Building on its initial foray into paid events—a platform called OnZoom that launched in October 2020—videoconferencing provider Zoom announced in mid-May a new platform called Zoom Events, with functionality that can handle multi-track corporate and association events. It will be launched by mid-August.
According to an article on tech-focused news site TheVerge.com, Zoom Events is a rebranding of a beefed-up version of OnZoom that caters to the needs of large organizations beyond linear single-day events. With a paid Zoom license, companies and associations will be able organize live events with multiple tracks through a central hub that presents the schedule of concurrent sessions, along with the ability to show session previews. Zoom Events will also handle ticket sales and track attendance.
In addition, interactive features on Zoom Events will connect attendees before, during, and after live sessions each day. Attendees will be able to see who is in the event lobby, participate on different group chats, and exchange contact information with each other.
Zoom has not yet said whether it will take a commission on paid events nor detailed the payment methods the new platform will be able to accept. But OnZoom allows attendees to buy tickets through PayPal in addition to using credit cards.
