Virtual events can feel like a longshot. You risk technical hiccups and losing out on a highly engaged audience and monetization opportunities.

If Hopin is any indication, the space appears to be slowing down. The unicorn soared during the pandemic, hitting a peak valuation of $7.75 billion. This year it had to lay off 29% of its staff and re-position itself for live events.

While there’s no replacement for live events, we would venture to say virtual events aren’t dead yet. With teams split across distance more than ever, they will likely have a place in our personal and professional ecosystem. And perhaps a team that understands that type of dynamic more than others can deliver a tool that helps such events flourish.

Beams launched yesterday. Maker Egor Zolotukhin and his team started out hosting Dreamers Online Forum 2020, a virtual event of 3,500 participants for startup owners. They went on to organize 50+ international events ranging from big conferences to corporate activities. “We researched the event tech field in detail, understood the problems that participants and organizers had, and found how they could be solved by applying our experience in web products development,” said Zolutkhin.

The new virtual event platform is equipped with live streaming, breakout rooms, networking sessions, surveys, and third-party app integration. Zolutkhin explained to one commenter that it's different from tools like Hopin because it uses one-window technology, which ensures that attendees don’t get lost “in a myriad of rooms or stay alone in a networking zone or exhibition hall.” Also “event activities take turns according to the organizer's scenario, without any click of the participant.”

Event organizers can showcase partners and sponsors, utilize tools like action buttons and interactive links, and use integrated apps to monetize during virtual events. Third-party integrations can boost engagement through video games and virtual office tools like SpatialChat. Users can also host trade shows with unlimited booths and exhibitions.

So far, the response has been pretty positive. “This captures the Zeitgeist of the post covid world so very well!” said one person in the comments.

Still skeptical? Fair. See what others are asking and the makers’ responses.

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