As meeting professionals are increasingly being tasked with organizing and managing virtual or hybrid events, MPI and the Event Leadership Institute (ELI) have grown their associated education offerings.

To learn more about two new certificate programs designed to enhance the skillsets of industry pros, we had a chat with Michael Granek, MBA, CSEP, president and COO of the ELI.

How does the content and focus of the Hybrid & Virtual Event Director Certificate course and the Advanced Event Design & Strategy Certificate course differ from the ELI’s Virtual Event & Meeting Management (VEMM) program?

The new Hybrid & Virtual Event Director course is designed for event professionals who are new to producing and delivering multi-channel events. It includes an introduction to platforms and equipment terminology; evaluating and organizing content, timelines and other deliverables; developing a show flow and production schedule; preparing backup plans; and how to direct/call a virtual or hybrid show. 

The VEMM Certificate course was designed to help event professionals with the fundamentals of virtual event planning, including understanding differences between webinars and virtual events, different types of digital platforms and related technology, how virtual online audiences consume and retain content, preparing virtual event speakers and pulling the plan together.

The Advanced Event Design & Strategy Certificate is designed to equip experienced event and meeting managers with the tools, resources and business savvy to serve as a strategic advisor in designing, planning and executing multi-channel programs, including market analysis, budgeting, ROI measurement and analytics, content and engagement design, marketing and stakeholder management techniques.

Are there notable differences as far as who should take the Hybrid & Virtual Event Director Certificate course versus the Advanced Event Design & Strategy Certificate course?

The Hybrid & Virtual Event Director course is designed for event and meeting professionals who are occasionally (or, now, more frequently) called upon to serve as a technical event producer. 

The Advanced Event Design & Strategy Certificate is designed for experienced event and meeting professionals looking to elevate their program design, strategy and stakeholder management skills in planning and executing multi-channel (hybrid) events.

What are some of the most significant new skills (or shifts in skills) that participants should expect to learn about during the Hybrid & Virtual Event Director Certificate course and the Advanced Event Design & Strategy Certificate course? 

In the Hybrid & Virtual Event Director course, participants will learn skills including how to identify typical staffing and vendor position requirements and responsibilities, hybrid-specific event technology and requirements, how to develop a run-of-show and show flow, creating a technical production schedule, how to prepare backup plans for remote audience interruptions, developing a speaker preparation plan and coordinating multi-channel delivery teams for cohesive show delivery.

For the Advanced Hybrid Event Design & Strategy Certificate, participants will learn how to prepare multi-channel event budgets accurately and realistically with financial performance monitoring and controls; establish ROI measurement criteria; explore adult learning methodologies to design event content and engagement in multi-channel environments; and how to create a marketing strategy with clear audience personas, value propositions and differentiation for each event channel segment. 

Do either of these courses explore how the hybrid/virtual events landscape may evolve throughout the remainder of the pandemic and/or as in-person events return?

With the event landscape continually changing, in both of these courses, we provide bonus resources including weekly live scheduled online class meetings for students to ask pressing questions with the instructor and a peer-based community forum to exchange ideas, network and communicate with other learners. 

In addition, in the Advanced Event Design & Strategy Certificate course, participants will learn tools and strategies that are applicable throughout the planning process on how to deal with shifts in the landscape.

Learn more about the Hybrid & Virtual Event Director and Advanced Event Design & Strategy certificate courses.