How Interreg Europe managed a successful hybrid event

What is the objective of the event?

Interreg Europe is an EU´s programme that helps regions deliver better policy. So we have to communicate the possibility to get EU funds to potential beneficiaries and help them find project partners. Participants attend our events to meet partners and to get first-hand information from us.

Our participants come from 30 countries. Sometimes they have limited budget or time, so the hybrid event was an opportunity to extend our audience, while also reducing CO2 emissions.

Did you succeed?

Yes. In addition to 800 participants on spot, we had 1,200 following us online, and most of them followed an entire session! 5,000 people reviewed the webstreaming session we published on our website after the event. We doubled our online followers on social media. But most important we got an excellent feedback and everyone told we shall repeat it.

Attention is key in virtual events. How did you manage to make the content “sticky”?

Our success was partly based on having good content. We had a strategy on how to communicate with our participants before, during and after event. The live event did not include boring presentations and whenever it got a bit slower, an online moderator stimulated the online audience. We were open to accept questions from online participants and answer them on stage, so they felt part of the event. The event was very interesting, and with the online event we managed to reflect this mood.

What technology did you use?

We used a mobile app and a special platform for networking where people could book a table and present their ideas to others. There are many technologies: mobile apps, robot participants, networking platforms, voting applications, idea generation tools, etc. My advice is that behind each one you choose, make sure you have skilled people.