What Is a Virtual Event?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n What is a Virtual Event Platform?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 Types of Virtual Events<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Team Building<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Internal Meetings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Webinars<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Conferences<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Virtual Event Platforms & Software<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Team Building and Internal Meetings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Conferences<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Webinars<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n From virtual team meetings to virtual escape rooms and museum tours, a virtual event refers to any digitally-based event where people meet to communicate, learn, laugh, and engage with one another or a topic.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The main advantage? Virtual events enable a wider audience base to join and participate, which is often more cost-effective, and time-efficient for most. Virtual events by nature offer additional benefits including<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 The ability to be easily recorded<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 The option to repurpose recorded content for other channels and media<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Convenient and joinable from nearly anywhere in the world with decent internet connection<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Reduced barriers to networking<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Easier attendee feedback collection processes<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Key metrics and analytics about attendee behavior<\/p>\n\n\n\n And while these online events can be fun and engaging for all involved, the platform you choose to host your events matters \u2014 virtual event software is not all created equally!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep reading to learn more about the best virtual event platforms for your virtual event type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By now, chances are you\u2019ve heard of or even used a virtual event platform like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, WebEx, Cisco, or any of the hundreds of other available software. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But let\u2019s back up and define \u201cvirtual event platform.\u201d A virtual event platform is any tool that allows you to host an event online that anyone with an internet connection or phone can join and participate in<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Through leveraging technology, the best virtual event platforms and software provide easy-to-use audio and\/or visual environment for people to connect and engage with one another. These platforms often include features and engagement tools like<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Breakout rooms<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Chat functions<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Annotation tools<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Emoji reactions and GIFs<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Polling and quizzing<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Q&A sessions<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Gamification<\/p>\n\n\n\n When hunting for the ideal platform for your next virtual event, be aware that while you won\u2019t be able to totally<\/em> recreate the magic of face-to-face, in-person connection, you can get pretty<\/em> close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Virtual events come in all shapes and sizes \u2014 from a one-on-one meeting between a manager and a direct report to 50,000-person webinars. And, depending on the kind of event you\u2019re hosting, you\u2019ll want to pay special attention to the platform you use to ensure you can accommodate the event size you anticipate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we dive into the best platforms for your virtual event, let\u2019s quickly go over four of the major types of virtual events. Fully understanding the goal of your event will help determine the platform you choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As changing economic and future-of-work conditions continue to evolve, more and more companies are leaning into the benefits of team building events to boost morale, lower turnover, increase employee engagement, raise productivity levels, encourage communication and collaboration, and boost innovation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Team building, or any activity that you do with your team to improve their performance, can be done virtually! From games to parties to team activities, virtual event platforms can enable your team to bond and function more efficiently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a couple common examples of virtual team building events:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Virtual parties<\/a> can be incredibly rewarding and a source of great connection and enjoyment for teams. You can plan virtual events to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Acknowledge and celebrate an employee\u2019s retirement<\/a> or going away<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Celebrate the holiday<\/a> season<\/li>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Connect for a fun, themed happy hour<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n While you might be familiar with in-person escape rooms, they can be done virtually<\/a> too! Virtual event platforms enable you to enjoy this problem-solving activity with team members regardless of where they are located. With themes ranging from treasure hunts to prison breaks, every team can find the right fit!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n While nearly every virtual event can be considered a \u201cmeeting\u201d of sorts, for the purposes of this article, a virtual meeting refers to more internally-focused, day-to-day virtual events between two or more people to connect and collaborate with a distributed workforce. Meetings typically allow any participant to share their screen, turn on and off camera and audio, and view other attendees. By nature, they are considered more interactive sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Internal meetings may include event types like Ask Me Anything sessions with leaders and managers, training or onboarding meetings, or any regular meetings between a few or several team members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Combine the words \u201cweb\u201d and \u201cseminar\u201d and you get \u201cwebinar,\u201d an online seminar that allows attendees across the world to see and hear the presentation, often with the option to ask questions and answer polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to note that most virtual event platforms distinguish between webinars and meetings for available features and functionality. While webinars are intended to allow only the host and designated speakers and panelists to screen share, toggle on and off video\/audio, meetings often grant that ability to anyone in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, webinars are more akin to virtual lectures and are ideal for large audiences or public events. Webinar attendees often do not interact a lot with one another, although certain platforms may provide features and options to enable that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Webinars typically have 50+ participants but can involve tens of thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s actually many commonalities between in person conferences and virtual conferences. Virtual conferences are a digital gathering of individuals at a particular time to discuss or engage in the exploration of a common interest like industry, profession, education, or fandom.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Virtual conferences typically have 100+ attendees and feature multiple live speakers who discuss different topics under one overarching theme and (usually) encourage networking between attendees. You\u2019ll often find question and answer (Q&A) sessions, breakout sessions, and panels with several speakers commenting and fielding questions from the audience about a topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike in-person conferences, there\u2019s no travel expense and it typically offers little to no disruption to the workday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While conferences usually have 100+ attendees, they can involve tens of thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we\u2019ve covered some of the major types of virtual events, let\u2019s dive into platform recommendations to make your next event one for the books! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Below, we cover the key features, pricing, and list the best platforms for each event type. But in general, you\u2019ll want any virtual event platform you choose to have the following qualities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Easy to use<\/li>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Scalable <\/li>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Great user experience and design<\/li>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Options for interactivity and audience engagement<\/li>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Metric tracking and audience analytics<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n Team building events and internal meetings can often require heavy audience interaction. Primarily, your virtual event platform and software for these events should offer a number of ways to engage and connect with your audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With its meteoric rise in popularity over the last few years, Zoom<\/a> is a well-known great option for companies and teams looking to host small, but interactive meetings where everyone can be on camera and speak up at any time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number one benefit of Zoom for team building or internal meetings is the ease of use: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking for more guidance with Zoom? This comprehensive guide<\/a> explores all the Zoom features you\u2019ll need for your next company meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Price<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The tool of choice for more than 270 million people, Microsoft Teams<\/a> is a top contender as your virtual event platform of choice for team building and internal communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number one benefit of Microsoft Teams is its ability to enable powerful cross-team collaboration and connection:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Price<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With live events like conferences that feature a slate of speakers, here are a couple of virtual event platforms to consider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To make planning your next virtual conference a breeze, consider checking out Whova<\/a>. With reliable, cost-effective, and easy-to-use software, you\u2019ll create authentic audience participation and engagement with this virtual event platform. It is one of the best-rated event apps and has been used for more than 9,000 events in more than 100 countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the best key features and tools you get with Whova:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Event Management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Attendee Management <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Audience Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Price<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventzilla<\/a> is on a mission to make event marketing and registration seamless for organizers of all skill levels. Founded in 2009, Eventzilla has powered more than 200,000 event websites around the world with more than seven million event registrations processed. This virtual event platform features a host of tools to optimize your event planning and management experience. If you\u2019re looking for a powerful one-stop-shop solution for your next conference, Eventzilla is the tool for the task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the best key features and tools you get with Eventzilla:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seamless Registration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Branding and Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Price<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Below are some platform options to organize and plan your next webinar!<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 5,000 organizations use Livestorm<\/a> to manage webinars. From start to finish, Livestorm can help you pack in engaging moments and design on-demand, live, or pre-recorded events at scale, all from your browser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the best key features and tools you get with Livestorm:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Audience Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Powerful Analytics and Metrics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Price<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This powerful virtual event platform is designed to help marketers produce, publish, and generate engaging events that generate actionable data and insights. Companies of all shapes and sizes use BigMarker<\/a> to host highly-customized live events for their prospects, customers, employees, and other key stakeholders. BigMarker is the webinar platform designed to drive growth for your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the best key features and tools you get with Livestorm:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flexibility<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Audience Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Price<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking for high levels of customizability and branding, Demio<\/a> is the way to go. Demio provides a world-class experience that\u2019s stable and reliable for both host and user. Built with marketers in mind, Demio boasts a range of tools and features designed to seamlessly integrate with any marketer\u2019s work. Demio can host up to 1,000 attendees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the best key features and tools you get with Demio:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Highly Customizable<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/teambuildinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cartoon-of-virtual-event-platform-1024x683.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat is a Virtual Event?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is a Virtual Event Platform?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"team](\"https:\/\/teambuildinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/team-member-logging-on-to-virtual-event-platform.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n4 Major Types of Virtual Events<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1.<\/strong> Team Building<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Parties<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"team](\"https:\/\/teambuildinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/virtual-escape-room-1024x624.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nVirtual Escape Rooms<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2.<\/strong> Internal Meetings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3.<\/strong> Webinars<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"team](\"https:\/\/teambuildinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/team-member-taking-notes-at-a-webinar.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n4.<\/strong> Conferences<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Best Virtual Event Platforms & Software<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For Team Building and Internal Meetings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"cartoon](\"https:\/\/teambuildinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cartoon-of-team-members-doing-virtual-team-building-1024x676.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBest Platforms and Pricing<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Zoom<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft Teams<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
For Conferences<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"team](\"https:\/\/teambuildinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/team-members-at-a-virtual-conference.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBest Platforms and Pricing<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Whova<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Eventzilla<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
For Webinars<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"team](\"https:\/\/teambuildinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/team-member-listing-to-webinar.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBest Platforms and Pricing<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Livestorm<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
BigMarker<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Demio<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"thumbs-up-zoom-call-remoteteam\"](\"https:\/\/teambuildinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/thumbs-up-zoom-call-remoteteam-1024x538.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n