Zoom and Intrado launch new features to improve event experience and management

Video-conferencing platform Zoom and telecomms company Intrado have each announced new features to improve event hosting. Zoom Events license holders can now increase branding during virtual events and create a virtual backstage area. Users of Intrado’s Notified solution now have a single platform which can execute virtual, hybrid and in-person events. 

What it does. Zoom Events Backstage is a virtual green room which lets panelists, speakers and production crews chat while viewing the live webinar feed. It also makes it possible to do practice presentations and to have someone off-screen answer attendees’ chat questions. Session Branding provides greater visual customization by adding a wallpaper behind video tiles, setting a common background for all panelists and providing name tags for each panelist. 

Intrado’s Event Cloud makes it easier to manage events via automated back-end processes for speakers, sponsors, staff and meetings. The Digital Experience creates an immersive, branded event experience. The company’s mobile app is designed to drive networking, build personalized agendas, and boost engagement for both in-person and digital attendees.

Why we care. With marketers saying there is only a 50% chance they’d be willing to attend an in-person event, it is clear virtual ones are here to stay. Setting aside health safety issues, they are easier to attend and less-expensive to execute. However, they do not provide all the opportunities – for both speakers and attendees – of face-to-face ones. This is why hybrid events are proving so popular. As these products show, there is an ongoing effort to add the best parts of in-person events to virtual ones, and vice versa.

Read next: How Hollywood and streaming series are revolutionizing virtual events

About The Author

Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.