Splash’s virtual sessions feature enables you to run virtual event programs that feature smaller breakout sessions in their own virtual venue. 

In this guide, you'll learn how to set up an event with virtual sessions. This includes creating sessions, styling a sessions agenda page, and customizing the virtual venue where the live sessions take place.

	This feature is available to Pro and Enterprise plans
	Roles available: Builder and Host
	This feature is in General Availability
	Take the Intro to Virtual Sessions online courses

On this page:

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What are virtual sessions Getting started with virtual sessions 2.1 Creating a virtual session 2.2 Designing the Agenda Page 2.3 Customizing the Virtual Event Page Preparing the guest experience Hosting the event Adding on-demand content Reporting on the event

What are virtual sessions

Virtual sessions allow virtual event attendees to choose the most relevant programming. From a primary livestream setting, attendees can see what sessions are coming up and happening in real-time — then easily jump to their session of choice.

Take a look at the experience:

Virtual sessions are best suited for events that offer a range of content, cater to different audiences, or create opportunities for smaller groups of attendees to engage with each other. These types of events include:

• Internal events where organization leaders can lead small sessions that help mimic an intimate, in-person experience.
• Thought leadership events where attendees can join sessions related to personal or professional development. 
• Roadshows where event sponsors can visibility by leading different sessions.

Getting started with virtual sessions

Create an event with virtual sessions by following the steps below.

1. Click New Event from the Events Dashboard.
2. Enter the required event details: Event Title, Domain, and Event Type.
3. For “How will your guests attend?” select Virtually.
4. For “Is your event multi-session” select Yes.
5. Enter the event date and time.
6. Click Next: Choose Theme.
7. Select your desired theme.

Note: If you select "Virtually," the location will appear by default as Virtual in any calendar attachments. To edit the location, go to the Settings tab of your event. Create a new event to change the attendance or session type.

Your Splash event will come equipped with the following features:

Sessions Tab	This is where you will create and manage your virtual sessions — including session descriptions, speaker information, session tags, and the streaming technology that powers your sessions.
Agenda Page touchpoint	This is a dynamic list of all the sessions created in the Sessions tab, organized by session time. Link to the agenda from your registration page or email campaigns to promote your programming.
Virtual Event Page touchpoint	This is the virtual venue where attendees will check in and view the live event. It’s also where they will jump in and out of sessions.

Next, move on to creating your virtual sessions.

Creating a virtual session

To create a new virtual session:

1. Click the Sessions tab.
2. Click New Session.

The following information is required to save a session:

• Session Title: Enter a name for your session.

• Session Registration: Select whether attendees need to register for the session.

  • Registration Status: Choose whether the session registration is open, closed or will close at a specific capacity. 
  • Additional Options: Choose whether to enable a waitlist for sessions. 
    
    
• Session Description: Enter a description of your session that communicates what attendees can expect.
• Date & Time: Select the session’s date and time.
• Virtual Content: This is the streaming technology that powers your session.
  • From Embed Type, select from Splash’s recommended providers: Splash Studio, Zoom, Vimeo, or select Custom Embed to enter the custom embed code from your provider. If you don't know the embed type, you can leave the dropdown on Select and add it later. 

Link: Learn how to embed a Zoom Webinar or Meeting in Splash.

You have the option to add up to six speakers to a session. Enter the speaker’s first name, name, last name, bio, title, and company. Click the icon to upload a speaker image from your desktop.

From the Session Organization section, input one or multiple tags for your sessions by entering the name of the tag then clicking enter. 

Tags are used to categorize sessions. These categories might include:

• Audience: If you are running multiple sessions at the same time — each catered to a different audience — consider using tags like “Design” or “Engineering” to classify them.
• Format: If your event begins (or ends) with sessions where all attendees should gather together, use a tag like “Main Session” or “Networking.”

Attendees can filter by tags on the Agenda Page to understand which content is most relevant to them. Click Save to save the information.

 

If you want to limit your guests to only registering for one session in the same period of time:

1. Click Settings.
2. Toggle the option "Prevent guests from booking two sessions at the same time" on.
3. Click Save. 

When guests try to register for multiple sessions at the same time, they will see the below error.

 

Importing virtual sessions

To import sessions in bulk:

1. Click the Sessions tab.
2. Click the carrot next to New Session.
3. Click Import CSV.
4. Click Choose CSV.
5. Select the .CSV file from your desktop.
6. Map the CSV columns to the correct Splash fields.
7. Click Finish.

Note: You cannot import virtual content using a .CSV file. Click into each session to finalize the embed information.

Once your sessions are finalized, it’s time to design the Agenda Page touchpoint.

Designing the Agenda Page

Click the Agenda Page touchpoint from your Event Overview.

This is an attendee-facing display of your event’s sessions. The URL of the Agenda Page is youreventtitle.splashthat.com/agenda.

Note: Guests can register for the event at large but they cannot register for individual sessions. Any registered attendee is free to move between sessions in real-time to get the most of your event’s programming.

By default, the Agenda Page will inherit your event page’s fonts, colors, and logos. To make changes to the font or color set, navigate to your Event Page touchpoint’s Theme tab. 

You can style the Agenda Page elements listed below using the Layout tree on the right. Elements you can edit are button colors, button text, label colors, and more. The section you are editing will be highlighted so it’s easier to see where you’re working and what you’re working on.

You can use the Undo and Redo buttons to add or remove any new items or changes before saving and updating.

• Header
• Logo: Edit the logo image and provide any alternate text
• Back Button: Edit the back to event page text if necessary as well as the colors
• Cover
• Date: Edit the color and font
• Event Title: Edit the color and font
• Paragraph: Edit the text, color, and font
• Register Button: Edit the button text, color, font, and border
• Agenda Button: Edit the text, color, and font
• Session Navigation

• Session Search: Edit the text, color, font, and backgrounds

• Session Filter: Edit the text, color, font, border, and backgrounds

• Session List
• Session Cards: Edit the card’s colors, the information appearance/colors, the tag and label colors, the colors for the buttons (registration, unregister, waitlist, remove from waitlist, add to calendar)
• Speaker Modals: Edit the colors of the pop-up window with the speaker information.
• Calendar Attachment Modals: Edit the colors of the modal for calendar selection. The calendar invitation will contain the link to the event.
• Call to Action
• Headline: Edit the text, color, and font
• Paragraph: Edit the text, color, and font
• Button: Edit the text, color, and font

Once your Agenda Page is finalized, Splash recommends promoting it on your Event Page. This gives guests a glimpse of what they can expect during the live event.

1. From your Event Overview, click the Event Page touchpoint.
2. In the modal choose Yes, add it now and Confirm.
   
   1. The new button, labeled Agenda Page Button, will be added as the last element in the first visible block on the page and will automatically link to the Agenda Page. 
3. Style additionally as needed. 

If you do not see the modal or want to manually add a link to the Agenda Page:

1. From your Event Overview, click the Event Page touchpoint.
2. In the block where you would like the button added, click Add Element.
3. Choose button, then hover over the element and click the Edit link icon.
4. In Current Display Name, enter a call-to-action like “View the Agenda.”
5. From the Link To dropdown, select Go to Agenda Page.
6. Click Save.

Note: Roles with advanced design permissions can add a new button element to their page.

Customizing the Virtual Event Page

Click the Virtual Event Page touchpoint from your Event Overview.

On the day of your live event, attendees will check-in and join their preferred sessions from this touchpoint.

Link: Familiarize yourself with Splash’s Virtual Event Page guide.

All sessions will be listed in chronological order. Each session’s “Join Session” button will become active two minutes before the session’s start time, set in the Sessions Manager.

When an attendee clicks Join Session, the session will appear at the top of the page — as indicated in the Virtual Event Page.

An attendee can click Leave Session or click to join another active session to move around.

Note: Once a session ends, it's automatically removed from the Virtual Event Page.

You can style the items listed below within the Virtual Event Page’s Livestream state. Elements you can edit are button colors, button text, label colors, and more. The section you are editing will be highlighted so it’s easier to see where you’re working and what you’re working on.

• Virtual Content
• Event Title: Edit the color and font
• Session Information: Edit the color and font
• Speaker Information: Edit the color and font
• Button: Edit the text, color, and font
• Upcoming Sessions
• Headline: Edit the text, color, and font
• Paragraph: Edit the text, color, and font
• Upcoming Session Cards: Edit the color and font
• Speaker Modal: Edit the color and font
• Footer
• Contact the Organizer: Edit the text, color, and font
• Visit Event Page: Edit the text, color, and font
• Custom Button: Edit the text, color, and font

Pro Tip: Review the design of the Check-In (Countdown) and Check-In (Open) states using the dropdown in the upper left.

Preparing the attendee experience

Now that your virtual sessions are finalized, it’s time to create a seamless registration and check-in experience for your attendees.

Link to the Agenda Page 

Attendees will register or choose their sessions using a personal access link called the Agenda Page URL. Each URL is unique to the attendee. 

The [agenda_page_url] tag is used to auto-populate an attendee’s personal agenda link. Splash recommends including this tag in the following places:

• On page confirmation
  • Add a button element and select Sessions Page in the Link To dropdown. 
  • If there is not a link to the Agenda Page, hosts will see the below banner with the option to automatically add a new button that is linked to the Agenda Page. 

• Confirmation and Reminder emails
  • Add the Agenda Page URL element to automatically link guests to their personal agenda page. 

To keep attendees informed of the sessions they've registered or are on the waitlist for, hosts can add the Sessions Summary element into their Splash emails. The element will dynamically populate all the session information unique to each guest. 

 

Link to the Virtual Event Page 

Attendees will join the live event using a personal access link called the Virtual Event URL. Each URL is unique to the attendee and should only be used for check-in on one device and one browser at a time.

The [virtual_event_url] tag is used to auto-populate an attendee’s personal access link. Splash recommends including this tag in the following places:

• Calendar attachment
• Confirmation email
• Reminder email

Link: Refer to the instructions in the Virtual Event URL Communication guide for including the [virtual_event_url] tag in the recommended spots.

Hosting the event

Your designated event hosts and session speakers will use their streaming tools to host the live event, while your attendees will tune in using the Virtual Event URL.

Link: Prepare for the live event with Splash’s Virtual Event Page Troubleshooting guide.

Adding on-demand content 

Within each Virtual Session, hosts can add recordings and share on-demand content with guests. 

The on-demand option is available on a per-session basis. 

Once a session has ended, it will be added to the Past Sessions section on the Virtual Event Page. 

Guests will need to register for the event and use their unique Virtual Event Page URL to access the recorded content.

Note: The on-demand toggle can only be enabled after the session date and time have passed. As a best practice, we recommend enabling the on-demand setting after all sessions have ended.

To enable on-demand using Splash Studio:

1. Open the Virtual Event Page touchpoint.
2. Click Open Hosting Link.
3. Click Edit Placeholder Text.
4. Under “Display Custom Text,” enter a custom message for your guests, e.g. Enter your information to watch the recording. 
5. Under “Select On-Demand Replay,” select Replay.
6. Click Publish.
7. Click back into your Event Dashboard and click the Sessions tab. 
8. Click the corresponding session you set up the on-demand replay for.
9. Turn On-Demand on.
10. Click Save.

For sessions hosted through Zoom, Vimeo, or another streaming service, the recording can be added using the Custom Embed option within the session. 

1. Once the session has ended, turn the On-Demand setting on.
2. In the dropdown, select Custom Embed.
3. Enter the embed code. 
4. Click Save.

Reporting on the event

You can find a breakdown of who attended your event in the Guest List. Splash statuses are defined as follows:

• Attending: Guests who registered for the event but didn’t check in.
• Checked In: Guests who checked in and viewed the event. In some cases, these guests are not marked as Checked Out when they leave the Virtual Event Page due to browser limitations.
• Checked Out: Guests who checked in, viewed the event, and then exited the Virtual Event Page

For session-specific guest data, click the Session guest list from the dropdown.