As with any events, online or offline, you and your team will probably be a little stressed — speakers can cancel last minute or not show up, a network connection can go down, and an attendee might aberrate — but don’t worry, here are several tips and how-tos that will help you keep your event as stress-free as possible from start to finish.
Tip 1 - You don't need to "start" your event
Your event published on Hopin opens five minutes before the start time. This means everyone can enter your event through the registration page link. Your attendees will see a Join Event button and anyone who has registered will land in the Reception area and start interacting. Your attendees will be able to chat, see Polls, and check out other attendees in the People tab.
There is nothing you need to do to “start” your event. It’s automatic. Most organizers “kick off” their event on Stage with a welcome message, but you can begin your event however you please.
Tip 2 - Open three browser tabs
To manage your event, you’ll probably want to have three browser tabs open:
- The event itself -- so you can join Sessions, Networking, and Expo and other parts of the event as an attendee.
- The Backstage -- so you can broadcast to the Stage.
- Your event Dashboard -- so you can make changes to settings of your event on the go, such as end times, schedule changes, adding speakers or sessions, or placing pre-recorded videos on the Stage or in vendor booths. All changes are real time once you save them.
Tip 3 - Remember the Stage delay
There is a 10-15 second delay between the Backstage and the front Stage. So when you start broadcasting to the Stage, you won’t show up instantly. That’s okay. Continue speaking normally. When the front Stage does start streaming, make sure it’s muted on your device. You are able to mute the stage by lowering the volume/clicking on the speaker icon in the bottom left of the stage stream. Otherwise, you’ll hear an unpleasant echo.
Also, if you ask your attendees a question while you’re presenting on the Backstage, their responses in chat will come ~10-15 seconds after you ask the question.
Tip 4 - Mute, delete, or remove aberrant Attendee behaviour
If an attendee is writing inappropriate messages in the chat, you can click the red “trash” icon next to their message to delete it instantly:
You can also go to the People tab, find the attendee and click on Mute this person to prevent the attendee from sending messages at the event.
Block this person option will immediately ban the attendee from the event
In the new panel that appears click Unblock bottom at the bottom. This will prevent them from re-entering the event.
If an issue with a user persists, you can reach out to the support team directly, we will swiftly respond, look into the situation, and remove the person from the event on the backend. Learn more about session moderation here.
Tip 5 - Have a backup plan ready for absent speakers or bad network connections
As with any event, online or offline, things happen. People get sick, get called away, or get delayed. There are things outside of your control to account for. In these scenarios, it’s always good to have a backup plan — maybe another speaker or someone from your team can step in, or a pivot to another area of the event, such as Networking or Sessions. Or encourage your guests to explore the Expo area.
Tip 6 - How to present your slides in the Backstage
To present your slides in the Backstage follow these steps:
- Open your slides in a new tab or application.
- In the Backstage once you are on screen, click Screenshare (it looks like a computer with a red line through it).
- Once your options appear, choose to share the Chrome tab, entire desktop, or application with your slides.
- Your camera and slides will be split vertically 50-50 down the middle in the Backstage.
- Disable the camera clicking the camera icon and your screenshare will automatically cover the entire space for the attendees on the Stage.
If you need more details on presenting slides from the backstage, please read our support guide.
Check on our Sharing your Powerpoint guide for more information on presenting slides during the event.
Tip 7 - Direct your attendees with chat messages
To direct people around your event, mention the plan in a welcome message on the Stage or use the event chat to post where everyone should be. Your Organizer messages are always highlighted in colour so they’re easy to see.
You can link to the area you want people to go to. For example, drop a link to the specific Session you want your attendees to join in the Event chat (i.e., https://www.hopin.com/events/your-event-name/schedule/1485/roundtables/1057). When you paste a link in Hopin, it automatically shortens to a clickable hashtag, (i.e. #sessions/1057). Attendees will land in the area in one click.
After you drop a link or message, pin it to the chat! Our Pinned message feature allows each chat has its own pinned message to direct attendees. To create a pinned message, send a chat message and hover over it. You will then see a "thumbtack" icon, and all you do is click it.
Below is how it looks in the chat.
Once you click the icon, it will bring it to the top of the chat:
Tip 8 - Replace the Stage with a pre-recorded video
When you’re done with your live Stage events, you can switch the Stage from livestream to a pre-recorded video. This way, when attendees go to the Stage when it’s not live, they’ll still be able to watch a video (recordings are only available after the event).
You can change the Stage from livestream to pre-recorded video by going to your Event Dashboard → Venue → Stage. Click to edit the Stage, and switch the "Stream provider" from “Hopin” to “YouTube”/”Vimeo”/”Wistia” input the video ID, and hit Save.
Go to your event and hit Refresh and the pre-recorded video will be playable on the Stage.
Check on our Stage tutorial and Expo tutorial for more information on pre-recorded and live videos.
Tip 9 - After your event
Your event time is strict and you will have no more than 5 minutes after your specified end time before your event is closed. If at any time you think you may run over, you can extend your event end time via your Event Dashboard > Setup > Basics (as long as it does not exceed the maximum allowance of your plan).
Once the event is over, event Organizers receive an email to view the Event Reports. Event Reports section is available at any time in the event. Organizers can find it in the Event Dashboard → Analytics → Reports.
For more information on all of the different reports available to you, check out Event Reports article or read more about our Event Analytics.