Virtual events and classes
Corsizio provides you with the ability to accept registrations and payments to your events and classes, regardless of whether they occur in a physical location or in a virtual space online.
Virtual events can provide many advantages and are a good way to offer and run your events in case of any health, weather, or other disruptions that may occur in your area or our society, which would prevent you from hosting your events in-person or at any specific physical location.
How to offer and accept registrations and payments for virtual events using Corsizio
In general, a virtual online event will be configured the same way as a physical event. The biggest difference is that, as part of Step 1 - Main Details, you would not select the location to have an address and a map. Instead, you would create a location label to reflect the online space of the event, like "Virtual online", or simply select "No location." You can explain more about this to your audience as part of Step 3 - Description & Content.
After configuring the event and creating the event registration page, share it with your audience in the manner of your choosing, just as you would any other event. This can be through social media, a newsletter, or links on your website. Refer to the help doc Website embed and links to your events for more info.
Then, at some point after your customers have registered and before the event starts, send the registered individuals a unique link to the virtual event through which they will gain access to it. These links are provided by the online video meeting or the conferencing platform that you choose to use to host the event. You can send registrants this link through an email, a closed social media group, or directly through Corsizio using the automated process below or a memo message. Refer to the help doc on how to use event memos for more info, but the proper flow is described in the next section below.
Sharing the virtual meeting or webinar private link
There is a dedicated input area named Virtual Meeting Link & Info, as part of Step 1 - Main Details on the event configuration, where you will enter the sensitive virtual meeting info and link that you want to be included on the automated confirmation and reminder emails and in their attached iCal .ics file. This should be used for links to Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or any other web meeting service you may be using.
If you don't want to use the primary way of including such details for virtual events requiring an attendee to have an online or virtual meeting link and sometimes a password, then you can always use the custom email communication message area included on confirmation and reminder emails. Refer to the help doc Custom messages on email receipts and reminders. You don't really need this if you use the primary approach described above.
This will ensure that the most up-to-date information is provided, as entered by you. This is especially important if the virtual event meeting link or its password changes between the time of registration and the start of the event, in which case the reminder email will include the most accurate link and password.
This will also ensure that the private link is only visible to the registered person as part of their registration emails, and not visible anywhere publicly. You do not want to include any such sensitive or private information on public event pages as this would allow anyone who sees these pages to join the virtual event without actually registering. A short segment of the first paragraph from the event description that was provided as part of Step 3 - Description & Content will be included as part of the .ics file when the public "Add to Calendar" function is used and this is considered public information. Read the help doc to learn How the "Add to Calendar" function works and why it cannot contain any private information, but with the above specific approach to sensitive virtual meeting info and links to be included in certain cases.
This flow relies on the attendee getting these private and sensitive details only after registering and immediately as part of their confirmation receipt email. They should rely on that to have the necessary details to join the online event. The attached .ics file will also include the virtual meeting info you configured on the event, or they could copy and paste these details manually from the email content and into their personal calendar as per their preferences.
Virtual event platform options
Below are some third-party online video meetings and conferencing platforms that provide you with a unique link to a web meeting that you set up on their platform. This unique event link is what you would then share with your registered attendees, as mentioned above, in the manner of your choosing so that they can attend the virtual event.
Some of these services integrate with Zapier, just like Corsizio does, enabling you to send data to other external apps or web services you may be using. For example, they can send the attendee's name and email address upon registration to your Zoom account or meeting.
This service provides free and paid plans to host group video and audio sessions. They provide your participants the ability to join a web video session from their web browser or their dedicated app without needing an account in some cases.
If you already have and use Google Workspaces or even just a personal Google account, you already have access to their Google Meet video conferencing service, which you can use to host group video sessions.
Fully free and web-based video and audio meeting and conferencing solution. You or any of the participants do not need to download anything or create accounts to have online meetings.
Other large providers that offer web conferencing services:
Note: Treat a virtual event the same way you would a physical event when taking attendance or ensuring that only those who have registered and paid are present. You can also use the virtual meeting platform's features you have chosen to restrict access to the virtual meeting.