I attended Next.js Conf 2020 and was impressed by the high-quality content and virtual conference setup. It was streamed all around the world and provided an opportunity to share the best practices, end-user stories, and strategies for frontend developers and their organizations. All this required a certain conference platform AND instead of purchasing a solution, "success depended on collaboration".

Next.js and Vercel

Frontend development pioneer Vercel this week announced and introduced the Virtual Event Starter Kit used to run Next.js Conf 2020, with 80,000 registrants and 40,000 live attendees.

Virtual Event Starter Kit is a product of collaboration between marketers and developers using Next.js and Vercel.

Launch your event and scale to any size

You can clone, deploy, and fully customize as you like for your online event. Basically, it includes the following features:

-Multiple stages with an embedded YouTube stream
-Sponsor expo, including individual virtual booths
-Career Fair, allowing attendees to network and find job opportunities
-Ticket registration and generation
-Speaker pages and bios
-Schedule

Built With

Framework: Next.js
CSS Modules
TypeScript
CMS: DatoCMS
Videos: YouTube
Deployment: Vercel
Authentication: GitHub OAuth
Database: Redis

Run Locally

First, set local environment variables. A read-only DatoCMS access token is included and you can use in .env.local.example.

cp .env.local.example .env.local

The next step is to install packages and run the development server:

yarn install
yarn dev

Open http://localhost:3000 with your browser to see the result:

STEP 1: Clone and Deploy

Click here to clone and deploy this template on Vercel:

You’ll be asked to install the DatoCMS integration that lets you sign up or log in to DatoCMS and create a new DatoCMS project based on the data, for example, speakers, stages, etc.

DatoCMS is a cloud-based headless CMS designed to work with static websites, mobile apps, and server-side applications of any kind.

As simple as that first virtual conference or event has been deployed:

STEP 2: Customize for your needs

Use defaults or choose your own database, authentication, and headless CMS.

CMS

You can modify the code to use a different content management system, check here lib/cms-api.ts for details.

Constants

lib/constants.ts contains a list of variables you should customize.

Adding Discord Chat

If you'd like to add similar functionality to your event, you can use the API route to fetch messages after creating a Discord bot. More info and documentation can be found here

Authentication

Some features won’t work until you set up authentication and database. The demo (demo.vercel.events) uses GitHub OAuth for authentication and Redis for the database.

This is a very cool feature 😎: Generate a unique ticket image with your GitHub Profile, and ticket URL that can be shared on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Download.

Conclusion

Virtual events and platforms may be the norm post-pandemic. It’s evident that the coronavirus pandemic has changed what normal looks like for us all, and the events and conference industry is no different. To learn more about Virtual Event Starter Kit – Vercel and check the documentation click here.

📣This week Vercel announced an additional $40 million in series B funding to be used "to help everyone build the next web".

🚀Let's see what's next amazing thing coming!

To connect with me please check my Github, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Thank you so much for reading!