Attendee Networking & AI Matchmaking

Stop leaving event

Make networking easier for every attendee with Zoho Backstage. Use AI matchmaking, meeting scheduling, and discussion channels tailored to your event and audience.

Sign up for free

Trusted by event organizers worldwide

    Networking that’s more

    Our AI event management software draws on every attendee's interests, role, and event activity to identify the most relevant connections. You decide who gets access, how networking is configured, and what gets measured.

    Let Zia figure out who your attendees should meet

    Zia—Zoho’s native AI engine—analyzes attendees’ interests, roles, and live event activity to recommend the most relevant people to meet. The longer your event runs, the sharper the suggestions get.

    • Define the interest categories that matter most at your event.
    • Get consent and list only the attendees who want to network.
    • Open networking to everyone or keep it exclusive to select ticket tiers.

    Turn matches into confirmed meetings

    Zoho Backstage lets attendees book meetings directly from the event app—no email chains, no external calendar tools, no connections lost to someone's notes app. Your attendees can:

    • Create meeting slots so others know exactly when you're open to meet.
    • Include a reason to meet on every request. No cold introductions.
    • Auto-accept meeting requests or review manually—their schedule, their rules.

    Build a space for the conversations that happen off-agenda

    Not every conversation happens in a scheduled session. Before the event begins or between sessions (for virtual events), lounges give attendees a dedicated space to meet, chat, and connect.

    • Create lounges open to all or exclusive to specific groups.
    • Enable video streaming, screen sharing, polls, and chat per lounge.
    • Set capacity limits and control access for each lounge.

    Give attendees a low-pressure way to connect

    Not everyone networks the same way. Discussion channels let attendees self-organize around topics and interests they care about so conversations start naturally and go somewhere.

    • Create public or private discussion channels around any topic, industry, or interest.
    • Enable attendees to send DMs to any attendee who has opted into messaging.
    • Let attendees control who can reach them based on their privacy preferences.

    Channel networking reluctance into healthy competition

    Gamification gives every attendee a reason to break the ice. Points for connecting, attending sessions, and visiting booths make the harder parts of networking more rewarding.

    • Choose from 25+ predefined challenges across sessions, networking, and other activities.
    • Assign points and set limits on how many times each challenge can be completed.
    • Share a live leaderboard on venue screens, your event website, or post-event wrap-ups.

    Get attendee profiles to do the introducing

    Give attendees a full directory of everyone at your event, with enough context on every profile to make every introduction count. Your attendees can:

    • Search and filter every attendee by role, designation, and company.
    • Control their own visibility by making their profile public or private at any time.
    • Request a copy of their data or submit a deletion request at any time.
    Attendees had been asking us for years to be able to browse sessions, add them to their calendar, and set up meetings. With Backstage, people were coming in saying they already had six or eight meetings lined up. The feedback on that was fantastic.
    Faz (Hifazat Ahmad)
    Faz (Hifazat Ahmad),DX3 Canada
    All-in-one event management platform

    Powering every part of

    Networking is one piece. Zoho Backstage covers the entire event lifecycle — in one platform.

    Ticketing and Registration

    Multi-tier pricing, online payments, and registration approval flows — all from one place.

    Learn more
    event-website-builder

    Event Website Builder

    Build and publish a professional event website without code. Customize, update, and go live in minutes.

    Learn more
    custom-event-mobile-app

    Custom Mobile App

    A fully branded attendee app for agendas, networking, push notifications, and gamification.

    Learn more
    event-badging-platform

    Event Check-in

    QR-based check-in with onsite badge printing. Fast entry, no queues, full attendee visibility.

    Learn more
    audience-engagement

    Audience Engagement

    Live polls, Q&A, session feedback, slide reactions, and post-session analytics — from the mobile app.

    Learn more
    exhibitor-management

    Exhibitor Management

    Digital booths, lead capture (Hot/Warm/Cold), and exhibitor analytics that prove ROI to sponsors.

    Learn more
    AI-powered networking

    Frequently Asked Questions

    You define the interest categories that matter at your event—think AI, healthcare, investors, or compliance. Attendees select their interests when setting up their profiles, and Zia—Zoho’s AI assistant—uses those interests, along with their role and live event activity, to recommend the most relevant connections. The more attendees engage, the sharper the recommendations get.