News 11
How Cvent is evolving its platform for virtual , hybrid and in-person events
Mike Fletcher reports on the product roadmap updates announced at Cvent CONNECT Europe 2021 .
Multi-lingual support , participatory and engagement features , content monetisation tools and the integration of Cvent Studio are just some of the upgrades planned for the Cvent Attendee Hub over the next six months , according to vice-president product management , McNeel Keenan .
Speaking at Cvent CONNECT Europe 2021 , Keenan presented Cvent ’ s Event Cloud product roadmap alongside senior marketing manager , Europe , Felicia Asiedu and some of the US team responsible for developing new products relating to content , community and sponsors .
Keenan told delegates : “ We ’ re working on bringing together three of our solutions - the Attendee Hub , event app and attendee website - into a single user interface that can provide a single source of truth across your event programme and a consistent branded experience for virtual , hybrid and in-person events .”
When discussing advancements in content , Keenan mentioned that before the end of the year , Cvent will roll-out multilingual support and add ‘ Extensibility ’ so that if planners have their own chatbots , tracking pixels or other third-party extensions , these can be added .
He then introduced product director Jackie Ramos who told the audience : “ We ’ re evolving gamification and adding support for quizzes so that you can test an audience ’ s comprehension of a particular subject matter . We ’ re also adding the ability for a virtual viewer to raise their hand and actively participate in sessions . Categories will be introduced to our on-demand video library , as well as the ability to upload video content directly into Cvent .
“ For in-person and hybrid events , attendees need to understand where they ’ re going so we ’ re excited to bring interactive maps to the event app . We ’ re also introducing ‘ Stages ’ so that planners can group sessions and attendees can discover new content and search by subjectmatter . Finally , content monetisation opportunities will allow you to up-sell attendees to premium passes , which will provide access to even more content .”
Asiedu and Keenan then updated delegates on the roll-out of Cvent Studio , a video capture and production solution that was launched in August this year .
Cvent Studio enables planners to create professional-quality video content and pre-build each segment of their webinar or broadcast before going live . They can also use the scene editing functionality to map their show in advance or create preferred looks and templates for easy execution .
With the Director View , planners can mix presenters , media , and screen shares ; engage in multi-user and multi-presenter collaboration ; pre-record sessions ; edit backgrounds , overlays , and lower thirds ; and stream video .
Via the Presenter View , presenters can be invited via a web link to a separate virtual preparation space , allowing them to chat with the director and other communicators , edit their settings , view the programme , and share their screen in real-time .
Director of product management for Cvent Studio , Stephen Bowles told the audience : “ This has been developed out of fatigue for standard webcasting and Zoom meetings so that planners can elevate live or pre-recorded video content with custom backgrounds , lower thirds , overlays and screen shares . It ’ s already being used by our Professional Services teams but will be available for self-service , free-of-charge in the first quarter of 2022 .”
Some of the community-driven developments taking place within the Cvent platform over the next six months include group text discussions , in addition to the video discussions for up to six people that was launched recently ; digital badging and profiles , which allow attendees to carry over their formed connections across multiple events ; social activity feeds ; plus ‘ privacy by design ’ and moderation features .
Matt Eddy , manager of product management in the sponsor activation category , then updated delegates on upcoming features , designed to increase brand awareness and generate leads .
These include Expo Stages ( exhibitorled sessions ), Expo Categories ( allowing for the grouping of subject-related exhibitors ), Exhibition Appointments and Event Discovery , which highlights other events and enables one-click registrations .
Finally , Cvent ’ s senior marketing manager , Europe , Asiedu talked delegates through The New Experience - the single user interface , which will incorporate all Cvent ’ s solutions for virtual , hybrid and in-person events , together with a single source of real-time data , pre-built engagement temples , guardrails for consistency among a broader set of users and incorporated surveys by the end of the year .
She said : “ Our platform expansion is designed as one destination for logistics and execution , audience engagement , systems of record and a single source of data truth - allowing you to build and grow your audience , engage that audience and maximise the impact of that engagement without having to memorise multiple passwords .”