Yeah, it’s happening.

Just when you thought you had Zoom mastered, the world throws a whole new wrench into the machine.

Welcome to the world of the hybrid meeting. Live, in-person, and on Zoom.

Hybrid sounds simple enough, but it comes with some interesting complications, especially if you do not have a studio to host your meetings.

Hybrid will be one of the lasting impacts of the pandemic. Businesses have proven that we can work remotely, often more productively. But, we have also demonstrated that people like to gather in offices/meeting spaces, and there is much value in personal interaction.

So, hybrid.

We recently hosted a hybrid meeting for the Westchester Angels and learned a few lessons in the process. It went well, it could have gone better, and as I learn more about the options, I will update this post.

And I welcome all suggestions that you have on the topic.

Our Situation

We hosted a hybrid Westchester Angels pitch night, live and on Zoom. About 30 people attended live, and eight attended via Zoom. We had a questions and answers session after each presentation, both from the live audience and the Zoom audience.

And, just to test our technical prowess, we also included a presentation from a Zoom attendee.

In short, we made this about as tricky as we could.

Our meeting went well; we got great feedback and also some opportunities for improvement. I’ll describe how we set ourselves up and plan on changing our setup for next time.

One piece of advice right away is to let go of the meeting being perfect.

Perfection requires lighting, multiple microphones, and dedicated production staff. If you have those or a permanent meeting space where you can install equipment permanently, then go for it. But if you have to be mobile or temporary or just don’t want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on equipment, welcome to our world.

The good news is that you can get the fundamentals working without going bankrupt or dedicating your life to setup.

Read the full post on hybrid meetings here on the Start Grow Manage page.