Here are some key aspects to consider when building your first summit


Set your summit up for success with this handy guide. From customisation to attendee management, if there's one help doc to read before setting up your event, this is the one!


1. Event Basics

1.1 Create your event

Get things kicked off by creating your first event. 


1.2 Basics

Head to Event Setup> Settings > Event Basics to get started on the basics. 

It's essential to get those communications up and running so that you can be in touch with your attendees as efficiently as possible. This is why you can configure your event support email. If your attendees have any issues during your event, you can make sure that they can contact you. This way, you can report any problems to us and we can do some problem-solving together with the whole picture. , Make sure that you record any screenshots/additional information from your attendees before reporting an issue to speed up the investigation process.


Registrations

You can then decide if you'd like your event to be open for registrations right away. You can also enable the evergreen option here. Read more about evergreen events. 


Decide whether or not your attendees should have the chance to select the sessions they're interested in at checkout when securing a ticket and whether this content should be limited by ticket type selected. If you disable this stage, you might want to register attendees for all talks so they can be kept up to date anyway with event emails about your sessions. Speaking of emails, you can decide whether or not to email people that started the registration process but didn't finish it about event updates. This will be especially relevant if you enable lead capture, so users have to enter their email address before starting to view tickets. 


If you don't want to encourage attendees to share the event on social media, you can make the event private. Read more about making an event private.


Are you looking to open up submissions for new speakers? Check that option here to have a submission page automatically created. Read more about speaker application forms.


Let's think about how you want your attendees to interact with each other. Interested in comments or live chat on your session pages? You can enable it here. Read more about networking. Read more about networking for other options.


1.3 Branding & Content

The first thing to consider is how your summit is going to look. Here are some of the settings you'll want to look at to create the branding and customization of your summit.


Start here: Event Setup > Settings > Branding and Content. You can add your logo, as well as remove any HeySummit branding. Please note that you can only remove HeySummit branding if you are on our Success plan.

Add your colours and font here.  Read more about changing colours.

Branding and Content also hold the key to social media customisation. This is the place where you can also add your strapline and any hashtags. Make sure you check how your strapline fits within the auto-generated banners for your event. Longer straplines might be cut off within the image.


Promo images (the ones used when your event link is shared online) can be updated from our autogenerated graphics to your own here also. Read more about custom promo images.


1.4 Set up a promo banner

You can set up a promo banner to be visible at the top of your summits page. You could use this banner to promote your summit ticket page, or promote an external page (like a website). Find this setting under Event Setup> Settings > Promo Banner. 

1.5 Localisation 

Update your timezone (the one that will be used in your event settings area) and language (the one that will be used for your public site here. We rely on community volunteers to translate HeySummit's default copy into languages other than English.


Check out section 6.1 for info on how to edit copy at a local level rather than a global level. 


1.6 Change your domain

We use your event name in the HeySummit subdomain associated with your event by default. But you can edit that slug here, or set up your own custom domain. Read more on custom domains. Be sure to do this before you start sharing your event link online. 


1.7 Set up custom email

By default, all HeySummit automatic emails are sent from an email address generated for your specific summit. Normally it would look something like this: x12345@events.heysummit.com. This displays in attendees' inbox as being from the Event Owner (the name attached to your subscription) and the Event Title. The email address is only visible if they click into it to directly look at the email.

If you'd like the automated emails to come from a specific branded address, you can change the settings by going to Event Setup> Settings. Click on Update under Custom Email Settings and enter the desired email address. If you go for this, we highly recommend setting up DKIM signatures after.

1.8 Legal 

Set up any extra privacy policy or terms of service under Event Setup> Settings > Legal & GDPR. They'll be added to the top of the page where we show users HeySummit's privacy policy and terms of service. 


2. Connect Webinar providers

Using one of our native webinar integrations? Follow the steps below to get started.


With this option, you can automate the creation of the webinar to the connected webinar account. Look to Section 4.2 below on some comparisons between webinar integrations and other types of live sessions. Not using a webinar provider? Skip these steps.


To complete this process, we'll need to add a Host and then connect this Host to a webinar license.

3. Categories and Speakers


We'll need to set up Categories to make it easier for your attendees to choose the sessions they're interested in. Read more on Categories. Once we've done that, let's get started on adding our lineup. Read more about adding Speakers.


4. Adding a talk

There are two types of videos you can add to your summit: pre-recorded and live. Before picking one, here are some things worth considering. Remember - all summits are different, and you can choose whichever best suits your summit needs.

 When we refer to a talk as being live vs. replay, we mean that...
  • On your public-facing summit, a live talk is the first run of your talk - when your talk first airs to the public. Live talks appear on the Schedule page
  • If you set up your talk to start at 14:30 and it is 25 minutes long, that means that your talk will no longer be live at 14:55
  • After a talk has finished its live run, it turns into a replay
  • Once the talk becomes a replay, it will appear on the Replay page of your summit
  • Most of the time, you will have to upload your own replay link to HeySummit

4.1 Pre-recorded videos

You can add pre-recorded videos to HeySummit. These are invisible to your attendees until the time you have scheduled the talk. A pre-recorded video is one that you have already recorded and uploaded prior to your event going live. Read more about setting up pre-recorded content.
If you are using pre-recorded videos, you don't have to worry about adding a replay video - HeySummit will automatically use the link you already entered and create a replay for you.

You can always test how a pre-recorded video looks by going to Preview/Post after you've uploaded the video URL/ID. This is especially useful with pre-recorded videos, as you can have the peace of mind that you have set up your video correctly (if it displays in Preview, it is ready to go).

You might want to send some questions to your attendees before you record a video for uploading.
  • This way, you can incorporate questions that your attendees might have, creating a better connection between speakers and attendees.
  • You can use your own email provider to do this. All you'd have to do is export your attendees' email address.

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • No need to configure a replay
  • You can upload on popular hosting sites like YouTube, Vimeo or use your own link
  • You definitely know how the video will look to your attendees
  • You'll have to upload the video to a hosting website as the process is not automatic
  • Your speakers will not be able to interact with attendees live (as they could do with one of our live integrations)


4.2 Live videos

Unlike pre-recorded videos, for all live videos you (as the event organiser) are responsible for recording and uploading the replay to HeySummit. HeySummit doesn't automatically pull the replay from the link you set up in Video Settings as it would with pre-recorded videos.

If you opt for our live video option, there are two options:


Custom Stream

You could use a custom stream to allow your attendees to access the live talk. At the moment, we offer embeddable custom streams for Vimeo and YouTube. Any other custom stream that you enter will take your attendees away from the HeySummit site. If you use Vimeo/YouTube, the live video will be viewed on HeySummit. Read more about Custom URLs.


ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • No need to film in advance, as you just have to add the custom stream ID/URL
  • Not dependent on you having a paid account with one of our live integrations
  • You first need to create the live-stream on your chosen platform
  • You will have to record and upload your own replay


Native Integrations

Finally, you could use one of our powerful webinar integrations to take full advantage of all the live-goodness. With our live integrations, all you have to do is connect a host to your HeySummit account and the platforms will do the rest. However, keep in mind that you will still need to record and upload a replay (BigMarker is the only integration which automatically records and uploads the replay). 


ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • You don't need to film in advance
  • When you create a talk in HeySummit and set up your host webinar provider, HeySummit automatically creates a talk within your chosen webinar provider
  • You can use the live webinar platforms features to interact with attendees (polls, Q&A, etc.)
  • You will need a Zoom, BigMarker or LiveWebinar paid account
  • Not all live integrations are created equal. For Zoom and LiveWebinar, you'll have to record and upload your own replay using either an in-built screen record function or other software and host that recording on a video platform of your choice like Youtube or Vimeo
Ultimately, don't feel like you have to choose one or the other. You can have an event that mixes both pre-recorded and live videos. For example, you might want to have pre-recorded videos for smaller talks, and a live video for a keynote speech - it's up to you to evaluate what your audience will get the most value from. 


5. Tickets, please!

It's important that you think about your tickets when creating your first summit. Will you have a free event, a fully paid one or a mixture? You can use our ticket configuration tool to impose attendee limits on many aspects of your event. Read more on setting up tickets.

Make sure you always check your ticket permissions before your event goes live.

Always Sync Edits to All Purchases (this can be found by click on the three dots next to a ticket record) after making any changes to your tickets. This way, both new attendees and previous ticket-holders will be affected by the changes.


5.1 Pricing options

By default, HeySummit uses Stripe to collect ticket fees from your attendees and holds the money until your payout date.

On our Starter and Growth Plans we have a HeySummit transaction fee (10% and 2% respectively) on top of any PayPal/Wise fees you might see on your end. On our Success Plan, there are no extra HeySummit fees, but the payment processor fees still apply.


If you are on our Success Plan, you have the option of linking ticket sales to a custom Stripe or PayPal account instead and have your funds immediately. 


5.2 Coupons

Want to give Speakers a discount code to share or give some loyal followers a cut price ticket? You can create a coupon and share the code or URL with people to have a discount applied automatically at checkout. Read more about setting up coupons.

 

6. Extra tools

6.1 Translations

You can always change how we refer to certain aspects of your summit if you go to Content > Translations.

Here are some of your options under Translations:

  • Change Speakers to Experts, Masters or anything that you think sounds better.
  • Don't like Category? Change it to Topic, Section or whatever term suits your audience best.
  • Change the phrasing on sign-up buttons (pro-tip: always make sure to check Widgets).


Don't forget to Save all your work by pressing save for each wording you change.


6.2 Email templates

Under Event Setup> Email Templates you can click into each category and then the three dots next to each email record to make changes to them - including subject line, content and whether or not they're enabled. Read more about customizing email templates.


6.3 Offers & Giveaways

You can also set up some event giveaways and offers. Read more about perks.

Remember to think about how each is made visible to attendees. While offers only appear in the emails sent out to attendees during your event, giveaways appear under the Perks page of your summit.


6.3 Notable Brands

If you have a representative from a significant, reputable company on your speaker panel, you can easily set their company logo to appear on your event landing page to give your event credibility and generate hype. Read more about Notable Brands. 


6.4 Sponsors

Finally, if you want to add sponsors to your summit, HeySummit offers two options: you can either add them as a Main or a Category Sponsor. Here's the small (yet very impactful difference) between them. Hint: it's all about visibility. Read more about Sponsors.


Main sponsors appear on the landing page of your website, as well as within any of the automated emails HeySummit sends. Main sponsors also appear on all speaker and talk pages.
Category sponsors only appear on speaker and talk pages when the category matches. When we talk about talk pages, we are referring to each individual talk page (not just the Schedule tab - main and category sponsors don't appear there).

HeySummit automatically advertises sponsorship opportunities on your summit. If someone clicks on Contact us (see screenshot below), that message is going to go to the address you set under Event Setup> Settings > Event Basics.
If you'd like to stop advertising sponsorship opportunities you can click Revenue > Sponsors > Settings and untick Promote sponsor opportunities.

6.5 Affiliates

One aspect you might consider is setting up an affiliate scheme. You can open your affiliate scheme to the public (and it will be shown in your website footer). You're responsible for paying your affiliates, so make sure you're familiar with how to handle affiliate payments. Read more about Affiliates.

Please note that if you choose to Set your Speakers as Affiliates, that action applies to either all of them or none of them at all. If you only want certain speakers to be your affiliate, direct them to your affiliate program sign-up page.

If you set up an affiliate scheme, the percentages have to be the same for your public/speaker schemes.
 

7. Customising your site

 

7.1 Set up feedback questions

You can get further value from your summit by asking your attendees the right questions about their experience. Any feedback questions you setup will be shown to attendees while the summit is live. Read more about feedback questions.

Make sure you set up your questions in a yes/no format, as those are the only options your attendees have. These are designed to be low friction, high response, finger-on-the-pulse questions.

7.2 Publish event

Your event will be in draft mode and only the Coming Soon page will be available until you hit Publish under Event Setup> Settings. You can edit your Coming Soon page by clicking on View Event while the event is unpublished.


7.3 Edit your landing page

After you've published your event, the View Event button will lead to a preview of your full landing page. We automatically populate this page and your other pages with all the info you entered into the dashboard using the steps above. You can use the Edit Page button on the bottom left to make changes to the layout. Read more about editing your landing page here.