The Future of Corporate Events is Hybrid, Too

No more lackluster meetings. That’s the refrain we hear from Fortune 1000 companies regarding all-hands or executive town hall meetings.   

After two years of staring at screens, employees want more.  

Yet in the new hybrid-as-the-norm world companies struggle to make important meetings feel special without investing in new technology platforms.  

Enter broadcast capabilities.  

A quick history of corporate broadcast capabilities

If you go back decades, many of the biggest companies tasked their communications departments to build broadcast studios at the company headquarters. These facilities included high-end audio and video equipment, with robust switchers and routers, and endless amounts of cabling – not to mention skilled staff to operate and manage it all.  

Digital technologies transformed how audio and video are acquired, edited, stored, and managed. So, most companies shuttered their internal broadcast studios when the internet came on the scene – opting instead for simpler, less expensive ways to get the word out.  

And it worked. Until now.  

How corporate events are changing -  and why it matters

Today, we’re in the midst of another digital revolution brought on by the pandemic. Gathering all employees in the cafeteria, atrium, or auditorium for a town hall meeting is no longer an option. Hybrid is the new norm, and it’s here to stay. 

So, companies need a way to deliver compelling content to a dispersed workforce that spends most of its time on Zoom calls.  

It’s an entirely new and different context driven by three significant shifts.  

Shift #1: Employee expectations have changed

When the pandemic first hit, the initial goal was to keep information flowing in any way possible. Employees were far more understanding if a meeting lacked experiential elements.  

Now, internal communication and IT teams are feeling the pressure to elevate meeting production levels to capture the hearts and minds of their employees. The moments that matter needs to be on point and on-brand. 

Shift #2: Content delivery is different 

In the past, many internal events or important state-of-the-business messages from executives were written, pre-filmed, and streamed out to employees. 

Now, companies want to use their existing platforms (e.g., Teams, Google, Zoom) to deliver content for employees to consume both synchronously and asynchronously 

Because these platforms aren’t going away, companies need to make events delivered via these platforms more distinct and special – especially when it’s the CEO or other executives.  

Shift #3: Building a strong hybrid culture is critical 

Much of the conversation about hybrid work centers around the workday – how many days people will be in the office vs. working from home. What this conversation misses, however, is the importance of building a strong hybrid culture.  

More than ever before, leaders need to reach their entire workforce in a way that feels different than “just another Zoom call or Teams meeting.”  

Whose problem is this to solve?

In our experience, the need for a broadcast solution comes from two primary sources within an organization:  

• Information Technology (IT) – In some cases, the executive team realizes their meetings are going poorly, and they reach out to IT for support (in turn, the IT team reaches out to us).  

• Corporate Communications – In other cases, the internal communications team seeks ways to deliver a better experience for key internal culture moments. So, they partner with us and their IT team to deliver that experience.  

In addition, we frequently partner with internal marketing and branding teams to add branded elements to the broadcast experience. 

Professional production and broadcasting around hybrid events are the solutions

Production and broadcast techniques are the proper approaches to address these workplace shifts. It gives you the ability to deliver compelling content – the kind that makes a connection with your workforce – no matter where employees happen to be while maintaining a professional look, feel, and brand of a broadcast.  

You can layer in professional-level production to create an experience using broadcast tools like:   

• Lighting 
• Microphones 
• Cameras 
• Green screens 
• Backdrops 
• Professional switching 
• Graphics/titling 

It’s almost like creating your meeting in a television studio. It’s a more polished, branded, and professional experience delivered through whatever platform your company already uses. 

The result?  

All-hands or town hall meetings that feel special create a deeper, more meaningful connection with the audience.   

Need a broadcast solution?

If you’re one of the hundreds of technology and communications leaders tasked to improve your organization’s meetings, consider a professional broadcast solution.  

The broadcast media landscape continues to evolve and is now more accessible than ever before. We partner with organizations to develop a plan to deliver broadcast solutions that maximizes efficiency when delivering messages and fits within your team’s capacity. 

Working with a qualified partner like AVI, we’ll listen to your expectations, goals, and desired outcomes. Then our team of expert broadcast engineers will create a strategy and help you engineer, install and support your communication efforts.