The Hottest Virtual and Hybrid Meeting Engagement Tools for 2022

Unsurprisingly, we’ve seen an explosion in virtual and hybrid meeting engagement tools since the pandemic, and we’re only going to see more tools arriving in 2022. Even though the world is slowly getting back to normal – or the new normal – organizations worldwide have realized the benefits of virtual and hybrid meetings, which brings with it the need for a whole host of tools to host, elevate and streamline these events for increased engagement across the board.

So, what are some of the hottest virtual and hybrid meeting engagement tools for 2022, and how can you integrate them into your hybrid event strategy?

Hot new hybrid meeting tools

Hybrid meetings aren’t going anywhere in 2022, and in fact, we only expect them to increase in popularity. Around 50% of corporate event attendees believe that hybrid events are the right format, as they offer the convenience of virtual events with the benefits of in-person attendance.

Of course, as experts in hybrid events, we have a few thoughts about the tools we’ll be seeing more of in the near future.

Holo Pods, by ARHT Media, allow speakers to appear at your event as a hologram. This means that virtual and in-person attendees can both watch a speaker in real-time, no matter where they – or the speaker – are located, for a much more immersive hybrid meeting experience. This gives event organizers the freedom to welcome presenters worldwide to their virtual stage, allowing you to secure speakers who are leaders in their fields, and not just whoever is local and available.

Glisser and Meeting Pulse introduce engaging second-screen technology to hybrid events. These tools recognize that almost everyone has a device and tap into this “second screen” to engage participants further. This might include polls, quizzes, leaderboards, or contests, helping attendees feel more involved in the meeting and immersed in the action, whether they are physically present or attending virtually.

Engagement tools for virtual and hybrid meetings

Today, one of the most advanced engagement tools for virtual and hybrid meetings is Notified. Notified allows you to share content in a dynamic, very secure online environment. This goes way beyond the standard virtual meeting tools we’ve all been using for the last two years, allowing organizations to create customized brand experiences, blend in-person and digital channels and offer AI-driven “matchmaking” for attendees and sponsors.

Miro is a fantastic tool if you’re planning brainstorming or collaborative sessions as part of your virtual or hybrid meeting. Participants can work together in real-time to share and present information clearly, using sticky notes, flow chart templates, highlighters, uploaded images, and more to get everyone involved in the interactive session.

For soliciting opinions and sharing ideas back to your audience quickly and visually, Vevox allows you to crowdsource word clouds to get an insight into your participants. This invites everyone to share their opinions and input and will enable presenters to tailor the session based on the interests and needs of the audience.

Gamification for hybrid meetings

Gamification is finally shaking off its reputation of being nothing more than a buzzword, and it’s starting to make a real impact in organizations worldwide. Did you know, for instance, that many of the emerging gamification tools today allow you to customize in-meeting games to your brand or event?

Create a sense of friendly competition at your hybrid event with EventMobi, which enables you to reward participants for interacting with others, attending seminars, or visiting exhibitors. A branded leaderboard fuels the competition, and you can set objectives and rewards to keep attendees engaged and maximize their participation throughout the entire event.

Confetti is a must-know hybrid event meeting tool if you’re leaning into gamification. From classic games such as Guess Who and Jeopardy to unique origami classes, chocolate tasting, and drag queen bingo, you can customize your games to your attendees or the topic of your meeting while also breaking up the day with a variety of activities.

Virtual event themes and branding

In 2022, virtual and hybrid event meeting engagement tools have entirely transformed how we plan to brand our online events. It goes beyond a tiny logo in the corner of the screen and instead immerses participants in your brand from start to finish. From graphics and branding to sound effects, transitions, and countdown elements, your brand will be front and center throughout the entire event, making it truly feel like yours.

Event marketing platform Splash has tapped into the desire for beautifully branded hybrid events by supporting hybrid branded themes, which ensure consistency across the in-person and virtual components of your meeting, ensuring your event is instantly recognizable and uniquely yours.

Teambuilding events are another effective method to break the ice and get participants to interact online and face-to-face. From virtual escape rooms (you can build your own using tools like Room Escape Maker, or Exit The Room for customized branding) to online scavenger hunts with Scavify, there are plenty of options to bridge the gap between in-person and virtual events in 2022.

The days of the lockdown Zoom quiz may be behind us, but that doesn’t mean that your hybrid trivia games have to stop completely. A tool like Weve allows you to fully brand your quiz experience with your logo, brand colors, and customized questions related to your organization, ensuring it stands out from all the other online quizzes and gets your audience talking.

User-generated content

If you’re not tapping into your audience in your virtual and hybrid meetings, you’re almost certainly missing a trick. People love to have their say and share their thoughts, and embracing user-generated content is an impactful way to keep people truly engaged and thinking about the topics at hand.

For gathering opinions, ideas, and questions and taking pulse checks on audience understanding, a tool like Slido is invaluable. Slido allows your audience to participate equally wherever they are for better, more inclusive hybrid meetings, supporting activities such as quizzes, brainstorming, icebreakers, and Q&As with presenters.

Walls.io is a great way to leverage social media and build a sense of community around your event. Simply create an event hashtag and watch as your event social wall populates with content from social media, including Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, in real-time. If your event is private, you can invite participants to upload directly to the wall, allowing you to capture the buzz for any type of event.

Gather Voices and Storytagger can be used to collect and share video “snippets” from your audience. Even if participants aren’t especially tech-savvy, these tools make it easy to record short, informal videos to be used in your event. This works well for Q&A sessions, sharing ideas, or even offering feedback at the end of your meeting.

Exploring the Metaverse in your Hybrid Meetings

You’ve most likely seen the recent news stories about the Metaverse – but what is it, and what does it have to do with virtual and hybrid meeting engagement tools? Surprisingly, more than you might think…

Put simply; a metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. It doesn’t have to involve huge virtual reality headsets straight out of a sci-fi movie! These are broadly split into the avatar-driven Metaverse and the augmented reality (AR) Metaverse.

MootUp is an example of a metaverse tool. Participants can create their avatars to “attend” virtual and hybrid events, ranging from a live seminar to virtual coworking or even a virtual exhibition. Event sponsors can create fully branded booths in the Metaverse, offering powerful brand exposure to boost revenue.

A tool called Metaverse is gearing up to be one of the hottest virtual and hybrid meeting engagement tools in 2022 and beyond. Metaverse supports augmented reality events, where participants can explore digital experiences in the physical world – think Pokémon Go, but for your event.

Ready to enhance your next hybrid event? We’d love to help! Contact American Meetings today to discover how we can help you choose the right virtual and hybrid meeting engagement tools for 2022 and beyond.