RingCentral Events (formerly Hopin Events)

What differentiates RingCentral Events (formerly Hopin Events) from other similar products?

Hopin offers unlimited live expo booths and sessions - so you can hold unlimited seminars. Space is broken into Networking, Expo, Sessions & Reception. Exhibitors can be live in an Expo Booth, or you can have a prerecorded message play. Expo booths provide links to a website and social media. You can schedule multiple Sessions. In a Sessions presenters can be live, they can share their screen and run a PowerPoint, or play a YouTube video. I use the entry-level platform and the pricing is the best I have found. Powerful stats on expo booths, session, live stage.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

It's the closest platform I have found that represents how a live show works. You have your expo booths, your seminars and people can engage with the presenter in the chat, and people feel connected. The platform is constantly improving and adding new features. They have the money behind them to create an amazing platform. It's easy to use, and the status you generate from on online event is amazing. You can have 100,000 people attend on a live stage, 500 in a session or expo booth.

What do you dislike most about this product?

There are issues with people understanding how to register on the platform. It's easy for people to miss the check out button and get lost before they ever enter the event. I would like Expo booths go back to the top of the display when you exit a booth. I would like to see it changed so you can return to the page where you clicked to enter the booth. Reporting on the lower end plan is difficult to download if you have a large event. It could be made easier, but they want to offer that in an upgrade. The pricing past the entry-level is not affordable for small events. Virtual events are not money makers live a live show.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

I would strongly recommend you look at this platform. It's great for presentations, expo booths, networking. Best price I could find around with live expo and live seminars. They are continually improving. I believe I will be able to use Hopin when my events go back live so we have the Virtual Portion of the show as an add-on.

What differentiates RingCentral Events (formerly Hopin Events) from other similar products?

Hopin's features work well together and provide an elevated experience compared to basic webinars. We've hosted several large events and received positive feedback from customers. They enjoy the platform, and it works well without much need for deep IT knowledge from the organizer.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

I love how Hopin makes the process of setting up an online event easy. They take care of all the tech side with the basic subscription, and you just have to customize and provide content. The Networking function is what made it stand out from competitors - as well as the ability to host multiple sessions at once (different tracts at a conference).

What do you dislike most about this product?

There's a few goofy things that show this product is still immature. You can't use Internet Explorer with it (which is fine) - but the site doesn't warn people about this - it just shows up looking very weird. I've had to answer scores of questions about why it's "messed up" because people were using IE. Not necessarily Hopin's problem, but a big amount of work that could be solved by having a popup that says "Looks like you're using an old browser". The pricing model is still not quite right. The basic package ($100/month/admin) is a great deal. It's slightly limited, and to unlock most of the good features, you have to upgrade to $20K plan.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

I'd recommend testing out a few different online platforms. After going through a dozen, Hopin seemed to work best for my organization. The basic subscription is a low-cost option, and we've used it to host events with over 2000 registrants. I mostly recommend holding several internal events to get used to the functionality before going big with a customer-facing event.

What differentiates RingCentral Events (formerly Hopin Events) from other similar products?

Their customer service

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

The ability to communicate backstage

What do you dislike most about this product?

Not being able to stream from the main stage

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

Set clear expectations and they will make it happen