Accelevents

Pros

I've used Accelevents to host virtual events for 3 years in a row. The product is straightforward for event administrators. It gives you the right control to design your event while providing a good interface for attendees. We have been very pleased with the ease-of-use for our attendees too. The 100% browser-based delivery means no downloads for attendees. Our event attendees have continually rated Accelevents very high in our post-event attendee survey. Their support team is fast, and the knowledge base website has answers to most questions.

Cons

The gamification aspect could be improved in the platform. It's not bad, but it could be better.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Accelevents

Pros

I liked the ease of use and alot of feautres for event organizations and to manage attendeees.

Cons

I felt like the event branding and design was a bit limiting, but if you are beginning to plan events I think is very good and complete.

Pros

Ease of platform use. Live chat and support.

Cons

Analytics - They are completely limited and no easy to get the actual information that has value.

Integrations - There no integrations to Salesforce and Hubspot are minimal with the necessary tracking requirements not possible to pass through.

Registration Source Tracking - There is none if you have host your event on your own landing page. You cannot track where a registration comes from i.e. social media, direct, etc.

Does not support events streamed in multiple time zones in any efficient and organized way

Pros

Accelevents has been our go to for both profit and for non-profits events. It's really easy to set up an event, connect to Stripe, personalize an event and launch it to the end user.

Cons

I wish there was more customization available such as a shorter way to present the URL outside of using an outside shortener.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Accelevents

Pros

Our sponsors and exhibitors love that lead scanning is built into Accelevents so that they don't have to pay several hundred dollars to use a lead scanner. For virtual events, Accelevents provides robust features and capabilities so that attendees have a seamless experience. I love the green room feature and all of the features that moderators can use to help manage questions and virtual attendees. I have not used the built-in email functionality (we rely on Emma instead) however, I plan to use it in the future because it seems like a more elegant way to connect with our attendees.

I also like the various embed and integration options available for the event landing page and virtual event hub. One of our events serves Higher Ed Technology Professionals and seamless web experience is important for reinforcing trust and ensuring attendees are confident that they're purchasing tickets for a real event and not a scam.

We have run into issues, both end user errors and bugs, but the Customer Success team has been a huge resource for us. They respond quickly, go above and beyond to solve our problems, and always try to help us learn how to use Accelevents better. They are keen to follow-up on outstanding support requests and coordinate closely with the product development team to ensure we always have a positive experience.

The Customer Success team has played a major role in our continued use of Accelevents as the company and product mature. [sensitive content hidden] has been a pleasure to work with and always takes great care of us, going above and beyond in more ways than one. . [sensitive content hidden] have also been great. I rarely wait longer than 60sec to receive a chat response from the Customer Success team which is not always the case with other products.

Cons

I'd like to see improvements regarding customizing the event hub and landing page to better meet accessibility requirements. As a state funded organization, accessibility is a major priority for us and currently there are some accessibility challenges with the product's UI/UX and functionality.

There has been a continued challenge with using the built in name badge functionality. When printing badges, if you print or download badge files using a PC the art quality drops significantly, causing the badges to print blurry. This issue doesn't exist when using a Mac. The customer success team did a tremendous job helping us find a work around for a recent event, but I would like to see this improved because the badge creator is a major reason why we use Accelevents.

In addition, I've found the dashboard and analytics aren't always accurate. Whether it's end user error on our part or something that is prioritized for later on in the product roadmap, I'm unsure. I am able to get all of the data I need by doing manual registration data downloads and importing the data into excel. However, I'd like to be able to confidently trust the data presented in the built-in dashboard and analytics feature.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Accelevents

Pros

It is a somewhat complex but efficient platform and it adapted perfectly to our needs and those of our clients creating a memorable interactive event with suppliers, developments and prices.
It allowed me to record the entire session and then make it available to the attendees.

Cons

I have no complaints about this tool, it works well.

Pros

The product dashboard easy very intuitive and easy to navigate through.

Cons

The product is generally good no complaints.

Pros

Accelerants makes managing a nonprofit simple! It stream lines our work and is easy to navigate.

Cons

I have no complaints currently about Accelevents.

Pros

1. Platform layout- from attendees' view is easy to use. 2. Registration- creating the registration form, testing and dispatching was easy3. Speaker session- creating speaker sessions was easy to use4. Accelevents team- everyone was super helpful, responsive, and friendly5. Accelevents DES- having DES to assist with all the work prior to event start date and on event days was amazing and much needed

Cons

1. Speaker name tag on screen- when presenters are live in their session, their name doesn't appear on their window for attendees to identify the speakers on main stage2. Live stream lag time - major lag time from backstage to front stage3. Live stream screen sharing video- there was a major glitch when trying to screen share a video file in a main session4. Speaker background- doesn't have an option for speakers to choose or blur their background

Pros

One of the things I liked most about AE is simply their responsiveness. We had a direct line of communication with [sensitive content hidden]
and he was always friendly, receptive to questions and requests, and eager to help make sure our events went off without a hitch.

Cons

I wish there were tiers for customization that my clients could taker advantage of. The "all or nothing" pricing for customization definitely put a couple clients off from making the site look exactly like what they wanted it to look like.

Pros

I loved the easy to use features and the ease of use for attendees was amazing. It gave us an opportunity to move all of our event tech into one place which made it easier for us as admins and for the attendee. A really great platform that has worked well for us and met all of our needs.

Cons

I have no negatives. They were very up front and transparent with pricing and in addressing my needs, which was great.

Pros

Our organization just completed an online auction as a fundraiser and we used Accelevents as our platform. Everything went very smoothly and the whole experience was a plus, plus, plus! One real benefit to Accelevents was their 24/7 online support. This was particularly helpful to me because I often worked imputing auction data at night, so any questions or small issues that surfaced after business hours could be easily addressed. The team at Accelevents was very responsive and helpful. Our bidders loved the auction site, the mobile capabilities, and found the checkout and payment process was a breeze. At the end of the auction Accelevents provided downloadable spreadsheets of the entire bidding process as well as the winning bidders and their payment details. Another win-win for us was the affordability of the Accelevents rate structure. A final benefit to using Accelevents is that we can keep our account information online so that we can use the platform over and over for future raffles, bidding or donation opportunities. I would highly recommend this service for any of your auction or online donation needs.

Cons

Sometimes when I was inputting text for an auction item the cursor popped back to the beginning of the paragraph. It was frustrating and slowed me down. However, when I reached out to the Accelevents team, they acknowledged the problem right away and confirmed they were working to fix it. This kind of a proactive response which takes ownership of the problem is very helpful, in my opinion.

Pros

I have now used this product for 2 silent auctions at our Band Parents Reverse Raffle. In the past, we would make under $1000 on our silent auctions and would have to deal with the vultures hovering around the tables. With the Accelevents silent auction, people are bidding constantly and I LOVE that my guests get a text message once they are outbid. No longer do they have to run over to the tables constantly to see if they are still the top bidder. They have it all in the palm of their hand. Also, as the primary organizer of the event for 2 years, as "go time" approaches, paranoia sets in and I start to second guess whether everything is set to go. This year I messaged them in the wee hours of the morning the night before the event and got an almost immediate response as well as getting some last minute questions answered just hours before the event started. I haven't had the chance to use the other portions of the product, but if they are anywhere near as good as the silent auction, I'm positive they won't disappoint! Thanks Accelevents!!!

Cons

Really have no cons to speak of. These peeps rock!

Pros

The software has a solid auction platform.

Cons

The customer service. No one without an email could participate.

Pros

Super user friendly
Excellent Customer Service
Many 'a la carte' features for NP various needs (auction, ticketing, etc.)
Only pay for what you need
Very cost effective for our small NP with little money to spend
Phenomenal customer service
No app needed for auction bidding

Cons

Wish we could group text all guests at event via software

Pros

Easy to use on both the front- and back-end; Low cost but great value; Fantastic customer service

Cons

Some limited options with customization and graphics

Pros

My non-profit lives off the donations generated by a in-person hockey tournament. When COVID hit, we scrambled to find a program that could centralize virtual activities to raise money instead. With about $2,500 to our organization's name, we were so disheartened to find that most virtual event hosting platforms were thousands and THOUSANDS of dollars UPFRONT. It has been difficult to project our attendance, so it was scary to think of investing almost all of our money with no guarantee of return.
Accelevents has a post-event cost structure where your event cost fluctuates on the number of people that came. With no upfront costs, this is perfect for a non-profit that cannot afford to upfront $ with no guaranteed return. This platform had the perfect cost structure with plenty of features that the competitors offered that we were looking for - individual sessions, a main landing page and plenty of opportunities for sponsors.

Cons

Developing the backend was a little confusing BUT the customer service as been so outstanding that whenever I was stuck I would just message the help chat and they immediately reached out and gave me clear directions on what to do

Pros

Whenever I had a question or problem, I could type it to CSR and get an answer within a few minutes. I was able to make a nice looking event webpage. The cost was extremely reasonable. Accelevents is located in the Greater Boston area.

Cons

We had early bird ticket prices and later ticket prices, and I put the dates in, but it didn't switch over automatically; there was something I was supposed to do manually and didn't realize it. There were sample online auction items that never went away; only the users, not the visitors, could see them, but they were confusing and annoying. The limit to the number of contacts was too low.

Pros

Faster and more efficient with the the mobile bidding app, Easy to showcase and present items with descriptive information allowing bidders to completely understand what exactly they were bidding on. Quick customer service when we had any question that needed answered, along with being understand and truly caring about help us find a solution, and not be over looked VERY AFFORDABLE!!

Cons

When in the Auction Table cannot organize items in alphabetical order, Bidder in the mobile app were getting confused when to put in there names and bid amount.

Pros

We used this software last year for a car raffle and were very anxious about the project and the software. However, the Accelevent team walked us though all the steps in a timely manner and software was very easy to navigate. This year they added an app that has made offsite sales easy. They also added more staff to assist with questions and an automatic email with the question and answer so it can be referenced again. Just yesterday they updated the tool bar to work better....always improving!

Cons

Graphic manipulations in the website building.

Pros

Turnkey process
Data import
Online dashboard and reporting
Efficient and effective customer service
Intuitive usage of the auction and raffle sites
Integration with Stripe for processing credit cards
Immediate collection of raffle ticket sales
Effective checkout process on auction

Cons

The preliminary promotional online meeting went very quickly, and we missed a few details that were not obvious to us. Fortunately, the team supporting Accelevents.com were very responsive to online questions, and all of our questions were resolved with full satisfaction.

We would like to see an enhancement to allow the ability to provide raffle items with a pre-defined number of winners greater than 1.
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Pros

It was very easy for multiple users to input and organize the information. The Dashboard provides a complete snapshot of where you are with planning the event. It has straightforward step by step instructions throughout the planning process and during the event itself.

Cons

I would like to see them add a function where you can send messages to the users during the event to remind them to update their bids, etc.

Pros

Auction set up was very self explanatory. Easy to upload photos, details, prices, etc. Text to bid is AMAZING!!! End of auction reports were helpful for checkout without using cc processing thru Accelevents. Customer support via chat and email were on point...even during our event at 9pm at night they were there to answer questions.

Cons

No real issues with any details of software. All worked smoothly for the silent auction we had. Only suggestion is maybe consolidate the menus instead of having to click between so many to access different parts of the auction set up.

Pros

Staff was very responsive from beginning to end. They would usually respond within a couple minutes to questions. The have a great banks of help tips and topics. Very adaptable to your conference needs, ease of administrating, great solid video and audio.

Cons

It is an adjustment for participants to shift form a zoom format to an interactive full round platform. Web based can limit zoom functions like breakout rooms (also limited in web based zoom).

Pros

The Accelevents program provided us a great platform to use for our virtual leadership conference that we held due to COVID-19 for about 120 of our employees from 9 different states and time zones. It was very intuitive and was easy for everyone to navigate.

Cons

The program is constantly evolving but I think if the networking function of the software was easier to use, it could create more opportunity for people to connect virtually. I think it would be great if it functioned like facetime, you click on an attendee and it contacted them by instant message and then if accepted you could have a video meeting.

Pros

The customer service at Accelevents is superb. I have work with many systems/platforms and by far this is the best customer service and response time I have ever experienced.

Cons

4-day event limitation. Some of our events span more than 4 days.

Pros

Easy to use, robust, amazing support, powerful hardware implications for onsite badge printing, friendly team of professionals.

Cons

I truly say enough good about the Accelevents product, other than I wish I would have found them sooner.

Pros

Very simple to set up and customize. Able to upload logos, change colors, add speaker bios very easily with an intuitive interface. Customer service was fantastic.[sensitive content hidden] went above and beyond to walk us through all of our issues and help us test everything out.

Cons

There were a few limitations in full customization particularly around Sessions and how to move people from one room to another. Some of our team had issues navigating the software, but that was rare.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Accelevents

Pros

We have used Accelevents for bookings and it works well.

Cons

Nothing negative to say. Would recommend!

Pros

It's great, the analysis tools and real-time reports allow me to track the success of my events in detail, improving decision making for future projects.

Cons

There may be a need for additional templates or layouts that allow for even faster customization and require less manual adjustments.

Pros

Top three would be 1) the service - from initial contact, first-time user, and follow-up - I felt completely confident in the Accelevents team. Timely, helpful, sincere responses. 2) user-friendly, and getting friendlier - don't need a ton of learning or training to get started quickly and execute successfully. 3) Customizable and lots of options - can bend it to my specific needs and their team is very good at helping you be creative. Made me think outside the box of how I thought of the way I was doing things.

Cons

Nothing I felt like, 'oh no, what is this?! ' The few thoughts and suggestions I had have workarounds, have been implemented or are on the road map.

Pros

The customer service IM chat is a life saver. Helped save me so much time when I ran into an issue.

Cons

Cross functionality with other platforms

Pros

The product is easy and agile to use, fantastic

Cons

I miss some tools, but it does not influence anything, the application is very good

Pros

Accelevents integrates with my current tech stack nicely, but they are exceptional at giving my team the ability to maximize the engagement opportunity for both our attendees and our sponsors or partners. If you're hosting an event and want to showcase different assets or give special attention to special partners or divisions, this is the best way to do it.

Cons

This is one of those things where it's not about Accelevents, it's purely about event planning in general. Events are complex. Accelevents is actually one of the best ways to help navigate a complex event.... so I guess that goes to show you that I don't have much I dislike :)

Alternatives Considered

Pros

I have used the Accelevent platform to host online auctions for the past three years. We just wrapped up our 3rd online auction and the process couldn't be easier. I love how we can cut and paste auction items and descriptions from previous online auctions. This makes the set up of the new auction so smooth. All of the choices and features of settling the credit card payments are robust and straightforward. The bidder interface is intuitive and easy. We couldn't be happier. It is complex enough to solicit auction items, to set a bid price and to write the descriptions. To have the Accelvent platform so efficient to use with all of the necessary bells and whistles makes the overall experience from set up, to live auction to settlement is seamless and awesome! I love that Accelevents is constantly enhancing the site to accommodate all types of events. I love the new feature of accepting online donations. Also, the customer service is excellent. Someone is always available when I have a question! Thanks Accelevents for another successful event!

Cons

The only drawback is that I could not copy the photos from prior auctions.

Pros

Accelevents Auction Software is very easy to use and navigate. Our school has been using it for 4 years now. Unlimited number of items can be uploaded and there is an option to include multiple images of the item, indicate its value, number of units available, and whether it’s a Live item. If you have the same items from year to year, you can move them over from your previous events to the new event. Ticketing, Fund-A-Need, Raffle, and Text-To-Give modules are also available. You only pay for what you need. The customer service is here incredible---you ask a question in the chat and within a couple of minutes, you receive a response! No matter what time of day you ask (weekend, too)! The first year we used the software, we had a couple of glitches during the event, but I went on the chat and within minutes, it was all taken care of (and this at 9:30 at night). That’s what sold me to return.

Cons

There aren’t really any cons---except with the automatic save. You need to remember to refresh your page to make sure that changes you made were actually saved. Sometimes, it looks like it’s saved but isn’t. I think this happens more as your list of auction items grow.

Pros

The site is extremely user friendly without the need to be a technical genius. It is very clear how to set up your main page and then to add items, including names, photos, and descriptions as well as bidding information.

The auction is also extremely user friendly for your bidders. People can simply bid from their phone or computer following an easy few step process. Bidders are also alerted immediately if they are outbid adding a competitive edge to the bidding. Because the auction is online, there is no limit on who it reaches. The site can be shared outside of your targeted group.

Cons

This was our second time using AccelEvents for our online auction. After our first auction, we made suggestions for areas that could be improved and all of those changes were implemented.

Pros

Very easy to use, fast and easy to learn, wonderful customer service, very knowledgeable staff that answered all my questions quickly, and a great price.

Cons

Would love a bit more customization options for how the website looks and feels. It would be nice to be able to add a short paragraph of verbiage at the top of the auction and fund a need pages. In addition, we would like to be able to reorder the "tabs" so the About tab was first, then the bid on auction items tab, and then the fund a need tab. In other words, we wanted to be able to say a little bit about our organization on the first page that people see rather than having the auction items be the first thing they see.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Accelevents

Pros

I offer consulting and marketing to services to small nonprofits and local businesses in the Boone, NC area. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many fundraisers to go virtual, I have been hired to help a few organizations navigate through the challenge of transitioning to a digital event in a short amount of time. I recommended & used Accelevents for my first contract and have continued to recommend it to additional organizations.

The ease of use on the back end and the absolutely simple and inviting user-interface has made this platform a large part of the success of these events, raising much-needed funds for our local nonprofits. The most recent virtual fundraiser I worked on raised DOUBLE the amount expected, in no small part due to the bidder's quick and easy access to viewing the items up for bid. I've seen other events where you have to jump through hoops to register (or enter a CC#) prior to viewing and the turnout has been poor because of it. Thanks, Accelevents!

Cons

I found the effort needed to reorder items up for bid a little slow and clunky. I also am interested in personalizing/adding to the receipt that is sent to bidders immediately after the auction (maybe I just didn't see it?). I would like to communicate post-auction instructions about item pick up, etc. along with their payment link, etc.

Pros

Cost , ease of use for bidders, ease of use for staff

Cons

I wish you could more easily change the order of items once uploaded (more like a number system, like a Netflix wish list), and I wish that we had the option of sending out blanket notices to our bidders ("Auction closes in 10 minutes, place your best bid now," or a thank you to all bidders after the fact).

Pros

1. The customer service was great: any time we had a question, a problem, or a bug, we got a quick response from the team and an immediate solution. Guys, you rock! Thanks a lot.
2. The pricing is pretty well calculated - the per participant per day payment makes it much easier for us to calculate our cost per participant and makes smaller online events possible and affordable.

Cons

1. The constant updates that are happening in the backstage - some features were coming and going and after some updates the platform was not functioning well. Which was frustrating, but the supportive team was always there to help out.
2. The platform does not have a mobile or PC app.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Accelevents

Pros

One phrase comes to mind - ease of use. My silent auction was easy to set up, easy to customize, and it was easy for our users to navigate/bid. Seriously - they thought of everything!

Cons

The only difficulty I had was in customizing emails to be sent directly from Accelevents. It was uncharacteristically complicated and difficult compared to everything else within Accelevents. I eventually gave up and sent emails through another platform. I would consider this a tiny problem in an otherwise fantastic platform.

Pros

It has the right features. I don't want to pay for a bunch of features that I won't use.

Cons

There's not really anything that I dislike.

Alternatives Considered

Switched From

Pros

This software is incredibly fool-proof and is accessible via multiple devices which makes adding late arriving items a breeze.

Cons

We have had issues in regards to the ease of operation of our guests and difficulties signing in and staying signed in. This does not fall squarely on the shoulders of Accelevents as I am sure that much of it was operator error. If this service came in the form of an easy to use phone apps, it would be hands down the best product on the market!

Pros

This software is so easy to use. JUST WHEN YOU THINK you need to have this software needs a function that doesn't exist you ask CUST SUPPORT in a panic how in the world you will possibly make it work they are 5 million steps ahead of you. Not only that but within 5 seconds they reply with a warm stress free reply that reassures you that your event that you spent countless hours on is going to be the most amazing and successful event that could have possibly existed for your cause. I AM NOT A TECH SAVY PERSON! BORN IN THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION I STUCK AT COMPUTERS! but they have made it beyond easy! My second year happy to plan this even thanks to these guys!

Cons

the only thing i don't like about this software program is that they don't have the outreach that other auction softwares have that they send out technical help for the actual event to make the event smooth as possible. Even though they are there to help at every second through the site i can only imagine the absolute craziness if the top notch service was right in front of you

Pros

Highly recommend. We are small nonprofit that couldn't afford the higher cost options. Also they didn't have a text to bid option. Accelevants is both functional and affordable AND they have really awesome features.

Cons

Sometimes inputting the data can be glitchy; however, their customer service reigns supreme so we have always figured it out together and fast.

Pros

The user interface, for the most part, was very quick to learn. A lot of the features were very intuitive, such as the way the Agenda works, how transitioning between Main Stage sessions happened, and how easy it was to network with other attendees. The ability to have statistical data on specific sessions with the Analysis tab was also very useful as it allowed us to make some on-the-fly decisions to try to maximize attendee engagement.

Cons

There are some features that are less intuitive than we would have liked, such as the lack of ability for the moderator of a session to mute other speakers, the strict pixel requirements for photos and logos, and how the Zoom integration didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped.

Pros

We looked at several auction systems for an annual charity auction to move it from a physical auction to a fully online auction. After looking at about 5-6 competitors, Accelevents seemed to be the most reasonably priced and easy to use software. A lot of other systems require a monthly subscription which is not reasonable for small organizations.

Cons

Some of the features are not completely obvious, and maybe the help articles could be a little more developed, but help was always available, prompt and patient.

Pros

It was easy to set up and upload all of our auction items. Once everything is in the system it is easy to make any changes or add things. The look of the website for the end-user is very nice! Everything is pretty customizable to fit your needs and the parameters of your auction. Plus taking care of the items after the auction closes is so easy! It automatically sends a link to individual who had the highest bid to finalize their payment and then that information automatically updates in the log. Then you can add notes if need be or manually alter information. Very quick and easy!

Cons

I wish there was an actual app to download. We had an event where people where having a hard time getting the URL to work, sometimes it would take refreshing the page 4-5 times to actually get to the site. It would have been nice if there was an app they could download and then just search for our event.

Pros

The price is right! Easy to include images, easy to process payments, easy to edit and update. Overall user-friendly.

Cons

Their sales/customer reps are obnoxious! Originally, they offered me a coupon to join and then wouldn't let me use it. Now I keep getting emails from them even though I've unsubscribed.