Spoiler Alert: You can’t!
You know the old saying about “you can’t please all of the people all of the time”? Well, it’s as true about life as it is about gala planning! If you try to please everyone, there’s a good chance that no one ends up happy. Now that we’ve acknowledged the elephant in the room, let’s put it aside. Since we can’t possibly please everyone with our fundraising event, we are now free to focus on achieving our goals.
Before making any major decisions, you and your planning committee will need to identify your events’ goals clearly and then share them with all decision-makers, so that they can refer to them when actually making decisions. This will help to ensure that the choices being made are aligning with your stated goals, and hopefully will make the decision making process easier.
For example, even though meeting and exceeding fundraising benchmarks is often the default goal of every fundraising event, perhaps your goal this time around is to showcase a particular project, or to increase donor engagement and commitment. Your goal might even be just to expand and grow your network of supporters and remain relevant.
These different goals may result in different choices being made when faced with questions about bidding platforms, streaming platforms, allocating staff and volunteer energy and the like. By keeping your main goal or goals in mind when making such decisions, you are on your way to pleasing as many people as possible.
There are a lot of Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to hybrid events, and it’s important to keep in mind that every event is different. What works for one might not work for another and vice versa. Consulting with a professional Benefit Auctioneer is recommended so that you can tailor your plan of action to make sense for your event and your donors.
At Bliss, we have tons of advice to offer, from our own experience with virtual and hybrid events as well as from recently attending (virtually) the Benefit Auction Summit, an event organized by the National Auctioneers Association that brings together the best and the brightest of the benefit auction world for three days of learning and knowledge sharing. There were multiple sessions on hybrid events and we can’t wait to share the amazing insights we picked up with our clients! Here are just a few…
Top 3 Do’s and Don’ts of Hybrid Events:
DO: Coach anyone who is giving remarks during your program to engage with the camera as well as the live audience, and to practice doing it ahead of time so that it feels natural when they are doing it during the event.
(Pro-tip: mark the spot on the stage’s floor where the speakers can look straight into the camera so that they can find their mark easily)
DON’T: Leave the virtual audience with nothing to do! The surest way to lose viewers is to provide them with a passive experience. Find ways to engage them throughout the event so that they remain tuned in and excited for what’s coming next.
(Pro-tip: a Chat Cheerleader is a MUST! We work with our clients to empower the staff person or volunteer who will be the main person interacting with the virtual audience, creating a fun and positive experience for everyone)
DO: Have your tech dialed in from the get-go. You’ll want to confirm with your venue that you’ll have high speed ethernet, and hiring a professional AV team to handle the lights, camera & sound is highly recommended!
(Pro-tip: whenever possible, use professionals)
DON’T: Let your latency get you down. Different streaming platforms have different latencies and the same is true for the different bidding platforms. Do your research (or hire a professional who knows the ins & outs of the platforms) and make sure to test it out more than once before the Big Day. Any pro Benefit Auctioneer should be able to work with any latency, though knowing what it will be allows them to be prepared to riff while waiting for the stream to catch up.
(Pro-tip: There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to which platform to use. Some offer zero or near-zero latency, others offer more bells & whistles in exchange for longer latency. Evaluate them based on your event’s goals and you’ll know which one makes the most sense for you)
DO: Budget your time. The virtual component of a hybrid event is often shorter than the in-person component, largely due to shorter attention spans and higher incidence of competing distractions. Make the most of your timeline and *stick to it*!
(Pro-tip: Don’t be afraid to have separate programming for the virtual audience during the parts of the in-person event that would be boring to watch from home- just remember to keep it engaging!)
DON’T: Forget about the folks who are impacted by your organization’s mission. They are the reason your donors want to support you, so focusing on their stories is an impactful way to get your message across.
(Pro-tip: Beneficaries are better than board members, at least when it comes to giving remarks during your event)
Remember, when you work with Bliss Auctions, you get access to all of this advice and more along with our undivided attention.
Contact us today!
