Virtual Events

What is a Virtual Event?

A Zoom or Teams meeting allows you to communicate with others online via an online meetings platform, whilst a webinar allows you to view an online presentation. Whereas an online meeting allows you to see and speak with other meeting attendees, the webinar tends to be ‘one to many’ – ie one person presenting and many watching with little interaction.

Virtual events combine the best of meetings and webinars to create experiences – they allow event attendees to view live or pre-recorded content, browse sponsor booths, network with fellow attendees and so much more – see the full list of features below.

Online Meetings

Many-to-many communication using tools like Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom, Uber Conference, BlueJean and many more

Webinars

One-to-many communications using tools like On24, Global Meet, Cisco Webex, GoToMeeting, Zoom and many more

Virtual Event Examples

Virtual Event platforms

As countries around the world went into lockdown in March 2020, event technology companies pivoted their systems to become virtual event platforms. In most cases, this meant taking their existing mobile event app and converting it into a web app with an embedded live streaming service such as Zoom, Teams or Streamyard.

Which single platform or combination of tools is best for your needs depends on a number of factors, including those listed below

Features of Virtual Events

Virtual event platforms distinguish themselves from meetings or webinar systems (such as Zoom and Teams) by supporting a host of features to give an enhanced experience. These include:

Livestreamed and pre-recorded video content in multiple streams
Fully customised branding
Delegate management with security options
Session management and personalised agendas and multiple streams / tracks
Networking between delegates, including instant chat / video
Networking areas / breakout rooms
Support for sponsors and exhibitors
Live Q&A, polling and session chats
Separate moderator / speaker workflows for Q&A
Gamification
Document download and media access
In-built surveys and feedback forms
‘Push’ notification and alerts to delegates
Activity feed and social media links
Data insights and reports

How can Hybrid Event Solutions help?

There are so many virtual event platforms, how do you know which one you should choose? You can either arrange to have a dozen demos before deciding which one is right for you… or you can ask Hybrid Event Solutions for a free quote! Simply fill in this form with your brief, and our consultants will recommend the optimal solution for you based on your specific requirements. Or fill in the form below.