Start and moderate Q&A during a Bevy-hosted virtual event. Learn how public and Private Q&A differ, how to answer or dismiss questions, and where to find the post-event report.
Hosts and moderators use the same Start, moderate, and Finish controls in both Bevy Virtual Meetup and Bevy Virtual Conference. For Meetup-only or Conference-only screens and room labels, open the product-specific Related articles.
Note: Q&A appears only in Bevy-hosted virtual events and virtual conferences. It does not appear in breakout rooms, and it might be unavailable if your community has turned it off.
About Q&A
Q&A gives participants a dedicated place to submit questions during a virtual event. Event staff can reply in text, mark a question as answered live, or dismiss it.
Q&A is separate from event chat. It opens in its own panel, and questions stay in a single list — answering a question does not move it to a separate tab. Q&A still works when event chat is turned off for the event. Depending on your community’s configuration, participants can also upvote questions and sort the list.
Who can manage Q&A
| Capability | Host or moderator | Presenter | Participant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start or finish Q&A | Yes | No | No |
| Submit a question | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reply to a question in text | Yes | Yes* | No |
| Mark a question as answered live | Yes | Yes* | No |
| Dismiss or Undismiss a question | Yes | No | No |
| Upvote a question | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| View questions from other participants in Private Q&A | Yes | No | No |
*Presenters can answer questions only in sessions where they have presenter access and the moderation controls appear. If you do not see Reply, Answer live, or Dismiss, ask an event host to give you host or moderator access for that session.
Choose public or Private Q&A
Choose the Q&A type before the event starts.
- In the event dashboard, open the event and go to General information (some communities label this page Details).
- Under Virtual event platform (or Select virtual event platform), select Bevy Virtual.
- Select Private Q&A to keep participants’ questions visible only to event staff, or leave it cleared to run public Q&A.
- Save the event.
| Q&A type | Who can view a participant’s question and answer? |
|---|---|
| Public Q&A | Participants and event staff. Dismissed questions are hidden from participants. |
| Private Q&A | Event staff and the participant who asked the question. Other participants cannot view it. |
Private Q&A: Participants see only their own questions and the answers to them. Event staff can view every question that participants submit.
Start Q&A
- Join the virtual event room or session where you want to run Q&A.
- In the event tray, select Q&A. On smaller screens, select More, and then select Q&A.
- Select Start.
Participants receive a notification that Q&A has started and can select Open to open the Q&A panel and submit questions. People who join after Q&A is already running also see the Q&A notification (and the Q&A control in the tray) so they can open the panel and follow along.
Tip: Tell the presenter when Q&A opens. If event chat is available, post a short reminder there so participants know where to submit questions.
Moderate questions
While Q&A is running, each question in the Q&A panel shows the moderation actions that are available to you.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reply | Adds a text answer to the question. Participants select Answer below the question to view the reply. |
| Answer live | Marks the question as answered verbally and adds an Answered live label and time. No text answer is added. |
| Dismiss | Hides the question from participants. Event staff can still view it, labeled Dismissed. |
| Undismiss | Restores a dismissed question so participants can view it again. Select the Dismissed label (or Undismiss) to undo the dismissal. |
Sort and upvote questions
If question voting is available in your community, each question shows an upvote button. Anyone in the session, including event staff, can upvote a question, and can select the button again to remove their upvote.
Use the sort menu at the top of the Q&A panel to switch between New and Most voted. The panel sorts by New by default.
Finish Q&A
- In the Q&A panel, select Finish.
- In the confirmation window, select Finish Q&A.
Participants can no longer submit questions, and they receive a notification that Q&A is finished. Questions that participants already submitted remain visible in the Q&A panel, and moderation actions are no longer available.
Tip: You can start Q&A again during the same event. If you reopen Q&A, participants can submit new questions and you can moderate them again.
Access the Event Q&A transcript
After the event ends, download the Q&A report from the event dashboard reports (often under Analytics or Downloads, depending on your community). The file is typically named Q and A.csv.
The report includes details such as:
- The stage, session, and segment where the question was asked (when those apply)
- The question text, the date it was asked, and whether it was dismissed
- The number of votes the question received
- The answer text, whether it was answered live or by text, and when it was answered
- Name and company details for the person who asked and the person who answered
Note: Transcript files may take time to appear after the event ends. If the download is missing, wait and check again, or contact your community admin.