What is a hybrid event?

A hybrid event has a room and an audience outside it. The word is often used for any event with a stream, which is why so much hybrid disappoints: a streamed room without a host gives remote attendees the worst seat in the house and none of the reasons to stay.

In practice at an event

Real hybrid needs three things an in-person event does not have. Audio-visual production with a sound feed from the desk rather than a room microphone, because bad audio is what makes a stream unwatchable. A streaming platform. And a remote host — one person whose entire job during the event is the online audience: welcoming them, explaining what happens between sessions, and reading their questions into the room.

The programme changes too. Sessions run shorter, breaks are structured rather than open, and every question is read aloud so that the remote audience and the recording both have it.

What to look for

Decide by why people are remote. Attendees who cannot travel need full hybrid. Attendees in another time zone are usually better served by recordings published quickly, and attendees who wanted two specific sessions are better served by a selective stream. Two of the common reasons for remote attendance do not need live hybrid at all.

Where event67 stands

event67 has no streaming, no virtual breakout rooms, no on-demand video library and no virtual booths. It is an in-person product with a remote surface: the web event site gives remote attendees the schedule, sessions, speakers and forms, and they can use Q&A, polls and announcements alongside the room.

That is a workable hybrid architecture with video coming from a separate platform, and it is what most conferences end up doing anyway. It is also a real limitation, and if you need a single-vendor hybrid platform, this is not one.