Why go to the Super Bowl when you can watch it on TV? This is the analogy that Jeff Hurt and Dave Lutz presented to an audience discussing hybrid events recently in Atlanta. I know I would grab a ticket to the Super Bowl in a second given the opportunity, even though I can have a closer-than-front-row view from my HD TV at home, but money, travel and other factors keep me from going.

While your event may not reach the scale of the Super Bowl, to your attendees the education, the networking and the inspiration that comes from a face-to-face meeting is just as valuable. So the question that arises from the latest technology and push for virtual meetings is whether or not your attendees will continue to find your live event as valuable if you “give away” aspects of your event by streaming it online. The solution could be a hybrid event — integrating your live and virtual event to meet the needs of your attendees (without sacrificing — or even increasing — ROI).

If you take the Super Bowl analogy a little bit further, you might find some answers.

1. For those people who cannot attend the Super Bowl, watching it live on TV could further interest them in attending the live event. Can you draw in new attendees or even entice ones that decided to pass it up for their cubicle this year by providing them with quality excerpts or even the entire event online? While they will get the educational aspects of your conference, maybe they will realize the interaction with fellow fans (attendees) or the excitement of the winning catch (sealing a deal in person) is worth the price and the trip to the live event. Or could you capture the attention of attendees who only want the education and wouldn’t ever consider coming to the live event?
2. Sponsors pay for the Super Bowl to be streamed live. Can you find sponsors to do the same thing for your event? The sponsor’s logo can run the entire time of the presentation and time can be given for promotion before or after the online session similar to what you might do in person.
3. The commercials are the best part. What can you offer your “remote audience” that the live audience doesn’t get? At EventCamp, an event organized by #EventProfs on Twitter and held in New York in February, the speakers were each interviewed live after their sessions for the online audience only.

The value of a hybrid event is different for each organization, as is the model that works best (i.e., cost of online registration, amount of online content), but virtual meetings do not have to overtake face-to-face, they can actually enhance the experience.

What are your concerns, challenges? Have you already added an online element to your event? Let us know below, on Twitter @RejuvenateMtgs or on Facebook.