Written by Ben Wu & Hanna Karhunen (Product Manager)
With marketing budgets being constrained, event organizers and digital marketers face a huge challenge today in needing to consolidate and use an event platform that can do it all.
Marketers are looking for a flexible tool that can help them execute on a range of event experiences, while maintaining a consistently engaging experience to their attendees.
Long gone are the days of hosting complex multi-day, multi-speaker event sessions that happen 1-2 times a year. Marketers today are hosting more regular webinar-type events that build their brand and communities through frequent and continuous engagements.
And that’s what we’re here to solve with RingCentral Events: our comprehensive all-in-one solution for events. Not only can organizers use our platform to host virtual, hybrid, and in-person events, but they can also run different event formats, from simple webinar-style events to complex, multi-session events.
We’re excited to announce that we’re simplifying our entire event creation flow, and renaming our event types to make it easier to understand how RingCentral Events can scale together with your events strategy.
Simplified set up experience, clearer event types
We’ve heard your feedback, and have redesigned the event set up experience, making it even simpler and easy to follow!
The event name and dates are now on the first screen, and we’ve also redefined the event types using more colloquial language that marketers and event organizers are accustomed to (and with a clear description of each one).
As an organizer, you can now choose from the following options based on use case:
- Webinar event (formerly named Session*): a webinar-style event with our core event feature set. Select this when you just want a simple, single-stage setup (with studio production and engagement elements) for lead generation, product announcements, internal training, and more.
- Virtual event: a multi-track virtual event that includes the whole virtual venue, which includes Event areas such as stage, sessions, expo, networking, replay, and more. This is perfect for running events with multiple sessions running at the same time, and when you want to increase attendee engagement through interacting with sponsors and networking with each other.
- Hybrid/onsite event: includes all aspects of virtual events, in addition to in-person capabilities such as lead scanning, badge printing, and more. Select this when you know you will have at least some form of in-person interaction for your event.
* Note: Sessions (Event Area for interactive roundtables) are still available! We are just renaming the Session event format to Webinar to eliminate confusion.
Added webinar flexibility and controls
Even though you may have originally just wanted to run a webinar, you may eventually end up needing more capabilities as event logistics get more complicated.
If the scope of your event starts to expand beyond what a webinar event can provide, You can easily convert your Webinar event to a virtual or hybrid/onsite event at any time. By converting, you’ll get access to everything in the venue that includes the stage, sessions, networking, expo, and more.
All your events, all on RingCentral
Creating an event has never been easier. For our RingCentral Events customers, easily select from the new webinar, virtual, or hybrid/onsite options when you create your next event. Your previously created events will also reflect the new naming convention.
Customers on our legacy Free, Starter, Growth, and Appsumo plans will also now get access to hybrid and onsite event options as well.
If you don’t have RingCentral Events yet, it’s not too late to get started! RingCentral Events is available internationally. Run unlimited events at an unbeatable price, starting at $750 USD/year for 100 attendees per event. Learn more here.
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Originally published May 30, 2024
