In a Bevy webinar room, attendees wait in a lobby until a host or moderator admits them — one person, everyone waiting, or everyone from then on. Late arrivals wait too unless you turn on Let everyone in.
When the webinar waiting room is on for your community, people who join a Bevy webinar room wait in a lobby until a host or moderator lets them into the live session. Hosts and moderators can already be in the room to test audio and video before admitting the audience. Interactive Meetups and non-webinar conference sessions do not use this waiting room.
- Waiting room — lobby where attendees wait before they enter the live webinar room.
- Admit — let one waiting person into the live room.
- Admit all — let everyone currently waiting into the live room.
- Let everyone in — turn the waiting room off so new joiners go straight into the room.
Note: The waiting room applies only to webinar rooms — a Meetup with webinar features turned on, or a conference session whose format is Webinar. Each conference webinar session has its own waiting room. If you do not see a Waiting room control, the feature may not be enabled for your community, or you are not in a webinar room. Contact Bevy Support or your Customer Success Manager to enable it. See About Bevy webinar mode.
What attendees see
Registered attendees join on the usual Bevy path for the Meetup or conference session. In a webinar room with the waiting room on, they see a lobby message such as:
- You’re in the waiting room
- The host will let you in shortly. You’ll join automatically — no need to refresh.
When a host or moderator admits them (or turns on Let everyone in), they enter the live room automatically. Late arrivals see the same lobby until they are admitted or the waiting room is turned off.
Tip for attendees: You do not need to refresh or rejoin. Stay on the waiting screen until you are admitted. If you leave and come back while the waiting room is still on, you wait again until someone admits you.
Open the Waiting room panel
- Join the webinar room as a host or moderator.
- In the bottom tray, select Waiting room. The button shows how many people are waiting.
- The panel lists people who are waiting, with the longest wait first. The heading shows the full waiting count.
Hosts and moderators skip the lobby and enter the live room so they can prepare before admitting attendees.
Admit one person
- Open the Waiting room panel.
- Find the person in the list (use search if the queue is long — see below).
- Select Admit next to their name.
That person joins the live room automatically. Everyone else keeps waiting.
Admit everyone who is waiting
- Open the Waiting room panel.
- Select Admit all.
Admit all brings in everyone currently waiting — including people who are not yet visible in a very long list. New people who join after you use Admit all still wait in the lobby until you admit them or turn on Let everyone in.
Let everyone in (including late arrivals)
- Open the Waiting room panel.
- Turn on the Let everyone in switch.
People who are already waiting are admitted. Anyone who joins after the switch is on goes straight into the live room with no waiting screen.
Important: Turning Let everyone in back off only holds people who arrive after you turn it off. People already in the live room stay in the room.
| Control | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Admit (next to a name) | Lets that one person into the live room. They join automatically — no refresh. | Bring in a VIP, a speaker who arrived as an attendee, or admit people in a controlled order. |
| Admit all | Admits everyone currently waiting (including people not yet shown in a long list). | You are ready to start and want the whole queue in at once, but still want new late arrivals to wait. |
| Let everyone in (switch) | Turns the waiting room off from then on. People already waiting are admitted, and anyone who joins later goes straight into the room. | The webinar is live and you no longer want late arrivals held in the lobby. |
Search and load more in a long queue
Large webinars can have hundreds or thousands of people waiting. The panel does not show every name at once.
- Open the Waiting room panel.
- To find one person, search by name or email.
- To see more of the queue, select Load more. The list stays ordered by who has been waiting longest.
The badge and Waiting (N) heading always show the full count. Admit all and Let everyone in still apply to everyone waiting, not only the names currently on screen.
Tip: Use search when you need a specific speaker or VIP who joined as an attendee. Promote speakers who need to prepare early to host or moderator so they skip the lobby.
Who skips the waiting room
- Hosts and moderators enter the live room without waiting. Use that time to test camera, microphone, and screen share before you admit the audience.
- Speakers or presenters who are not hosts or moderators wait with the audience until someone admits them. Make them a moderator (or host) if they need to be in the room early.
- Interactive Meetups and non-webinar conference sessions do not show this waiting room.