Master's Thesis: Hybrid Events, Engaging Experiences, and Stakeholders

This Master of Business Administration thesis investigates hybrid events, focusing on how to transform them into engaging and inclusive experiences for diverse audiences and stakeholders. The study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on event planning, particularly the factors influencing conference location choices, and explores the implications for face-to-face and virtual meetings. Through a survey of event industry professionals and expert interviews, the research identifies key strategies for designing engaging hybrid events, emphasizing the importance of interaction among all stakeholders. The findings highlight the evolving role of hybrid events as the new norm, offering valuable recommendations for event organizers, including Messukeskus Helsinki, on how to effectively plan and execute engaging hybrid events, considering factors like audience engagement, technological integration, and the overall event design. The thesis also addresses the shift in decision-making factors when choosing a conference location and offers insights into the possibilities and limitations of virtual and hybrid events based on professional interviews, ultimately providing a comprehensive understanding of the future of the event industry in the post-pandemic era.

HYBRID EVENTS: BREAKING THE
BORDERS
Transferring your hybrid event into an engaging and inclusive
experience for different audiences and stakeholders
LAB UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED
SCIENCES LTD
Master of Business Administration
Degree program in International Business
Development
Spring 2020
Linda Nilsson

Abstract
Author(s)
Nilsson, Linda
Type of publication
Master’s thesis
Published
Spring 2020
Number of pages
63
Title of publication
Hybrid events: Breaking the Borders
Transferring your hybrid event into an engaging and inclusive experience for different audiences and
stakeholders
Name of Degree
Master of Business Administration, Degree Program in International Business Devel-
opment
Abstract
This thesis explores hybrid events and how they can be made into an engaging expe-
rience for different audiences and stakeholders. Changes in the factors affecting
choosing of a conference location due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be reviewed
and what that will mean for the face-to-face and virtual meetings moving forward.
The main goal of this study is to produce beneficial information and recommendations
for event organizers, Messukeskus Helsinki and other conference venues on how to
plan engaging hybrid events.
The primary data sources for the empirical study was a survey where event industry
professionals answered questions regarding situation before and after COVID-19
pandemic and what it could potentially mean for the industry. Expert professionals
were interviewed after the results came in to gain insights on the research questions.
The aim of the qualitative method was to find out more about the hybrid events and
how they can be made engaging.
The findings indicated that hybrid events will be the new norm in regards event organ-
izing moving forward and for those events feel engaging, there needs to be interac-
tion between all stakeholders. This paper will only be dealing with part of the study re-
sults that are relating for the subject at hand. Further research will need to be con-
ducted to get a deeper understanding on how other industries could be helping in un-
derstanding different stakeholders.
Keywords
Event, Hybrid, Engagement, Stakeholders

CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 2
Background ........................................................................................................ 2
Purpose of the study ........................................................................................... 2
Research methology and limitations ................................................................... 4
Thesis structure .................................................................................................. 5
Source critisism .................................................................................................. 6
2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 7
Decision making factors when choosing a conference location ........................... 7
Bidding for conferences ............................................................................... 7
Event tourism............................................................................................... 7
Virtual meetings/ events...................................................................................... 8
Description of different kind of virtual events ................................................ 8
Choosing between Virtual and face-to-face meetings/ events ...................... 9
Virtual meeting formats ...............................................................................10
Fears towards hosting event online ............................................................11
Hybrid meetings/ events ....................................................................................12
How can hybrid events include different audiences and stakeholders? ..............13
Sense of belonging .....................................................................................13
Gamification................................................................................................13
Different audiences and stakeholders .........................................................14
Event Design ..............................................................................................15
Interviews with the engagement specialists ................................................19
3 SURVEY AND EXPERT INTERVIEWS ....................................................................20
Survey ...............................................................................................................20
Interviews: Descriptions of the professionals chosen .........................................21
Research method ..............................................................................................21
Limitations of the study ......................................................................................22
Reliability of results ............................................................................................22
4 RESEARCH RESULTS ............................................................................................23
Factors affecting decision making when choosing a location .............................25
Hybrid events.....................................................................................................28
Including your different audiences when planning a hybrid event.......................31
5 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................35
Engagement ......................................................................................................37

Possibilities and limitations on virtual/hybrid events based on professional
interviews .....................................................................................................................38
6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .........................................................40
Summary ...........................................................................................................40
Validity of the study ............................................................................................40
Recommendations .............................................................................................40
LIST OF REFERENCES ..................................................................................................42
APPENDICES..................................................................................................................45
Appendix 1: GMID Goes Virtual poll results 14th April 2020 ..........................................45
Appendix 3: LinkedIn post published 4th May 2020 .......................................................48
Appendix 3: Facebook post published 5th May 2020 .....................................................49
Appendix 4: Post published 5th May 2020 on MyMPI Online Forum (members only) ....49
Appendix 5: Survey ......................................................................................................50

1
ABBREVIATIONS
MPI = Meeting Professionals International
CVB = Convention and Visitor Bureau
FCB = Finland Convention Bureau
ICCA = International Congress and Convention Association
GMID = Global Meetings Industry Day
PMI = Project Management Institute
MICE = Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions
COVID-19 pandemic = ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease caused by severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility
FIGURES
Figure 1: Poll results about how live events change after the crisis is over
Figure 2: Structure of this thesis
Figure 3: Choosing virtual over face-to-face
Figure 4: Options for virtual meetings
Figure 5: Event Canvas planning process
Figure 6: Event Canvas Empathy Map
Figure 7: Survey participants by location on a map
Figure 8: Survey result on attending in-person is content also online
Figure 9: Survey results on how much willing to pay for online conference
Figure 10: Importance of communication from an event
Figure 11: Years in business
Figure 12: Involvement/ role in the industry
Figure 13: Results of pre -and post pandemic choosing factor importance
Figure 14: Change in the process of choosing a location after pandemic
Figure 15: Word map on the results of change in choosing a location post-pandemic
Figure 16: What kind of events were planning
Figure 17: Survey results on if will plan hybrid events moving forward post pandemic
Figure 18: Is your company set up to start having hybrid events
Figure 19: Opinions about virtual/hybrid meetings cannibalizing the Face-to-Face
Figure 20: Cost of hybrid event compared to face-to-face
Figure 21: Ability to network in online conferences
Figure 22: Survey results about virtual/hybrid meetings cannibalizing face-to-face
Figure 23: Engagement in online events
Figure 24: Analysis of the responses on how to engage attendees online
Figure 25: Image of the sponsorship opportunities in virtual events
Figure 26: Survey results on the importance of factors effecting decision making before
and after pandemic
Figure 27: Survey results on the types of events done before and after pandemic
Figure 28: Possibilities and limitations on virtual/hybrid events

2
1 INTRODUCTION
Background
An event is a carefully crafted experience delivered to make an impact on the person in
attendance. Regardless of the type, event planning requires people who can design the
event, manage human and material resources, plan strategically, conceptualize the logis-
tics of event, manage time effectively, and forecast and budget finances. (Greenwell et al.,
2019). Events have a big role not only in networking, learning, sharing and experiencing
but they also impact the economy. Scientific and professional conferences gather profes-
sionals from different fields to share their latest knowledge, and festivals will create life
and sense of community to even smaller places. When a city gets a big event, such as an
international conference, the monetary value of that event spans all over the workforce,
restaurants, accommodation, tourism and advertising. Therefore, countries, cities and
venues are always competing for international congresses (see e.g. www.uia.be/history).
The brand and image of each location will either support or undermine its reputation as a
reliable, interesting, and professional place to organize a conference.
Path of the modern event industry has not always been smooth, and it has faced many
challenges in its short history. These include terrorist attacks, SARS, major upheaval in
the global insurance industry which has led to the industry having to adopt strategies for
managing the risks of events. As we entered the mid 2000’s, the specter of climate
change began to affect the industry as the world became increasingly aware of the threat
of global warming. Environmental sustainability became a key event management con-
cept, with green initiatives adopted to reduce the environmental impact and the carbon
footprint of events. (Allen 2012, 10)
Purpose of the study
Finland’s biggest event venue, Messukeskus Helsinki, Expo and Convention Center, re-
quested research on their competitiveness in bidding for international congresses and
what are the reasons that Messukeskus (Helsinki, Finland) does or does not get chosen.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the focus and direction of this study shifted from confer-
ence bidding. As the events industry was one of the first industries directly affected by the
pandemic due to governments banning gatherings and events as well as events being
cancelled around the world, (Yle 2020) the researcher felt it to be important to look at the
future predictions as they would be relating to both face-to-face and virtual meetings and
what this would mean for the future of conferences.

3
The COVID-19 pandemic was the main driver for change and forced the events industry
to re-evaluate the way that they do events. The researcher has worked in the events in-
dustry and been part of it for over two decades, as well as has a broad understanding and
experience from both local and international perspectives. Due to the COVID-19 pan-
demic situation, there was a personal interest in the subject to try to look past it and see
how the industry itself will be able to recover from it.
In 2018 ICCA conducted a survey that showed that digitalization will continue, with tech-
nology forming a larger part of service provision and business development. This is some-
thing that ICCA members had understood and prepared for with investments, but no one
was prepared for the speed of this technology leap that needed to be taken due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The researcher took part on an online event held on the 16th April 2020 as 12,500 profes-
sionals from the event and hospitality industry gathered virtually to commemorate Global
Meeting Industry Day (GMID). There were participants from around the world (Canada,
USA, Mexico, India, Argentina, United Kingdom, Philippines, Colombia, Singapore,
Kenya, Portugal, Croatia, Malaysia, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, etc..). This event was also
an attempt to break the world record, which was not reached but also to gather the indus-
try together and show support for one another during this shocking time of the pandemic.
During this half hour online event, there were some questions asked from all the at-
tendees as a pole and it was one question that affected the direction of this study for the
researcher. It was about how will live events change after the crisis is over? From the
7086 poll respondents 62% predicted that most events will become hybrid as well as 17%
predicted a greater demand for virtual events once the crisis is over. (GMID Goes Virtual
2020)
Figure 1: Poll results about how live events change after the crisis is over (adapted from
GMID Goes Virtual 2020, appendix 1)

4
The researcher saw these results and results from a study in 2012 by Fryatt et al. (2012)
showing similar results with 70% thinking that hybrid events will be important in the future
as an important indication to look further into hybrid events. These were the reasons why
hybrid events became the focal point of the study. Further information on the results of the
poll can be found in Appendix 1 (Slido Infographics 2020). Thesis objective and research
questions
The main objective of this thesis is to study hybrid events and how they can be made into
an engaging, inclusive experience. Changes in the factors affecting choosing of a confer-
ence location due to the pandemic will be reviewed and what that will mean for the face-
to-face and virtual meetings moving forward? To find answers to these questions and to
be able to present some predictions, questions were asked from event industry profes-
sionals.
The objectives of this work are as follows:
Firstly, the knowledge base of this study will have a short introduction to different forms of
virtual events. Secondly, the hybrid event form will be focused on. Thirdly, the results will
give further insights for Messukeskus and other event organizers on how to make sure
that different stakeholders (remote and in-person) are being taken into consideration when
planning an engaging hybrid event. Based on these objectives, the following research
questions were formulated:
RQ1. How can a hybrid event be transferred into an engaging experience?
RQ2. How to include your different audiences and stakeholders?
This study will be focusing on finding answers on how to make the hybrid event into an
engaging experience as well as how to include stakeholders into them as well. For this
study, event professionals around the world were asked to answer a survey on how the
future of the event industry might look like post pandemic. The final research strategy con-
sists of qualitative survey, individual interviews from industry professionals, as well as ma-
terials from books, publications and articles. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, no face-to-face
interviews were conducted. The interviews were conducted and recorded with an online
tool called Zoom.
Research methology and limitations
Qualitative research was chosen as individuals’ perceptions of the future of the events in-
dustry were asked and to explain the results and to understand the current solutions in the
constantly changing environment. To represent the critical areas of factors affecting

5
decision making in choosing conference locations, five main areas were taken into consid-
eration in the survey and interviews. (Goundar 2012)
The research method of the study was both the survey and interview method. This was
used as the individual people’s opinions were used as the unit of analysis. Expert sam-
pling technique was chosen as the professionals responding to the survey were from the
events industry. The data was gathered from the survey and interviews using qualitative
analysis. The findings are representing conclusions from the literature review, event can-
vas tool as well as the data received from the survey and interviews. (Emerald Publishing
2020)
There were two professionals who were interviewed who were chosen in a non-random
manner based on their expertise to obtain a further understanding into the results of the
survey conducted and to get a better understanding of the research questions. The re-
search is limited due to the narrow sample of the events industry professionals due to time
constraints of data collection, but the advantage of this approach was that since experts
tend to be more familiar with the subject matter than non-experts, opinions from the sam-
ple of experts will be more credible than a sample that includes both experts and non-ex-
perts. Other industries are not included in the scope of this study.
Thesis structure
Figure 2: Structure of this thesis
Introduction
• objectives and research
questions
• methods and limitations
Literature review
• conference bidding
• different forms of events
• hybrid events
Case study
• surveys and interviews
Data analysis
• data gathering techniques
Results
• effects of pandemic
• hybrid events
• inclusion of different
stakeholders
Findings
• survey, interview and literature
review
Recommendations
• summary
• conclusions
• recommendations

6
This thesis follows a typical structure. In the introduction section, background and purpose
of the study are being explained. Thesis objectives are presented as well as research
questions. Research methodology and limitations are being introduced. Source criticism
will be discussed in this section as well. After introduction, the study moves into the litera-
ture review in which different forms of events as well as further focus on hybrid events are
being presented. Third section will be using event canvas tool to help include different au-
diences and stakeholders into your event. Section four will be discussing the data gather-
ing techniques that were used and chapter five will be presenting these results in three
categories: decision making factors when choosing a location before and post pandemic,
hybrid events and how to include different audiences and stakeholders at hybrid events.
Findings from the literature, survey as well as interviews with professionals will be pre-
sented in section six in the order of the research questions. Section seven will discuss the
conclusions as well as giving recommendations for future research as well.
Source critisism
There is only a limited amount of information and studies done on hybrid events. The re-
search data is heavily based on previous research done by Fryatt et al. (2012). The num-
ber of respondents in the survey despite being a great amount of industry leading event
professionals, does not present them worldwide as the respondents were only from North
America and Europe, but a general picture of the situation in the industry was gathered.
One of the risks of the research is the narrow sampling of the industry professionals inter-
viewed, despite their expertise on the subject. Another threat on the subject is that there
were three different parts to the study, despite them having connecting moments, this
could pose to be too much of a generalization in these subjects.

7
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Decision making factors when choosing a conference location
When choosing a conference location, multiple factors must be considered. How do event
planners choose their locations? The decision-making factors are both rational and emo-
tional and there are emotion-based expectations about the conference or event. When
considering bids, organizers identify those that are as close as possible to the goal of their
event. (Tore 2018)
Yoo & Chon (2008) developed a measurement scale for factors affecting convention par-
ticipation in decision-making which revealed five underlying dimensions of convention par-
ticipation decision-making: destination stimuli, professional and social networking opportu-
nities, educational opportunities, safety and health situation and travel ability.
Houdement (2017) researched attributes that affect the decision-making process when
choosing a destination and determined their importance and influence. Their findings con-
firmed their hypothesis that destination image is the main determining site-selection factor.
As their study revealed the need for further examination on the destination promotion and
their positioning, this study will focus more on the factors surrounding the actual bidding
process. When selecting venues to be able to host a hybrid event, you need to take into
consideration connectivity, camera view, sound and lighting (Fryatt et al., 2012).
Bidding for conferences
Excellent air connections, destination attractiveness, competitive conference venue and
hotel guest room rates are common main requirements as well as the space and the
venue layout for winning an international conference to your city. A good bidding competi-
tion document is one where you speak about your advantages, convenient logistics, the
awareness of the topic. You will also need collaboration with academic associations as
well as the support of the country, city and convention bureau and how the venues are co-
operating with the local CVB’s and hosting City officials. (Tore 2018)
Event tourism
International events are growing in popularity and are on the rise — due to globalization
and the dramatic growth or the experience, cultural and creative industries, and the rapid
increase in linkages between people, places, communities, countries and markets. One
cause for this has been the technological developments in transport, telecommunications,
internet technologies and social media. Event or festival tourism has become an

8
increasingly important feature of the tourism development strategies for countries, govern-
ments and communities. In addition, specific attendee segments have shown to exhibit
distinct types of consumer behavior, for example repeat visitors spend more money and
stay longer in location compared to first-time visitors. (Ferdinand & Kitchin 2017, 11)
The MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions) industry represents one of
the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry. Yet, it is only in recent years that the
economic contribution of this industry segment has been recognized and the relationships
among the various industry players have been examined in more depth. The convention
and visitor bureau (CVB) industry has grown into a major driver of economic development
for many cities and destinations around the world. (Forda & Peeperb 2006). Finland Con-
vention Bureau (2018) has done research on the attractiveness of the country itself. Fin-
land has consistently ranked among top 20 congress destinations in the world. There
have been around 600 international meetings annually which have been about 70,000 del-
egates.
Virtual meetings/ events
Virtual meetings have made possible for potential clients across all business units to get a
consistent experience in a systematic way. Virtual meeting is when people around the
world are using video, text, and/or audio to link together despite of their physical location.
They have been designed to replace in-person meetings so that the person does not have
to travel to the actual location. Instead, you can attend it from wherever you are. (ezTalks
2020)
In any meeting, virtual or in person, you should have clear expectations, agendas,
and outcomes. Unlike in-person meetings, virtual meetings are often easily recorded
so you have a record of all proceedings. This can help your groups and teams be
more accountable, take more responsibility, and generate faster action. (Schiefel-
bein 2018)
Description of different kind of virtual events
Events can be group gatherings from the same or different companies, countries, work-
places, industries etc. In terms of conference, people usually travel from various places.
(Arndt 2011). There are multiple different tools around the world for holding virtual meet-
ings and events, but you need to consider which ones to use depending on your events
goals. Face-to-face meetings mean meetings where the attendee will be meeting other
attendees and participants in-person.