Back in May, Zoom announced the launch of its own virtual event offering, Zoom Events, which has now officially been released. Zoom describes the platform as “an all-in-one platform for creating a wide range of interactive and immersive virtual events to reach and engage audiences.”
This is a rather vague description that sounds like the marketing for many other popular event platforms, but Zoom Events isn’t quite as robust. While it’s certainly a step up from classic Zoom meetings, the platform seems like the first iteration of established platforms like Swapcard and Hopin that have been innovating non-stop over the past 18 months.
Zoom Events includes basic event management features such as an event hub, registration and ticketing functionality, attendee chat, and analytics. It is targeting planners of sales summits, customer events, trade shows, and internal events, among others, but it will likely be most appealing to users that already have a Zoom license and use the software within their organization.
OnZoom, which was initially going to be rebranded and folded into Zoom Events, has largely remained a separate offering but is being promoted as “the consumer-focused Zoom Events solution.” For now, it will remain in beta and will allow mainly small business and entrepreneurs to host and monetize events, much like Eventbrite.
With this release, Zoom has also announced the official launch of Zoom Apps, which are meant to make Zoom meetings more engaging and productive. Current integrations include Asana, Dropbox Spaces, and Heads Up!, a game first developed for mobile by Ellen DeGeneres.
“These innovations will enhance the ways in which we connect and collaborate with our colleagues, clients, friends, family members, and others, improving productivity and collaboration while maintaining elements of fun and well-being,” Zoom Founder and CEO Eric S. Yuan said in a statement.
Zoom is attempting to build out an entire telecommunications ecosystem that allows users to host meetings, informal gatherings, and events all on its platform. Although it may be a good option for some, professional event planners who have been working with more elaborate event platforms for months will likely find it lacking, especially given the lack of onsite support for hybrid events. After all, Zoom is still a videoconferencing tool at its core.