People often assume virtual and hybrid events are the same thing. Both use technology to bring an audience together, but there’s a real difference: a virtual event is one where everyone attends online. A hybrid event is a live event and a virtual one at once, some people in the room, some watching from anywhere.
That matters for budgeting, because a hybrid event has every component of a physical event on top of the broadcast. The live side can be as large as you want it; it’s bounded only by your budget and the venue’s capacity.
The physical side
If you’ve run events before, this list will be familiar. If you haven’t, know that real costs vary a lot by region. You’ll be budgeting for the venue (priced on the square footage you actually use), event technology and A/V rentals, hospitality, staffing, planner or manager fees, parking, event marketing, and the miscellany: city fees, venue overhead, décor.
The broadcast side
Most hybrid event production is priced on two things: how many people are attending, and how big a production the broadcast needs. A single-camera stream of a keynote and a multi-camera show with graphics, remote presenters, and breakout rooms are different animals, and they price like it.
The honest way to scope this is backwards from the experience you want the remote audience to have. Decide that first, and the number follows.