At a hybrid event, Jasmin Wölke moderates the room and the stream at the same time: the audience on site experiences an event, the online audience experiences a broadcast. The moderation connects both worlds, in English and German.
Two audiences, one programme
A hybrid event is not a conference with a camera in the back. If you only play to the room, you lose the stream after twenty minutes. If you only talk to the camera, you leave the room alone. Jasmin therefore plans with the organiser which programme items work for both audiences and where the paths may split. Breaks are the best example: the room has coffee, while the stream is better served with a short interview or a recap. If your event runs fully digital, the craft of the online event moderation page applies.
The camera is a guest in the room
Jasmin treats the online audience like a guest in the front row. She welcomes it explicitly, looks into the camera at regular points and repeats questions from the room before they are answered, because without a room microphone the stream would only hear the answer. She mentions names from the chat in the programme. That is how remote participants notice they are meant, and they stay engaged instead of answering emails on the side.
Interaction: chat questions onto the stage
For a hybrid event to feel alive, both audiences need the same access to questions and votes. Jasmin works with the common Q&A and polling tools and keeps the order fair: a question from the room is followed by a question from the chat. A colleague from the organiser's team screens the chat and passes questions on in bundles. How an internal format with a question round is structured is shown on the town hall running order page.
Show direction, technology and a tighter rhythm
In the stream, slow passages stand out twice as much. Jasmin therefore plans hybrid programmes with shorter blocks, clear handovers and buffers the director can use. In advance she agrees the picture changes, the audio paths and the overtime signal with direction and technology. A short rehearsal with the camera is part of it, because the first look into the lens should not happen live. She moderates international streams bilingually, as described on the bilingual moderation page.