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  • 1.  Virtual Event Technology

    Posted 12-03-2020 02:47 PM
    Has anyone used virtual event technologies other than Zoom to put on conferences or events? What did you like? What did you not like? We have found Zoom Webinar to be limiting and are looking for options that offer more features like audience participation, breakout rooms, streaming, dual or multi-language captioning, branding, and better marketing. 

    Thank you!

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    Hannah Meyer
    Assistant Director of Visitor Experience and Special Events
    Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
    New Haven CT
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  • 2.  RE: Virtual Event Technology

    Posted 12-03-2020 02:58 PM
    Great question.
    I attended a conference in April or May using the platform https://hopin.com/ and found it to be really great for meeting people one-on-one and networking. The platform was in its early stages then so it may have evolved now that they've had a few more months (and more investors with $) to tinker.  The meeting/presentation platform worked best with Chrome, which was limiting, but again, they may have fixed that by now.

    Later this month I'm attending a "holiday party" using the platform https://gather.town/ which seems a lot like a video game in graphics but it may seem more like an actual "event" where you can control where you walk, and there are multiple ways to talk to people and be in smaller "rooms."
    I can let you know more after I attend.

    - Claudia

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    Claudia Ocello
    President & CEO
    Museum Partners Consulting, LLC
    Maplewood NJ
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  • 3.  RE: Virtual Event Technology

    Posted 12-04-2020 05:41 PM
    I had a horrible experience with Hopin in November.   It required you use Chrome and my firewall - which has poses no problem with either Zoom or Microsoft Teams - kept it from streaming fast enough to give me either video or audio, although the other participants could see and hear me.   More than a bit challenging to give a presentation when I had to connect to the moderator through a phone line and didn't know what slide was being shown!

    --
    Janice Klein
    EightSixSix Consulting





  • 4.  RE: Virtual Event Technology

    Posted 12-07-2020 12:27 PM
    I was on the other side of Janice's session and it was as chaotic as she described. The tech assisters were so immersed in their platform, they did not do a good job of trouble shooting for people not versed in the platform. I was also disappointed that the two items that seemed promising about Hopin - the ability to network and to communicate individually with other participants - did not work at all for me. This platform has promise, but it looks like it will be awhile before it will meet what it is hoping to provide. 

    I have found that ZOOM is easier to use . It has limitations, but, we are used to it now and can hope for improvements as time goes on.

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    M. Susan Barger, PhD Fellow, AIC
    Santa Fe, NM
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  • 5.  RE: Virtual Event Technology

    Posted 12-04-2020 10:08 AM
    Edited by Brendan Ciecko 12-04-2020 10:07 AM

    Hi Hannah, we've done a bit of research about which virtual event/webinar platforms are being most commonly used by museums, as well as the types of events that are helping generate revenue. Here are a few links:


    There are some new platforms that have emerged like Google's Fundo - is anyone using that?



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    Brendan Ciecko
    CEO & Founder
    Cuseum
    Boston MA
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  • 6.  RE: Virtual Event Technology

    Posted 12-04-2020 11:31 AM
    Hi Hannah - we had a guest speaker at a webinar in October. Her name is Dana Bakich with Positive Equation. She runs a social media Facebook group and is really knowledgeable on virtual events. If you forward to around the 34-minute mark of the webinar, you can see her demonstration of StreamYard. I haven't used that platform, but she highly recommended it. Here is the link:

    Tweak Your #GivingTuesday Social Media: Expert Tells All



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    Kim Peterson
    Content Marketing Specialist
    San Francisco CA
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  • 7.  RE: Virtual Event Technology

    Posted 12-07-2020 10:37 AM
    We also use Streamyard and are happy with it.

    --
    Melissa Felder
    415-710-0643
    Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer
    California Academy of Sciences

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