What is a Hybrid Meeting?

A hybrid meeting or event is a next-generation experience including both in-person groups and virtual groups connected to the same event. Hybrid meetings are a great way to have every participant involved in the management and execution of your investigator meeting while being mindful of their comfort level, leading to a better experience and more quality results. 

Here are the top 4 reasons to make your next investigator meeting a hybrid meeting. 

1) Higher Percentage of Attendance

After COVID-19 many people and businesses decided to advance to a more virtual way of meeting for increased comfortability and safety. Hybrid meetings are a perfect compromise for those who prefer to meet in person and those who are still a bit uncomfortable being in close proximity to others. This option encourages a higher attendance rate and increased reach. There are always people who will be unable to attend your hybrid investigator meeting for whatever reason, but this flexibility minimizes that possibility. In addition, your reach increases by allowing people who may have schedule conflicts or travel restrictions, to attend virtually.  Virtual attendees can cut their costs and yours, while also resulting in a more successful investigator meeting, and ultimately, more quality data for your pharmaceutical company.

2) Decreased Cost and Effort

With a hybrid event, you will not need as large of a venue, compared to a face-to-face, leading to a lower cost to you. In addition, a smaller number of in-person attendees also means lower catering costs. Your attendees also save money by not having to purchase flights, hotel stays, rental cars, and gas for travel. The reduced travel costs mean more attendees will be even more apt to participate in your clinical trial meeting.

On the other hand, these events bring about challenges that can make them difficult to plan and execute. Scarritt Group is your solution to putting your next hybrid investigator meeting into effect. Contact us to plan your next hybrid meeting, or for more information about our mobile meeting solutions, visit our hybrid meetings page.

3) Higher Engagement Rates

Woman doctor in a hybrid investigator meetingIt’s no secret that with the instant gratification from media and tech, people tend to have shorter attention spans, so it is essential to keep attendees engaged during any meeting or event. Hybrid meetings allow for you to easily keep your virtual and live audience involved with polls or surveys, Q&As, and more. These meetings also allow a more collaborative environment with capabilities to “encourage” and “comment” throughout the hybrid meeting, while simultaneously having access to networking portals and an array of resources. If you find yourself struggling to plan engagement activities, Scarritt Group’s virtual meeting solutions are designed to be customizable, allowing your hybrid meeting to be highly interactive for attendees. For example, the Scarritt Group Virtual Conference Center offers gamification, polling, and many collaboration spaces such as a  virtual food court to chat with colleagues on breaks. Virtual attendees can also utilize the help of Ava, a virtual assistant, to help answer questions and keep your guests on schedule for your hybrid meeting.

4) Attendance Analytics, Reports, and Resources 

A huge benefit of hybrid meetings is the insight from the meeting data. In a hybrid event, you can pull more accurate data of how many attendees partook, how people engaged, and at what point they may have departed the meeting. These analytics allow you to accurately measure how successful your investigator meeting was, so you can compare the success of the meeting against the quality of the data from your trial.  In addition, the Scarritt Group offers these analytics and resources for both your company and your clinical trial management team with our pharmaceutical virtual investigator meetings program. These resources include: 

  • Virtual assistance
  • Training Portals
  • Medical Libraries
  • Patient Recruitment Materials
  • Patient and Caregiver Education Materials    

By considering these reasons to make your next meeting a hybrid meeting, you can count on your next investigator meeting to have more participation and better engagement than your last. Attendees will feel engaged, optimistic, and more comfortable, leading to higher-quality trial data.

For more information about how Scarritt Group can help you provide a better solution for hybrid events and conferences, contact us online or give us a call at 1 (520) 498-2900 and set up a free demo to see it for yourself.