Bizly vs. Webex Events (formerly Socio)

1. Bizly is well suited if you're short on headcount resources and are looking for a platform that can assist with the lift of sourcing venues and managing logistics of a venue.
2. Bizly is also well suited when there are pre-defined agreements your organization requires a venue to sign/adhere to. I really appreciated being able to upload those agreements and attach them with any sourcing requests.
3. Bizly is an excellent source of unique ideas and a database to get a sense of properties prior to booking.

The teams functions of Bizly could have been better. Setting up people with different payment options or granting other users permission to utilize the tool was very much a growing pain when we were piloting the program. I'm not sure if those have been addressed since. Their database could be much bigger and would love to see this in international space (at least Canada and the UK for sure).

Incentivized

I think it would work for:

• Workshops with many people.
• Quarterly's meetings with people all around the world.
• If you want to create a digital training with lots of participants...

I feel like it's not as needed in videocalls that can be fixed with webex teams because of the number of participants or at events that need a more personal approach where you need everyone constantly interacting.

Incentivized

• Sourcing unique location ideas for events
• Managing numerous bookings on one platform

Incentivized

• It has quite a few optional and customizable features that can be utilized.
• It's easy to integrate your existing tools like Zoom, YouTube, Vimeo, and streaming services.
• It's flexible in the way that you upload content in that you can enter things one at a time on the website, or use a spreadsheet to upload a larger amount of content.

Incentivized

• Slow response rate at times (concierge service)
• No international presence at the time of use

Incentivized

• The standard template to build out the community is pretty rigid. We had to adjust some of our styling and graphics to account for what Socio's template allowed.
• Inability for event admins to make account changes for users. Several times we had users change jobs, therefore, changing their emails. Each time, we had to go through Socio support to get them access to their account.
• Documentation and knowledgebase could be more substantive.

Of course something could happen to our orgs ability to put on a conference or Socio could fundamentally change their product or their customer service - but barring any magor shift there is nothing that is even close to competing for our attention here.

Incentivized

Some Android users could not get the app to work, so they had to use the web-based version of our conference guide. Most functionality was still there, but they could not pull up the QR code, which impeded the registration process. The presence of the log in with Apple ID button caused issues because most work emails were not attached to Apple ID, which caused access issues.

Incentivized

The Bizly team bent over backward to make sure we were taken care of. As we were one of their larger clients at the time, they listened to product feedback and implemented many of the changes we were hoping to see. They were also quick to respond when I reached out directly.

Incentivized

Socio (now WebexEvents) is one of two products I use that gets customer service right. Not only can you get an answer from an actual person quickly during business hours - but if you are asking after hours, you know the response will be waiting for you in the morning. Not only are they fast, but they are also smart about their products and customers. There is very little back and forth trying to explain the problem I am having, or the new way I am trying to use their product, that may even be novel for them.

Incentivized

Bizly's concierge service was the differentiator here. The ability to simply send a message to the concierge team with a date, area, headcount, etc. and have them respond with several options was a godsend on numerous occasions

Incentivized

WebEx Events has the same functionality as many other platforms, but with a more affordable price tag. I have also found it to be more intuitive and easy to use on the user side. I don't have experience on the administrative side with other platforms but we have been very satisfied with our experience with WebEx Events.

Incentivized

• Reduced sourcing time
• Saved research time in looking for locations

Incentivized

• We had more sponsorship applications than usual due to using Webex and the multiple sponsorship capabilities.
• We had more attendance than in previous years due to using Webex since it is so incredibly user-friendly.
• We increased ROI by using Webex over other platforms due to pricing and features.