June Product Updates: Event Reporting, Booth Allowance, Chat Bookings & More

Welcome to the June 2024 edition of vFairs Monthly Product Updates! This month, we’re excited to unveil a host of new features and enhancements designed to elevate your in-person and virtual event experiences. From innovative booth negotiation tools to improved analytics and reporting capabilities, these updates are crafted to provide event organizers and attendees with a more seamless, engaging, and efficient platform. Dive in to discover how these enhancements can help you create more impactful and memorable events.

Event Reporting

Introducing the New Teacher Dashboard Reporting

In this update, we’ve introduced a new reporting dashboard that allows teachers to extract detailed reports on their students’ activities and progress. By implementing Single Sign-On (SSO) and creating a user association table, teachers can now log in and view the activity and journey of their associated students, greatly enhancing their ability to track student progress effectively. Teachers can access this feature by enabling the “Teacher Dashboard” option in the Event Settings.

Enhanced Session Visibility: Mode of Attendance Tags for vFairs Web Events

Add tags to your session agenda on the web platform to define the mode of the session. You can add tags such as virtual, onsite or hybrid to provide attendees more context and help them decide if they can attend it or not. Such clarity not only improves attendee planning but also ensures seamless participation in sessions tailored to their preferred attendance mode, thereby enhancing overall event engagement and satisfaction.

The session tagging functionality is implemented based on the “Mode of Attendance” selected within the backend webinar listing section. For each session, organizers can designate tags such as “Virtual” in green, “Hybrid” in blue, or “On-Site” in orange. 

These tags are prominently displayed alongside session details in the new UI, ensuring visibility and accessibility for attendees. This feature operates independently of the chosen “Webinar Type,” providing consistent and intuitive session classification that aligns with both organizational and attendee needs.

Exhibit Booth and Chats

Profile Switcher Feature

Enhance the user experience for event admins, booth reps, and speakers with the new profile switcher. This feature allows booth reps to seamlessly switch to the speaker role, with future enhancements planned to enable conversion to attendee roles as well. By offering the flexibility to switch between different user roles, this feature streamlines role management reduces administrative overhead and ensures users can access the appropriate capabilities needed for their specific roles within the event.

To enable the Profile Switcher, go to the event backend. Select Event Setup> Advanced Settings > Webinar. Turn on the toggle button labeled “Switch Booth Rep to Speaker”. When this toggle is activated, it allows users to switch roles post-authentication without encountering errors due to email duplication. Upon logging into the platform, users will see a “Profile Switcher” CMS page, dynamically displaying their available roles. They can select the desired role, confirm their choice, and gain access to the specific capabilities associated with that role. Additionally, a “Switch Profile” option is available in the profile dropdown menu, enabling users to switch roles anytime within the platform, ensuring they always have the right tools for their responsibilities.

Multi-Booth Association for Booth Representatives

Link booth representatives to multiple booths allowing them to manage and interact with all these booth with a single account. This feature helps booth reps improve productivity and ensure a seamless representation across different booths.

To use this feature, event admins can add additional booths to a booth rep’s profile through the Secondary Booths dropdown. When booth reps log in to the backend portal and access the e-commerce tab, they will see all their assigned booths, allowing them to manage their responsibilities across multiple booths effortlessly.

Booth Allowance Negotiation

Finding a booth in a tradeshow with a good price and preferred location requires a lot of time which eventually makes the process inefficient. By identifying the gap, we have launched booth allowance negotiation that comes with fair and open negotiations between event admins and exhibitors. Now exhibitors can select their preferred booth, pay for it on the spot, and negotiate the pricing. 

To enable booth negotiation, go to “Event Setup,” click “Booth Settings,” and activate the “Enable Booth Negotiation” toggle. In the “Booth Management” menu, admins can review negotiation requests, negotiate terms, and assign booths. Exhibitors who opt to negotiate will be added to the negotiation workflow and will receive email notifications at each step.

Create a CMS Page For Chat Bookings

This feature enhances accessibility and convenience for event attendees through a dedicated CMS page for chat bookings. This new access point complements the existing chat bookings widget, allowing participants to easily manage their bookings through a centralized page. By automatically generating this page for both new and existing events, we aim to make the booking management process seamless and hassle-free, transforming the overall event experience.

Simplified Chat Slot Import Feature

The new feature aims to streamline the chat slot import process in the backend, transforming the event experience by making it easier and more user-friendly. Previously, importing chat slots required cumbersome inputs like user IDs and booth IDs, which were difficult to fetch and manage, leading to a poor user experience. The updated process allows users to import chats between any two participants, such as attendees, speakers, and booth reps, using a simplified file format that only requires participant emails and chat times. This change will significantly reduce the complexity and enhance the efficiency of setting up meetings.

The feature works by updating the import file format to include columns for chat time, user1 email, user2 email, and status. Users can now specify participant emails instead of user IDs, and the system will automatically retrieve booth IDs if participants are associated with a booth rep. This new process supports a wide range of participant combinations, enabling more flexible scheduling. The status column allows for importing chats as pending, accepted, or rejected, ensuring clarity and organization in the scheduling process.

Event Registration & Ticketing Updates

Payment Marketplace

Innovating further, we’ve launched vfairs payment marketplace, allowing event organizers to choose from various payment gateways for a seamless setup and uniform checkout process. A master toggle named “Enable Payment Marketplace” has been added to event settings to activate this feature. 

To enable the Payment Marketplace, organizers need to adjust settings in the event setup, integrate the payment component into the registration form, and manage payment status through webhooks and user activation. This integration simplifies payment management and improves the overall event experience.

Tap Payment Gateway Integration

The Tap payment gateway integration is designed to revolutionize the event payment experience. This integration seamlessly integrates on our backend portal as a standard payment option. On the frontend, it facilitates a smooth checkout process by redirecting attendees to a secure payment gateway. This advancement not only enhances convenience but also ensures secure and efficient transactions, thereby transforming how attendees engage and interact during registration and payment processes.

The Tap payment gateway integration operates through a straightforward process to ensure a streamlined payment experience:

1. Administrators configure Tap integration settings within our backend portal, establishing it as a selectable payment option.
2. During registration, attendees initiate payments through a checkout redirect, where they securely enter payment details on Tap’s platform.
3. We manage all payment scenarios, handling authorization, capture, and payment logs akin to our existing gateway processes.
4. A unique webhook is set up to receive transaction messages, ensuring real-time updates and handling of various payment statuses.

This integration not only facilitates secure transactions but also enhances administrative oversight and attendee trust, making it a pivotal addition to our event management capabilities.

Seamless Integration of Form Builder Fields with E-commerce Product Table

This feature automatically syncs custom fields created in the form builder with the E-commerce tab’s product table. This enhancement ensures that any new fields added via the form builder are consistently and accurately reflected in the product table, streamlining the event management process and enhancing data consistency. By automating this synchronization, event organizers can enjoy a more efficient and error-free setup, ultimately transforming the event experience by reducing administrative burden and improving data accuracy.

Check-in & Badge Printing

Group Badge Printing

Group badge printing allows event organizers to effortlessly print badges for multiple attendees, simultaneously, saving valuable time and reducing the hassle of individual badge printing.

With Group Badge Printing, each badge is customized with accurate and personalized information, ensuring attendees have a seamless and professional check-in experience. The badges include essential details such as attendee names, titles, and company logos, which aids with identification and adds a touch of branding to your event.

Whether attendees arrive at the event with family, friends, or colleagues, they can all be checked in together, simultaneously, through group badge printing and check-in, elevating the event experience. 

As vFairs continues to innovate, we remain committed to empowering organizers with powerful tools that elevate event experiences and deliver lasting impact. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to evolve and enhance our platform for the future of events.

Excited to see how these features work? Get in touch with us today to get started!