What's New—April 2023

Hello everyone,

We spent April working on a couple of under-the-hood improvements and squashing quite a few bugs. The result? Backstage runs a lot more smoothly now. And in the midst of all this, we also rolled out a new feature that we're sure you'll like.

So in case you missed them, these are the latest updates from Backstage.

Create consistent on-brand emails with our new email designer

You can now swiftly set up email templates for your event using our revamped email designer.

First, bring together all your emails by setting up a master template. This is the basic layout for all your emails and will include all the essential elements that you want to have consistently in any email that is sent out for your event.

Next, edit individual emails and add specific content and other items using the easy drag-and-drop editor. This allows you to include suggested content blocks that instantly generate information or let you fill in the information yourself.

Other nifty elements to use include merge tags. These act as placeholders to display information dynamically and can be used in all emails. For instance, adding the {{attendeeName}} merge tag in an email template that goes to all attendees will display the actual name of the attendee when they receive your email.

You'll also find a new email type called Reminders, which you can use to send timely prompts about upcoming ticket sales or deadlines, benefits and packages, special instructions, or event activities. Send these reminders to any event participant group or prospects. You can even segment each group further when you want to inform a specific set of people about news that pertains just to them.

The email designer also comes with Draft and Sent folders for your general scheduled emails and reminder emails.

You can choose to switch to the new email designer now or even later. When you switch, this change will only affect the current event and not all events in your portal.

Keep in mind that if you choose to switch now, you won't be able to go back to the old version for that specific event, customizations in current emails won't be preserved, and any scheduled emails you've created will also be deleted.

To access the email designer: Go to Manage Dashboard > Emails

OTHER UPDATES

Received sponsor proposals that aren't a good fit for your event or with a conflict of interest based on previously set terms? You can now delete these requests before sending any response when you want to remove them from the list.
Use dynamic sliders to enhance the top banner for all pages in your microsite with options for carousel and more. Set this up in the Design tab in the Microsite Builder when you edit an event.
Built-in sections on the event microsite can now be added anywhere you want. Use the Add section button in between sections to select one. Existing built-in sections, which are displayed when creating a new event, can also be deleted if not needed.
Create webhooks to collect exhibitor requests and custom form data and send this information to Zoho Flow, which you can later use based on the options you've configured in Flow.
The broadcast button at the bottom of the Sessions tab in OnAir has been removed for in-person events. Instead, you can do this with the broadcast to screen and halls options, found inside the Sessions panel.
If you've added only one session material, it will be automatically loaded for you when you start a session for an in-person event.

That's all for April. We'll be back next month with more Backstage news. Do let us know what you think by writing to us at support@zohobackstage.com with your feedback, suggestions, and questions.

Happy organizing!