20 Hybrid Event Ideas to Engage In-Person and Virtual Audiences Alike

So you're planning a paid hybrid event. You want people in the room to have a reason to travel, and people joining online to feel that their ticket bought a worthwhile experience. The best hybrid event ideas start with what each audience came to do, then make participation possible with the people and production budget you actually have.

This guide develops 20 ideas for keynotes, networking, workshops, performances and exhibitions. You'll also find a way to cost the online offer, test access and judge the result. Start with a few ideas that suit the programme. You don't need all 20 at one event.

Understand what each audience would pay for

Start with the reason each group would pay. Someone travelling to your conference may want supplier meetings and practical sessions. Someone joining from another country may want the specialist workshop without the travel bill. Those are both legitimate purchases, but the programme needs to explain what each buyer gets.

Ask a few useful questions before committing to production. Which sessions would people pay to join online? When can they attend live? Do they want to ask the speaker questions, work on something themselves or watch a performance? Use answers from previous buyers where you have them, and check interest with prospective buyers before assuming your venue audience represents remote demand.

Be careful with the promise of a bigger audience. Making a stream available internationally doesn't establish demand internationally. You still need to reach those buyers, explain the offer and support the hours in which they attend. If most of your audience can only join after the live programme ends, a recording package may be a better first offer than a second live production.

Our Event Attendee Insights Report asked 500 US respondents about event decisions on 11 November 2025. In Q7, 67% rated the lineup, performers or speakers "very important", compared with 50.4% for price and 41.4% for accessibility or convenience. The selected factors below show why programme quality deserves attention before you add more ways to interact.

Source: Loopyah Event Attendee Insights Report, Q7, Pollfish, fielded 11 November 2025, n=500 US respondents. Unweighted shares; each factor rated separately. Chart labels shorten "lineup / performers / speakers", "accessibility / convenience" and "originality or uniqueness of the concept". These are selected factors from a general event survey, not a study of hybrid attendance or evidence that streaming increases sales.

For your event, that means the first question is whether the programme solves a problem or provides an experience people want enough to buy. A chat room won't make an irrelevant speaker relevant. Once the offer is clear, choose the interactions that help people get more from it.

Write separate ticket descriptions for venue and online attendance. Say which sessions are live online, whether questions are included, what equipment people need and how long recordings will remain available. Explain any sessions reserved for people in the room. Buyers can accept different benefits when you describe them clearly; discovering a restriction after payment is a different experience.

Use audience information to make a specific decision, such as which workshop gets a second session. Avoid treating a preference survey as a guarantee of higher ticket sales. McKinsey's 2021 consumer research discusses the business value of personalization more broadly. Read McKinsey's personalization research for that wider context; its findings aren't a forecast for your hybrid event.

Use our Complete Event Planning Checklist to connect audience research, supplier decisions and the running order before you commit to production.

Work out what the online ticket has to cover

Before selecting ideas, price the extra work they create. Hybrid production can add a stream operator, an online host, captioning, access support, recording preparation and additional equipment. Ask suppliers to separate the cost of the venue event from the extra cost of serving online buyers.

Then list the costs that change with each remote sale. A ticket that includes a shipped kit costs more to fulfil than one that includes a live discussion and a downloadable worksheet. Advertising, payment costs, ticketing fees and refunds also affect what you keep. Use your own terms and quotes rather than assuming an online ticket has almost no cost.

Here's an illustrative calculation, not an industry benchmark. Suppose the additional fixed production cost is $3,600. You expect to keep $40 from each online ticket after the costs that vary with each sale. You need 90 online sales to cover that $3,600 because $3,600 divided by $40 is 90. That is before any contribution to the venue event or profit for your business.

At 120 online sales, those tickets contribute $4,800 before the extra fixed production cost. Subtract $3,600 and the online programme contributes $1,200. At 70 sales, they contribute $2,800 and leave an $800 shortfall. Write out both situations before you approve production. A budget that works only when you reach the most optimistic sales estimate isn't a comfortable starting point.

Now consider whether some existing venue buyers might choose the online option. You can't simply add the remote forecast to an unchanged venue forecast if the two tickets compete for the same people. Think about which buyers genuinely couldn't attend in person, which prefer the online format and which may trade down. Use previous buying behaviour where you have it, and treat the rest as an assumption to test.

The answer isn't to make online attendance deliberately worse. It is to describe and price each offer around what you can deliver. The venue ticket might include a practical lab, equipment access and in-person meetings. The online ticket might include selected live sessions, moderated questions and recording access. Someone should be able to read either description and understand why it is worth its price.

For your first run, choose a programme you can reduce if demand is weak. Set an internal decision date before equipment and staffing commitments become expensive to change. Decide what sales or confirmed sponsorship would justify proceeding, and what smaller version you could still deliver. Keep that internal decision separate from the promises already made to buyers.

If a sponsor is covering online production, confirm the amount and the deliverables before counting the money. A conversation about a package doesn't pay the production invoice. Include any additional staffing or reporting the sponsor expects when you assess whether the agreement actually improves the budget.

Interactive keynote ideas

A keynote can include both audiences without turning into a constant interruption. Agree how attendees will contribute, who chooses the questions and how the speaker will respond before rehearsing the session.

1. Alternate questions from the room and the stream

You know the moment. The speaker asks for questions, someone runs a microphone across the room, and the online audience watches a conversation they can't join. Fix that in the running order. Assign a moderator to the online questions and agree how the stage host will bring them in.

For example, take a room question, then a remote question, then let the speaker answer a theme several people raised. Tell both audiences how it works before the session begins. A remote buyer shouldn't have to work out whether the chat is for questions or just technical help.

Give the moderator permission to interrupt the host when an online contribution changes the discussion. Also agree what happens to unanswered questions. A follow-up answer or resource is useful; a promise that nobody owns will disappoint people after they've paid.

2. Let a poll change part of the keynote

A poll works when the audience can see why you asked. For a paid workshop on event marketing, ask whether attendees need help finding buyers or improving checkout. The speaker can spend more time on the answer the audience chose, while keeping the promised core material.

Prepare both routes beforehand. You're asking a speaker to respond to the room, which is harder than clicking through a fixed deck. The producer needs to know which slides might change and how long the speaker has for the extra explanation.

Show the same question to people in the venue and online, then describe the result aloud. Allow enough time for the stream to reach remote viewers before closing the poll. Test the actual delay during rehearsal. Otherwise, the room can finish voting before people watching online have even heard the question.

3. Run a moderated question clinic

Instead of leaving chat open and hoping a discussion develops, invite attendees to submit a specific problem before the event. A paid industry conference might ask, "What decision do you need to make in the next month?" The moderator groups similar questions and chooses a few the speaker can answer properly.

Ask for permission before showing an attendee's name or business details. Someone may welcome advice without wanting their unfinished budget projected across a room. Let them submit anonymously, and remove customer or employee information before sharing a question.

During the session, invite short clarifications from the person who submitted it. Both audiences get a developed answer rather than a long queue of unrelated questions. You also learn what future paid sessions might cover. That is useful programming evidence, although a popular question alone doesn't prove people will buy another ticket.

4. Build a shared example during the presentation

Ask the speaker to work through a decision with the audience. An event finance session could compare two production plans using a shared worksheet. Attendees suggest what they would cut or keep, and the speaker explains what each choice would change.

Put the worksheet link in the event hub before the session and show a short access instruction on screen. Provide a read-only version for people who want to follow without typing. If the tool fails, the speaker should still be able to explain the example using slides.

Choose one person to enter the audience's suggestions. Letting everyone edit the same file during a keynote can create confusion and expose information people didn't mean to share. The useful interaction is the discussion about the choices, not the number of cursors moving around a screen.

Hybrid networking ideas

If people buy your event for the connections, tell them how those meetings will happen. A remote attendee needs more than a directory of names, and a venue attendee needs somewhere quiet to join an online conversation.

5. Offer hosted introductions around a real problem

"Networking" is a vague promise to sell. A session where venue operators compare how they handle late arrivals is much easier to understand. Choose a problem your ticket buyers share, give each group a host, and start with a question people can answer without preparing a speech.

Try short rounds first and see whether attendees have enough time to get beyond introductions. There is no universal rotation length. A quick contact exchange needs less time than a discussion about running a business, and moving everyone just as the conversation becomes useful is frustrating.

You can mix remote and venue attendees when the room has the equipment and quiet space for it. You can also run separate hosted groups and bring their conclusions together afterwards. Choose the arrangement people can actually hear and join, rather than forcing a mixed table because the event is called hybrid.

6. Offer suggested meetings with an easy opt-out

Ask attendees what they want to learn or who they want to meet, then use those answers to suggest relevant introductions. A first-time operator looking for a production supplier has a different reason to book a meeting from a supplier looking for new customers. Make that distinction clear before either person agrees.

If a meeting tool offers automated matching, check what it uses and what attendees can control. You still need someone to review awkward matches, handle cancellations and explain how the meeting works. Don't promise that software can identify the perfect business contact.

Keep the initial request small. Ask both people to accept a meeting and explain the topic, time and location. For cross-audience meetings, include the online link and the venue location in the same invitation. A meeting only counts as delivered when both people can find it and take part.

7. Set up bookable conversation spaces in the venue

A person on the exhibition floor can't have a useful online conversation beside a loud speaker. Set aside a quiet area with a stable connection, headsets and clear instructions. Put those spaces on the venue map and let attendees reserve them for remote meetings.

Test the seating and camera position. The person online should be able to see who they're speaking to without looking up someone's nose or hearing three neighbouring conversations. Have a member of staff nearby for setup help without listening to private business discussions.

You don't need a large installation to try this. Start with the number of spaces you can staff and support, then watch for missed bookings and queues. If people repeatedly book more time than they use, change the booking rules. If nobody books, ask whether the introductions themselves were worth arranging before buying more equipment.

Tours and immersive experiences

Choose the simplest view that helps someone understand the subject. A guided camera tour can explain a place well; a virtual environment makes sense when exploring that space is part of the lesson.

8. Host a guided venue or exhibition tour

Give remote buyers access to something they couldn't get from the main stage feed. A curator could walk through an exhibition and explain how the pieces were chosen. A production lead could show an approved part of the venue build and answer questions about the decisions behind it.

Plan the route, sound and connection before selling access. A phone moving between rooms can lose signal, and a guide who turns away from the microphone becomes hard to understand. Record a short backup tour so the host has something useful to show if the live connection fails.

Decide where cameras can go and tell staff in those areas. Dressing rooms, payment desks and working crew conversations shouldn't appear by accident. A guided tour needs a clear subject and permissions; walking around until something interesting happens creates unnecessary pressure for everyone working onsite.

9. Build a challenge around the content

Give attendees a reason to explore different sessions or exhibits by asking them to solve a relevant problem. At a paid food business event, they might compare packaging choices using information from several demonstrations. At a skills conference, they could complete a short task after each workshop.

Make every required clue available online and in the venue. If the only way to finish is to scan a sign in a room, remote attendees were never really included. Explain the completion deadline and how people submit their work before they start.

Keep the reward practical and deliverable. A downloadable workbook is easier to fulfil globally than a physical prize with shipping restrictions. If you do offer prizes, publish eligibility and judging rules. Participation should remain optional, especially for people attending primarily to learn or meet buyers rather than compete.

10. Offer an optional immersive demonstration

An immersive demo can make sense when the thing being demonstrated depends on space or movement. A venue planning session might let buyers explore different room layouts. A technical workshop might show how equipment fits together before attendees handle the real item.

Keep a browser-based or ordinary video version available. Requiring a headset changes who can attend and adds setup, support and comfort questions. Explain what equipment is needed before checkout, including whether it is supplied and whether the full session still works without it.

Ask the demonstrator to show the same decision in the simpler version. If people without specialist equipment miss the actual lesson, you've created a different ticket benefit and need to describe it that way. For a first hybrid event, a clear close-up camera and good explanation are often a more sensible production choice than an elaborate virtual environment.

Decide which of these sessions belong inside the paid ticket and which you can share publicly. Any recording or promotional clip needs the appropriate permissions, and your ticket description should explain what remains exclusive to buyers.

Hybrid workshop ideas

A workshop needs an outcome people can complete in both places. Walk through the materials, camera views and help available to someone working at home before advertising the same practical benefit to both audiences.

11. Send a workshop kit before the event

A kit can turn remote attendance into a practical session. Think of a paid drawing class where both groups use the same materials, or a tasting workshop where everyone receives the products the tutor will discuss. Confirm the contents and delivery area before putting the ticket on sale.

Work backwards from delivery. Include packing time, the shipping cutoff and a plan for missing parcels. If tickets remain available after the cutoff, clearly label what those buyers will receive and whether they need to source materials themselves. A ticket confirmation is too late to reveal that difference.

Calculate the cost of replacing a lost kit as well as the first shipment. Keep quantities manageable until you understand the work involved. Remote tickets can become expensive to deliver when every sale adds packing, shipping and individual support, even when the online session itself has spare capacity.

12. Demonstrate something with a dedicated online host

For a cooking, craft or technical workshop, the main camera may show the presenter while missing the action that matters. Add a close-up view and decide who switches between it and the wider shot. Ask the presenter to describe what their hands are doing.

The online host watches the remote audience and tells the presenter when to pause, repeat a step or change the view. They shouldn't also be checking venue tickets or managing sponsor guests. Those jobs will need attention at exactly the wrong moment.

Build checkpoints into the lesson. Before moving on, ask attendees whether they have completed the step and offer a clear route for anyone who needs help. The online host can collect questions while the presenter continues with the room. Test how the two communicate so remote problems reach the presenter without a confusing conversation over the stream.

13. Run a shared document workshop

Start with an output worth buying a ticket to produce. For event operators, that might be a first sponsorship proposal, a promotion plan or a draft running order. Give everyone the same starting document and have the facilitator explain each decision before asking people to work on it.

Use separate copies for business-sensitive work. A shared example can help the group learn, but attendees shouldn't have to reveal their supplier prices or customer lists to participate. Let people volunteer a section for feedback rather than demanding that everyone present.

Finish with time to review what people made. A workshop that ends immediately after the final instruction leaves attendees wondering whether they did it correctly. If follow-up feedback is included in the ticket, state its scope and deadline. If it isn't, offer a clear self-check so people can continue without assuming the tutor will review their work later.

Entertainment for both audiences

Programme entertainment around the experience you can deliver through the stream. A venue performance needs suitable sound and camera coverage online, while an interactive game needs rules that account for the delay.

14. Stream a performance you have permission to distribute

A paid performance stream gives people outside the venue a way to buy access. It also creates a different production job. Camera framing, the mix sent online and the audience's viewing setup all affect what that ticket delivers.

Before advertising the stream, confirm permission for the performance, music and any recording or clips you plan to distribute. Permission to perform in a venue doesn't by itself tell you what you can broadcast. Ask the people responsible for those rights to confirm the intended uses, territories and replay period.

Brief the performers on the online audience. A short direct introduction can help remote viewers understand what they're watching, while the venue audience still gets the show they bought. Avoid stopping the performance repeatedly to read chat. If online interaction changes the performance, agree that format with the artist and describe it to buyers beforehand.

15. Run a game that allows for stream delay

A quiz can connect the two audiences if you design it around how they receive the question. A fastest-answer game often favours people in the room because the host's words reach them first. Give everyone an answer window that allows remote viewers to hear the full prompt.

Make the rules visible and rehearse scoring with both groups. Decide what happens if someone loses connection, submits twice or can't use the response tool. Keep a simpler way to participate available when the game is a planned part of the paid programme.

Choose a subject that suits the event. A short knowledge challenge can reinforce a learning session; a long unrelated competition can interrupt the reason people came. If a sponsor provides a prize, confirm who can receive it and how you'll deliver it. Don't leave a remote winner with an onsite-only voucher they can't use.

Behind-the-scenes content

Use the gaps in the venue programme to offer a planned online session, or tell remote attendees when to return. Behind-the-scenes access is useful when it explains something the audience cares about and the working crew has agreed to participate.

16. Show a planned part of the production process

Backstage content works best when the audience wants to understand how something was made. A paid music event might offer a short conversation about the soundcheck. A design conference could show how an installation was assembled and why the team chose those materials.

Arrange the visit with the production lead. Ask what can be filmed, where the host can stand and when the crew can spare someone to talk. A working production desk is responsible for the event; it isn't an attraction you can interrupt whenever the online schedule has a gap.

Keep a recorded alternative ready. If the crew needs to fix something, let them work while the online host uses the backup. Explain who will watch and whether the footage will remain available later. People may agree to a brief conversation for ticket holders without agreeing to an unrestricted promotional clip.

17. Record short interviews that answer attendee questions

Collect questions from ticket holders before the event, then ask speakers for a useful answer in a quieter interview area. "What would you do first with a small production budget?" is more helpful than asking every speaker how excited they are to be there.

Let the online host introduce each interview and explain why it relates to the programme. Venue attendees can watch later if recording access is included, while remote viewers have something designed for them during a physical coffee break.

Check the speaker agreement covers the intended recording and reuse. Keep the answer accurate when editing it into shorter clips, especially if the speaker added a condition or limitation. You can use an approved extract to promote the next event, but the full answer should still deliver the benefit promised to this event's paying audience.

Hybrid exhibition ideas

An exhibitor has to serve two audiences while keeping its sales team available for real conversations. Make the online offer specific enough for the exhibitor to staff it and for buyers to know when to join.

18. Offer staffed online demonstration appointments

An online exhibitor page needs a reason to visit. Let buyers book a demonstration, ask a technical question or see a relevant product in use. Publish the times someone will be there instead of calling a page "live" while the exhibitor's whole team is busy on the venue floor.

Keep appointments short enough to fulfil and long enough to answer the advertised question. Agree who hosts, how attendees join and what happens when the previous meeting runs late. An exhibitor may need a separate person for remote meetings during the busiest floor hours.

Sell sponsors the activity you can deliver. A logo on a page, an available appointment and a completed buyer meeting are different things. Tell them which you will report, then record it consistently. Don't promise access to attendee contact details without a clear, agreed way for attendees to choose that follow-up.

19. Connect physical exhibits to useful digital material

Put a short link and QR code near an exhibit so venue attendees can open a specification, watch a detailed demo or request a conversation. Give remote attendees access to the same material through the event hub. The destination should make sense without having seen the physical sign.

Check the page on an ordinary phone using the venue connection. A large file or a form that asks for too much information can stop the interaction before the attendee sees anything useful. Explain whether a form goes to the event organizer or the exhibitor and what the attendee is requesting.

A scan shows someone opened the destination. It doesn't prove they watched the demo, want a sales call or bought anything. Report those steps separately where you can measure them. The distinction matters when you're deciding whether to sell the same package to the exhibitor next time.

For follow-up with your own ticket buyers, use Loopyah's Email Attendees solution to select relevant buyer groups and set up messages around buyer activity. Exhibitor enquiries collected elsewhere need their own agreed follow-up process; a booth scan doesn't automatically make someone part of your ticket-buyer audience.

Attendee content and social media

Show future buyers what people actually did at your event, with their permission. The most useful attendee content usually explains an experience someone else is considering paying for.

20. Publish a moderated attendee recap

Invite both audiences to share one useful thing they learned, made or noticed. You can display approved contributions in the event hub and on a venue screen, then build a recap with permission from the people whose work you use.

Give the prompt some direction. "Show the worksheet you completed" will produce different contributions from "Post your favourite moment." Choose the version that matches the event's purpose, and let attendees participate without a public social account. A private submission form can work for people who don't want to post publicly.

Assign a moderator before displaying anything live. Remove personal information and material you don't have permission to reuse, and keep paid content or private discussions out of public clips. The recap can help future buyers understand the event, but attending shouldn't require someone to create advertising for you. Make the contribution optional and thank people for what they chose to share.

Use our event promotion ideas to plan how people discover the offer, then review how you manage promoters if partners will help sell it. Keep the ticket description consistent wherever the event appears.

Choose and test your hybrid event technology

Start with a list of attendee actions, then ask suppliers to demonstrate them. A buyer needs to purchase the right ticket, find their access instructions, join the correct session and get help if something fails. A speaker needs to share material and hear questions. Your producer needs to control the live programme without guessing what either audience sees.

Test a full purchase-to-session journey with an ordinary attendee account. Check it on a phone and a laptop, outside the organizer's network. A link that works for a logged-in administrator may fail for a buyer. Confirm how ticket permission reaches the viewing platform and what happens when someone requests a refund or passes a ticket to another person.

Keep ticketing and streaming responsibilities explicit. The streaming supplier should confirm viewing access, capacity, captions, recording, moderation and support. Don't infer those capabilities because a ticketing product handles payment or sends an email. Ask who is responsible for each connection and test it before tickets go on sale.

For production, YouTube's encoder guidance recommends testing with audio and movement similar to the live event. Apply that principle with whichever streaming supplier you use. A still slide and a silent room won't reveal whether a moving demonstration, audience microphone or video playback works properly.

Assign someone to watch through the attendee connection during rehearsal and the live show. The signal leaving the production desk can look fine while the viewer hears distorted sound or sees an unreadable slide. That person should know how to contact the producer and which issues require an immediate pause.

Ask the venue which connection the production team will use, who else shares it and who can fix it on the day. Agree a recovery plan with the streaming supplier. A backup link must respect the access and rights promised to paying attendees; posting a paid programme publicly during an outage may create another problem.

For the ticketing side, Loopyah's Event Software connects ticket sales, buyer records and event operations. That gives your team the commercial records to work from while you arrange streaming production and viewing access with the appropriate supplier. Confirm the connection between those systems before promising a particular online format.

What you can learn from a large online programme

Apple's WWDC26 resource page separates the keynote, technical sessions and topic-specific group labs. It's a useful example of how one event can offer different ways to learn from the same subject. It doesn't prove that the same programme will sell tickets for your business.

The useful question is what needs to happen live. A demonstration may benefit from immediate questions. A recorded explanation can be watched later. A small working session needs a facilitator and enough time for individual problems. Choose those formats deliberately rather than broadcasting every room for the entire event.

You can apply that thinking to a paid one-day conference without matching a large technology company's resources. Stream the main teaching sessions, offer a separate online discussion and keep an equipment-heavy workshop in the venue. State the distinction on the ticket page. You have a programme you can explain, price and rehearse instead of a long stream filled with moments online buyers can't join.

Measure the result by ticket type and activity

Start with the question the event budget needs answered. Did online ticket income cover the extra production cost? Which ticket types sold, and how many of those buyers actually joined? Did the people who attended receive the sessions and support described before checkout?

Measure venue and online attendance separately before combining totals. A person who enters the venue and later watches a replay is one customer using two parts of the offer. Counting them twice makes the reach look larger without helping you understand whether the event worked.

Agree definitions with suppliers before comparing reports. "Registered", "joined" and "watched" describe different actions. Ask whether viewing time includes replays, whether someone can be counted on several devices and whether a session begins counting as soon as the page loads. Keep those definitions with the report so the next event uses the same method.

For historical industry context, IAEE published material on Reporting Standards for Digital Events (RSDE). Use clearly documented definitions from your current viewing supplier for the operational report.

• Compare ticket income with the venue costs and the additional online costs. Use the amount you keep after the relevant sale costs, rather than treating gross sales as profit.

• Compare tickets sold with people who checked in or joined. Investigate a large difference before assuming the programme itself failed. Access instructions, scheduling or reporting definitions may explain part of it.

• Track participation in the activities you sold. For a hosted meeting package, completed meetings are more relevant than chat messages. For a workshop, ask whether people completed the intended task.

• Ask both groups what was useful, what they couldn't access and whether the ticket description matched the experience. Review the answers alongside support requests and refund reasons.

Don't set a universal watch-time target and use it to judge every format. A buyer who gets a useful answer in a short clinic may have received exactly what they paid for. Someone who leaves halfway through a workshop because they can't see the demonstration has a different problem. Ask enough to understand the difference.

Prepare for the problems attendees will notice

A hybrid running order has to explain what happens in the room and online at the same time. Rehearse the handoffs as carefully as the headline session, because those are the moments when the remote audience can lose access or context.

The first rehearsal should include a failure. Ask what the online host says if the stream stops, how buyers receive an update and who decides whether to pause the room. Write the actual message and put the support address where attendees can find it without entering the broken stream.

Choose session length around the work. A complex practical workshop may need more time than a short presentation, whether people attend online or in person. Give remote attendees clear breaks and a reliable return time. Explain what they can do during venue-only activities so they aren't staring at an empty stage waiting for someone to remember them.

Plan accessibility before recording or production begins. The W3C's media accessibility guidance covers captions, transcripts, descriptions of visual information and accessible players. Decide what your audience needs and who will provide it. Ask speakers to describe diagrams and practical steps aloud, and test how captions appear alongside presentation slides.

Give the production team a running order that shows both experiences. During a venue lunch, the online programme might pause, offer an optional interview or end until the next teaching session. All are reasonable choices when buyers know the schedule. What creates confusion is advertising continuous access and then leaving the remote feed unattended.

Name the person responsible for the room, the person watching online participation and the person handling attendee access. One person may cover some roles at a small event, but check for clashes. Someone troubleshooting a buyer's login can't also direct a camera change at the same moment.

When several tools share the work, our guide to choosing the right event manager app can help you decide what the team needs to manage. Check the supported actions and responsibilities, then practise them with the people who will run the event.

Choose your first hybrid format

Choose one session your remote audience has a clear reason to buy, then decide how they will take part. A paid workshop with a dedicated online host, a readable demonstration and time for questions is a sensible first test. Add more sessions when demand and the production budget justify them.

Before announcing it, put the two ticket descriptions next to the running order. Follow a buyer through checkout, access instructions, the live session and any replay. If a promised benefit has no time, owner or working access route, resolve that before selling it. That check will improve the event more than adding another interaction to a programme your team already struggles to deliver.

Compare the ticketing and attendee communication tools against that plan, then ask your streaming supplier to demonstrate the online experience.