Smart Sessions

Smart Sessions is revolutionising the way we network at virtual and hybrid events. Offered as part of the CrowdComms’ industry-leading event platform, it recreates the serendipity of in-person networking, online. Dedicated networking rooms give attendees intuitive and engaging spaces to effortlessly join video conversations with other delegates and watch event live streams together once again. Networking rooms can be organised by topic, industry, attendee type, or any other way that helps your attendees connect with the right people – transforming the experience of attending a virtual or hybrid conference, exhibition, company get-together, member meeting or awards show. Smart Sessions also unlocks a range of sponsorship opportunities, from branding to announcements and advertising content. We’ve set out a user guide below to get you quickly up and running. If at any time you require further support or assistance, please get in touch with your CrowdComms’ Account Manager or Support Specialist, who will be happy to guide you through the process.

Browser Requirements

Browser Requirements

Browsers must support WebGL. Browsers supported by the WebGLRenderer are:

If you find that you still have trouble after checking the above, then please check here to see if your browser settings are also compatible.

Note: Safari is not currently supported.

 

 

Setting up a Networking Room in the CMS

Setting up a Networking Room in the CMS 

To get started, you’ll need to set up a virtual networking room in the CMS. Once all the elements for this are in place, your attendees will use this space to watch live streamed content and interact with each other.

  1. Log into the CMS with your credentials.
  2. In the Dashboard, select the Event App that you would like to add virtual networking to.
  3. Click on ‘Libraries’ in the left-hand sidebar.
  4. A secondary menu will appear to the right. Click on ‘Virtual Networking’.

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    1. To add a virtual networking room to your Event App, click on the ‘+’ button on the top right-hand side of the screen.
    2. A pop-up window will appear, inviting you to create a title for your room
    3. Once you have filled in the title field, click ‘Create’ and you will be taken to your room’s main edit page.

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    1. TOGGLE ON the ‘Show in Virtual Networking module’ to make the room visible in the Event App.
    2. You can also fill in the description field to provide more information for your delegates. Please note: This field has a limit of 240 characters.

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    10. Below the description field, you can set the ‘Room Capacity’ to admit a certain number of participants. The room limit is set to 300 users. If this capacity is reached, a message will appear advising users that the room is full. 

    11. Head on over to the ‘Times’ TAB at the top, to edit the room opening times to fit your requirements. By default, networking rooms are open for the duration of your event. If users attempt to enter rooms outside of your selected times, they will see a message informing them that the room is closed.

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    12. If you go to the ‘Groups’ TAB at the top, you can select which groups have access to your networking room. Please note: Groups must be set up through the ‘People Library’ in the CMS. Please click here for instructions on how to set up your groups.

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    13. To customise the look of your room, you’ll want to go to the ‘Branding’ TAB at the top. Here, you can upload a background, logo, poster image and change your room’s colour scheme.

    Note: Background images should be 4000 x 4000 pixels in size. Your logo can be any size and the poster image should be 1920 x 1080 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9.

    Note:

    Changing the primary colour will affect:

    Changing the secondary colour will affect:

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    1. Click ‘Save’, which will automatically take you back to the main menu displaying the virtual networking rooms.

    Note: The ‘Administrators’ TAB currently offers no functionality to users. This feature will be developed in a future version. 


    Linking your room to an Agenda session & Joining a room

    Linking your room to an Agenda session in the CMS

    If you do not already have an Agenda module set up, check out our Agenda guide to get you started.

    1. In your Agenda module click on ‘Add Session’ or choose one from the list below if your agenda session already exists.
    2. A pop-up will appear inviting you to populate your session title, subtitle, and times as appropriate.

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    3. Click Save, which takes you to a new agenda session edit page/panel.

    4. Fill in all the agenda TABS as appropriate. Please note: Only the ‘Embed’ TAB will have a direct impact on your networking room.

    5. Click on the ‘Embed’ TAB, which brings up the function options for your session.

    6. In the virtual networking rooms section, on the same page, select the room that you have created.

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    7. Click ‘Save’ – your room is now linked to your agenda session. 

     

    Live Streams & Videos

    Live Streams

    To add a live stream into your room:

    1. Go to Libraries > Videos
    2. Upload the video you want to play in the room 
    3. Go to Libraries > Virtual Networking
    4. Select your room and click on the edit icon 
    5. Click on the Embed TAB 
    6. Choose your live stream from the drop down menu under "CrowdComms Live Streams" 

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    7. Click Save 

    NOTE: You can stream the same live stream into multiple rooms 

    Videos (Simulive) 

    To add a video into your room:

    1. Go to Libraries > Videos
    2. Upload the video you want to play in the room 
    3. Go to Libraries > Virtual Networking
    4. Select your room and click on the edit icon 
    5. Click on the Embed TAB 
    6. Choose your video from the drop down menu under "Simulive video from library" 

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    7. Click Save 

    The video you have selected will now play in your room. 

    NOTE: You will need to interact within the room once for the video to start

    Joining a room

    Joining the room via an Agenda Session

    1. Click on the ‘Agenda Session’ you have created (you will then see an option to watch the live stream in your networking room).
    2. By clicking on the option of ‘Join now’ in the bottom left of the screen this will open a separate window for your room.

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    Screen Sharing

    Users can share screen whilst in a bubble by selecting the “Share screen” button.

    The user who is screen sharing will be noticeable by a highlighted border around their video screen.

    Shared screens can be viewed in full screen.

    NOTE: Sharing a screen will overtake any LIVE stream in the room.

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    Location Map 

    Click on the ‘location’ icon to view a map to pinpoint your current location.

    Teleporting

    Click on the online users list before clicking on the ‘Teleport’ button next to the user you wish to travel to. You will then see your avatar teleport across the room arriving near to the person you selected. 

    Please note: You are not able to teleport while on a call or while in a bubble with other attendees.

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    Bubble Locking

    You can now ‘lock’ your bubbles to prevent other users from joining your conversation. Simply click on the padlock in the middle of your bubble and this will change the padlock icon to ‘closed’.

    The closed padlock is visible to everyone else in the room. 

    To unlock the bubble, click on the padlock again and the icon will change to an open padlock. 

    You can lock your bubble with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 users inside of it. If you are in a locked bubble, you can, however, still leave at any time. 

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    Clearing Users and Chats in a Room Through CMS

    Clearing users and chats in a room through CMS

    Users can clear users and chats in a room through CMS.

    Select the “reset” icon in the Virtual Networking Rooms list for the room you wish to reset. You will then be presented with a pop up where you can select clearing the room and or the chat within the room.

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    Inactivity

    Inactivity

    A user will be marked as inactive if:

    NOTE: You will be presented with an inactivity page which will have a link to “re-join” the room

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    Media Permissions

    Media Permissions

    Users will be prompted to accept media permissions when first joining the room, if these permissions are rejected then the user will not be able to join the room.

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    Smart Session Features Table

    Smart Session Features Table (Updated 03.05.2022)

    Existing Features

    In Development

    Future Development

     One-to-one and up to group of 8 video chat within 
    a bubble

    Linking Q&A feature to the room 

    Enhanced emoji feature in chat

     Ability to link live stream to a room

    Waiting room feature 

    Room size options 

    Ability to screenshare with members of the 
    bubble

    User availability status 

    :inking poll feature to the room 

     Chat feature with delegates within the room 
    (200 max character in a single chat)

    Ability to conduct scheduled meetings within Smart Sessions 

    Ability for a user to join a Smart Session on mobile and tablet

    Blurred background on video call

    Ability to tag other delegates in chat

    Ability to invite external users into the room  

     Profanity filters in chat


    Facilitator tool 

    Teleport to another user within a room



    Options to turn camera on/off during video call



    Volume adjustment on either video call or live 
    stream



    Customisable/bespoke background and logo



    Audible emojis in chat



    Cruising around the room



    Room locking for private chat



     Analytics



    Onboarding instruction



     Ability to link video-on-simulive to the room



    Ability to link video-on-demand to the room