. That person referred her to me. I had a similar idea on my “to do” list and was thrilled to partner-up with such a like-minded person. Together we spent months shaping the program and tailoring the content so that it was comprehensive, yet practical. After 4 years and dozens of hybrid events, we have tried and true methods that take the guesswork out of hybrid meeting planning. For example, I know the marketing plan we share works because I’ve perfected it over the last several years at my own hybrid events. We want a planner to be able to immediately put our information to use to produce their own hybrid event. 

5.  If someone is interested in this program how can they get involved?

Our program is detailed on our website, www.PlanHybridMeetings.com. The early-bird rate ended last week, but we are offering your readers the code NMID to register at that discounted rate. Our first class starts on Thursday, April 23^rd at 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM CT. If participants can’t attend the live class, they are able to view the recording afterward. The remaining classes are offered on Thursdays at 11:30 AM CT for the next four (4) weeks.

If anyone has questions, they may contact me at Steph@HybridEventsAuthority.com or 612-247-4420.  Mahoganey Jones can be reached at mahoganey@eventspecialists.ca or 647-693-3444.

So there we go - another great way to gain some knowledge in our ever changing industry!

Stronger Together

Over the last few weeks I have had several encounters that have left me thinking a lot about our industry and what it means to the people who work so hard in it, and what it takes to do what we do.  Above is a picture from our team on the final day of the opening of the Port of Prince Rupert Fairview Container Terminal (2007/PRIME). This event crossed four levels of government and many private entities and a small team of dedicated planners before and an awesome team on-site to deliver this important event to 600 dignitaries during the day and 4,000 people from the town (of 12,000) in the evening. On the last day we all donned the glam gear above and cleaned up the 10 acre site. Nodody was too important.

Last night we saw the movie The Hundred Foot Journey, a story that speaks of family, friendship, overcoming challenges and understanding triumph and how it comes in many forms. (loved it) At an early point in the film the lead character, a cook asks an aspriring chef from across the street for help. "You could recommend a book", he says.  "Why would I do that? You are now the enemy." 

I believe in our industry that each of us - whether it is restaurants, hotels, DMCs, DMOs, tech suppliers (AV, reg, mobile, streaming, etc.), catering, transportation, decor / floral, event management / agencies and others compete against each other on a daily basis in our own categories. Concurrently we work together in associations (MPI, IRF, PCMA, ISES, SITE, IAEE, ASAE etc), on city-wide bids and on events that require more than one thing to happen - so all of them. We are in this together, and understanding that at any time you may require cooperation and partnership becomes a critical piece of being successful in our business in my mind.

At many shows we attend we are separated between planner and supplier, the distinction being planners buy and suppliers sell. For clarification, heading into my 22nd year in the industry, I am now a "Supplaner"' meaning I am the meeting planner for a supplier organization after 20+ years as a planner and producer for PCOs, Incentive agencies and DMCs. As enterprise or association planners, nearly every event we do supports selling - sales incentive trips, national sales conferences, sales and service training sessions, client dinners, board meetings and events... each of these is designed to support the selling of your service or product.  When we exhibit at trade shows we never know who will buy or recommend what we do, and every touchpoint has to be a positive interaction which ideally creates a memorable moment.  

In each job (including my current role) I have had direct responsibility or influence over significant travel and meeting spend, but now I am seen as "the enemy" by other suppliers, and was evidenced at a recent event where I was not allowed something due to the word "supplier" on my badge.  This took me back to planning EventCamp Vancouver where the committee decided specifically at the request of one smart person  who asked if our badges could include name, twitter handle and maybe something we were passionate about instead of name and organization. Their request came because they didn't want to be judged as they were in between jobs. They were coming to learn and connect, and appearing to be job-hungry wasn't how they wanted to be perceived. We agreed. 

At another event this week, Drury Design Summer School, I thought the badge they used (at right) really showed the possibilities. This invitation only event was incredible to be part of as they bring together their key clients, their staff, their contract staff and their suppliers into the same room with tracks for learning /training and production / engagement with compelling keynotes for all. To introduce an end client to a supplier they could contact directly shows their deep level of understanding relationships built on trust and integrity which have led to 33 years of success in an industry which has become increasingly challenging. Their team members and clients understand roles and responsibilities and trust, and what they bring to the table in terms of understanding objectives, creativity, imagination and innovation is what makes this work. This event was inspiring on many levels - the use of space, the openness of the concept and the ability for people to actively engage in learning formally and informally, and connecting over the 10 hours together, the endless healthy food and beverage so guests could refortify at the time they needed to, the embedded sustainability and the showcasing of technology (including a helpful app) which was so thoughtfully able to be used at meetings had my mind reeling with possibilities.  As I tweeted - although I am a creative and technology forward planner - I felt as though I had been living in a cave!

This coming week I will be at two events in LA, both which require strong partnerships, trust and forward thinking teams of people to bring alive.  If you want to learn more about how mobile and location based technology is changing events, QuickMobile is hosting a lunch catered by Wolfgang Puck inside of the fabulous AOO space in Hollywood.  Kudos to Dave Merrell and his team for understanding we are all in this to be better and learn holistically about making meetings the best they can be using all the tools available. They are another shining example of giving back to the industry with deep participation in ISES and a willingness to share best practices. August 13th - RSVP link  And yes, this one has an app!

On Thursday, August 14th it is all about BizBash as we do another LA Planathon. BizBash has been a go-to resource for me for many years, and their generosity of spirit in mentorship, a love of social physics and a deep understanding we get better by improving idea flow make these a true pleasure to be at. This one is almost sold out as I write this and I look foward to both of these for very different reasons. Yes, this one has an app too!

At MPI WEC last week Mike Dominguez of MGM was thanked for his time in the Chairman role and MPI introduced the lovely Fiona Pelham as incoming 2015 Chair. Lovely... yes, this is the word to describe the person who is smart and business savvy, who has sustainability ingrained into the core of her business and life, and who understands that together we are stronger. I look foward to the positive impact she will have. I would also like to give a shoutout to Mike Dominguez for his ongoing contributions to education and empowerment in our indutry and also to the events team at MGM led by King Dahl, and supported by fantastic people like Lenny Talarico - every single person I have met from this team (and there are a lot of them) has been consistently warm, professional, willing to share information and ideas and who also understand that every interaction matters. 

Did I mention this one also had an app? QuickMobile worked again with MPI to deliver an app that allowed this event to be the first paperless WEC and that was pretty cool to see. They also created an excellent CSR day with six different projects, and Andrew Walker or MPI beamed through the day. Kevin Kirby, current chair, and described to me in such glowing terms by a former colleague I expected him to float (dignity, kindness, integrity all words used) was present throughout at various events and he too is someone who understands sustainability starts with taking care of people and builds.

Until the next time we meet...or meet for the first time... stay friendly and have fun!

Beyond Status Quo Part 2

One of the key reasons people blog is because we want to share dialogue, and often it seems a little one way, which is why all bloggers love comments.  

What is even better than a comment though, is when it expands, and in this case, a blog post I wrote is now the topic of this webinar, thanks to the forward thinking people at Invision.  Rod Mickels, the CEO of this engaging organization read this post, and had his marketing team reach out to invite me to share ideas - and the result is here.  http://blogazine.iv.com

The shifts we looked at include
1. Data. The internet is 20 years old, and my how things have changed.

2. Meritocracy. "I want to align my experiences with my individual sense of purpose."  How are you showing your guests your event / organization IS the best choice?

3. Hyper Connectivity. How can we use the reality that our participants are always on line to our advantage?  Why should we be using hybrid meetings?  How is S'Mobility affecting our marketing, planning and execution?

4. Global Content. Content is available all the time, around the world and accessible to everyone and we have a new Generation - Google's Gen C - who are using primarily video content to create and curate their own connections and build their own communities. How can your content stand out when we upload 48 hours of content to YouTube every hour? (not to mention all the other channels available)  How are you creating your own thought leadership and sharing this with your clients, members and future potential of each of these?

How can we create better environments for learning, participating, connecting, and yes, building our own communities with the tools available to us?  There are many ways, each unique to the objectives of your event - let's share those ideas!

Status Quo and Breaking Barriers

Who told them this was impossible?

Ruud Janssen RT @RuudWJanssen
“@jtauvaa: #EMEC13 innovators and pioneers are a threat to status quo. #MPI #eventprofs” -but an inspiration to innovate + break barriers

In surfing Twitter this morning, this tweet popped right out at me and I feel a deep concern for our industry if anyone thinks we can remain in "status quo".  In the twenty years I have been a meeting planner and event producer, the world has changed and the way we plan meetings must follow, and it must follow a lot more rapidly.  Some of the changes I have seen and issues at a glance as I perceive them include:

1. Twenty years ago we planned everything slowly, by paper and fax, and the sheer manual labour on items like registration took a lot of time. While the manual element is reduced, the attention to details that lead to the proper care and feeding of the delegates remains critical.  It is not simply data inputs that people provide, it is critical information to planning.  Being able to capture and appropriately analyse and then engage at a higher level using this information is currently being underutilized.  I believe the planner of the future will need to better understand the individuals and use the reams of algorithmic data that can be easily collected by using the available, more intuitive and socially connected database systems to create more meaningful experiences at live events. 

2. Travel cost will remain a barrier. Public air travel did not exist in any meaningful way even 60 years ago, but face to face meetings have been important for thousands of years. We now have ubiquitous air travel, and then a world filled with organizations that have put travel limits on their people due to the rising costs of air travel, and the reality is that travel costs will remain high due to fuel costs.  The savvy meeting planner will need to move beyond this perceived need for all f2f and learn how to incorporate hybrid opportunities into meetings for those people who still want to attend but for reasons of time or cost cannot.  There will also be the need to understand that well done hybrids can actually increase future attendance when remote attendees have an opportunity to share in the quality of education and see the potential connections they could make if they were there in person.  

3. TED. The influence that this particular conference has had on our world cannot be ignored. They have made all information accessible to anyone who wants it, and thousands of others - universities included, have followed suit, with much of it accessible at no cost.  People no longer need to attend conferences to learn, so you need to make your offered experience have enough "more" to make it a sensible investment. What are you doing to make yours the can't miss experience?

4. Maker Faire.  Innovation is everywhere. This particular stream of events embraces the unique, the inventive, the "why didn't I think of that?"  Etsy has opened up the world of artisans to everyone with access to the internet, and this too is farther reaching than we could ever have imagined even five years ago. As meeting professionals we have to open up our eyes to the amazing world around us and consider how to include the extraordinary and create positive surprises in our events.

5. Neuroscience. Scientists have learned more about how our brains respond to stimuli in the past decade than at any time in our past, and they have openly shared reams of information, and some of which smart people on the edges of and fully engaged in our industry have extrapolated for us. I have been working with Andrea Sullivan on presenting information on how to include more brain-friendly food and beverage into our meetings, and others have been doing similar work in Europe. This is a very, very simple way to make your meetings better as you support your attendees through their day by offering choices that make sense for a ream of reasons. Andrea has also recently written a white paper on technology and its impact on the brain at meetings - worth a read as it quickly brings in an overview and understanding of integrating this budget item to its maximum capability. What is being done to engage every brain that attends through environment, food, scent, music, texture and connecting the dots in ways that will enhance the meeting experience? 

6. Hyper-connectivity.  I started this post out by saying I was inspired by a tweet, sent from Switzerland. Last week I did a hybrid chocolate tasting with MPI Belgium. The week before that I met at least 8 people f2f I had previously only met on-line, through Tweetchats, through virtual attendance at meetings, through Triberr tribes...  and we met with hugs and dove into relevant conversations about shared interests. We have seen social revolutions started on-line; we have the opportunity to use a myriad of tools to build communities online - with many examples on LinkedIn, Facebook and so many others. These allow us to connect to our own meeting and event communities, our associations, and even festivals where 100,000+ are having a "shared" experience.  If you are not on-line, it is time to at least understand how this is impacting our world.

7. Technology. It too is now omnipresent in our lives, with my daughter having more followers at 12 on instagram then I will ever have - we need to be aware of how mobile technology is impacting our events, including and beyond the apps we are building.  When we set a room we need to understand how we can influence behaviours and enhance retention of learning by making the best available choices given the venue, budget and material. When we are marketing we need to consider all the tools.  We also need to understand how this Digital Disruption is impacting what is to come, and Michelle Bruno offers some great perspective here.  Use what is out there to your advantage, example... What Pinterest boards are your attendees following and creating and how can you use this information to heighten their experience?

I fear for all the meeting and event professionals that with the rise of the internet, where ANYONE can DIY their own event experience with a few google searches for suppliers, that if we are not ahead of the curve, we will become the dodo bird, the platypus, the entity that could not evolve quickly enough to remain strong and important. On the other hand, if we remain focused on our own lifelong learning and adapting to the curve balls the world will continue to toss at us, we can indeed change the world, one meeting at a time.

MPI WEC 2010 Vancouver - this had never been done  before, but why not?

10 Secrets - Hybrid Events

Content is King. If content is King then the consort is a great hybrid event. Hybrid events combine face-to-face and virtual audiences and allow you to share your content across a much broader audience. With appropriate use of back channels, either private within the media forum, or on twitter or other mediums a hybrid has the power to connect across borders and boundaries. In our current state of never enough time or money to do it all, hybrid events offer a great solution for bringing together the largest audience to learn and to collaborate. This week Sonic Foundry invited me to present a webinar on Behind the Black Curtain: 10 Secrets for Producing your Best Hybrid Event and these were the tips we talked about. You can also check out the on-demand webinar at the link above.

1. Start with WHY you are having a hybrid event.
2. Plan the structure of your meeting to consider how you will integrate the two audiences.
3. Have an event timeline that allows you appropriate time to setup, test all your lines and rehearse. Long before you go live.
4. Work with trusted partners - venue, av, live streaming, internet - everyone has an important role.
5. Create a collaborative space before, duing and after the event.
6. Consider the whole environment
7. Cameras are critical - minimum of two
8. Sound is critical - don't skimp on mics
9. Define roles - who is doing what before and on-site (including hosts and social media concierges)
10. The beauty of a hybrid is that you can archive for on demand viewing later - do it!

You can also check out more details on the overall meeting design with the White Paper on Event Camp Vancouver: An Experiment in Meeting Design.

If your association is proud of the education you are offering members, consider hybrid as a way to extend education to your community. If your organization needs to engage employees but it isn't practical to have everyone travel, consider hybrid.

Talking Tech

Thank you to the MPI BC Chapter who invited me as the keynote to open the Technology Roundtable Education at this month's chapter meeting. It was a privilege to join the roundtable presenters Marc Smith from Amuse Consulting, Mike Granek of AI, Ciprian Bandu from PSAV, Romulus Tang from Vernon Technologies and Trevor Roald of QuickMobile to talk tech.

It was definitely daunting to consider how much technology is changing our (meeting and event) world, at a pace that it is difficult to keep up with and that determining not only where to focus our own organizations but also our clients', well it can make one's head spin! Deciding what to focus on in a maximum of 30 minutes was also a bit daunting, but knowing that if I was able to provide a solid overview, the participants who had the opportunity to attend three roundtable sessions and delve deep into the specific technologies would leave with more options in front of them made it less so.

While each individual will leave with their own takeaways based on the roundtables chosen, here is what I hope I was able to convey.

1. A girl opened technology day! I know that in the industry there are a few female producers and leaders in the event technology space but it is not the norm, interesting in an industy that is otherwise heavily weighted to the female gender. My point - if how technology impacts your events interests you, then dig in, learn about it and have some fun!
2. Start with Why. Technology can create WOW environments and support learning and connections. It can also be budget intensive so know why you are adding elements and how it will support messages and engage participants.
3. Technology provides tools that can create efficiencies - web registration, marketing, iPads with or in place of binders, replacing paper information with electronic distribution, and so much more. Find the tools that suit your needs.
4. Consider how a mobile app can fit into your overall event strategy and how it can benefit your community building efforts in particular.  With hundreds of thousands of apps in the world and millions of tablet users attending our meetings, this will become the new norm, an expectation of the participants.
5. Social media is not going away, so if you are not already using social media to promote your events and build community, start experimenting. It was great to see that at least half the room was already using this to their advantage.
6. Consider how a hybrid meeting can extend your reach, break down borders, allow for presenters and participants to both be included, and how it can be your best marketing tool to increase registration year to year as people see the great content, but still crave the human connections that come with face to face attendance.
7. Gamification can be fun, enhance learning, create a collective goal and friendly competition, and add context and excitement to learning.  It boosts endorphins, and creates hope and optimism, all positive feelings that will then be connected to your organization / event.
8. Make technology comfortable for people to use. Selling Vancouver at AIBTM and IMEX this year using the touchscreen presentation supported with the iPad app specific to selling the local hotels made it easy for people to access information in their own way, and they really, really liked it.
9. QR codes and their variants are also here to stay for a while and are inexpensive (or free) and fun to include.
10. FourSquare, NFC - near field communication and other location based software is not going away and it has many potential applications for conferences and events that connect people and could be worth exploring or promoting. 
11. Find trusted partners, collaborate, be transparent in your needs, expectations and budget, and then go forth and create really cool stuff.
12. Do not forget the human connection. If you are going to have a hybrid event, you need human hosts to embrace the remote audience and engage through the back channels. If you are going to create a game, you need creators and then you need players. If you have guests, the technology should enhance the experience, and add to the learning or connections.
13. Create space and time for conversations. Understand that some of these may be face-to-face and some may now be via other mediums, and that all are important.
14. Technology is a tool, not a strategy.

`The essential difference in service is not machines or things. The essential difference is hearts, minds, spirits and souls.`   Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines