08 TOOLS ✣
Event Platforms.
The pandemic-era explosion of virtual events created a category that did not exist at scale in 2019 and was firmly established by 2023. Multiple operators rose, several collapsed, and a few mature platforms now serve the DevRel event-tec…
The pandemic-era explosion of virtual events created a category that did not exist at scale in 2019 and was firmly established by 2023. Multiple operators rose, several collapsed, and a few mature platforms now serve the DevRel event-tech stack.
Bevy (Bevy.com)
- Founded. 2017 by Derek Andersen (also founder of Startup Grind).
- Premise. Enterprise-grade software for running global community-event programs at scale.
- Used by. Atlassian, Salesforce, Airtable, Adobe, eBay, Asana, GitLab, and dozens of large companies with distributed user-group programs.
- Strengths. White-label local-event management; chapter / region management; sponsorship workflows; speaker management; calendar integration.
- 2024+. Acquired by Bevy parent company (which also acquired CMX Summit / CMX Hub).
RingCentral Events (formerly Hopin)
- Founded. Hopin founded 2019 by Johnny Boufarhat.
- Pandemic-era trajectory. Hopin grew explosively in 2020–2021; raised at $7.75B peak valuation; rebranded events business to RingCentral after restructuring.
- Current positioning. Virtual / hybrid event platform; emphasis on engaging audiences, brand customisation, networking features.
- Used by. Wide range of corporate events including some developer events.
- Cautionary tale. Hopin’s spectacular rise and contraction is a study in pandemic-era event-tech volatility.
Goldcast
- Founded. 2020.
- Positioning. B2B virtual events with strong on-demand video and integration into marketing-automation systems.
- Used by. Many B2B events including some developer-product webinars and online conferences.
- Strengths. Live + on-demand hybrid; integration with HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce.
Heartbeat
- Founded. 2020.
- Positioning. Community-first platform that combines events, content, and discussions on branded domains.
- Strengths. Monetisation support; community + events in one platform.
Sessionable, Sessionize
- Sessionable — Speaker management software; widely used by community-organised conferences for call-for-paper management.
- Sessionize.com — Same category; used by hundreds of community-organised conferences.
Tito
- Founded. 2012 in Ireland.
- Positioning. Event-ticketing platform popular with community-organised technical conferences.
- Used by. Write the Docs, many JS/Python/Ruby community events, smaller European tech conferences.
Eventbrite
- Mature general-purpose event-management platform. Common for meetups and smaller events; less popular for large technical conferences.
Lu.ma (lu.ma)
- Founded. 2020 (acquired by Pico, then independent).
- Positioning. Modern, design-led event platform with strong link-sharing semantics.
- Used by. Many smaller tech events, AI / crypto / hackathon events, individual creator meetups.
- 2024–2026. Has become particularly popular for the modern AI-engineer community’s local events.
Meetup.com
- Founded. 2002 by Scott Heiferman.
- Status. Still the largest meetup directory globally; bought by WeWork (2017), spun off (2020), various subsequent ownership changes.
- Used by. Tens of thousands of local developer groups.
Discord and Slack as event platforms
For smaller / community-organised events, especially virtual ones, Discord stage channels and Slack Huddles increasingly host meetups, AMAs, and office hours. They lack the production tooling of dedicated event platforms but provide the lowest-friction option for the community itself.
Specialised AV / streaming tools
- StreamYard, Restream — Live-stream production for online events.
- OBS Studio — Open-source live-streaming software; used by many tech YouTubers.
- Twitch — Streaming platform; some companies host hackathons and code-along events on Twitch.
- YouTube Live — Hosts most major flagship-conference keynotes for online viewers.
Hackathon platforms
- Devpost — Largest dedicated hackathon platform; hosts thousands of events.
- MLH (Major League Hacking) — Operator of student hackathons; supports many corporate-sponsored events.
- HackerEarth, Devfolio, HackerRank — Adjacent platforms used for hackathon submissions, judging, and recruitment.
Choosing an event platform
| If you want to… | Consider |
|---|---|
| Run a global multi-chapter user-group program | Bevy |
| Run a large flagship hybrid conference | RingCentral Events / Goldcast |
| Run a small community meetup | Lu.ma / Meetup.com |
| Sell tickets to a tech conference | Tito / Sessionable |
| Manage speaker submissions | Sessionize / Sessionable |
| Run a hackathon | Devpost / MLH platform |
| Stream a keynote | YouTube Live + StreamYard for production |
| Host community discussions around an event | Discord stage channels |