A day in the life……

Making a case for role-rotation. An all-day role rotation. On every platform.

For better hybrid events.

We all heard about job rotation. In a company, people from cleaning and sales, procurement and security, catering and traffic – you name it - change responsibilities for a day and get a better understanding of the challenges, perks, needs and gains of  a certain role within an organization.

How would this translate to events? Given the fact that we have organizers AND delegates in the same “company”? And, to make it even more challenging: given the fact that we have participants online?

I know that organizers participate in events as delegates and that delegates can be caterers in their day-to-day job – but that is not what I mean. I mean a deliberate change of roles for a day. For a specific new stakeholder group: the hybrid event organizers. 

Do we really know how a virtual delegate spends its “event day”? 

The thing is: we don’t see them at the event. So how can we “get” their involvement? I think that there is still a gap we need to close.

How can we close it? By stepping in the shoes of our virtual attendees. Totally. Change places. Learn about their knowledge of programs and tech. Their workload and anticipation. Their knowledge and expectations about virtual events…and invite them to step into our shoes.

So if you would participate virtually instead of organize.. realistically? Take it from someone who’s been there:

- you are working partly during the event and missing some sessions

- you often do not know beforehand which platform you will be required to have

- you will miss the first moments because of tech hick-ups – yours.

- you will not know beforehand which gaming aspect is used and what you need to do for it. ( Let alone how much time you are required to spend on it)

- you will not know beforehand who else is participating and how to get to know them

Would that change your perspective?  Working away and stopping to dowload programs, finding a way to follow a schedule that requires an all day involvement in between meetings and lunch?  Would it make you design "light" hybrids?  

I'd love to hear....