
Investing in the Future: Why Companies Must Boost their Budget for Hybrid Meetings
Open Audience's Technical Event Director James Templeman explains why preparing for an engaging virtual or hybrid event can be as time-consuming and resource-intensive as preparing for a physical event, and how companies should approach them accordingly for more successful outcomes.

Musical Chairs: Putting the Fun into Learning and Engagement
Learning and development coach Lucy Philip discusses why making learning and training experiences fun is so important – whether they are face-to-face or virtual – and the difference it makes to have an expert technology partner.

Is Anybody Out there? Measuring Effectiveness in Physical and Virtual Meetings
How do you measure the success of an event? And how do you know if your audience was engaged? One of Open Audience’s differentiators is that we can give organisers insights they might not otherwise have, whether their event is physical, virtual, or a hybrid.

Kitted Out: Why Equipping Your Staff with Good Tech is Crucial for Engagement
Over the past year we have all experienced bad video conferencing. Unfortunately, even now too many companies have not really given thought to the home working environment of their staff. Our Technical Event Director James Templeman discusses why this is important for successful, engaging events.

Technology as an Enabler in Virtual Learning and Development
Professional development coach Lucy Philip discusses why a trusted, quality technology solution is an essential part of virtual learning and development – enabling her to focus on her audience, and the audience to focus on learning and being engaged.

Stepping Into the World of Improvisation in Virtual Times
‘Improv’ has made its way from theatre to the events world as a way to get people engaged, have fun and to start thinking about how they listen. In this blog, the actor, writer and comedian Neil Mullarkey describes how you can use principles from improv to improve your virtual engagement.

Live, Virtual or Hybrid: Is There an Optimal Mix?
Organisations are increasingly interested in 'Hybrid meetings', but this term lacks definition and is often being used as a sales buzzword. However, we actually have the experience and expertise to plan and deliver fully virtual, hybrid and physical events.

Going from Indifferent to Excellent in the Virtual Events Space
While many thought a switch to virtual would be easy, that’s not the case. James Templeman, Open Audience's Technical Event Director, examines how virtual events are in many ways more challenging than in-person meetings, and how we have adapted.

Adapting and Innovating in the Virtual Learning and Development World
Virtual learning and development is not a new concept, but the need to shift every aspect of a programme to the online world has changed both the way training needs to be delivered and the kind of support learners require.

The Role of Illustration in Mapping and Visualising in Meetings
In this guest blog, illustrator Amber Anderson discusses the role of live scribing in events, physical and virtual, and how illustration and mind mapping improves audience engagement and boosts learning and recall.

Storyboard Your Presentations: Building Excitement in the Virtual World
Whether in the physical or virtual world, building a story to deliver key messages is a powerful way to engage your audience. In his third guest blog, leadership and communications coach Mark Thomas explores how storyboarding helps to set the tone and build excitement in a presentation.

Creating Engaging Virtual Presentations From Your Home Office
In these difficult times with many people forced to work from home, we have all experienced awkward and embarrassing moments. Nobody expects perfection, but leadership and communications coach Mark Thomas knows a few ways you can improve your virtual presentations.