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

    • Canadian payroll

      Hello ZOHO, is any updates on when payroll for Canada will be available?

    • Unified customer view: Bringing product intelligence into your CRM data

      For businesses today, applications and digital interfaces are the main touch points in the customer journey. While Zoho CRM data already tells who your customers are and what they buy, Zoho Apptics tells you how they interact and engage with your product.

    • Zoho Creator SaaS app with multiple client AND multiple users

      I am close to finalizing a Zoho Creator app that will be used by different companies to manage sale info, and each company can have multiple users using the app. Things were going perfectly until I tried a search on a report. I use a database field in each table to separate the data for each company, which works great. BUT when I do a search, I get to see ALL the data. This means that Company A could easily see the data from Companies B and C via the built-in search. Is there a way to set up the

    • Possible to send Zoom AI Companion transcripts and summaries to contacts in CRM?

      Title says it all. Is it possible to send Zoom AI Companion transcripts and summaries to contacts in Zoho CRM?

    • How do I edit the Calendar Invite notifications for Interviews in Recruit?

      I'm setting up the Zoho Recruit Interview Calendar system but there's some notifications I don't have any control over. I've turned off all Workflows and Automations related to the Calendar Scheduling and it seems that it's the notification that is sent

    • Clarity on extended contract status

      Clarity on “extended” status- How does Zoho “extend” a contract?  E.g. if client extends by 1 month, can the “end date” be adjusted accordingly in Zoho and tagged as “Extended” with a clear audit trail that also captures the client’s email? Note- Email

    • Customizing contract status

      Can we customize/add/remove status on Zoho contracts ourselves or does Zoho needs to do this? Context- There is a long list of status on Zoho but not all of them are relevant for us . There are few status which are missing and needs to be added. E.g-

    • Set Custom Business Calendars and Holidays for Global Teams

      Managing a project across diverse teams means accounting for more than just tasks and deadlines; it means acknowledging how and when each team actually works. Users might follow different working days or observe region-specific holidays that cannot be

    • [Integration edition] Deluge learning series - Integrations between Zoho apps and Third-party services with Deluge | 28 August 2025

      We’re excited to welcome you to the Deluge learning series: Integration edition! The Integration edition will run for three months: Session 1 – Integrating Zoho Apps with Deluge using inbuilt integration tasks Session 2 – Integrating Zoho Apps with Deluge

    • Critical Vulnerability in all major password manager plugins - is Zoho Vault affected?

      Hi Zoho, a security researcher found a critical clickjacking vulnerability in all major browser password managers: DOM-based Extension Clickjacking: Your Password Manager Data at Risk | Marek Tóth Is Zoho Vault affected as well? Apparently the Vault extension

    • Need Your Insights

      Hi Zoho, I'm confused why the flow only sends to one output. setVariable15 is from a list. It doesn't consider the 2nd entry. Any thoughts?

    • Map Dependency Fields - How can can I limit picklist values from a multi-select Parent field?

      I know the "Map Dependency Fields" feature doesn't allow a multi-select parent field. However, I need the functionality. Can I do it through a deluge function, and would it still support color coding picklists? We need the color coding for quick scanning

    • DYK 1 - Color Palette for Enhanced Visual Identification of Status

      Introducing the Did You Know series of posts. The goal of this series is to familiarize users with certain features or enhancements in Zoho Projects that may not be evident at first glance. The first post in this series deals with color palettes for indicating

    • Invalid field in the COQL query

      Dear Zoho Support! I believe that you already helped me with a similar problem a few years ago. One of my clients has a custom field named "LOB" in the "Deals" Module (see the field's metadata below). The COQL query using this field: : "select id, Deal_Name,

    • Transferring domain registration to new registrar and switching email hosting at the same time?

      I need to transfer an existing domain uv cure adhesive that's currently with SiteGround to Porkbun. I also need to move the existing custom email addresses from SiteGround to Zoho Mail. I'm not sure if I should transfer the domain first and then tackle

    • Split deposits

      Can Zoho do split deposits. One deposit, two checks for two separate invoices from different customers. This is one of the most common tasks I can imaging. When I mark the two invoices paid, there are two deposits in bank register. When I try to match,

    • Deactivate Desk Contact without Deleting Contat

      We have a client who has multiple tenants for regulatory purposes, and as such, has a few users that have email addresses in both tenants. They've then emailed into the ticketing system, so we have multiple contacts (no big deal, we want to keep their

    • [Free Webinar] Learning Table Series - Zoho Creator for Asset Management with AI Enhancements

      Hello Everyone! We’re excited to invite you to another edition of Learning Table Series, where we showcase how Zoho Creator empowers industries with innovative and automated solutions. Each month highlights a specific sector, and this time our focus is

    • Is there any way to get notified when a failure execution happens on a Workflow ?

      Hello, I wanted to know if it was possible to get notified (like with a mail for example) when a single failure happens on a specific flow of my organization ? I know that there's a mail which warns you when there's 20 failure in a row on the same flow,

    • Menu Building is completely broken

      I have been 3 hours, I have not been able to edit the menu. Either it is completely broken, very little intuitive or I do now know anything... There is no way to create a megamenu, no way to create a menu. Despite the fact I go to menu configurartion

    • Can you sell Subscriptions using Zoho Commerce?

      In addition to physical products and the apparently coming soon 'Digital Products', it is possible to sell Subscriptions using Zoho Commerce?

    • Kaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Multiple Languages for Product Names

      Hi, I use 2 languages: spanish and english. I want to have for every product a name in spanish and a name on english. I want to have to possibility of choosing one of these languages when making an invoice or a purchase order. Is there any way to do

    • Item with name in different languate

      Hello, is there a way to have an item with its name in different languages? For example: I sell an item in different markets and I'd like to have a Proposal and the Invoice with the Item Name in a specific language. Rino Bertolotto Zoho Specialist, STESA srl

    • Contacts with most tickets? Alarm for multiple tickets?

      Is it possible to see through the analytics/reports which contacts are creating the most tickets (not the most discussed ones)? Also, is there a way to set up a notification if a contact creates multiple tickets within a certain time frame?

    • Issue with Template Subject Line Format in Zoho CRM

      Hi Team, I’ve noticed that when I update the subject line of an email template in Zoho CRM, it sometimes appears in an incorrect format when used. Please see the attached screenshot for reference. Kindly look into this issue and fix this issue from backend

    • Two Data Labels in Bar Chart

      I need to create a bar chart that has both the SUM and COUNT. I've concatenated them into a formula but it converts it into a stacked bar / scattered chart. The bar chart is no longer accessible. Since i'm comparing YOY, it would be best to have it in

    • Disable field on subform row

      Hi, Is it currently possible to disable a row item on a subform? I was just trying to do something whereby until another value is entered the field is disable but for the deluge scripting interface threw up an error saying such a function is not supported on a subform. Thanks in advance for your help. Shaheed

    • Leads - Kanban view fit to screen

      Hey guys, I created a custom layout for my leads, staged by lead status. I have 10 types of status. In Kanban view I see only 4 columns/stages and need to scroll to the right to see the rest. Is there a way to make columns/stages be displayed all together?

    • Request to Differentiate Auto-Closed WhatsApp Conversations in SalesIQ

      Hi Zoho Support, I’d like to raise a request related to the way WhatsApp conversations are auto-closed in SalesIQ. Every Monday, our Sales team has to manually review each closed WhatsApp conversation from the weekend to identify which ones were automatically

    • Kanban View UI gets a revamp

      Hello everyone, In the coming week you will notice design related enhancements in Kanban View. The UI has been changed and a new option is introduced under Kanban View Settings that allows to change the color of the category headers.  Please, note that the functionality is not changed. These changes will not apply to the Activities and Visits modules. Here are the details of the changes: 1. The column widths have been fixed to 300 px. The records will have a box around them for clear distinction.

    • Issue with Anchor Link on Zoho Landing Page (Mobile/Tablet View)

      Hi Team, I have created a landing page using Zoho Landing Page and added an anchor link to it. The anchor link is working fine on desktop view; however, it does not work properly on mobile or tablet view. I’ve tried debugging this issue in multiple ways,

    • Simplest way to convert XML to a map?

      I've reviewed the help info and some great posts on the forum here by Stephen Rhyne (srhyne). At the moment I'm using XPath to generate a list of xml nodes, iterating through that to fetch the field name/value pairs and adding them to a map (one map for each record in the data). I then convert the row map to a string and add it to a list. Here's the function: list xml.getRecordListFromXML(string xml_data, string ele_name) {     result = List();     // get list of record nodes     rec_list = input.xml_data.toXML().executeXPath("//"

    • Introducing Creator Simplified: An exclusive learning series to enhance your app development skills

      Hey Creators! Welcome to Zoho Creator's new learning series, Creator Simplified. In this series, we'll dive into real-world business use cases and explore how to translate your requirements into solutions in your Creator application. You can also expect

    • [Product update] Updated Data Synchronization Process for QuickBooks - Zoho Analytics Integration.

      Dear QuickBooks integration users, We’re making an important update in the way data is currently synced in your QuickBooks integration within Analytics workspace. What’s changing: Previously, with every data synchronization, Zoho Analytics used to fetch

    • Zoho CRM new calander format cannot strikethrough completed task

      Hi, Recently there is a new format for calendar within Zoho CRM However, found out that a completed task will not cross out or strikethrough like previous format. Without strikethrough, it will be difficult to identify which task is still in Open status.

    • Employees not Users

      Hello, We are a construction company that has +180 employees and most of them are in remote location working onsite with no access to internet. Is it possible that we have data stored for all employees but have only 5-10 users who will be in charge of entering employees data? or do we have to pay for all +180 employees? even though they won't be using the system?

    • Zoho people generatimg pdf

      Hello , now i want to make a customm button in zoho people that is inside a deduction module , that fetches all the records and generate a pdf with a template that i have done in the mail merges template , i was told that i have to upload template on

    • zohorecruit.com career form postcode bug

      Dear, When I select a postcode from the drop down on a zohorecruit.com career form, the street text field is automatically filled with the name of the city, which should not happen. Any idea how I can fix this? Thanks, Bart

    • Office-365-agenda and Microsoft Teams Integration

      Dear, I have a trial version of Zoho Recruit and trying to evaluate the Microsoft Teams Integration in Zoho Recruit. After registering with my Office 365 account and checking the result of the registration/sign-in at https://mysignins.microsoft.com/ (which

    • Next Page