# In person, hybrid or online: how conference formats are distributed today

Author: Marin Niehues, Stage Starter · Published: 2025-12-02
Topic: Finding Conferences (https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/topic/finding-conferences/)
Source: https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/online-or-in-person-conferences/

Almost three quarters of all events in Germany take place on site, while a good quarter run purely online. This is shown by the Meeting- & EventBarometer 2024/2025: of around 2.7 million events in 2024, 1.71 million were purely in person, around 0.31 million hybrid and around 0.7 million virtual. For experts who want to win B2B clients through conference stages, the format is therefore a choice with clear consequences for effort and conversations. This article shows how the formats are distributed, what hybrid means for speakers and which format suits which goal.

**Most events and most participants are still found in the room, and the conversations that lead to contracts happen most easily there. Online formats save travel days and suit reach and recordings.**

## How many conferences take place online today?

A good quarter of all events in Germany take place purely online, almost three quarters on site. The Meeting- & EventBarometer, the annual market study by EVVC and GCB together with the German National Tourist Board, conducted by the European Institute for the Meetings Industry (EITW), counts around 2.7 million events for 2024. Of these, 1.71 million were purely in person, around 0.31 million hybrid and around 0.7 million virtual. In person and hybrid together make up 73.7 per cent of the total volume.

The picture is similar for participants. Of 516 million attendances in 2024, 73.2 per cent were at events on site, meaning purely in-person events and the audience in the room at hybrid formats. On-site attendances rose by 21.5 per cent compared with 2023 to 377.6 million, while the number of on-site events fell by 6.2 per cent to 2.02 million. Events therefore became larger. The study also notes that virtual events have grown again, mainly among small formats, while larger events remain in person.

**Formats in Germany 2024**
- 73.7 per cent | of all events take place on site, in person or hybrid
- 0.7 million | events ran purely online, a good quarter of the volume
- 377.6 million | on-site attendances, 21.5 per cent more than the year before

The figures cover all kinds of events, from company seminars to congresses. For specialist conferences the message is the same and even clearer: the larger an event, the more likely it takes place on site, and specialist conferences with a programme committee and several rooms are among the larger formats.

## Why in-person dominates at specialist conferences

At a specialist conference, people from one industry meet who have a professional problem and want to get to know providers or peers. A large part of that value is created between the talks, in the breaks and over dinner. For you as a speaker this means that after your talk, people approach you who have heard your topic and are applying it to their own situation. How the audience is made up and why the stage builds trust there is described in [Why the specialist conference works so well as a sales channel](/en/blog/industry-conference-as-a-sales-channel/).

Advisory services are rarely bought by a single person. In the buying centre, the group of people at the client who decide on a contract, several people have a say, and a face-to-face conversation is the starting point many of them rely on. In our experience, a talk in front of the right audience brings, by way of example, around five serious conversations, two meetings from those, and every third meeting turns into paid work.

## What does hybrid mean for speakers?

Hybrid means for speakers that you talk to a room and a camera at the same time. The conference takes place on site and also offers a livestream or remote access for participants elsewhere. In 2024, according to the Meeting- & EventBarometer, 58.7 million people joined hybrid events online, alongside 75.8 million in the room.

This changes three things for your talk. Questions come from the room and from the chat, and a moderator decides which ones you answer. The technology determines how your talk comes across to the online audience, so a rehearsal with microphone and screen sharing pays off. Hybrid formats are often recorded, and you clarify with the organiser in advance whether the recording will be published and who may use it. Which questions arise for speakers in digital formats is covered in [Virtual and hybrid conferences](/en/blog/virtual-and-hybrid-conferences/).

## Do online conferences bring B2B clients?

Online conferences bring B2B clients mainly through reach and recordings, in-person conferences through personal conversation. Online participants write in the chat and get in touch after the talk via contact functions, and a good talk can keep working as a recording for months. The direct route from talk to conversation is longer online: there is no coffee break in which someone with a concrete question walks up to you.

For services with a high order value, the conversation is the bottleneck. Anyone awarding a five-figure contract wants to get to know the person, and that step happens faster in the room. Online formats are therefore a good way to make a topic known and to gain references and content for LinkedIn or your own website. For winning clients, the in-person conference with the right audience remains the stronger format.

## Online conference or in person: what changes for your appearance

The first difference is the time involved. A one-day appearance in another city costs two travel days, or three with a long journey or an evening before, and preparation is counted separately. With an online format the travel days disappear, which makes digital conferences a sensible addition for experts with a full diary. What an appearance with travel costs overall is worked out in [What does a conference appearance cost?](/en/blog/what-a-conference-appearance-costs/).

The second difference is the choice. With in-person conferences in a fixed region, the number of suitable stages is smaller, and travel planning adds to the deadline. The median gap between submission deadline and conference start is 50 days, and an in-person trip has to fit into your diary within that time.

**In person, hybrid and online compared**
Criterion | In person | Hybrid | Online
Effort | two to three travel days plus preparation | as in person, plus a tech rehearsal for the online audience | preparation and a fixed time block for technology
Conversations | right after the talk and in the breaks | directly in the room, online via chat | via chat and contact functions
Value for winning clients | strongest format for client conversations | conversations in the room plus reach | reach, recording and reference

## What an agency takes on when choosing formats

The format question requires research. Every conference states venue and format in its own place, some change it at short notice, and a call for papers, the public announcement with which a conference collects talk proposals, often points to a page on which the format is not yet fixed. Stage Starter takes on this work for you: [we find the right calls, write the submission and submit](/en/) in your name, with an eye on the format and travel effort of each conference. After that we follow up and accompany you to the stage. You approve talk and abstracts once before the start, and you hold the conversations after the talk yourself.

In our submissions for clients we reach up to 19 per cent acceptances per conference, while 5 per cent at most is typical in the market at this volume of submissions. The collaboration starts from €990 net per month for the whole operation, while a bought slot through pay to speak quickly costs €10,000 or more for a single speaking slot. No agency can guarantee acceptance, which is decided by the programme committee. What the route to the stage looks like overall is described in the [guide to becoming a speaker](/en/blog/how-to-become-a-speaker-guide/), and how to choose conferences by topic and audience is shown in [How do I find the conferences that fit my topic?](/en/blog/how-to-find-the-right-conferences/).

**Almost three quarters of all events in Germany take place on site, and on-site attendance is growing. For winning clients, the in-person conference with the right audience is the strongest format, and online formats complement it with reach and recordings.**

**Sources**
- Meeting- & EventBarometer Germany 2024/2025, published by EVVC and GCB together with the German National Tourist Board, conducted by the EITW: events and participants by in-person, hybrid and virtual format in 2024.
- Stage Starter analysis: 2,189 of our own submissions for clients, with acceptance rates per abstract and per conference.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do conferences still take place on site today?

Yes, the large majority do. According to the Meeting- & EventBarometer, 73.7 per cent of all events in Germany in 2024 ran in person or hybrid. Larger events such as specialist conferences take place on site particularly often.

### What share of conferences is online?

A good quarter of all events in Germany ran purely online in 2024, around 0.7 of 2.7 million. The share has risen again, mainly among small formats. At large conferences, in person remains the norm.

### What is the difference between hybrid and online?

A hybrid conference takes place on site and also offers remote access for participants elsewhere. An online conference has no room, and all participants join remotely. As a speaker at a hybrid event, you talk to an audience and a camera at the same time.

### Is an online conference worth it as a speaker?

Yes, an online conference is worth it for reach and recordings, because the travel days disappear. For client conversations the in-person conference is stronger, because contact happens right after the talk. Many speakers combine both in an annual plan.

### Do online conferences bring B2B clients?

Online conferences bring B2B clients mainly through reach and recordings, but the route to a conversation is longer there. For services with a high order value, trust builds faster in a personal conversation. For winning clients, the in-person conference with the right audience is therefore the stronger format.

### Does an online talk count as a reference?

Yes, an online talk counts as a reference and appears in your speaker bio like any other appearance. A recording that a programme committee can watch is especially valuable. Clarify with the organiser in advance whether you may use it yourself.

### How many events are there in Germany?

The Meeting- & EventBarometer counts around 2.7 million events of all kinds in Germany for 2024, with 516 million attendances. Of these, 2.02 million took place on site. Specialist conferences are part of this total, which includes everything from company seminars to congresses.

### Who finds the right conferences with the right format for me?

A speaker agency such as Stage Starter researches conferences for you, develops talk and abstracts and submits in your name. Format and travel effort are among the criteria we check for each conference. The collaboration starts from €990 net per month.

## The next step

Which stages and formats suit your topic and your clients is something we discuss in an [initial consultation](/en/erstgespraech/).