Accelevents

Avantages

I've used Accelevents to host virtual events for 3 years in a row. The product is straightforward for event administrators. It gives you the right control to design your event while providing a good interface for attendees. We have been very pleased with the ease-of-use for our attendees too. The 100% browser-based delivery means no downloads for attendees. Our event attendees have continually rated Accelevents very high in our post-event attendee survey. Their support team is fast, and the knowledge base website has answers to most questions.

Inconvénients

The gamification aspect could be improved in the platform. It's not bad, but it could be better.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à Accelevents

Avantages

I liked the ease of use and alot of feautres for event organizations and to manage attendeees.

Inconvénients

I felt like the event branding and design was a bit limiting, but if you are beginning to plan events I think is very good and complete.

Avantages

Ease of platform use. Live chat and support.

Inconvénients

Analytics - They are completely limited and no easy to get the actual information that has value.

Integrations - There no integrations to Salesforce and Hubspot are minimal with the necessary tracking requirements not possible to pass through.

Registration Source Tracking - There is none if you have host your event on your own landing page. You cannot track where a registration comes from i.e. social media, direct, etc.

Does not support events streamed in multiple time zones in any efficient and organized way

Avantages

Accelevents has been our go to for both profit and for non-profits events. It's really easy to set up an event, connect to Stripe, personalize an event and launch it to the end user.

Inconvénients

I wish there was more customization available such as a shorter way to present the URL outside of using an outside shortener.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à Accelevents

Avantages

Our sponsors and exhibitors love that lead scanning is built into Accelevents so that they don't have to pay several hundred dollars to use a lead scanner. For virtual events, Accelevents provides robust features and capabilities so that attendees have a seamless experience. I love the green room feature and all of the features that moderators can use to help manage questions and virtual attendees. I have not used the built-in email functionality (we rely on Emma instead) however, I plan to use it in the future because it seems like a more elegant way to connect with our attendees.

I also like the various embed and integration options available for the event landing page and virtual event hub. One of our events serves Higher Ed Technology Professionals and seamless web experience is important for reinforcing trust and ensuring attendees are confident that they're purchasing tickets for a real event and not a scam.

We have run into issues, both end user errors and bugs, but the Customer Success team has been a huge resource for us. They respond quickly, go above and beyond to solve our problems, and always try to help us learn how to use Accelevents better. They are keen to follow-up on outstanding support requests and coordinate closely with the product development team to ensure we always have a positive experience.

The Customer Success team has played a major role in our continued use of Accelevents as the company and product mature. [sensitive content hidden] has been a pleasure to work with and always takes great care of us, going above and beyond in more ways than one. . [sensitive content hidden] have also been great. I rarely wait longer than 60sec to receive a chat response from the Customer Success team which is not always the case with other products.

Inconvénients

I'd like to see improvements regarding customizing the event hub and landing page to better meet accessibility requirements. As a state funded organization, accessibility is a major priority for us and currently there are some accessibility challenges with the product's UI/UX and functionality.

There has been a continued challenge with using the built in name badge functionality. When printing badges, if you print or download badge files using a PC the art quality drops significantly, causing the badges to print blurry. This issue doesn't exist when using a Mac. The customer success team did a tremendous job helping us find a work around for a recent event, but I would like to see this improved because the badge creator is a major reason why we use Accelevents.

In addition, I've found the dashboard and analytics aren't always accurate. Whether it's end user error on our part or something that is prioritized for later on in the product roadmap, I'm unsure. I am able to get all of the data I need by doing manual registration data downloads and importing the data into excel. However, I'd like to be able to confidently trust the data presented in the built-in dashboard and analytics feature.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à Accelevents

Avantages

It allows our event to appear polished and professional. This was our second event, and we learned more as we went. The Help Desk is The Best! Even though it is probably more AI-driven than I know, I would like to think that they really are that kind, patient, and knowledgeable. [sensitive content hidden] was truly amazing! And, all of the others too! In the thousands of questions I've asked, I've only had one who just referred me to the manual without walking me through the issue. I think adding screenshots WITH RED ARROWS is so smart! I don't remember them from last year.

Inconvénients

There are so many options, we only choose the "basics" that we need, because even that is a lot to cover for only 1 person. It would be helpful if the Virtual, Hybrid, and Live event platforms were separate and offered a more basic plan, without so many options (like ticket types) and, have a "checklist" to confirm all of the buttons are clicked that should be. --The manuals are burdensome. I found that if I just Googled "Accelevents how can I..." it was so much easier, as it usually just linked that part of the manual, so I didn't need to search it. Even though I remember thinking that some of the info was outdated. Some buttons may not be where they used to be? --We are a small non-profit, so Accelevents is a considerable expense for us, even with the massive discount. It could be more manageable if the plan were less expensive and many of the options were add-ons. Also, the $250/hr for a dedicated event person is definitely not possible but thankfully the help desk assisted when needed!-- We thought we would begin to use it for Webinars, but I don't have the time it would take to learn how to do a live event and organize it all. We will need to rethink using it again.-- It's unfortunate that when one duplicates the event, you must recreate so much to check everything, specifically, the transitions between the sessions and the waiting media. And, since our videos were coming from YouTube, they don't come in at all so you can't check if the link is correct--

Avantages

It is a somewhat complex but efficient platform and it adapted perfectly to our needs and those of our clients creating a memorable interactive event with suppliers, developments and prices.
It allowed me to record the entire session and then make it available to the attendees.

Inconvénients

I have no complaints about this tool, it works well.

Avantages

The product dashboard easy very intuitive and easy to navigate through.

Inconvénients

The product is generally good no complaints.

Avantages

Accelerants makes managing a nonprofit simple! It stream lines our work and is easy to navigate.

Inconvénients

I have no complaints currently about Accelevents.

Avantages

One of the things I liked most about AE is simply their responsiveness. We had a direct line of communication with [sensitive content hidden]
and he was always friendly, receptive to questions and requests, and eager to help make sure our events went off without a hitch.

Inconvénients

I wish there were tiers for customization that my clients could taker advantage of. The "all or nothing" pricing for customization definitely put a couple clients off from making the site look exactly like what they wanted it to look like.

Avantages

1. Platform layout- from attendees' view is easy to use. 2. Registration- creating the registration form, testing and dispatching was easy3. Speaker session- creating speaker sessions was easy to use4. Accelevents team- everyone was super helpful, responsive, and friendly5. Accelevents DES- having DES to assist with all the work prior to event start date and on event days was amazing and much needed

Inconvénients

1. Speaker name tag on screen- when presenters are live in their session, their name doesn't appear on their window for attendees to identify the speakers on main stage2. Live stream lag time - major lag time from backstage to front stage3. Live stream screen sharing video- there was a major glitch when trying to screen share a video file in a main session4. Speaker background- doesn't have an option for speakers to choose or blur their background

Avantages

The product is easy and agile to use, fantastic

Inconvénients

I miss some tools, but it does not influence anything, the application is very good

Avantages

Accelevents Auction Software is very easy to use and navigate. Our school has been using it for 4 years now. Unlimited number of items can be uploaded and there is an option to include multiple images of the item, indicate its value, number of units available, and whether it’s a Live item. If you have the same items from year to year, you can move them over from your previous events to the new event. Ticketing, Fund-A-Need, Raffle, and Text-To-Give modules are also available. You only pay for what you need. The customer service is here incredible---you ask a question in the chat and within a couple of minutes, you receive a response! No matter what time of day you ask (weekend, too)! The first year we used the software, we had a couple of glitches during the event, but I went on the chat and within minutes, it was all taken care of (and this at 9:30 at night). That’s what sold me to return.

Inconvénients

There aren’t really any cons---except with the automatic save. You need to remember to refresh your page to make sure that changes you made were actually saved. Sometimes, it looks like it’s saved but isn’t. I think this happens more as your list of auction items grow.

Avantages

I offer consulting and marketing to services to small nonprofits and local businesses in the Boone, NC area. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many fundraisers to go virtual, I have been hired to help a few organizations navigate through the challenge of transitioning to a digital event in a short amount of time. I recommended & used Accelevents for my first contract and have continued to recommend it to additional organizations.

The ease of use on the back end and the absolutely simple and inviting user-interface has made this platform a large part of the success of these events, raising much-needed funds for our local nonprofits. The most recent virtual fundraiser I worked on raised DOUBLE the amount expected, in no small part due to the bidder's quick and easy access to viewing the items up for bid. I've seen other events where you have to jump through hoops to register (or enter a CC#) prior to viewing and the turnout has been poor because of it. Thanks, Accelevents!

Inconvénients

I found the effort needed to reorder items up for bid a little slow and clunky. I also am interested in personalizing/adding to the receipt that is sent to bidders immediately after the auction (maybe I just didn't see it?). I would like to communicate post-auction instructions about item pick up, etc. along with their payment link, etc.

Avantages

It has the right features. I don't want to pay for a bunch of features that I won't use.

Inconvénients

There's not really anything that I dislike.

Alternatives envisagées 

Logiciel antérieur 

Avantages

This software is so easy to use. JUST WHEN YOU THINK you need to have this software needs a function that doesn't exist you ask CUST SUPPORT in a panic how in the world you will possibly make it work they are 5 million steps ahead of you. Not only that but within 5 seconds they reply with a warm stress free reply that reassures you that your event that you spent countless hours on is going to be the most amazing and successful event that could have possibly existed for your cause. I AM NOT A TECH SAVY PERSON! BORN IN THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION I STUCK AT COMPUTERS! but they have made it beyond easy! My second year happy to plan this even thanks to these guys!

Inconvénients

the only thing i don't like about this software program is that they don't have the outreach that other auction softwares have that they send out technical help for the actual event to make the event smooth as possible. Even though they are there to help at every second through the site i can only imagine the absolute craziness if the top notch service was right in front of you

Avantages

We looked at several auction systems for an annual charity auction to move it from a physical auction to a fully online auction. After looking at about 5-6 competitors, Accelevents seemed to be the most reasonably priced and easy to use software. A lot of other systems require a monthly subscription which is not reasonable for small organizations.

Inconvénients

Some of the features are not completely obvious, and maybe the help articles could be a little more developed, but help was always available, prompt and patient.

Avantages

If you are looking for a simple website to host a small silent auction that doesn't cost very much, I think this is a good website.

Inconvénients

It is very basic. We picked it because it was the cheapest option for our fundraiser. If we had more bidders and auction items, I think this website wouldn't have worked. Basic software.

Avantages

I particulary liked it being an online platform which allowed me to work from anywhere and any computer.

Inconvénients

There was some weird glitch while entering item descriptions that it would let me type a few letters and then refresh and what I had typed wasn't there anymore. We had the same the glitch the previous year. Customer service told me to hit the refresh button which did seem to work a bit before it would glitch again, in which case I would just hit refresh again. I didn't make entering the infomation difficult it just prolonged the process.

Avantages

Its very easy to setup and get sponsors listed online. Super easy to use and setup a nice site. It got a lot of people asking me what website I used for their own events, and the pricing was by far the least expensive compared to so many other sites that tried to do half of what this site does.

Inconvénients

They should allow the sponsor photos to not need to be a 2:1 ratio, caused some minor editing of photos by me. It would be nice to add a feature to see if everyone has placed their tickets and if not, remind them to enter them into prizes. It would also be nice to see how the end of the raffle works beforehand, to better answer participants questions about the results.

Avantages

This software is so easy to use--very intuitive, not too many features, but it has the right ones. Customer support is great--in chat or email with quick simple responses! Low cost--we raised $8000 and were able to keep most of it last year. Integration for payment was awesome!

Inconvénients

We have multiple items in our auction that are the same (parking spots)--would be nice to list it on time and give the 3 spots to the 3 highest bidders. Small feature that's definitely not critical -- but a nice add on.

Avantages

We picked Accelevents for the video chat function as our event had a heavy emphasis on networking. It worked wonderfully for what we needed.

Inconvénients

Having to set up Sponsors and Exhibitors separately - all of our Sponsors were Exhibitors as well, tho I understand the reasoning for this.

Avantages

As a first-time user of this software, I highly recommend anyone looking to move their auction online. This was the first time our organization moved it online and it could not have been easier!! The set up was simple and easy to comprehend, and customer service was superb! I could message them at any time and they would typically answer within minutes -- even the day of our event! I also liked how you can pick and choose which features you want to use.

Inconvénients

My only suggestions would be:
1.) I had difficulty printing some of your how-to articles. I would suggest making them available in PDF version so they are easier to print. When I reached out for help, I received the response "they're made for online reading only"
2.) I had difficulty uploading a photo for the banner on our event page. I would suggest looking into this.

Avantages

This platform was very easy for my busy non profit team to upload silent auction items. It provided our patrons with a fun and easy way to donate to our cause.

Inconvénients

We had a few glitches in loading on some browsers, but the support line helped us out quickly. We got feedback from participants that they wish they couldn't remember their passwords from the year before.