A statistic by WildApricot states: In 2020, the number of virtual events conducted across various organizations doubled. Pandemic shrunk a decade of gradual conversion into ten short months. The complete changeover to virtual events was inevitable and transformative. Virtual events are not about connecting people virtually in a conference call. In concern with the needs of the organizers and consumers, online meetings have two major types- virtual summits and virtual events.
A virtual summit is like a video conference call or a webinar presentation. And a virtual event can be anything like a virtual exhibition, schools and corporate events, webcasts, etc.
One significant difference that distinguishes a virtual event from a virtual conference is the element of marketing. A virtual event platform is in-built with marketing tools- audience registration, agenda-setting, in-person trade shows, and sponsorships.
Apart from the business point of view, a second factor that affects the nature of a virtual event is the number of audiences. In particular, a Hybrid event demands a larger platform to accommodate a larger crowd. These events are another rapidly growing event format- an integration between virtual components and an in-person event.
Thus, the first step to hosting a successful online event is- to acknowledge the demands of your event and choose the right platform accordingly. This article focuses on the top 8 most preferred platform in the market and their significance:
Vfairs
Vfairs is a trillion-dollar event industry that believes in simple and innovative solutions. It captivates audiences with stunning virtual ambiance with 3D customized visual design and modeling any given real-time venue. Vfairs has a networking longue that introduces people with the same interests to one another. It also provides caption and translation services that can upgrade the events globally, making them accessible to everyone. An e-commerce shopping cart helps the audience to purchase the following event or service.
Vfairs gamifies their events with Scavenger hunts and leaderboards. This function works as an excellent lead generation tool that hooks up the audience attentively with the program for a longer duration.
FEATURES
Accelevents:
Airmeet increases engagement and overall ROI of an organization through immersive hybrid events. It looks for meaningful connections with networking lounges and exciting virtual booths. Airmeet has an event management team of experts, advisers, organizers, and hosts to ace at the best virtual events. This platform assures seamless and effortless hosting experiences with up to 100,000 participants. Real-Time Messaging Protocol helps in hosting hybrid events at a professional level.
For delivering a world-class virtual event experience, Airmeet mobile application is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is General Data Protection Regulation Compliant and ISO Certified.
FEATURES
Outstanding features:
Accelevents:
All-in-one self-service platform that aims to speed up the overall growth and objectives of its clients. It emphasizes resurfacing the engagement, marketing, and overall experience of the virtual events with event technology. It makes learning fun and interactive with gamification features, and AI-powered speed networking promotes spontaneous conversations. Accelevents go hand-in-hand with marketing and PR aspects with advanced lead capture features tailored campaigns, valuing attendees and sponsors for increased ROI.
More than 12,500 companies are associated with Accelevents like the American Cancer Society, Salesforce, etc. Accelevents is rightfully one of the finalists of the Event Technology Awards 2021.
FEATURES
Outstanding features:
Accelevents:
Airmeet increases engagement and overall ROI of an organization through immersive hybrid events. It looks for meaningful connections with networking lounges and exciting virtual booths. Airmeet has an event management team of experts, advisers, organizers, and hosts to ace at the best virtual events. This platform assures seamless and effortless hosting experiences with up to 100,000 participants. Real-Time Messaging Protocol helps in hosting hybrid events at a professional level.
For delivering a world-class virtual event experience, Airmeet mobile application is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is General Data Protection Regulation Compliant and ISO Certified.
FEATURES
Outstanding features:
Hopin
Hopin strives with one goal of bringing people closer. This platform is well suited for large-scale, virtual, hybrid events. Amidst the geographical and demographical barrier, Hopin figured that access is the key to globalizing with engaging, on-brand events. Their registration and event information is available in English, Spanish, Korean, German, and other languages. They are integrated with translation services platforms to internalize the content and connections.
Hopin has credible customers like Disney, Berkeley University of California. It is one of the three nominees for the ‘Event management application and software 2021’ award by The Webby Awards.
FEATURES
Outstanding features:
Bigmarker
Bigmaker is an exclusive platform for webinars and virtual summits which do not insist on their application and software. The event organizers and participants can host the program from anywhere via a browser. In addition, the events can be streamed easily to Facebook or Youtube live. This platform consists of interactive presentation elements like Lead forms, Q/A, auction, etc. It has an overall webinar package with whiteboarding, video feeds, CTA, and trigger offer in live and automated webinars.
Bigmaker allows multiple presenter options, up to 9 presenters, and an international telephone dial-in feature. It is named the ‘Leading Webinar Software’ by G2 Spring 2021.
FEATURES
Outstanding features:
Teams
As the name suggests, Microsoft Teams is a communication-centered tool, concentrating on collaboration and teamwork. Communication is made easy with meetings, calling, chatting, and sharing content without juggling between many applications back and forth. Teams integrate with a range of products and software from Microsoft Corporation. Thus, Teams act as a hub for creating, storing, and sharing content in one place.
Over 10,000 people can get together in a channel. With several integrations available like Planner, Trello, Youtube, OneNote, Power BI, and more platforms, Teams is versatile for all kinds of team works.