How to Create a Workshop Session

Workshop sessions allow attendees to join with their cameras and microphones turned on!

Whitney Harriss avatar
Written by Whitney Harriss
Updated over a week ago

Workshop Sessions

These sessions are best for open roundtable discussions between your attendees. You can record this session and schedule multiple workshop sessions at a time. It will allow up to 25 on camera and 250 attendees in the session with audio! This session type will stream from the Workshop tab of the virtual event hub.

Creating a Workshop Session

From your Admin Console > Agenda & Speakers > Add Session > Choose Workshop under Session Type.

Recording the Workshop*

To record the workshop, enable the toggle for Record Workshop. The default setting for this feature is OFF.

** If a workshop runs longer than 3 hours, no portion of the workshop will be recorded.

  • Participants will be informed through a pop-up that the session is being recorded when they enter a recorded session.

  • On the upper left corner of the session, there will be an indicator that the session is being recorded.

  • The recording will show everyone on screen. If there is a shared presentation or video, this will show center and the attendees on camera will be on the side panel.

  • If all participants' cameras are off, it will still record and capture the audio, but you will only see a black screen when you watch.

  • The recording will stop if all participants leave the workshop and will restart the recording when someone enters. There will be separate recordings for this.

  • Event admins can still enable the toggle to record the workshop even after the session has begun. There will be a notification in the session that it is now being recorded.

  • The preview and download button will appear in the admin console session details when the recording is over.

  • Breakout rooms in workshops are not recorded.

Joining the Workshop

Your attendees and speakers can join this session from the Virtual Event Hub Workshop tab and join the discussion.

  • Look for the session in the Workshops tab

  • Click Join

If speakers want to enter the workshop in advance, they can enter through the My Speaking Schedule tab.

Workshop Menu

When you enter the workshop, there is a menu bar at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to do different actions while inside the workshop.

  • Microphone - mute /unmute yourself.

  • Camera - turn on / off your video.

  • Breakout (4 boxes icon) - as an attendee, this will allow you to move to breakout rooms created by the admin/speaker. Click here to learn more about creating breakout rooms.

  • Share a screen/video (laptop icon) - allows you to share your screen or play the video to be seen by other attendees.

  • Raise Hand - allows you to raise your hand to catch the speaker's attention.

  • People - allows you to see the list of attendees currently in the workshop, with options to enable and disable their microphone and camera and remove attendees from the workshop. (Note: The attendee list opens automatically for speakers and admins when they enter the workshop session)

  • Exit (phone icon) - allows you to exit the workshop.

Other Workshop Options

Enable / Disable Audio & Video & Remove from the Workshop

As mentioned above, if you click the people tab, you'll see the option to enable the attendee's camera and microphone. It will not automatically turn it on when you click that, but it will ask the attendee if they will allow your request. However, turning it off will automatically turn off without asking for the attendee's permission.

To remove someone from the workshop, click the 3 dot menu and click Remove from the meeting. This will automatically kick them out of the workshop, but they will still be able to join again. Click here to learn more about permanently removing an attendee from the event.

Noise Suppression, Picture on Picture Mode, Change Layout

On the lower right corner of the video, there is a 3-dot menu that will allow you to do other actions such as suppressing noise, changing the layout of the video display, and watching the session while using the picture on picture mode.

For attendees, this is what they will see:

For admins and speakers, they have more options, such as muting everyone and turning off everyone's video.

Workshop Layout

Tiled Layout

By default, when you enter the workshop, the video boxes of attendees will be on a gallery or tiled layout.

Tiled layout up to 25 on screen

Sidebar Layout

To change your view to the list / sidebar layout, click the 3 dot menu at the bottom right corner and choose Change Layout.

List Layout

The person talking or pinned will be centered in the list view, and the rest of the attendee videos will be on the right side.

Notes:

  • Changing the workshop layout only applies to the person who changed the layout. It does not apply to all the attendees in the workshop session.

  • If you're looking at yourself, you may appear mirrored once your camera is on, but other attendees will see you just fine.

  • You can pin a speaker, but this is on a per-user setting. Who you pin will only affect your view, not anyone else’s.

Background Effects

To add a background effect, click the 3 dot menu at the bottom right corner and choose Background Effects. There are options to blur, add a solid color as a background, and add a custom image as a background. The custom image should have a minimum size of 512px X 512px (Ratio 1:1), and it will show as mirrored on the background.

Share a Screen or Share a Video

  • Click the laptop icon at the bottom

  • Choose whether to share a screen or a video

  • If you choose to share a screen, it will give you options to select which screen, window, or tab you want to share

  • If you choose to share a video, it will allow you to select the video file saved on your device.

View while sharing a screen / video

Note: Whoever shares their screen will appear as the first video box on the right side.

Frequently Asked Questions About Workshops

How soon can I join a Workshop session?

  • Workshop sessions will open 2 minutes before their scheduled time.

How do you select who can be on camera?

  • The first 25 to turn on their cameras should appear on the screen.

How long can a workshop session run?

  • 24 hours.

Can admins, staff, or speakers turn on / off the cameras of other attendees?

  • Yes, you can disable the camera for all or individual attendees.

  • You can click on the icon to enable the camera, but it will not automatically turn it on. The attendee will get a pop-up message asking permission to turn on the camera.

Can admins, staff, or speakers mute or unmute other attendees?

  • Yes, you can mute all or individual attendees.

  • You can click on the unmute icon, but it will not automatically unmute it. The attendee will get a pop-up message asking permission to unmute.

Can admins, staff, and speakers kick out attendees from the session?

  • Yes

How will speakers enter the session?

  • When you add a speaker to this session, we will send an automatic email to them. From that email, they can click the link to join the session.

  • To turn off the automatic email, click AGENDA SETTINGS from the Sessions & Speakers tab and disable the automatic speaker invite email.

  • When assigned to one or more Workshop sessions, speakers can join them through the My Speaking Schedule page.

Can attendees share their screens?

  • Yes

Can videos be shared?

  • Yes

What happens if the session schedule is over and there are still people in the workshop?

  • The session will continue even if the timer on the top right side has run out.

How do we end a Workshop session?

  • A workshop session will continue until everyone has left the session.

Will the session continue for attendees if all admins, staff, speakers, and moderators leave?

  • Yes, it will continue for the people left inside the session

What if I want to end the session, but there are remaining attendees?

  • Workshop sessions continue to run when at least one person is inside the session. You can remove attendees before through the Participants icon.

What happens when the session goes over the scheduled time, and there are still attendees inside, are other new attendees able to join the session then?

  • Once the session's end time has arrived, the "Join" disappears, so attendees not inside the session won't be able to enter anymore.

What happens when I raise my hand? What do I see, and what do other attendees see?

  • When you raise your hand, the hand icon will turn yellow.

  • Everyone else in the workshop will see a small hand icon on the top left side of your video or icon placeholder box.

What's the difference between a Workshop Session and a Regular Session?

  • Workshops will allow attendees to be on camera and mic

  • Regular sessions will not let attendees be on camera and mic. Only speakers can do this

  • Workshops will allow only up to 250 attendees

  • Regular sessions will allow an unlimited number of attendees

What can we do if the video-sharing option is not working?

  • Make sure to disable Chrome's Hardware Acceleration setting

  • Google Chrome comes equipped with hardware acceleration, a feature that takes advantage of your computer's GPU to speed up processes and free vital CPU time. However, sometimes driver incompatibilities can cause this feature to misbehave, and disabling it could save you a few headaches.

Can I pre-register attendees for a workshop?

Can I add an image or video that shows before the session starts?

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