Introducing the OnAIR Virtual and Hybrid Event Platform

In recent years, the events industry has witnessed significant change and development, particularly in the realm of event management technology. From online ticketing platforms to virtual event solutions, the landscape has evolved to accommodate the changing needs and preferences of both organizers and attendees.

Gone are the days of online webinars where attendees sit, watch, and (at best) interact via a live question-and-answer session. Now, thanks to advancements in technology like EventsAir’s OnAIR virtual and hybrid event solution, users can experience virtual events in ways that far exceed the webinar experience.

Want to replicate a conference and event experience in a secure virtual space? Let’s discover how you can do this with OnAIR.

What is OnAIR?

OnAIR is a powerful virtual and hybrid event platform that offers a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for organizing, managing, and running virtual and hybrid events. With OnAIR, event organizers have the flexibility to set up and run virtual, hybrid, or blended events anywhere, anytime, and on any device.

With a highly responsive 24/7 support team and the latest in online security, OnAIR allows attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers to meet in a single, secure online space to present, showcase, learn, and discuss important topics via the user-friendly OnAIR timeline interface.

Built on the EventsAir 6th Gen event management platform, OnAIR allows organizers to manage the complete online event journey including:

• Registration and agenda scheduling 
• Session attendance 
• Meeting matching 
• Plenary and speaker sessions 
• Lead capture 
• Sponsor advertising
• Virtual exhibition halls 
• Live Q&A and polling
• Gamification 
• and much more.

Take your next virtual event to another level with a wide range of features

The OnAIR virtual events platform provides a wide variety of interactive features to make your virtual event more engaging. Here we discuss a few of the most popular features that event organizers are using to plan and create highly successful virtual online events. And, the list of features is continually growing.

Virtual sessions

OnAIR allows users to run sequential and/or concurrent virtual sessions. This is just like a live event where there are multiple speakers across different rooms – but with greater flexibility. 

Instead of being restricted to live sessions only, OnAIR presentations can take the form of live webinar-type sessions, pre-recorded sessions, or live streams from your face-to-face event using a professional AV team. Sessions can also be presented as panel discussions or interactive workshops where speakers and attendees can all take part and interact with each other.

Concurrent and targeted sessions

Concurrent sessions are used to run multiple tracks at once, allowing attendees to browse and jump through a range of different topics. These can be filtered at the point of registration so that attendees are guided to sessions that most closely match their interests.

Live stream sessions on a single platform

Live stream sessions use video feeds of live content typically pushed to virtual viewers through a video service like YouTube or Vimeo, and they are a great way to improve the virtual event experience. 

OnAIR facilitates this process by connecting to the feed and presenting it live via the OnAIR portal, creating a seamless experience for watchers, who can also access all the other features and functionality at their fingertips. This means guests don’t need to switch between multiple software platforms to view content (and you’ll be less likely to lose them to distraction). It’s also a great way to produce high-quality presentation-style content.

On-demand sessions

The OnAIR platform allows event organizers to offer on-demand sessions that are pre-recorded and can be viewed in their entirety at any time. To access these, the participant simply selects the session that interests them from the OnAIR timeline and clicks play. 

On-demand sessions are perfect for briefings and sessions that need to be accessed at different times during the event. This allows participants the flexibility to engage in the way that best fits their schedule and meets their needs.

Synchronized sessions

Synchronized sessions are pre-recorded sessions that start at a scheduled time and run in real-time. These are especially useful when hosting an international conference where speakers may be in different time zones, have bandwidth issues, or need a little extra confidence boost to present. 

Support staff can moderate live Q&A and polling during synchronized sessions, simulating a live presentation experience and providing attendees with valuable interaction.

Meeting hub

Event attendees can use the Meeting hub feature to hold side meetings with other attendees within the OnAIR interface. They simply send a request to another attendee, and once the other party accepts the meeting, they can interact via live video chat or text messaging. If desired, attendees can exchange contact details and take notes that can be exported at the end of the event.

Networking groups

The networking groups feature allows organizers to set up a number of different group interactions. For example:

• Facilitated groups: Set up groups of up to four people around a given topic with an assigned facilitator. Tip – invite your sponsors to facilitate groups to get them involved and in front of attendees.
• Pre-set groups: Assign attendees to pre-set groups based on data captured during the registration process. These groups are great for connecting like-minded attendees and encouraging interaction. Facilitators can share their screens in these groups to keep the group on-topic. 
• Social groups: Add an element of fun to the event by allowing the audience to break into smaller groups for short periods to interact and socialize. They can switch between groups to meet new people and exchange ideas.

Exhibitions marketplace

OnAIR’s exhibition hall provides the ability to host virtual exhibitions (which is great news for sponsors, suppliers and partners!). Attendees can explore the hall, drop in at virtual exhibition stands, browse, and chat to stand personnel, much like physical exhibitions.

Here’s how it works:

• The attendee selects a stand they wish to visit and requests a virtual conversation with the exhibitor. 
• The exhibitor sees a list of attendees in a queue and interacts with them via live video chats. 
• Exhibitors can share PowerPoint slide presentations and choose to have their interactions recorded. 
• Attendees can view exhibitor profiles at any time and download brochures in advance of the exhibit hall opening.
• Exhibitors can add promotional videos that attendees can watch while they wait to meet.

ePoster sessions

Poster sessions are an important component of many conferences and the OnAIR platform provides a way for organizers to replicate this experience online via the ePoster hall and gallery. 

In these virtual interactive presentation sessions:

• Attendees can review different posters and click into the presentations that interest them most. They can also view the presenter’s bio and a synopsis and preview of the presentation.
• The poster presenter presents the poster live via a one-way video chat to groups of up to 40 attendees. Attendees watching can view their presentation materials and download handouts.
• Attendees can speak with the poster presenter.

Live support hub

Live support is crucial in the virtual space to support the varying levels of technical proficiency and experience in virtual environments, as well as anyone with a question or problem. There’s nothing worse than a frustrated attendee who leaves because they can’t access or find what they want! 

A live support hub is available throughout every OnAIR-hosted event, allowing guests to log tickets, chat, or share their screens with event organizers for technical assistance during the event.

Highest levels of security

The OnAIR platform offers a proven, secure solution that complies with even the most stringent security and logistics constraints, making it suitable for use by government and political event organizers. Built on the award-winning EventsAir platform, it offers PCI and GDPR security compliance out of the box.

Ongoing development and innovation

The EventsAir mantra is to create great software that offers event organizers a way to design successful events. OnAIR has allowed thousands of users around the globe to create highly engaging and interactive events in the virtual space and, more importantly, to do business in a secure online environment.

Our platform is built by event planners for event planners, and with a 30-year history of listening to customer feedback to bring you leading events software, as the market evolves and user demands change, so will OnAIR, offering new and exciting virtual events innovations for many years to come.Want to know more about how to host a successful virtual event with EventsAir? Schedule a free customized demo now with our experienced team!