The OpenWater Blog

The Best Hybrid Event Management Software Portals for Your Organization

Hybrid event management software is taking the events industry by storm in 2021.

Venues have opened their doors to vaccinated attendees. So, organizations are in search for the best hybrid conference software. To clarify, hybrid event management software is what enables remote attendees to attend events.

A quick Google search will tell you that there are a lot of options for hybrid event management software. So, how are you supposed to tell which one is the best for your organization?

Deciding which hybrid event portal to choose can be tough. There’s a lot to consider, such as the size of your organization, the number of attendees, and the software’s networking capabilities.

You will also need to determine how to deliver the content of your conference. For pre-recorded sessions, you’ll need a virtual conference software platform. If your speakers present sessions live, you’ll need a hybrid live stream platform.

Another question you might ask yourself is: do I need to hire a hybrid event manager?

For this article, I’ll focus on the hybrid event portal itself. I will let you in on the basic and provide considerations you need to make. Choosing the right hybrid event management software doesn’t have to be so tough.

What is Hybrid Event Management Software?

Hybrid event management software runs on the platform that hosts your hybrid event.

Every hybrid event has two aspects: the virtual aspect and the physical aspect. On one hand, the physical part of your hybrid event is at a venue. On the other, the virtual aspect of your event is on a hybrid event management platform.

The management platform enables your attendees to see your event’s sessions, posters, attendee profiles, and more. Usually, it’s helpful to see hybrid conference examples to learn more.

Note that the hybrid conference platform not only aids your attendees. It’s also a tool by your conference administrators.

Administrators track chat rooms, organize conference sessions, and add content to poster pages. To perform these tasks, admins use the hybrid event management software.

Your event staff may also use the management software after the conference. When the conference is over, it’s important to take a look at the numbers to ensure that your conference was a success. Also, it’s an opportunity to see which sessions were the most popular, and which sessions did not see as many attendees joining as you had hoped.

To conclude, an effective hybrid event management software provides admins the ability to do their jobs.

Things to consider when you choose a hybrid event management software

When you decide which hybrid event management software is best for your organization, there is a lot to consider. These considerations will affect your decision of which software to use. For example, the size of your event, the type of content coming out of your event, and your conference budget. These are all factors to consider when choosing a hybrid software for your event.

The size of your hybrid event

The size of your conference matters because it informs the format and structure of your conference. Also, it matters because it informs what type of hybrid event software you will use.

A hybrid management platform is not be the best option for small events. Anything under 100 attendees can use a basic hybrid conference management tool such as Zoom.

You can learn more about how to run a small hybrid conference with a low budget. Check out the OpenWater hybrid conference training page for more info.

If your conference has thousands of attendees, you’re going to want a scalable hybrid conference platform. Software like this has the bandwidth capabilities to handle several sessions and attendees.

For large events, a scalable hybrid conference solution is the best choice. OpenWater can handle any size conference. On top of that, you are able to host several concurrent sessions with any number of attendees per room.

Your hybrid event content

What type of conference content are you putting out there for your attendees? It’s an important question. Some event management platforms gear towards certain types of conference content.

There are some hybrid event management systems are ideal for higher education conferences. Some systems are better for business, leadership, and networking conferences.

Academic, Scientific, and Medical Conferences should engage audiences by providing high-value content. For conferences like these, a virtual conference solution should deliver content well. Also, it’s important to have session pages that presenters can post their content on with ease.

Business, Leadership, and Networking Conferences are not centered around content. Instead, these conferences focus on building attendee-to-attendee relationships. For this reason, event professionals prefer a conference platform with networking features. A typical example of a networking feature in a platform is a virtual chat-room.

OpenWater’s hybrid event management platform

OpenWater’s hybrid event management platform is one of its Event Cloud products. It’s a great hybrid solution for any conference.

OpenWater has the highest rated conference services. For this reason, we are among the few platforms that provide the features you need AND the assistance you need to make your conference as effective as possible.

To take a look at what OpenWater has to offer, request a demo.

Not ready for a demo? That’s fine — OpenWater is hosting a User Conference on June 23rd and 24th. Feel free to register for free.

Will Flaherty

Will is a Digital Marketing Specialist at OpenWater. He can be contacted at will@getopenwater.com.

Building a world class customer support team for SaaS

The Hybrid Event Managers You Need for Your Conference