A brand new version of Sparkup is here!
It brings exciting new features, improvements, and some important changes to be aware of so you can prepare your upcoming events with ease.

🌟 What's new

1. Sparkup Virtual Studio

The Sparkup Virtual Studio is the brand-new format designed for webinars and live productions.
The main advantage: everything happens directly inside Sparkup. No need for external production tools or third-party software - you can access all of Sparkup’s unique interactive features in one place, with total simplicity.

Why it’s a game-changer:

• Centralize the entire production of your event in a single tool.

• Run your event smoothly and independently, no technical expertise required.

• Enjoy Sparkup's unique features (virtual audience, speaking, voting, quizzes, etc.) natively integrated into your live.

2. WYSIWYG admin interface

The new admin environment has been redesigned for a faster, more intuitive setup.
It’s based on a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) approach:

• The right-hand side of the interface mirrors almost exactly what participants will see.

• Admins instantly preview the impact of their changes.

• No more guessing: what you see is exactly what your audience sees.

This means more confidence, faster setup, and a smoother experience.

3. Advanced speaker management

Sparkup now includes powerful new tools for managing speakers:

• A dedicated waiting room with private chat for behind-the-scenes coordination.

• Admins can bring speakers on or off stage with a single click.

• Up to 8 speakers can appear live simultaneously.

• Both admins and speakers can share their screen at any time.

Everything you need to manage your speakers with flexibility directly in Sparkup.

4. Media management

You can now upload your presentations directly into Sparkup and broadcast them during your sessions.

The benefits:

• Alternative to screen sharing: everything is integrated into Sparkup.

• The system automatically remembers the last slide displayed, even if you switch views.

• You can give other speakers control over the slides.

• Manage multiple media and activities seamlessly during your live.

• Reduced technical risks for a smoother and more secure live experience.

⚠️ Key points to note

The information below is particularly interesting if you were already using Sparkup, as it provides more details about the notable changes:

Production modes

• Except for on-site events, all events are now automatically hybrid.
  This means you no longer need to choose between Virtual or Hybrid: when sharing the URL with your participants, simply choose the appropriate link.

• The production mode is final: once the session is created, it cannot be changed.

Settings & menus

• The session code can no longer be customized.

• Session duration:

  • Virtual studio (webinar): 4h max.

  • External encoder or On-site: up to 3 days.

• The former Registration, Stream and Stage menus have been removed: their content has been consolidated into the General menu.

Activity management

• Admins now have two separate buttons for launching an activity:

  • Display to participants

  • Display in the Activity view (or on stage in a Virtual studio event)

• An activity cannot be both displayed as an overlay on the live player and available in the participant menu.

• The Document activity is now only available as an Image in live mode. PDF files remain accessible in the menu.

• The former Live Questions activity, which included several types of polls (For or Against, True or False, 5-Star Rating, Multiple Choice/Multiple Choice Questions, Reaction), no longer exists in this format.
  Now, each of these polls has become an independent activity that you can select and launch directly in Sparkup.

👉 [Insert image: example of a live activity shown to participants]

Content behavior following the update

During the update:

• All existing sessions will be converted into External encoder or On-site events (since the Virtual Studio did not exist before).

• Even though sessions now have a limited duration, all existing sessions will keep their current duration to avoid any issues.

• Existing activities will remain in the Live activities section (not in the participant menu).

• Live questions: all questions will be split individually.

• Existing documents will be migrated as follows:

  • Live activity: only the first slide is kept.

  • Menu: a full copy of the document is added.

  • Media: a full copy of the document is also added.

  • You can then delete any unnecessary copies to simplify your live if necessary.

👉 This ensures that you don’t lose any planned content during the transition.