Spotlight 34: Handle event engagement in one space

Spotlight 34: Handle event engagement in one space



Having one place where you can run sessions, promote networking, and drive attention to exhibitor booths can help increase engagement at events.

In Zoho Backstage's Virtual Space, you can provide event participants with a unified experience to join sessions, participate in discussions using networking tables, and interact with exhibitors, all from one place.

Set up the Virtual Space

Every time you open a session, visit a booth, or join a networking table, you will be redirected to the Virtual Space. Once you have entered the Virtual Space through any of the above options, you can easily switch between these options inside the Virtual Space itself. Event participants also get to experience the same thing when they do this from the event microsite.
 

 
You can customize the Virtual Space to reflect your brand or event's theme by choosing a logo, a background, and the ambience. The logo you've set for the event will be chosen for the Virtual Space by default, but you can select a different one if needed. For the background, the option that you choose will be applied for all sessions, tables, and meeting rooms in exhibitor booths. You can even modify the background scheme at a granular level by selecting a different background for individual booths, sessions, or tables. The Virtual Space ambience can either be set to Dark or Light.

Set the stage for sessions

When hosting a session, you can go to the event microsite and visit the Agenda page. There you can click the Start session button. Alternatively, you can also do this from Backstage. Go to the Conduct Dashboard and click the Present sessions tab. Next, click a session in the timeline on the left and click the Start session button. You can then broadcast the session with the help of the webcasting service that you've selected.
 

 
The session area will be designed based on the Virtual Space settings you've chosen. To change the background color for a specific session, click the Session stage background icon [] at the right and choose a background option from the list.
 

Facilitate communication with networking tables

Networking tables can be an opportunity for event participants to make important connections. Think of them as similar to round table discussions that take place at a physical event. Attendees can take a seat at a virtual networking table and interact with others there. Networking tables can be used by anyone who is a part of the event such as speakers, attendees, sponsors, or event exhibitors.
 

 
To create a networking table, go to the Manage Dashboard and click the Virtual tab, then click the Networking tab. Here you can say how many seats must be available and  enable options such as chat, video stream, polls, or screen sharing for everyone at the table, if necessary. You could also choose to make tables exclusive so that they will be available only to certain participants. To do this, select the Open for a specific group radio button, and select the group you want to make them available to.


 
Event team members can join networking tables to take part in the discussion or just observe the conversation. Event members who join networking tables can manage ongoing interactions by muting or unmuting the mics or pausing the video stream of participants.

Each table can have a background of its own too. You can do this by clicking the Networking tab in the Virtual Space and clicking the Table background icon [].

Showcase exhibitors to interest attendees

The Virtual Space also includes the Exhibitors tab, which lists all the exhibitors who are associated with your event. Exhibitors can send a request to the event team through the event microsite. Once the request is approved, they can conduct meetings with interested booth visitors during the virtual event.


 
Exhibitors can use the rehearsal option before the event to practice meeting flow with test participants. During the event, the My Booth tab in the Virtual Space gives an overview of the exhibitor's information and also the members who are available in the booth. The number of ongoing meetings and visitors who are in the waiting room will be visible here. An exhibitor's booth background scheme can also be modified in the Virtual Space using the Expo meeting background icon [].


 
Exhibitors can also use the chat and questions option to interact with visitors when meeting with them. When viewing information for other exhibitors in the Exhibitors tab, you can do this without leaving an ongoing meeting, if you're a part of one.

After the event is over, exhibitors can export chat messages from the event microsite and, based on the permission given, they can also view and export the lead list from the Leads tab.

In Backstage, you can see an overview for details regarding exhibitors and their booths. To view this, go to the Overview tab in the Manage Dashboard and click the Exhibitors tile. Here you can keep track of booth purchases, view the sales overview for booths, and also examine analytics for meetings in booths.

Engage event participants in the Virtual Space and customize it to match your event's style. You can also start a discussion about this in our community or write to us at support@zohobackstage.com with your thoughts or questions.

Happy organizing!

    • Recent Topics

    • Desk DMARC forwarding failure for some senders

      I am not receiving important emails into Desk, because of DMARC errors. Here's what's happening: 1. email is sent from customer e.g. john@doe.com, to my email address, e.g info@acme.com 2. email is delivered successfully to info@acme.com (a shared inbox

    • Ticket layout based on field or contact

      Hi! I want to support the following use-case: we are delivering custom IT solutions to different accounts we have, thus our ticket layouts, fields and languages (priority, status field values should be Hungarian) will be different. How should I setup

    • Deactivated Zoho One account can sign in

      I am concerned by the fact that deactivated users in Zoho One have the ability to sign in even after their account has been deactivated (not deleted). these inactive identities have no access to individual Zoho apps or data. based on my experience they

    • SAML in Zoho One vs Zoho Accounts

      What is the difference between setting up SAML in Zoho Accounts: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/accounts/manage-your-organization/saml/articles/configure-saml-in-zoho-accounts ... vs SAML in Zoho One?: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/one/admin-guide/custom-authentication/setting-up-custom-authentication-with-popular-idps/articles/zohoone-customauthentication-azure

    • How can I reset the password for a user in Zoho Projects

      We need to reset the password for a user in Zoho Projects. I am the admin portal owner and there was nothing to be found to do this. very confusing.

    • No funcionan correctamente el calculo de las horas laborales para informe de tickets

      Hola, estoy intentando sacar estadísticas de tiempo de primera respuesta y resolución en horario laboral de mis tickets, pero el calculo de horas en horario laboral no funciona correctamente cree los horarios con los feriados : Ajusté los acuerdos de

    • How can I add a comment to an existing ticket via API?

      I need to add comments/notes to the history of an existing ticket using the API without overwriting the original ticket description. Thanks!

    • Notification to customers when I use a Zoho function

      Hi all, I tried searching the community but couldn't find anything about it. I noticed that the customer receives the notification of reopening the old ticket but does not receive the notification of opening a new ticket when I use the function: "separate

    • Internal Error When Accessing Team Inbox.

      All our users are seeing this error in teaminbox. Because its a critical tool kindly resolve this issue ASAP.

    • Marketer's Space: Proven tips to improve open rates – Part III

      Hello Marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space! This is the final post in the "open rate series". In the first and second parts, we discussed topics ranging from sender domains to pre-headers—but we're not done yet. A few more important

    • MCP no longer works with Claude

      Anyone else notice Zoho MCP no longer works with Claude? I'm unable to turn this on in the claude chat. When I try to toggle it on, it just does nothing at all. I've tried in incognito, new browsers, etc. - nothing seems to work.

    • Change Number Field to Decimal Field

      Hi, It would be nice to be able to change the field type without having to delete it and create a new one, messing up the database and history. Thanks Dan

    • Allow Text within a Formula

      Hi, I would like to be able to use this for others things like taking an existing Date Field and copying its value, so by entering getDay(Date)&"-"&getMonth(Date)&"-"&getYear(Date) it results in 01-02-2026. And then when the Date is changed so is this

    • Zoho Social - Feature Request - Reviewer Role

      Hi Social Team, I've come across this with a couple of clients, where they need a role which can review and comment on posts but who has no access to create content. This is a kind of reviewer role. They just need to be able to see what content is scheduled

    • Zoho Books/Inventory - Update Marketplace Sales Order via API

      Hi everyone, Does anyone know if there is a way to update Sales Orders created from a marketplace intigration (Shopify in this case) via API? I'm trying to cover a scenario where an order is changed on the Shopify end and the changes must be reflected

    • Zoho Inventory / Finance Suite - Add feature to prevent duplicate values in Item Unit field

      I've noticed that a client has 2 values the same in the Unit field on edit/create Items. This surprised me as why would you have 2 units with the same name. Please consider adding a feature which prevents this as it seems to serve no purpose.

    • Zoho CRM for Everyone's NextGen UI Gets an Upgrade

      Hello Everyone We've made improvements to Zoho CRM for Everyone's Nextgen UI. These changes are the result of valuable feedback from you where we’ve focused on improving usability, providing wider screen space, and making navigation smoother so everything

    • Kaizen #224 - Quote-driven Deal Reconciliation Using Zoho CRM Functions and Automation

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another instalment in the Kaizen series. This post covers quote-driven deal reconciliation, emphasizing Functions and Automation to address practical sales challenges. Business Challenge Sales organizations often mark deals

    • CRM gets location smart with the all new Map View: visualize records, locate records within any radius, and more

      Hello all, We've introduced a new way to work with location data in Zoho CRM: the Map View. Instead of scrolling through endless lists, your records now appear as pins on a map. Built on top of the all-new address field and powered by Mappls (MapMyIndia),

    • Dependent / Dynamic DropDown in ZohoSheets

      Has anyone figured out a way to create a Dropdown, the values of which is dependent on Values entered in the other cell ?

    • Zoho Inventory - Composite Items - Assembly - Single Line Item Quantity of One

      Hi Zoho Inventory Team, Please consider relaxing the system rules which prevent an assembly items from consisting of a single line item and outputting a quantity of 1. A client I'm currently working with sells cosmetics and offers testers of their products

    • Directly Edit, Filter, and Sort Subforms on the Details Page

      Hello everyone, As you know, subforms allow you to associate multiple line items with a single record, greatly enhancing your data organization. For example, a sales order subform neatly lists all products, their quantities, amounts, and other relevant

    • BARCODE PICKLIST

      Hello! Does anyone know how the Picklist module works? I tried scanning the barcode using the UPC and EAN codes I added to the item, but it doesn’t work. Which barcode format does this module use for scanning?

    • Zoho Inventory - Allow Update of Marketplace Generated Sales Orders via API

      Hi Inventory Team, I was recently asked by a client to create an automation which updated a Zoho Inventory Sales Order if a Shopify Order was updated. I have created the script but I found that the request is blocked as the Sales Order was generated by

    • How do I create an update to the Cost Price from landed costs?

      Hi fellow Zoho Inventory battlers, I am new to Zoho inventory and was completely baffled to find that the cost price of products does not update when a new purchase order is received. The cost price is just made up numbers I start with when the product

    • Manage control over Microsoft Office 365 integrations with profile-based sync permissions

      Greetings all, Previously, all users in Zoho CRM had access to enable Microsoft integrations (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) in their accounts, regardless of their profile type. Users with administrator profiles can now manage profile-based permissions

    • Zoho OAuth Connector Deprecation and Its Impact on Zoho Desk

      Hello everyone, Zoho believes in continuously refining its integrations to uphold the highest standards of security, reliability, and compliance. As part of this ongoing improvement, the Zoho OAuth default connector will be deprecated for all Zoho services

    • VoC in Zoho CRM is now data savvy: Explore response drilldown, summary components and participation in CRM criteria

      VoC has all the goods when it comes to customer intelligence—which is why we're constantly enhancing it. We recently added the following: A customer drilldown component that shows you the list of prospects and customers behind a chart's attribute Expanded

    • How do I bulk archive my projects in ZOHO projects

      Hi, I want to archive 50 Projects in one go. Can you please help me out , How can I do this? Thanks kapil

    • Error 0x800CCC0F Outlook

      Hello, i cannot send or receive email in outlook. can you please help. 'Sending' reported error (0x800CCC0F) : 'The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).'

    • Passing the CRM

      Hi, I am hoping someone can help. I have a zoho form that has a CRM lookup field. I was hoping to send this to my publicly to clients via a text message and the form then attaches the signed form back to the custom module. This work absolutely fine when

    • Can I add Conditional merge tags on my Templates?

      Hi I was wondering if I can use Conditional Mail Merge tags inside my Email templates/Quotes etc within the CRM? In spanish and in our business we use gender and academic degree salutations , ie: Dr., Dra., Sr., Srta., so the beginning of an email / letter

    • Zoho vault instal on windows

      I am trying to use Zoho Vault Desktop for Windows, but I am unable to complete the sign-in process. Problem description After logging in to my Zoho account and clicking Accept on the authorization page, nothing happens. The application does not proceed

    • Zoho Browser??

      hai guys, this sounds awkward but can v get a ZOHO BROWSER same as zoho writer, etc. where i can browse websites @ home and continue browsing the same websites @ my office, as v have the option in Firefox, once i save and close the browser and again when i open it i will be getting the same sites. If u people r not clear with my explanation, plz let me know. Thanks, Sandeep  

    • Let’s Talk Recruit: LinkedIn Cheatsheet

      Welcome to the first edition of Let’s Talk Recruit for 2026. We are kicking off the year by revisiting one of the most asked about topics in Zoho Recruit. How our LinkedIn integrations actually work and how recruiters can get the most value from them.

    • Zoho Forms API

      Is there any way to get all form entry list using API? Looking forward to hear from you

    • Creating a Chart from a Report

      In Zoho Analytics, is it possible to create a chart from a Pivot View report? We are looking to use Zoho Analytics to replace Excel for Sales reports and would like to be able to show both the table and the chart together.

    • Ability to Set Client Name During Portal Invitation

      Hi Zoho Team, We would like to suggest an important enhancement to the Zoho Creator Client Portal functionality. Zoho Creator recently introduced the option to set a client’s display name in the Client Portal settings, which is very helpful for creating

    • Move email between inboxes?

      Is it possible to move emails from one team inbox to another? We would like to be able to have a single "catch-all" inbox for incoming requests, and then move the email to the appropriate department inbox. I was hoping we would be able to accomplish this

    • PDF Attachment Option for Service Reports

      Hello Team, I would like to check with you all if there is an option to attach PDF documents to the service reports. When I try to attach a file, the system only allows the following formats: JPEG, JPG, and PNG. Could you please confirm whether PDF attachments

    • Next Page