The Bizzabo Product 2018 year in Review – You asked, we built

They say great products are built by great customers. In 2018, we made this vision our #1 priority, by releasing core, innovative product features based on customer feedback.

1. The next generation of the Bizzabo agenda

Undoubtedly, the new agenda is the star of 2018. From day one it was clear to us that the agenda is the beating heart of an event, and that an engaging agenda means an engaging event. Yet, we realized that not one event software provider was doing it justice.

After receiving multiple requests from customers to take our existing agenda to the next level, we decided to take on this challenge. We reached out to customers from different industries to serve as design partners in an attempt to collect the ideal agenda wishlist. We then created an attendee-facing agenda experience that’s like no other.

The main areas we focused on were:
– Boosting audience engagement directly from the agenda
– Increasing the discoverability of sessions and speakers,
– And providing actionable insights to aid marketers in maximizing the success of their events.

Throughout the building process, we shared our plan with our customers, and asked them to help us improve the experience via usability testing and qualitative feedback.

Before releasing the agenda to our entire user base, we invited a select group of customers to join our early access program. These customers were the first to enjoy the new agenda tool first-hand and were invaluable in providing us with feedback that could be implemented in real-time to make this the best product it could be.

Learn more about the new agenda.

2. Bizzabo’s Ultra Branded App

In 2018, dozens of leading technology companies chose Bizzabo to power their event apps, and we were thrilled to welcome such innovative organizations to our BizzaFamily. In chatting with event marketers who produce premier user conferences and customer roadshows it became clear to us that there is a crucial need to foster a consistent attendee experience throughout every event touch point.

In August, we launched the first Ultra Branded app, which has since become a critical component of our product offering. Many of our customers now feature white-label apps powered by Bizzabo. We couldn’t be more thrilled to support their efforts in creating a fully branded event journey from web to email to mobile.

Learn more about the Ultra branded experience. 

3. Full website customization with Javascript and HTML

Another area of focus has been our website customization capabilities. We spoke with many of customers and concluded that adding Javascript and HTML functionality would enable Bizzabo users to actualize a richer website design that captures their brand.

After releasing the initial Javascript offering we asked our customers about their experience. Even though we loved the feedback that indicated “I love it, it’s so easy to use”, we really appreciated valued responses like “I have to admit it’s a bit confusing”. This kind of feedback led us to dig further, go back to the coding board, and iterate on what we initially built.

Today, We’re happy to see the active usage patterns of our customers. Even better is hearing from our success managers about how a customer is implementing Javascript for a new menu dropdown or floating button on their event website (In fact, we actually share these examples in an internal company chat called “BizzaGood Vibes”).

4.  Cross-event team analytics

By continuing to work with many large-scale event teams this year, we discovered the need for a solution that enables the account admin to track the actions that each user is taking in an account. Thanks to feedback we collected from customers, we developed the recently released cross-event team analytics.

This new tab under “Cross-event Analytics” can be viewed alongside exportable data on cross-event revenue and registrations.

“Sometimes the smaller things are the ones that matter most”

We all have them—those small moments or things that often go unnoticed because we think they’re either insignificant or we take them for granted. At Bizzabo, we make it a habit to celebrate all of your (and ours) small wins.

Here are some of the small wins that were accomplished thanks to requests from our customers:

– Thank you Elijah, thanks to you all attendees in all events can now enjoy a shorter registration management process.
– Tom, you’re the best! Now, the Bizzabo onboarding navigation bar has a new and improved look!
– Thanks, Jason! Now all organizers can control which social media buttons appear on their event websites.
Thank you, Shivina! During the check-in experience, all customers can now utilize a better mobile view of the check-in interface.
– Thank you, Killian! Now all organizers can see exactly which user created which event on the account level.
Thank you, Dan! Every event marketer can see a list organized by name of all the attendees who downloaded the event app.
 – Thank you, Rachel! Now every organizer can control their email notifications settings.
 – Thanks, Josh! Now all customers enjoy an automatic list of checked-in registrants. 

And the list goes on and on….
Thank you for helping us build a great product!

Cheers to 2019!