Hybrid events aren’t new, but they’re enjoying a post-pandemic revival. In fact, many people appreciate being able to remotely attend conferences, workshops, and conventions. At the same time, they expect their overall experience to be second to none whether they’re in person or online. As an event organizer, your role is to make sure all participants have a world-class experience, and that requires quite a bit of planning. Otherwise, you won’t glean the benefits that come from a successful hybrid event like impressive registration rates and stellar brand recognition. To help you avoid commo ..read more

Our world is changing. And so are events. In-person events have typically been the go-to approach for organizations to generate revenue and provide learning and networking opportunities for attendees. In recent years, virtual events became more popular as a convenient way for organizations to offer learning opportunities to attendees who could not attend in person due to budget or schedule constraints. Then, virtual events became essential as many organizations used them to replace planned in-person events that were not possible due to global health concerns. Today, many organization ..read more

In an effort to mitigate risk and accommodate attendees, many organizations are planning for hybrid events in 2021. While we know that a hybrid event includes both a virtual and in-person component, one of the biggest challenges planners are facing is how to facilitate networking between all types of attendees. What is a hybrid event? Before we can address this challenge, we first must understand what a hybrid event really is. A hybrid event is more than just the virtual and in-person components. A successful hybrid event hinges on combining the in-person and virtual components together to cr ..read more

As we wrap up the year and look ahead to 2021, organizers and planners are hopeful to return to in-person events in the new year. While we are all eager to get back to interacting on the trade show floor or in between sessions, it is likely that events will continue to host a virtual component to cater to those that aren’t ready to travel or prefer to attend online. Hybrid events are becoming a popular option for organizations host their event and facilitate both the in-person and virtual experience attendees are looking for. To help you create a memorable and engaging event, we’ve but togeth ..read more

As we move towards the end of 2020 and look ahead, likely, virtual events are not going anywhere in the new year. Organizers and planners are continuing to move forward to create virtual conferences and facilitate an online experience for their attendees and replicate what would have been in-person. To help you navigate new challenges faced when planning a virtual event, like how to keep attendees engaged or ways to provide valuable sponsor programs, we’ve outlined the basics for creating a virtual conference in this article. Determine Your Event Needs and Goals Organizations must be thinkin ..read more

Let’s face it, one of the biggest challenges you’ll encounter while running an association is member retention. While you might think that getting someone to join your association in the first place is the hard work, it’s only half the battle. Member retention brings long-term stability and is key to an association’s success. Association events provide member value and engagement opportunities. Events provide a valuable space for members to come together, learn from one another and socialize. Advances in technology and evolving preferences and needs of members has made it easier for events an ..read more

Every June event professionals from across the world celebrate exhibitions and advocate for the event industry. This annual day honoring the exhibition industry was started by the International Association for Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) and usually an in-person event is held in Washington DC to bring together event professionals. However, this year, the event will be virtual in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and will be held on June 3rd. As we recognize this day and look ahead to the future of exhibitions, many are considering how virtual exhibitions will influence and change the landscape ..read more

With many organizations implementing work from home or transitioning out of offices completely to an entirely virtual workforce, bad actors can try to take advantage. Many organizations are seeing an increase in phishing attempts and cyberattacks. With this in mind, Community Brands would like to share some best practices for you and your staff.  Check to confirm your computer has antivirus installed and is running the latest version.  Be wary of unusual requests that are made. Unusual changes in process, requests, links or attachments could be an attempt by a bad actor. When in d ..read more

The event industry has seen an increase of in-person events being cancelled and organizations are looking for new ways to retain some of the revenue from these events and continue to move forward. In response to these unprecedented circumstances and to help fulfill a client need, the Event Tech Group has developed a software solution that allows organizations to process refunds from canceled events while giving attendees the option to donate a portion of the refund back to the organization.  The process is simple and convenient both for the admin and the end-user. Here’s how it works: Att ..read more

Are you looking to change your in-person conference into an interactive virtual conference? If so, our Virtual Conference Software can help you achieve a full, online conference experience complete with live networking, virtual sessions and exhibit halls and even virtual poster sessions. To help you navigate the process of taking your event virtual we have outlined our solutions below: Webinar & Webcasts - Offer interactive, live events or re-broadcast recordings On-site Event Capture - Live stream your event content or provide on-demand delivery Virtual Conferences - Create ..read more