The Sanremo Festival is without doubt one of the best-known events in Italy. The attention it attracts is so wide that it crosses national borders and reaches Italians living all over the world. Meanwhile, the lucky few who will get to attend the evenings in person are already sorting out hair and make-up, so as not to look out of place beside a stage like that.
So, to sum up: an event with a very high level of hype and marketing, held in person in a place open to only a handful of people, yet followed remotely by the whole world. What does an event professional call that? A perfect hybrid event.
And as such, what can it teach the people who organise events? We have identified three: three things you can learn from the Sanremo Festival if you are organising (or about to organise) a hybrid event.
Here they are.
1. Structure and organisation, the key to success
To create a hybrid event that works, there has to be precise planning and a defined structure behind it. Only then can both audiences — the one physically present in the venue and the one following from a distance — enjoy a satisfying experience.
Every aspect of the Sanremo show is meticulously calculated to create a mix that alternates the singers’ performances — the main event, you might say — with a series of side activities: cultural, promotional, purely entertaining or more demanding. These are in turn mixed by length, pace and intensity, to hold together the viewing and attention spans of the various audiences as well as the needs of sponsors and investors. This is how you build the precise structure that gives value both to the in-person audience and to the one at home and lays solid foundations for the success of any hybrid event worth the name.
2. Keyword: participation
In a hybrid event it is important to have moments in which the two types of audience are given equal value, even if in different ways. One of these can involve letting the people at home interact with what is happening on site.
Back at the Festival, this happens mainly when the audience can vote for the singers and so affect the final result of the competition directly. In other contexts the principle is the same: moments of interaction can take many different forms, but what matters is that they are built into the regular programme and properly promoted, so that they engage people and produce genuine shared participation.
3. One coherent whole: that is what works
Finally, for a hybrid event to satisfy all of its audiences, it has to be built as one coherent whole. That means there must be no sharp differences between the in-person part and the remote one, so that neither way of taking part is seen as lower in quality than the other. The Sanremo Festival is an example of how this can be done successfully, because it manages to guarantee a consistent experience both for those in the theatre and for those following the show on TV or streaming.
In events of a different size and type, one way to reach the same goal is to work on the technical side and on the set design of rooms and areas. For the technical side, that means directing every detail with care: well-chosen camera angles, quality audio and a pace that shows off the performances and the setting. The set design, in turn, has to take account of what remote attendance involves, of its constraints and of its opportunities.
And these are just three points to reflect on that we could take straight from the Ariston theatre to your next hybrid event. Perhaps we will meet back here at the end of this year’s edition to see whether anything needs adding — what do you say?
In the meantime, enjoy the Festival. If you want to know more about hybrid events, here is some information, here is some reading and here is the form to request a live demo.