We’re expanding our registration form to allow you to add custom text to the form. With this new feature, forms can be more user-friendly and informative by allowing you to add text on any page of the form where you can currently add form elements. This means that you can begin the form with an introduction, add more detail about a custom field, or simply communicate a message to your registrants!

The text will allow basic formatting including bold, underline, ordered list, and unordered list. Of course, you will also be able to add links and make it multilingual.

Lastly, because you may have fields that are filtered on ticket types you can also filter your custom text by ticket types.

This means that you can have a question, for example, to collect your dietary preferences when you purchase a 3-day ticket and then add some helper text in that situation. Then people registering for the virtual event will not see the dietary preferences or the helper text associated with it.

A Roundtable allows multiple participants to share their thoughts and ideas around a specific topic. However, it can be challenging for all participants to get an equal opportunity to speak, especially in large groups or when multiple people are talking at the same time. 

To address this issue, a new feature has been introduced that allows participants to raise their hand during unmoderated Roundtables. We’ve also improved the Raise Hand feature during moderated Roundtables.

This feature works differently depending on whether the Roundtable is moderated or not:

If the Roundtable is not moderated, when a participant raises their hand, everyone in the meeting hears a sound and sees a hand icon on the video thumbnail, indicating who wants to speak. Additionally, there will be a list of people who have raised their hand, which can be accessed by all participants.

If the Roundtable is moderated, the moderator should hear the sound when someone raises their hand. The moderator will have access to the list of people who have raised their hand and can decide who should speak next.

The ability to Raise Hand during a Roundtable is an excellent addition that can make online meetings and discussions more organized, efficient, and inclusive.

As we prepare for more Swapcard Registration features we're making some menu changes. 

Three items that used to be under the Registration section of the menu are moving to the Event builder section. That means that the Registration section is purely focused on our Swapcard registration. In the coming months you'll begin to see new menu items for new features, such as badge printing.

• Registration > Settings has moved to Event builder > Registration Mode
  This change better reflects the choice of registration modes an organizer makes during the setup process. Even if Swapcard Registration is not selected, the organizer will have access to the Registration menu to potentially configure registration before it is live.
  
  
• Registration > Terms has moved to Event builder > Terms
  Terms can apply to Swapcard Registration, to a person accessing the app, or both. You'll still manage your terms in the same feature, but now you'll find those terms in a centralized place.
  
  
• Registration > Integrations has moved to Event builder > Integrations
  Often the integrations used include the registrants, but it's also about exhibitors, speakers, and sessions. Now you'll manage your integrations outside of the context of registration.
  
  

This feature will enhance the attendees’ experience during physical sessions. Now, organization members can access our web Event App to open poll results and session QR codes in dedicated full-screen views. This feature will enable physical attendees to participate in polls and take part in live discussions.

Full-Screen Poll Results

You can now view the results of the polls in a clear and concise manner. Additionally, we have included a QR code so physical attendees can participate in polls during the session. With this feature, attendees can quickly and easily scan the QR code to submit their responses.

You simply have to click on the new button “Present the poll”.

This will open the results as a dedicated view in a new tab:

Session QR Code

We have also introduced a dedicated view for the Session QR code. Physical attendees can now take part in the live discussion, ask questions, and participate in polls by scanning the QR code. This feature makes it easier for attendees to engage in the session and provides a seamless experience for everyone involved.

As an organizer, you simply have to click on the new button “Display session QR code”:

Physical attendees can scan the QR code and reach the Session in the app.

Previously, we’ve updated the Studio to ensure that every time a session is updated, it’s automatically reflected in real-time in the Event App.

This new release provides the same real-time functionality that now includes any updates to the session’s streaming schedule including date and/or time.

Now, users won’t have to refresh the session details page to see the updated session’s streaming availability date and/or time.

See the example below and watch the session’s length update in real-time:

After the release of Groups and Permissions at the Community level, we can now use these groups to define who can see the Community View, but also which People should be showcased in a Community People View.

Using Groups to define Community View Visibility

In the “Visibility” tab of any Community View, you can define which Community Group can see the content:

Any People member of an Event Group linked to a Community Group toggled in this menu, will have access to the content.

Using Groups to define Community People View Content

In the “Data” tab of any Community People View, you can define which Community Group’s members should be displayed in the view:

Since we’ve made all the views at Community level visible, including exhibitors, items, people, and sessions, we are now giving organizers the ability to define permissions within a Community.

Groups will exist in a Community in the same way they exist at the Event level. In each group setting, you can define what anyone in the group can do and can see.

How to set group rights in a Community?

In the Community Builder section in the Studio, there is a new option called “Groups & permissions.” Here, you’ll find a page that lists all the groups in a Community.

Each Community contains three basic pre-built groups, which includes:

• Companies
• Speakers
• Members

There is the option of creating additional groups by clicking on the “Add a group” button, which opens the following window:

In this window, you can name the new group and decide whether to create it with the same settings as an existing group or not.

Clicking on a group will then open the following settings panel, which is the same regardless of the group. Keep in mind that the basic “Speakers” and “Companies” groups cannot be renamed:

As with events, you can define:

• Which people the group members are able to see (selecting among all the Community groups)
• Which exhibitors the group members are able to see (ability to apply a field value condition)
• Which sessions the group members are able to see (ability to apply a field value condition)
• Which items the group members are able to see (ability to restrict to some specific Item types)

Once the group side panel is set, the rules should be applied in the event app. This means if a user is a member of one or several groups, they should only be able to see what the higher-ranked group they’re a member of allows them to see.

How’s it possible to be in a Community group without being directly assigned to the group?

For now, we don’t provide registration at the Community level nor do we provide the Data Manager at the Community level. As such, it’s not possible to assign someone directly to a Community group.

While waiting for these two features, we found a way to make any Event Group member an indirect member of a Community Group. Each Event Group is now linked to a Community Group as a relation child <> parent.

This means that if User X is a member of Event Group A which is a child of the parent Community Group B, when diving into the Community level, the rights of Community Group B are applied.

What happens if…

• User X is a member of Event Group A which is a child of the parent Community Group B

AND

• User X is a member of Event Group C which is a child of the parent Community Group D

AND

• User X is a member of Event Group E which is a child of the parent Community Group F

👉 At Community Level, User X will have the rights of the highest-ranked group among Group B, D, and F.

How to define the link between an Event Group and a Community Group?

At the Event level in Studio, from any Event group side panel, there is a new option to define the Community parent group :

The dropdown lists all the existing Community Groups.

By default :

• Default Event Speakers Group should be linked to Default Community Speakers Group
• Default Event Exhibitors Group should be linked to Default Community Companies Group
• Default Event Attendees Group should be linked to Default Community Members Group
• Custom Event Group should be linked to Default Community Members Group

What’s coming next?

Next, we plan to release:

• The ability to restrict the visibility of Community views using Community Groups
• The guest mode at Community Level
• The ability to turn any Community view into a widget

Stay tuned!

We are introducing another option within Studio for lead retrieval when scanning badges onsite. Currently, if an event organizer enables lead retrieval rights for an individual exhibitor or a select group within Studio, badge scanning will be available on both iOS and Android devices through the Swapcard Mobile App. When an exhibitor with these rights scans an event attendee onsite, a two-way permanent connection is created immediately with contact details shared between the two.

With this new upcoming enhancement, organizers will be able to decide, at group and exhibitor level, whether badge scanning at a physical event creates a traditional two-way permanent connection between the two users, or if a brand new one-way connection is created instead.  A connection is considered one-way when the contact information of the individual who’s badge was scanned is shared with the person who initiated the scan. Only the individual who’s badge was scanned will appear in the scan initiator’s contact list.

This new enhancement will allow organizers to have full control of how information is shared when scanning badges during onsite events.

How will it work?

When the one-way connection option is selected, a contact will be created only for the individual who scanned the badge, by duplicating information of the person scanned including their first and last name, email, and phone number on display in the event profile at the time of the scan.

This logic is similar to business card scanning, in that the individual who’s badge is scanned will not receive a notification and will not have the contact details of who scanned their badge. If the scanned individual’s profile is updated (either by them in their event profile or by the organizer) after their badge was scanned, these changes will not appear for the individual who scanned them prior to the changes.

How to enable one-way connection in Studio?

An option will be added in two places in the Studio to allow event organizers to decide, at group and exhibitor level, whether the badge scan will create a traditional two-way user connection, or the new one-way contact record.

The new option can be found here:

1. Event Builder → Groups & Permissions → Group setting → General → Lead retrieval
2. Content → Exhibitors → Edit individual exhibitor → Lead retrieval

By default, once “Onsite badge reader” is enabled, when a badge is scanned at an event, the contact details of both the person scanning and the person who’s badge was scanned, will be shared with details available to both.

In order to restrict contact sharing and have a one-way connection with the contact details of the scanned person only available to the scan initiator, the organizer will need to select this option: “Scan Initiator”.

Please note that this setting can only be selected by the event organizer.

Additionally, organizers will now have the ability to access related Help Center articles directly from the “Learn more” buttons presented under Setting up lead retrieval and Virtual booth visits. This will allow for quick and easy access to additional information related to these functionalities.

An improvement has been made to the Page View Analytics section within the Studio dashboard, which allows organizers to not only view the number of “Total Views” per page, but also the “Unique Number of Visitors” per page.

The toggle between “Total Views” and “Unique Views” can be easily moved to present the two views. Also, the data is available in a graph view as well as a list view.

With this enhancement, organizers can easily determine page popularity based on unique views.

Note: Unique visitor numbers include visits per page.

If you have set up an RTMP Session using a third-party provider or through our own Backstage solution, and if you recorded it with the option enabled from the Session details in Studio, it is now possible to turn it into an On-demand Session.

How to turn an RTMP Session into an On-Demand Session?

When your Session is over, you now have a new “Convert to on demand” button just below the Format option in the Session details within Studio:

Clicking on it will open the following pop-up window:

From this window, you are able to select which recording you want to use, click on “Save changes” and it’s created like magic. Your Session has now been converted into an on-demand Session and it will display the recording you selected.