I am not usually a fan of throwing more people at a problem in hopes it all gets worked out, but I will say that at the IN Zone virtual event, I did not have enough people.

In terms of justifying increased numbers of people assigned to an event, I really like how you encourage event professionals to have customer service reps asigned to each aspect of the virtual event audience and every piece of technology. Sometimes these roles can be doubled-up, but certainly not tripled. My original intentions were to be the backchannel moderator for Continuing the Conversation at IN Zone but I found myself pulled away into face-to-face interactions. Not good for the virtual audience; luckily the Digitell onsite team stepped up to help as well as our host Emilie Barta.

My two cents: Clearly define the virtual event producer, who calls the shots and assigns roles. Also bring along an assistant producer: I believe this person would be the customer service rep for the face-to-face audience. This should be someone who will intereact and care for the speaker, pass the microphone around the face-to-face audience and make sure this group is not forgotten amid the technology. Both these roles require personnel in addition to those operating equipment and those specifically assigned to interact with the virtual audience as you recommend.