Ready to host your first webinar? A seasoned pro? Somewhere in the middle? Wistia’s Live functionality allows you to create a live event, host it, and share the recording. You can collect viewer and attendee information, as well as analytics from the live event.
Creating a Live Event
To create a live event in your Wistia account, navigate to your Live Events page and select "Create Event."
You can also create an event right from your Content Library. Click "New" and then select "Live Event."
Note
Account Owners and Managers have access to create live events.
Following this, you can add a title, data, time, time zone, and the approximate duration of your event. You can also choose to enable your Registration page (these details can be edited later on the “Overview” page as well!).
Overview Page
Once you click “Create,” you’ll be redirected the Overview page where you can edit the high-level information for your event and add it to your calendar.
The Overview page includes a number of details and settings for your live event:
The date and time
Time zone
Approximate duration
Description (you can also generate a description via AI)
An event image that will represent your event from start to finish. The event image will be the default image for the registration page, emails, and the screen before the event starts and after it concludes
The option to enable or disable registration and select a registration form
A setting to allow your audience to watch your live event recording
The folder destination in your account for the live event recording
Information about when your live event's creation date, who created it, and the scheduled date and time
From the Overview page, click “Join event room” to join as the host, a panelist, or view as the audience to see a preview.
For a full breakdown over everything you can update on the Overview page, head on over to this article.
Upload a Virtual Background
On the Overview page, you'll have the option to upload a custom virtual background for any host or panelist to use during the event.
Before going live, you'll also have the option to blur your background or select a virtual background.
If you'd like to change or remove your virtual background during your event, you can do so from the "Video" option in the live event room.
Share Your Live Stream
Click "Invite" to retrieve the panelist link as well as the audience link. You can also add tracking to your audience link to see where your traffic is coming from.
Note
On the Pro Plan, live events allow for a maximum of 100 attendees and a 1-hour time limit per event and the Advanced Plan allows for 500 attendees and a 2-hour time limit per event. For all plan details, take a look at our Pricing page.
Panelists
To share your events with Panelists, click "Invite” from the live event's Overview page. From here, click "Copy link" to share. You can invite dozens of Panelists to join your event as presenters.
Note
Keep in mind that a maximum of nine streams (presenters) can be brought on stage at once, so we recommend limiting your panelists to around 20. There will be a 10th slot saved for screen shares, or questions or polls brought on stage.
Share the Panelist link, and before joining, any panelists will be asked to enter their display name, and check to be sure they’ve selected the correct Video, Microphone (input), and Speakers (output). They can turn off their webcam, mute themselves, and test everything out before joining. Once ready, click “Join as Panelist.”
Audience
To share your event with your audience, click "Invite” from the live event's Overview page. From here, click "Copy link" to share.
The event link will take an attendee directly to the event page, or prompt them to register first.
Tip
If you’d like to make sure your live event is GDPR compliant, enable Privacy Mode in your Account Settings.
Note
The Pro Plan has a live attendee limit of 100 and the Advanced Plan has a limit of 500. If the number of audience members exceeds what is allowed on your plan, there will be a charge of $1/attendee. Learn more about our plans on our Pricing page.
Event Customization
Click "Customize" to customize your event branding, registration page, event room, and more. For a detailed overview of our event customization options, please refer to our Customizing a Live Event documentation.
Note
Live event customization is available for Advanced and Premium plans. Check out our Pricing page to learn more about plan options.
Copy Event
If you’ll be hosting a similar event in the future, in your Live Events folder, you can click “Copy” to create a brand new event with the same title, description, and branding. We’ll save a copy in the same folder with fresh registrant data and analytics.
Delete Event
If you’d like to delete your event, click “Delete Event” and confirm your decision.
Note
This cannot be undone.