With our ingress into the post-COVID world where virtual interaction is likely to hold sway for the foreseeable future, the need for engaging, virtual experiences has also increased significantly. Various companies are now on the lookout for the latest methods to deliver efficient services that simulate in-person networking.
The transition to virtual office setups has been anything but seamless. In order to overcome the challenges that have been brought about by this transition, Zoom has introduced new virtual networking features in Zoom Events. The latest resource will aid event marketers in offering the essence of in-person experiences to a remote audience.
Talking about the long-term audience connections with virtual networking, Zoom"s representative Robin Bunevich stated:
With Zoom Events, organizations can foster a tighter sense of community between attendees and hosts, enabling them to connect, learn from one another, and expand their professional networks. Over the next several months, we’ll continue to add even more networking tools to help your attendees make meaningful and productive contacts within their industry.
Now, users can enable or disable networking on a per-event basis when hosting an event on the Zoom Events platform. If networking is enabled for a virtual event, participants will have options such as creating and editing a networking profile, viewing participant profiles, managing "My Connections", sending a connection request, and communicating through various channels that they can use before, during, and after the event.
Once an event has concluded, participants can manage their active and pending connections, and hosts can make event directories accessible to participants. The latest Zoom Events features are now available for hosts and attendees. To see the Zoom Events and Webinar plans and pricing, head over to the dedicated webpage here.
It"s clear that Zoom is trying to add more value for organizations by introducing LinkedIn-esque features to its video conferencing platform. That said, it is important to note that virtual networking is tied to Zoom Events, which is a paid service. Furthermore, these capabilities appear to be integrated with events and webinars rather than offering a free-for-all socialization and networking platform à la LinkedIn.