As a host or moderator, start, moderate, and finish Q&A in a Bevy Virtual Meetup session, choose public or Private Q&A before the event, and clear unanswered questions when the session hits the hold limit.
In a Bevy Virtual Meetup session, hosts and moderators start and finish Q&A, reply in text, mark questions answered live, and dismiss questions. Participants submit questions after Q&A is running. For the shared virtual-event overview (including Conference sessions), see Manage Q&A during a virtual event.
Note: Q&A does not appear in breakout rooms. It might be unavailable if your community has turned it off. Q&A is separate from event chat and still works when chat is disabled for the event.
Choose public or Private Q&A
Choose the Q&A type before the Meetup starts. You cannot switch public vs Private after people are already in the live room using that setting.
- In the chapter dashboard, open the event and go to Details (some communities label this page General information).
- Under Select virtual event platform, choose Bevy Virtual.
- Select Private Q&A to keep each participant’s questions visible only to hosts, moderators, and that participant — or leave it cleared for public Q&A.
- Optionally select Disable chat if you want questions only in Q&A, not in chat.
- 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. Other participants cannot view it. |
Tip: Use Private Q&A when you want to reduce the chance that someone shares personal information in a public list. With Private Q&A on, hosts and moderators see every question; each attendee sees only their own.
Start Q&A
- Join the Bevy Virtual Meetup session as a host or moderator.
- In the session tray, select Q&A. On smaller screens, select More, then Q&A.
- In the Q&A panel, select Start.
Participants receive a notification that Q&A has started (or that Private Q&A has started) and can select Open to submit questions. People who join after Q&A is already running also see the notification and the tray control.
Tip: Tell the presenter when Q&A opens. If chat is available, post a short reminder so attendees know where to submit questions.
Moderate questions
While Q&A is running, open a question to show host and moderator actions.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reply | Adds a text answer. Participants can open the answer under the question. |
| 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. Hosts and moderators can still see it, labeled Dismissed. |
| Undismiss | Restores a dismissed question so participants can see it again. Select the Dismissed label (or Undismiss) to undo the dismissal. |
Only hosts and moderators can start or finish Q&A and dismiss questions in Meetup. Presenters and attendees can submit questions and upvote when voting is available. Role details: About Bevy Virtual Meetup roles.
Sort and upvote questions
If question voting is available in your community, each question shows an upvote control. Anyone in the session can upvote (and select 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. Sorting does not auto-refresh when new questions arrive — open the sort menu again if you need to re-order the list.
Unanswered question limit
A session can have up to 300 unanswered questions at once. When that limit is reached, attendees cannot ask new questions and see the message “There are too many unanswered questions.”
Asking is available again after the unanswered count drops to 295 or below — after you answer, dismiss, or otherwise clear at least five questions.
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 receive a notification that Q&A is finished. Questions already submitted stay visible in the panel; moderation actions are no longer available until you start Q&A again.
You can start Q&A again during the same Meetup. Previously asked questions remain in the panel unless you reopen and 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.
Reports update about every 2 hours. Wait at least 2 hours after the event ends before downloading so the file includes the full transcript. If the download is still missing, wait and check again, or contact your community admin. For more on what the report includes, see Manage Q&A during a virtual event.