Does Hybrid Graduations continues Post COVID19?
- by Dominic
We asked this question in 2021....
With our 20 years of experience in the graduation industry and servicing graduations nationally. We think that this question is still relevant in 2022. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on every aspect of our lives. Whether it is classes, business meetings or congregations, gathering of any kind is risky if not fatal. The impact of 2020 is still felt in our industry and institutions are battling with what needs to be safe for their clients (students) and the acknowledgments of their client's hard-earned achievements.
In 2022, we at Nickay have noticed mixed feelings on the part of decision-makers and the fear of a resurgence of the virus. During 2021 we have created and streamed many different virtual graduations based on our client's(Institution's) needs and the different applications will vary due to many factors, i.e. size of the institution, location of the institution, client's safety and needs, etc, we still believe Hybrid Graduation will be part of these events continuously for years to come and live streaming will become a permanent part of these events.
We, being in the heart of graduation season and should you have missed this piece on Hybrid graduations in 2021, think there are a few points to consider:
What is Hybrid Graduations?
To put it simply, hybrid graduation is a unique blend of both virtual and in-person graduation events. Hybrid graduation can be arranged by maintaining both social distancing and health protocols. Such as with limited physical attendees and broad virtual exceed, a hybrid graduation ceremony can bring the opportunity of both in-person event experience along with virtual presence. Hybrid ceremonies can take many forms, drive-through graduations, limited seating graduations with a combination of in-person and online experience, etc.
What is the purpose of a Graduation?
Graduations are events where institutions honour or confer the academic achievements of their graduates. At these recognitions of achievements students or graduates are generally accompanied by family or loved ones.
These celebrations are extended beyond the academic recognition with family and friends. This completely celebratory mood of traditional graduations has been halted suddenly by the pandemic for institutions and communities that had to seek alternatives like online graduations and hybrid graduations.
Here at Nickay, we have been in the graduation industry for the past 20 years and have seen how our industry has progressed with the advent of digital technology, yet no one had prepared us for COVID 19’s effects on these important events.
The pandemic has changed the way we do things to the “New Normal” to the point that now almost two years later virtual graduations are the “Normal”. We have done various versions of virtual graduations this past nineteen months and one thing stays top of mind. What is the importance of graduations? The most successful graduations for all parties concerned are the virtual graduations that give recognition to graduates' efforts in some form or another.
We have found that hybrid graduations have been the graduations, which have achieved a feel-good and celebratory feel amongst graduates and their communities. To most individuals feeling valued or valued for their efforts has a huge effect on how institutions are perceived and to what extent these institutions honour this effort. Institutions need to see graduations as part of marketing especially with such an active online community due to the pandemic.
A combination of traditional graduations with limited guests and an online component of the graduation will be the graduations of the future for a while. It is important that this online component not be static but engaging. By engaging the audience, we raise the importance of the event for graduates and the communities at large, even reaching a global audience.
Not being able to host events, the conversations always revolve around still celebrating the students and their families for all the hard work that they put in to successfully pass their studies. We know the importance of photographing graduates with their family or loved ones, the value that it adds to the experience, hence we are committed to supporting the Education industry by ensuring our services are still available to their students. We believe making this service available adds to this celebratory feel of the graduation.
After 20 years in the graduation industry, COVID 19 has truly highlighted the importance of Graduation Photography. We at Nickay, have devised an e-commerce platform in 2018, to improve our service to our clients and to future-proof our systems. This investment has been most beneficial in the pandemic to our clients and institutions, as contact with individuals has been kept to a minimum. With an online cart, we had no reason to deal with cash onsite and limited the size of our Team, which all led to reduced risk or exposure and institutions staying compliant with COVID 19 guidelines.
Where will we be as a country or a global village next year this time? No one knows, yet this pandemic has made communities and organisations do things differently. The global village has just gotten smaller, and the online entrepreneurs have grown exponentially. Online and the use of Technology has grown in markets that were slow in adopting technology and Graduations are one of these forces into a different way of doing things.
The “New Normal” is so last year! Online and embracing online is “NORMAL”
