How to Plan a Hybrid Meeting

by Carl Mavromichalis

How can I set up a hybrid meeting? Hybrid meetings are hot, and we see the appeal. 

Many organizations are saying “We are ready to get back to in-person.” Lots of us miss the camaraderie or even travel that in-person meetings offer. Real live human beings! Old friends! Smiling faces! Shaking hands or bumping elbows. It feels great. 

Some of you got better participation online than you ever had in person, and it’s hard to give that up - No need for parking or childcare, and no limits from geography. 

There’s also the challenge of planning in-person events in these uncertain times. Will your in-person meeting get canceled?

Enter the latest craze - hybrid meetings. 

Do you want to plan a meeting that accommodates in-person and online attendance, but wonder how to do that successfully?

All participants deserve the same access. Every step has to be considered. If you don’t do it right, you might get people once, but they may never take part again.

My first hybrid meeting was in 2013 when I paired our telephone town hall system with an in-room event. It was a more complex setup for sure, but it went smoothly because we spent the time necessary to consider all the variables.

Today, the online virtual portion of the hybrid meeting is all about video. The experience for those online has to be at least as good as it would be if the whole event was only online.

If you want some help thinking this through, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Below are a few questions to help you start planning your hybrid meetings.

What is a Hybrid Meeting?

From our perspective, a hybrid meeting is one where you have an audience in the room as well as an audience remotely. Having speakers in the room and streaming the video is not a hybrid meeting, in our view. A true hybrid meeting has people in the room in-person and people online or on the phone.

Can online participants see the speakers up-close, or is there one camera aimed at the panel from the back of a hall?

Having a camera at the back of a room with a bunch of heads facing the panelists, and the panelists far away, is not engaging for the those online. 

We recommend that each speaker has their own computer with their camera on, as well as a camera and mic (or two ideally) for those in the audience. You have to be extra careful to ensure speakers on their computers use the mute button each time. External mics controlled by an A/V team helps prevent feedback.

Can online participants speak live to ask questions or make comments the way the in-person participants can? Or are the online participants stuck with typing questions only?

If you get the right setup, bringing remote attendees live on a big screen should be doable, as well as having their audio play through the speaker system in the room. 

Can the online participants hear the questions and comments from the in-person audience, or will they be muffled and impossible to hear?

Make sure the room has a sound system with a mixer. Audio is more important than video, and if people can’t hear they will become more frustrated than if they can’t see.

The people in the room should be visible and audible to the people online. That means a portable mic and video camera.

Do you need the ability to manage an online question queue? How will you integrate the online questions with the in-person lineup at the mic?

If you want to bring live questions on-screen in the room, you’ll have to think through the logistics of identifying and bringing them on live. We have a meeting system that can help with that. The simplest way is to alternate in-room and online questions, but this should be thought through in advance and rehearsed with your moderator.

How can I avoid ear-splitting feedback?

There is nothing more important than a clear audio connection between the online and in-person participants. Muffled voices or feedback will ruin your hybrid meeting. Avoid feedback by having the A/V team be in control of all the mics in the room, even if you have all the speakers on their laptops. There are ways to ensure you still avoid the feedback. There are a few levels of production. Which one is right for you?

Like a two-way tv show. Requires multiple cameras, video mixing, and a production team.

1. The virtual people could be audible to the room but not visible, and vice-versa.

2. If the logistics are simply too complicated or expensive, consider doing two separate meetings – one live and one virtual.

Want to learn more? Contact Us today!

Communicator's Toolbox #2: Virtual Town Halls

This post was written by my colleague and big-league communications pro Priya Bates. It was initially published on her LinkedIn blog. She has other technology reviews there, so it's recommended reading.

Last week, I had a chance to sit down with Carl Mavromichalis, a management consultant for Converso Engagement Services. For the past few years, he’s been focused on bringing the Converso Virtual Town Hall Technology to Canadian organizations. It helps them turn phone systems into personal, interactive radio broadcasts that engage stakeholders.

A phone? Yes you heard me say phone.

My first reaction was probably like yours. In this day and age of computers, text messaging and mobile technology, why would we even use the telephone to communicate with stakeholders? Seems so yesterday…. until I heard Carl’s story about his work during the Fort McMurray Wildfires in Alberta, Canada.

When Carl heard about the Alberta wildfires, he knew he had a solution that could help. During the evacuation until it was safe again to move back to their homes, virtual town halls were the connection between the Government of Alberta and evacuated residents. They held 17 events in five weeks providing updates on the status of the fire and community, what was being done, and when it was safe to return.

Driven by the Public Affairs team, the communication effort was a best-in-class example of the role communication plays in integrating efforts. On a regular basis, a team of experts including government officials, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, the Red Cross and even the Insurance Bureau of Canada, provided information and answered questions from residents.

Let’s talk about how it works.

Tool Talk
Communicators should use the Converso Virtual Town Hall technology if they need to reach 500 or more stakeholders, especially if the audience is dispersed. The technology dials out to all lines quickly, puts them on hold until the town hall begins, and then allows participants to ask questions and receive answers during the town hall itself.

Imagine using the tool for:

• A crisis or evacuation situation. Perhaps a back up to an existing crisis plan where access to computer technology could be limited, but access to phones are not.
• Government relations where officials want to connect with citizens and answer their questions but don’t want them to travel to a limited space facility.
• Labour negotiations where unions want to communicate to provide members with updates on bargaining or key issues.
• Member-based organizations that are going through change and want to increase engagement.
• Employees who are in the field, have a phone, but may not have access to WIFI.
• Consultation and engagement around major change activities.
• Sports teams connecting with their fan base - apparently popular in the U.S.

Nuts and Bolts
The key to using the system is the availability of phone numbers. With the Alberta Wildfires, the Canadian Red Cross, with whom all evacuated citizens were asked to register, had lists of relevant phone numbers of evacuees. This played an important role in being able to connect with citizens. In some cases, organizations have a list of home or personal phone numbers in their HR or membership databases; when necessary, some organizations purchase publicly available lists.

Once lists are obtained, here’s what happens:

• A pre-call notice: These robocalls provide ‘hold the dates’ or ‘coming soon’ type messages. Organizations are encouraged to use other communication channels and traditional methods to create awareness as well.
• System Dials: The system calls the list. It has the capability to call 15,000 number in about 5 minutes. The largest audience it has ever called included 425,000 numbers. Those that pick up the phone hear a brief pre-recorded message and are then connected to the event.
• Event Starts: The moderator welcomes everyone and the town hall leader delivers key messages right from the beginning. Leaders are encouraged to keep opening remarks tight and deliver the most important messages up front.
• Polling: During the event, pre-arranged polling questions are asked allowing listeners to interact using their keypad.
• Q&A: A moderator then takes live questions from the audience allowing town hall leaders a chance to view the questions and select the ones to be answered. An average event tends to have 15-30 questions, although there have been as many as 50.

On average, the Virtual Town Hall event runs about 60 minutes. That being said, Carl mentioned that Alberta Wildfire calls lasted 90 minutes due to the high volume of questions among evacuees. In some situations, the events have lasted as long as 150 minutes. The more contentious an issue, the more a captive audience of concerned participants are willing to stay on.

Does it Measure Up?
What excites me about any technology solution being implemented today is the available of measurement. At the end of a Virtual Town Hall, organizations get up to 16 additional data points, including the following information:

• How many people connected to the event
• How many put their hand up to ask questions
• How long they were on the phone and what was the peak number of attendees
• The number of questions that went live
• Demographic information on those who participated

Generally speaking 50% of the participants on the dial out list answer the phone, with anywhere from 25% to 90% joining the Town Hall based on how motivated they are to participate. The average tends to be about 12% to 15% of dialed recipients and can be higher than 85% during a crisis situation or critical issue.

The Virtual Town Hall is an intimate two-way conversation that reaches people where they are very cost-effectively. For low-volume groups, the cost is between $1 to $2 per phone number dialed and can get considerably cheaper as the numbers grow. It’s not as cheap as running an online webinar, but webinars require your audience to choose to attend whereas the Virtual Town Hall calls you and forces you to respond.

It’s not a solution you would consider every day, but it definitely has its advantages in specific situations. For more information or to get a demo of the VTH, contact Carl Mavromichalis directly or check out their website at http://www.converso.co/ .