The corporations host lots of events every year. And most of these events are meetings. Some meetings are as simple as status update meetings, while others are crucial and high level as AGMs. The AGM stands for Annual General Meetings. And it is compulsory to host a Hybrid Annual General Meeting at least once a year for every organization. Last year, due to the pandemic people, were not allowed to host any kind of event. So every event had to be shifted to the digital medium. And this included the most crucial meeting, the AGMs.
But regardless of the pandemic, not every time it is possible to host a meeting completely physically. And it might be possible that some of the members cannot travel to the location of the meeting. So how can you host a meeting in such scenarios? The answer is Hybrid AGM.
Concept of Hybrid AGM
A hybrid event is a cross between a virtual and a physical event. In other words, it is a physical event that is available to the virtual audience also. It relies on the platforms that are also used for hosting a virtual event. So you can use a virtual event platform to host a hybrid event.
A hybrid AGM is essentially an AGM that is being organized in a physical setting. But this meeting is also accessible to the authorized virtual audience. Now that you know what a Hybrid Annual General Meeting is. Let’s move on to the next question. How to host a hybrid AGM? Don’t worry. We have a solution for that also.
Organizing a Hybrid Annual General Meeting
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Preparing the strategy
The first step in hosting a hybrid AGM is planning. You need to take account of all the necessary things. To begin with, you need to decide the date, time, and duration of the meeting. After that, you need to prepare a list of the members. Also, categories each member as a physical or a virtual attendee. And also, make sure all the virtual attendees have the required devices to attend the meeting. Once you are done with this, you need to decide the activities at the AGM. And the features you require for the meeting.
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Deciding the budget
After planning, you need to prepare the budget for your meeting. To make sure that your budget is accurate, you should look at the list of required features and services while deciding the budget. Also, you need to carefully allocate the budget for each and everything. Often people make a mistake in allotting the budget. As a result, they end up spending too much money on unnecessary things.
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Booking the venue
Since it is a hybrid event, you need to get a venue for your meeting. You can either use your organization’s office as the venue for your AGM. Or else you can book a venue. It boils down to one’s needs and preferences. But make sure you have enough space to accommodate the physical members as well as equipment. For this, you can refer to the list of all the live members.
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Getting the right platform
Since you are hosting a hybrid AGM, you would be meeting with two different audiences. One is the live members, while the other is the virtual members. Now you will directly interact with the live members. But what about the virtual members? For them, you need the right hybrid / virtual event platform. But how will you decide which platform is right for your meeting? For this, you need to look for few things, these are –
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Interface and navigation
The platform you are opting for has to provide a clean and easy-to-understand interface. If the interface is complicated, slow, or cluttered, then your virtual member will get confused. And will face lots of problems, which will not let them focus on the meeting.
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Required features
In a typical AGM, a lot of activities take place. It begins with a presentation about the organization, followed by voting on key issues. So to make sure that everything happens smoothly, you have to check for every required feature. Some of these features are 1:1 or group chats, Polling, 2-way interaction, and so on.
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Security
In an AGM only senior executives, Board members, and shareholders are invited. And some of the information shared in these meetings are confidential. Also, some announcements and decisions regarding the organization are kept on hold. That means that can’t be released at that time. So you need to make sure the platform you are going with is safe. And it has security measures against cyber-attacks like snooping. Also, you need to protect the data and privacy of the participants, as they are a crucial part of the organization. A breach of their privacy can expose the organization.
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Sending Invitations
Now that you have made all the arrangements, you need to send the invitations to all the members. Use the list of all members and send invitations. And don’t forget to mention vital information like date, time, and duration. And in the case of virtual participants, share the link to attend the meeting.
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Reviewing the rules of the conduct
Every organization has some predetermined set of rules to conduct the AGM. So you need to review these rules before the day of the meeting. These rules will help you in understanding the adopted process to host the AGM. Also, you can check if anything is missing that is in the rules. And if yes, you can make the necessary changes.
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Providing tutorial
You cannot expect the virtual members to be well versed with the platform. So you should provide them a tutorial on the platform. This will prevent confusion and chaos on the day of the meeting. If the virtual members are confused, they won’t be able to focus in the meeting. And this will cause interruption and delays in the meeting, which will hamper everyone’s experience. So you should provide a tutorial. And try to get it in the form of a video. This will help people to understand the platform easily.
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Rehearsal
It might be your or your organization’s first hybrid event. And even if it is not, you should rehearse the meeting. This will help you to identify potential problems and issues, which you can eliminate before the day of the meeting.
We hope this article will help you. Tell us about your thoughts on hybrid events.
