Why Hybrid Events Aren't Working
Hybrid events have become much more common since the pandemic, but they have not proven to be as effective or engaging as in-person events. What are some of the issues that prevent the best QoE for hybrid participants, and how can they be remedied? Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media, Producers Guild of America (PGA), VR AR Association (VRARA), discusses these issues with Alex Lindsay, Head of Operations, 090 Media, and Dan Houze, VP, Encoding & Digital Strategy, BC Live in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2023.
Chris Pfaff首先指出，就在不久之前，流媒体直播活动还是纯音频的, 直到疫情爆发之前，视频才开始广泛融入到虚拟观众的体验中. 疫情加速了大规模开发高质量流媒体视频的进程. However, even with the leap of improvements for QoE, much remains left to be desired. “I think for any event that you're talking about, whether it's a corporate event [or] a concert, that's a huge issue,” he says. “所以我真的想从这个话题开始，因为当我们都参与这些活动时, I think we're very forgiving. But you know, scale is such a huge part of this.” He asks Alex Lindsay of 090 Media, “在获得高质量体验和规模方面，你认为我们已经走了多远?”
“I think we're starting to get there,” Lindsay says. “[But] I think we're sliding backward a little bit. You know, now people want to come back into the room, 我认为我们回到会议室的方式已经把我们带回到2015年, 2016 range.” He laughs and says, “You know, I've been doing this a bit longer than many people…”
“We can tell by the gear behind you!” Pfaff says.
“2008, 2009 is when we really started streaming video,” Lindsay says. “最主要的是，在某些情况下，当我们回到体育项目时，我们并没有做得更好.他提到了流媒体连接(Streaming Media Connect)等网络研讨会，“很多此类活动都开始发挥作用。. 问题是我们10年前的数据告诉我们混合事件不起作用, and they're still not working.”
Pfaff says, “So as an adjunct, that you're a second-class citizen if you're not in the room, you should be happy that there's a camera with a terrible angle of five people on a stage. Is that what we're talking about?”
“Yeah,” Lindsay says. “When we started, it made sense. You know, we're streaming Dreamforce, and there's 15,000 people in the room and 300 people watching, you are second class…”
“For those who don't know, Dreamforce is Salesforce,” Pfaff says. “It’s Salesforce’s mondo over-the-top annual event.”
Lindsay强调，核心问题是虚拟观众没有完全融入现场活动的感觉, which ultimately colors their perception of the event’s significance. In that situation, he says, “They don’t feel like the event's important. They don't feel like the product is important. 他们觉得很多事情都不重要，我们也没有对此进行足够的讨论。.”
“So you’re saying that in some respect, there's a brand disconnect?” Pfaff says. That you're damaging your brand to some extent?”
Lindsay notes that not only does this sense of disconnect damage the brand, but it hampers enthusiasm for virtual participants to return to the event. “It's the most devastating way to do this because they don't complain,” he says. “People who complain care about the event, they want it to be better. People who don't complain oftentimes are just disappearing. We've called them and said, ‘Hey, why didn't you come?’ ‘Well, I was just busy.’ You know, it wasn't like ‘I'm mad that I felt like I was in the back of the room…’”
Pfaff指出，可访问性也是一个没有得到足够重视的关键问题. He asks Dan Houze of BC Live about his insights into audience accessibility, not just for digital-first events like webinars but particularly for hybrid events.
Houze narrows the accessibility issue down to consumer versus internal audiences. “I think that a lot of times the virtual shows we're doing, 或者我们正在做的混合秀或数字优先秀是公司驱动的，它们是内部会议,” he says. “It's not necessarily launching a keynote for a new product or something like that.”
林赛对此表示赞同，但她认为，无论哪种混合赛事，参与度都很重要, even corporate ones. “You still have to keep all the employees going in the same direction,” he says. “When you create an event where they don't feel important, you're not getting quite the same charge out of your corporate event.”
Learn more about hybrid events at Streaming Media East 2023.
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