Swapcard now offers the ability for someone not logged into Swapcard, or not registered to any of the Community's events, to access the Community and its content through the Guest Mode.

Each Community now has a new Guest Mode Group, and it's possible to set the permissions for this group.

It’s also possible to define whether Guests can view each Community in the “Groups & permissions” section.

The Guest Mode is a great way to open your Community to external people and allow them to discover your content and activities. It can also increase the visibility and engagement of your Community.

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:

Physical attendees can scan the QR code and participate in the poll during the live-stream.

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.

We are really excited to introduce our speaker Backstage: an easy and powerful tool to power your streams. 

With this in-house backstage, Swapcard becomes even more all-in-one, so it reduces the set-up time and the number of providers you need to deal with. 

From everyday in-person streaming to professional keynote broadcasting, Backstage can do all this and more.

Using our best technology and our HD low latency stream RTMP protocol (Swapcard streaming), Backstage is closing the gap (and the need) for a third-party studio or streaming app.

The goal of Backstage is to provide a tool to generate and edit live streams into Swapcard by inviting speakers to the session and deciding which speaker takes the stage.

Up to 99 speakers can be invited and 16 at a time can share the center stage!

To enrich the streams, Backstage allows users to share moderator and participant screens.

Two versions of Backstage are available right now: one for moderators and one for speakers. Moderators are the creators of sessions and therefore have the option to create a Backstage session and invite speakers. Speakers can then join to start participating in an event app session.

Professional hardware can be used to enhance our 1080 HD videos by selecting any connected hardware like mics and cameras. This equipment can be selected and swapped out while on a stream.

Seamless live streaming with high-definition video and crystal-clear audio is of course at the center of Backstage, allowing a low-latency stream with integrations for the community to quickly participate and interact.

Full and easy integration with Swapcard Studio allows users to create a session and start streaming in a matter of seconds.

To access Backstage as a creator, simply create a session and select “Live Backstage” : 

Users added in the studio session as speakers can participate as they join.

Speakers can easily join via an invite link or by simply opening the event app and navigating to the session. Once in the session, invited speakers will see a button prompting them to join the stage. Clicking on the “Join Backstage” button will redirect the speaker Backstage. Now, the speaker only has to wait for the moderator or directly join the Backstage session.

Speakers and moderators alike have the option to select hardware while in the waiting room or when in the stream. They can also toggle mute or unmute and turn the camera on or off.

Moderators can decide who takes the center stage and who is on the stream by simply toggling the user switch to on. A default layout template will be available for now, and different ones will be available at later dates.

The option to go live or end a stream on the event app is also for the moderators to decide by simply clicking the “Go live” button in Backstage. There is no need to be present in Studio. If moderators wish to have control of ramp credentials, stream data, and so on, they can continue using all of the existing features in Studio for RTMP.

Both Speaker and Moderator versions are accessible at any time from mobile and web.

Screensharing into the Backstage

As a moderator or a speaker, you can share your screen with Backstage.

On the Backstage platform, a new button just below the main stage allows you to share your screen:

Once you click on it, a pop-up from your browser will ask which screen or window you would like to share, and then it will appear in the bottom list as shown below:

At any time, while any speaker is sharing their screen, the moderator (and moderator only) will be able to invite the person screen-sharing on the main stage.

The Main Stage layout will then automatically adapt to allow for maximum space of the screen sharing.

Available features now in our first version

Moderator view with functionalities:

• Toggle speakers on or off stage
• Mute/unmute self
• Mute/unmute speakers
• See participants in speaker reel
• Set moderator on or off stage
• Add up to 16 speakers to live canvas
• Set up a studio session with Backstage functionality
• Go live on event app from Backstage
• Invite users within a community from Studio to participate in Backstage session
• Stream to event app using Swapcard RTMP
• Option to select a third-party provider if Backstage is not a preference
• Closed captioning in stream through Backstage
• Screensharing

Speaker view with functionalities:

• Jump from event app to Backstage as speaker, if invited
• Mute/unmute self
• Stream to event app using Swapcard RTMP
• Closed captioning in stream through Backstage
• Views depending on if speaker is on live canvas or in waiting room
• Waiting room
• Waiting view for speaker
• Screensharing

Upcoming features

Backstage will continue to add features in the future

• Private chat among moderator and speakers
• Display the session live discussion (chat, questions, polls) in backstage
• Select from a list of banner formats and be able to enter text to show in stream 
• Select from a list of template formats to change the format of the stream 
• Upload a logo and a background to the stage
• Upload a video file to stream it live
• Backstage as a sandbox (for pre-recording a session)

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:

What is RTM?

RTM stands for “real-time monitoring”, a method of observing and analyzing different types of data as it is being accessed, manipulated, and viewed by another party. Once accessed, the information is accurate at the moment it's viewed.

Swapcard is working to implement RTM at different levels in all available apps.

This particular deployment implements real-time updates for the Session date in the Session details. Now, when the organizer edits Session dates in the studio, it reflects immediately in the event app for attendees without the need to refresh their page.

• This first version implements ONLY the start date and end date including the time of the session.
• Dates are automatically updated when you view the Session details in the event app. This feature is not meant to update the dates of a specific Session when you’re viewing the list or using the grid view.

Still to come:

• Session banner placeholder dates with RTM
• Session streaming dates with RTM

We are happy to announce that organizers will soon have Newsfeed statistics available directly from the Analytics Dashboard. This will provide value as organizers will be able to see how users are interacting with the Newsfeed. 

The following data points will be available:

We look forward to your feedback on this improvement, as we continuously strive to improve our analytics on the Studio Dashboard!

There's been significant improvement in the email notification manager: Users will be able to manage their email preferences per community and not per event anymore. 🔥

The email preferences per event will be replaced by the email preferences per community.

How does this work?

The email settings are located in the same place:

From the event page, click on the profile icon to access the drop-down menu, and then choose “Settings” to be redirected to the event settings page.

Under “Email notifications”, a community member can manage their email preferences.

⚠️ When an option is checked, the community member will set this new preference for the community and all the events linked to that community.

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 Onsite badge scan and Virtual booth visits. This will allow for quick and easy access to additional information related to these functionalities.

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: