Anyone else not sure how it’s been a year since the onset of the pandemic? A year of Google searches for “best virtual event platform”, “where to host a virtual event”, and “best virtual event platforms”. As the pandemic persisted, more and more results for virtual event platforms started to pop up as companies made the transition to virtual events. Some businesses were even started to cater specifically to this unique niche. You’ve heard of the big platforms like Zoom or Google Meet, but there are literally hundreds of companies out there offering virtual event platforms. It can be seriously overwhelming for many planners and companies!
Virtual meetings and events, as well as hybrid events, will be our new normal. So, it’s important that companies find a virtual event platform that works to meet all their needs, saving time and energy when planning virtual events moving forward.
Virtual event platforms and technology can seem super complex, and most of them are, but today we want to share a few virtual event platforms that have helped our clients serve thousands of virtual event attendees seamlessly. Here are our thoughts!
Hopin
Up first is an online event platform that truly allows for attendee engagement. With nearly 2/3 of event organizers struggling to engage their virtual event attendees, Hopin aims to take away some of that struggle with technological capabilities that help create connections with end-to-end event solutions.
Easy-to-Use
Hopin is one of the more well-known platforms out there, up top in the search rankings with Zoom. It’s been around for a couple of years so it was building pre-pandemic. This means that people are getting more familiar with attending on the platform and for organizers, the infrastructure is easy to navigate.
Affordable
One thing we love about Hopin is the affordability. It makes hosting a virtual event or meeting accessible to all types of businesses, entrepreneurs, and organizations. With that price, you’re getting a lot of features like networking, a custom-designed virtual expo floor, breakout sessions, and more. The capability for the price tag is unrivaled.
Capabilities & Compatibility
One of the greatest features is Hopin is totally compatible with StreamYard, as they acquired them in January of this year. StreamYard is a high-tech but simple-to-use video streaming platform that allows you to produce your event content with seamless lower thirds, graphics, and images. Plus, it’s a great way to add speakers “on stage”!
Hopin Features Roundup:
- Virtual venue
- Expo booth design and interaction
- Breakout sessions
- Keynotes
- 1-on-1 video conferencing within the meeting
- Extensive analytics
- Streamyard integration for virtual event production value
Some negatives we have found are:
- No direct platform tech support
- Not many advanced features
- Doesn’t allow attendees to “view the event” or enter the event until 5-minutes before the event. This is a disadvantage for those hosting a “trade show booth” on the virtual show floor because the attendees can only access it during the event.
There are workarounds we can help you with though! There’s a solution to every problem, friends. Or a platform that may be better suited to your event needs!
PheedLoop
If your organization is one that values ROI reporting and complex features that mirror what attendees would find on-site at a live event, conference, meeting, or trade show—PheedLoop is an option you should explore. They offer a full event management system from registration and payment processing to and thorough post-event reporting tools, as well as everything you need in between to produce an engaging and effective event.
Advanced Features
If you’re in need of all the things when it comes to planning, PheedLoop probably has it. From engagement tools and gamification to real-time show floor and exhibitor capabilities to concurrent streams for breakout sessions and more.
Our bilingual clientele prefer PheedLoop as they offer bilingual closed captioning. Those who have high-level speakers and exhibitors also enjoy it because they offer time-saving automation for speakers and exhibitors to change things up in real-time or before the event, simply without throwing off any plans or content!
Amazing Tech Support
A critical part to the success of a virtual event is ample tech support and platform support. But not all platforms are created equal here. Their approach to virtual events is super client-centric with 24/7 client support, ensuring that the comprehensive solutions they provide are used to the fullest and they’re there in case extra support is needed.
PheedLoop Features Roundup:
- Hybrid event solutions like badge printing and mobile app capability
- Real-Time updates
- Payment integration
- Bilingual capability and translation features
- Live-stream integrations with platforms like Zoom
- Lead retrieval
- Virtual venues with exhibitors
- Call for Proposal management
The one general negative we found here was that there’s a per-user pricing model. So, if you have an event with a few thousand attendees or more, your price can rack up pretty quickly. However, for larger, more complex meetings, it is a very reliable and robust option that’s worth the investment. Our government clientele love PheedLoop!
Run the World
We love supporting other women-owned businesses! Run the World is led by a powerful duo of women entrepreneurs, Xiaoyin Qu and Xuan Jiang, and their team—which at the beginning of the pandemic was a small team of 5 and is now over 50 strong. They’ve hosted tens of thousands of successful virtual events and it’s an awesome way to get started in virtual events. You can even host an event for free to get started if you’d like!
Unique Features
Since this is one of the newer virtual event platforms out there, they’re super creative and innovative with the types of features they offer. They excel at creating connections through 1:1 networking capability and have a really neat “backstage” feature that allows speakers to test tech before they go live. Both huge aspects of live events that are missing in most virtual platforms!
Creating Connections
Expanding on the 1:1 networking capability, they offer a “cocktail party” feature that allows them to pair attendees for quick conversations in the moment, and their “round table” feature allows small group conversations where attendees can pop in for different conversations and breakouts. Their ultimate goal is to create deeper connection and engagement!
Run the World Features Roundup:
- Customizable registration and invitations
- Integrated ticketing
- 1:1 speed networking
- Small group discussions
- Sponsor booths
- Breakout sessions
A downfall of the platform is speakers need a very strong and secure internet connection, 10mbps+ upload/ download speed to seamlessly present. Other than that it’s a super fun, easy-to-use platform that is great at replacing that connection we all crave from in-person events!
Need Help Determining Which Virtual Event Platform is Right for Your Event?
We know firsthand just how overwhelming it can be to navigate virtual event platform options. There are so many great platforms to choose from—but not every platform is right for every event. You need to seriously consider your key target metrics for your event and work backward to determine which platform will fill all those needs.
Our Eventistry by Alecia team has worked with so many clients to select the virtual event platform that will best help them reach their goals—this is just a very small sampling of the platforms we can work with. Let us help take that stress off your plate too. Just reach out today and let’s hop on a quick strategy session to chat about your upcoming virtual event!
