Events and webinars share similar goals — to inform, inspire, and build meaningful connections — but no two events are the same (or at least they shouldn’t be). While technology enhances any event, organizers need to find the best solution to fit their specific needs.
At Webex, we offer a comprehensive set of communication solutions designed to connect employees, customers, and partners, which includes:
Not sure which solution is right for you? I explained more about them in a recent WebexOne session. I’ll share a recap here to help inform how your organization can deliver impactful webinars and events, and which Webex solution makes the most sense for your organization.
Webex Meetings, Webex Webinars, and Webex Events: What are the key differences?
Webex offers robust meeting and event capabilities to power events of any type and complexity. With different capabilities in each, let’s take a look at some different use cases to decide which work best based on different needs.
When do you need a meeting platform?
A meeting platform is a good fit for smaller groups who will be brainstorming, sharing updates, and receiving feedback. Webex Meetings enables more collaboration and interaction among teams with the following features:
- Screen sharing
- Messaging
- Whiteboarding
Common use cases:
- Sales presentations
- Customer onboarding
- One on ones
- Team meetings
- Quarterly business reviews
When do you need a webinar platform?
A webinar solution should include advanced features and everything you need to build an engaging attendee experience — including breakout sessions, email workflows, registration, and CRM integrations. But the webinar setup and execution should be as simple to manage as a meeting.
Key features of Webex Webinars include:
- Speaker and attendee management tools
- Registration and attendance management across CRM systems
- Video breakout rooms
Common use cases:
- Analyst briefings
- Investor relations
- Employee trainings
- Department all-hands
- Company townhalls
When do you need an events platform?
Organizations that host multi-session virtual, in-person and hybrid events should turn to an end-to-end platform that’s flexible and can be customized to meet all of their event needs.
An event management platform should include flexible capabilities for hosting multi-track, multi-day events with options for:
- Custom mobile apps
- Attendee networking
- Sponsorship options
- Gamification
And not all events that include advanced features like multiple session capabilities, attendee networking, or gamification need to be huge undertakings. Many of our customers use Webex Events to power smaller, internal experiences like department off-sites or sales kickoffs.
Other common use cases include:
- Conferences
- Expos
- Summits
- Job fairs
Case study: How WTCI transformed their annual women’s conference into a hybrid experience
As a nonprofit, events serve as one of WTCI’s largest revenue drivers and provide an opportunity to encourage engagement and stakeholder participation. WTCI recently started offering hybrid formats whenever possible to provide more flexibility for their attendees.
They leveraged Webex Events to offer a flexible, hybrid event experience for attendees of its annual women’s conference. As a result, one of their event sponsors noted they doubled the number of people within their company who could attend by filling their in-person table and inviting global employees to join virtually. The attendees appreciated the hybrid format, which was reflected in the event’s positive survey results – the highest results in the event’s 17-year history.
Choosing the right solution based on use case
Take a look at a few event scenarios and determine which Webex solution would fit their needs.
Scenario 1: Three-day internal sales kickoff with international attendees
Because this scenario is a multi-day, multi-track event that needs to support in-person and virtual attendees, with a goal of elevating virtual engagement, it’s important to leverage a hybrid event platform like Webex Events. Available both through the branded mobile app and desktop website, it allows both audience environments to view the content with ease. And through tools like native gamification, social walls, and scalable networking, attendees can collaborate with one another.
See how events and conference firm Miller Tanner Associates utilizes Webex Events features like digital handshakes and social walls to create internal and client events that stand out.
Scenario 2: Quarterly company all-hands meeting
For a two-hour-long, all-hands meeting with a virtual audience, Webex Webinars offers the right solution. It’s as simple to set up as a meeting, while still including built-in capabilities to level up production, moderate the audience, and offer Q&A, chat, and polling — all with a few clicks.
Attendees, whether internal or external to your organization, expect virtual and hybrid events to offer more than slides on a screen. The advanced features Webex provides an interactive attendee experience and numerous options for engagement.
Scenario 3: In-person association trade show
This event is hosting thousands of in-person attendees, and with attendee and sponsor expectations higher than ever, this scenario requires an end-to-end event management platform that provides event professionals with a one-stop shop for everything from ticketing and registration to on-site badging, a customized event app, and lead retrieval software.
Webex Events streamlines the planner, attendee, and sponsor experience before, during, and after the event, and gives sponsors plenty of opportunities to connect with attendees and drive ROI. Its in-person capabilities include gamification to drive traffic to sponsor booths, an intuitive digital guide within the app for attendees to build their agenda or view the floor plan, and even contactless badge printing via a QR reader.
Scenario 4: Lead generation event series
With the ability to accommodate up to 100,000 attendees, Webex Webinars would be the perfect solution to power this 35-minute weekly event series. Not only can it accommodate the attendee count and cadence, but it provides elevated production and important features for before, during, and after the event, such as a customizable landing page, attendance engagement tools (chat, Q&A, and polling), and the ability to redirect to a post-webinar survey.
Deliver elevated event experiences with Webex
The future of events is here and requires a modern approach to planning and production. No matter the format, size, and cadence, Webex offers solutions to empower organizers, drive engagement, and collect valuable data.
For product demos and a deeper dive into Webex Webinars and Webex Events features — and to hear directly from Webex Events Product Sales Specialist, Connor McGeehan — watch the full WebexOne session here.
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