After almost two years of working remotely many of us have lost touch with our favorite coworkers, become accustomed to a solo shift in our home offices, and, overall, feel isolated from the community we used to spend 40 plus hours a week with. For most companies, bringing their team back together and boosting morale is a top priority as we round out the second year of working from home. These long-awaited conferences, events, and workshops were so highly anticipated during the pandemic many leadership teams planned events with the intention of waiting to secure a date when they knew it would be safe for their attendees. 

And for a brief second, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope as the country began to open up and people started congregating like it was 2019. Naturally, many companies jumped at the opportunity to celebrate the end of a grim era and come together for an in-person event. However, as we’re all aware, that hope was fleeting with cases of COVID-19 climbing the charts around the nation and mandates falling back into place.

As disappointing as this turn of events is, it doesn’t necessarily mean your event must be canceled and your team left high and dry. Over the past two years, we’ve worked with all of our clients to ensure they are able to bring their companies together even during this chaotic time. We have a couple of alternatives to canceling your event that will save you time, money, and tears. 

Hybrid Events 

The most important thing we’ve learned in dealing with events throughout the pandemic is every event is its own unique situation. As COVID regulations change from day to day, no two events will look the same. Depending on where your event is taking place and the level of comfortability of your attendees, shifting from a fully in-person event to a hybrid event may be a compromise that includes all participants. 

Each state, town, even venue has its own set of regulations, and depending on where your event is located you may be able to keep a portion of your event in person. In some cases, the location and the mandates attached to that location may not be the issue. Companies are realizing that regardless of mandates, some of their employees don’t feel safe, while others are giddy to get back together. 

If you feel comfortable following your location’s open regulations and allowing your employees to decide for themselves, we recommend transitioning your in-person event into a hybrid event. Hybrid events are a combination of in-person and virtual events where the attendees can either show up to the conference for face-to-face interaction or they can log onto a virtual portal where they will be able to participate from the safety of their home. 

With the new technologies surrounding the virtual space, online events have taken on a whole new life. It’s not just logging onto a video conference and turning your microphone on mute anymore. We have partnered with LeaderPass to help our clients create an entire virtual world that mimics exactly what your conference would look like. 

Virtual Events

From the entrance with a schedule board to sitting next to your friends for the big keynote speech to choosing and joining a breakout session in a smaller group, your virtual attendees will feel like they are really there. If for whatever reason — comfort level or local regulations — you feel that you should not be having an event where your attendees will be interacting in-person, our LeaderPass virtual events are a great alternative. 

Throughout the pandemic, we have heard repeatedly that our client’s biggest concerns with virtual events are technical issues. Every event planner’s worst nightmare is having the video conference cut out mid-keynote or having half their team not be able to get into the e-conference or audio issues or wifi issues...the list goes on and on when it comes to virtual events. 

However, with months of practice and the adoption of the latest and greatest technologies, our virtual events are now as smooth and seamless as live events. We work with our speakers to find them studio-grade recording equipment to ensure their keynotes are never interrupted by wifi glitches. We utilize LeaderPass to create an immersive experience that allows attendees to wander and explore your event, and we sync up and test all entrance capabilities with the leadership team holding the event to ensure no one gets locked out for whatever reason. 

In addition to creating an exciting virtual environment for your team, a virtual event is a great way to boost morale, bring your team closer together in a setting other than Zoom conferences, and explore new areas of education. 

Our event planning experts are on standby to help you achieve whatever works best for you and your team. During this time, we want everyone to remain safe and, most of all, we want to facilitate a real connection that inspires greatness within your organization. Each event is its own unique scenario and we want to make the best out of every situation. We will work with you to create a memorable event that brings your team together.