Bevy Virtual Meetup is Bevy’s browser-based room for chapter virtual events—including interactive sessions and webinar mode for large listen-only audiences. Use this overview to explain what Meetup can do today, when to use webinar vs interactive, how Meetup differs from Bevy Virtual Conference, and where to send customers for setup details.

Bevy Virtual Meetup (BVM) is the virtual event room built into Bevy chapter events. Organizers create a Meetup-style event in the Chapter Dashboard; registered participants join from the event page in their browser. There is no separate desktop app to install.

Meetup covers two common formats in one product surface: interactive single-room sessions (town halls, workshops, many-to-many discussion) and webinar mode for talks and panels with a large listen-only audience. You do not need a multi-stage conference agenda for either format.

Where Meetup fits in Bevy

Bevy communities run public sites, chapters, events, and discussions. Meetup is the live virtual room for chapter (and HQ-led) events that use Bevy Virtual as the venue—not an external Zoom, Teams, or third-party webinar URL.

• Create and configure in the Chapter Dashboard (event type + virtual venue).
• Choose the room style — standard or interactive Meetup, or turn on webinar features for a listen-only audience.
• Join from the event page after RSVP (attendees from 15 minutes before start on a standard Meetup; hosts can enter earlier with the host join link).
• Run the session with host, moderator, presenter, and attendee roles inside the room.

For platform-wide structure and personas, see Bevy introduction. For create steps, see Create and configure events.

Session building blocks

What communities can use today

Use this list when positioning Meetup against older “legacy Bevy Virtual” rooms or against Conference.

Webinar mode

Use webinar mode when the goal is a large listen-only audience and a small set of speakers—keynotes, panels, and broadcast-style chapter events. Attendees watch and listen; they do not appear in an open people list to other attendees. Only people with presenter rights publish camera, microphone, or screen share. Chat and Q&A still work when those tools are enabled.

• Turn on for Meetup: Event dashboard → General information (virtual platform options) → BETA: Use webinar features → Save. The whole Meetup room runs in webinar mode.
• Interactive mode turns off: Enabling webinar on a Meetup hides the interactive (many-to-many) option for that event.
• Hosts and moderators manage the room from Presenters and Participants controls, promote speakers to presenter, and moderate chat and Q&A.
• Waiting room (optional): When enabled for the community, attendees wait in a lobby until a host or moderator admits them. Interactive Meetups do not use this lobby.
• Enablement: If organizers do not see webinar features, contact Bevy Support or your Customer Success Manager.

Webinar mode also exists as a Conference session format (per-session in Agenda Builder). Networking tables, booths, and breakout rooms are not webinar rooms. Full setup and day-of behavior: About Bevy webinar mode and Admit attendees from the webinar waiting room.

Capacity and modes

Meetup capacity depends on how many people present with audio and video at once:

Presenters are not the same as speakers listed on the event page. Speakers can appear on the public page without having live AV until a host or moderator grants presenter mode. For current hard limits (including Q&A queue size), see Limitations in Bevy Virtual Meetup. Higher capacity plans require Bevy Support. Conference production webinar rooms can be provisioned for larger audiences—confirm large-room plans with Bevy Support and see About Bevy webinar mode.

Roles at a glance

• Host — highest in-room control (recording, AV for others, breakouts, promotions). Chapter team members with host permission join as hosts.
• Moderator — chat, Q&A, and participant management; can promote presenters. Session moderator does not by itself grant Chapter Dashboard access.
• Presenter — microphone, camera, and screen share when presenter mode is on.
• Attendee — watch, chat, and ask questions; no AV or screen share until promoted.

Full permission matrices: About Bevy Virtual Meetup roles. Join windows and host early-access links: About accessing Bevy Virtual Meetup.

What Meetup is not

Keep these boundaries clear in sales and CSM conversations:

• Not Bevy Virtual Conference — no stages, booths, or Legacy Agenda builder. Conference remains on its own stack (and can run its own Webinar session format).
• Not an external webinar URL — Bevy webinar mode is a Bevy Virtual room setting, not a redirect to Zoom Webinar or another platform (use External URL only when the live session is outside Bevy).
• Standard interactive Meetup has no waiting room — attendees join from 15 minutes before start; hosts join early via the host link. A lobby waiting room applies only to webinar rooms when that feature is enabled for the community.
• No mobile screen share — desktop browsers only for sharing a screen.
• Quality depends on the network — browser-based; Chrome recommended; firewalls and VPNs can require allowlisting or relay mode. See About video and quality performance in Bevy Virtual Meetup.
• Event-page Host / Speaker labels ≠ live permissions — People-tab labels control how someone appears on the public page; live AV and moderation come from chapter team host rights or in-session promotion.

Useful terms