Running an online event in the virtual venue
Online and hybrid events have a virtual venue: a page where registered guests watch your stream, take part in Q&A or chat, and catch the replay afterwards. You bring your own streaming and engagement tools; Mint shows them in one place, in your event’s colours and fonts.
The venue follows the event clock by itself. Guests who arrive early are asked to come back nearer the start; when doors open they see a lobby with a countdown, then the live stream, and a thank-you page with your replay once it ends.
The virtual venue is available when the event’s Format is Virtual or Hybrid. You choose the format when you create the event, or later on the Settings tab.
To set up the venue you need the Manage virtual venue & sessions permission. The Admin, Group Manager and Event Organiser roles have it.
Set up the venue
Section titled “Set up the venue”-
Open the event’s Virtual venue tab
Go to Events, open your event and select the Virtual venue tab.
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Fill in the Venue setup card
Add your stream and any other links. See the table below.
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Save
Select Save changes at the bottom of the page.
| Field | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Stream URL | Your main stream: YouTube, Vimeo, the Zoom web client, Mux or any player that can be embedded. Ordinary YouTube and Vimeo links are converted for you. |
| Engagement tool URL | A Slido, Mentimeter, chat or Q&A page, shown beside the stream. |
| Replay URL | A recording, shown after the event ends. |
| Lobby message | A welcome note guests see while they wait for the start. New events have Welcome! We will begin shortly. |
| Doors open (minutes before start) | When the lobby opens. New events open doors 5 minutes before the start. |
If the stream link isn’t a valid web address, the card shows That stream URL doesn’t look valid.
The sessions on the same tab work as described in Adding sessions to your agenda.
How guests get in
Section titled “How guests get in”Each guest has a personal venue link. It only works for guests with a place at the event. They find it:
- in their confirmation email, as the Join online link in their registration details (and in each of their plus-ones’ tables),
- in the Virtual access link email, which online and hybrid events include, with a Join now button,
- in any email you write that uses the
{{guest.virtual_link}}merge tag.
Personal links aren’t for sharing: anyone who opens one joins as that guest.
Guests without a place, for example those on the waitlist or who have cancelled, see Venue unavailable and Your registration is not confirmed for this event.
What guests see
Section titled “What guests see”| When | What the venue shows |
|---|---|
| Before doors open | Welcome and their first name, and You’re a bit early. with when to check again, such as Check again 5 minutes before the start. (the number follows your Doors open setting). The page updates by itself. |
| Doors open | Your lobby message and a countdown to the start (Starting in), with the stream and your engagement tool. |
| During the event | A Live badge, the stream, your engagement tool beside it, and your sessions. |
| After the event | Thanks for joining, a note that the event has ended, and your replay if you added one. |
The stream and engagement tool only appear once doors open. If you haven’t added a stream yet, guests see The stream will appear here.
Sessions in the venue
Section titled “Sessions in the venue”If your event has sessions, guests see a row of tabs under the stream: Main stage first, then each session. The session that’s running now is marked now. Guests switch between them by selecting a tab.
- A session with its own Session stream URL plays that stream instead of the main one.
- Included sessions are open to every guest.
- Optional sessions are locked unless the guest has them on their agenda. Hovering over a locked session shows Add this session to your agenda to join.
Session stream links stay private: they’re never part of your event page or anything guests can see before they join. A guest only gets a session’s stream once doors open, and only for a session they can join: an Included session, or an Optional one on their agenda.
Guests add Optional sessions on Manage my registration. See How guests choose sessions.
Attendance
Section titled “Attendance”Mint records when each guest joins and leaves the venue, and which session they were watching.
- Guests tab: open a guest to see their Virtual attendance, with each visit to the Main stage or a Session and its times.
- Overview tab: the Virtual attendance card shows how many guests Joined online and the Avg. time watched.
- Virtual venue tab: the Attended figure for each session counts guests who joined it online, plus anyone checked in to it on site.
Guests who only joined sessions, and never the main stage, aren’t included in Joined online.