Plan and host your event the right way with Canapii’s new features

“You may have the most sophisticated video-conferencing platform in the market, but if you don’t get the basics right, no one will ever use it.” – Gemma Edwards, Head of Product, Canapii.

With that in mind, Chime, a Canapii streaming provider, went through major development work to tackle the top pain points: user experience and streaming quality. The breakout interface gained a new layout, hidden and visible options and an interactive bar, and event organizers can now push out session announcements during their live event.

Within the console, event admins can also assign specific roles to end users:

What hosts can do

Hosts now have all the power. With full ability to moderate sessions, they also control recordings and can enable or disable every camera and microphone with one push of a button. Toggling webinar mode automatically switches off attendee cameras and microphones, keeping them enabled only for the session’s speakers.

What speakers can do

Speakers can adjust their video quality and enable voice focus, a new Chime capability that cuts out background noise while a participant is speaking. They can also toggle their own cameras and microphones on and off, even when the session is in webinar mode.

Session announcements work much like YouTube: session tiles can be displayed during or at the end of a session to help your audience navigate the event agenda. If you’d like to steer viewers into a new session or show them related content, this feature lets you do so without setting up a session-specific breakout room.

2. Roundtables open to all attendees

With Chime’s stability fixes and UI enhancements, attendees can now create their own public meetings, or roundtables - think of it as running your own podcast or focused TED-style talk. Guests book themselves into roundtables directly from the virtual platform, just as they would book a session, and every roundtable is visible to all attendees, even those who weren’t originally invited. With session-specific guidelines, any event stakeholder can schedule a public meeting that everyone is welcome to join.

For example, if a live breakout session runs long but your participants have more to say, you can direct them to a roundtable to continue the discussion at a more convenient time. It is a great tool for hybrid events, letting your audience carry on the conversation and engage with one another no matter where they are.

3. Single sign-on options

Canapii is on a mission to make the registration process as smooth and efficient as possible. To reduce password fatigue, improve identity protection and speed up sign-in, users can now log in and register for events with single sign-on. Google, Facebook and Apple are available now, with LinkedIn following shortly.

4. An on-demand zone for attendees

During any event, attendees face the conundrum of choosing between overlapping sessions, roundtables and outside commitments - so even an agenda tailored to them will see a session or two skipped. That is normal. With virtual events, you can leave your event doors open afterwards so your audience comes back to watch what they missed, or simply watch it again.

To make that journey easy, you can now tag sessions as ‘on demand’ and they all appear together in the same space: the ‘Videos on Demand’ event tab.

5. On-site attendance in the registration system

Last but not least, Canapii keeps adding in-person attributes to the organizer console. With physical venues coming back into the mix, our online registration process now supports on-site attendance. Within your event’s registration page, you can create tickets and tag them as ‘on-site attendance’ in the back-end registration system, and manually update each contact record if an attendee changes their mind.

In-person-only ticket types let you charge a different fee, tailor your email marketing campaigns and communications, and offer a different virtual or hybrid experience. And as event experts who have manually printed and handed out badges, we wanted this process to be efficient and eco-friendly: with a click of a button you can create badges for all your attendees, who then scan their QR codes via the Canapii app.

Frequently asked questions about Canapii’s new features

What new features did Canapii launch in early 2022?

Five: Chime streaming improvements with session announcements, roundtables open to all attendees, single sign-on options, a Videos on Demand tab for recorded sessions, and on-site attendance built into the registration system.

What is webinar mode in Canapii sessions?

A host control that automatically switches off attendee cameras and microphones and keeps them enabled only for the session’s speakers - useful for keeping large sessions focused while speakers present.

Which single sign-on providers does Canapii support?

Google, Facebook and Apple at launch, with LinkedIn announced to follow shortly. Single sign-on reduces password fatigue, improves identity protection and speeds up event registration and login.

What are roundtables on Canapii?

Public meetings that any attendee can create and book directly from the virtual platform, just like booking a session. They are visible to everyone at the event, so conversations can continue beyond scheduled sessions - especially useful at hybrid events.

How do QR code badges work for on-site events?

Organizers create badges for all their attendees with a click of a button, and attendees scan their QR codes via the Canapii app on arrival - replacing manual badge printing and handing out.

See Canapii in action

Want to see these features live? Book a demo and discover how Canapii - trusted for 2,000+ events across 45+ countries - helps you plan and host your event the right way.