Why Host Events on Discord?

Events are a great, fun way to engage your community. Not only do they help your members bond and get to know each other better, but they can also introduce new faces and friends to your community.

Even better, hosting Discord events is a great way to create new lasting friendships and put a real voice or face to a username or avatar!

What Are Discord Stage Channels?

Stages are Discord’s newest community event feature, made with the goal to help voice-only events in communities with features that are good for hosting events in an orderly fashion.

They can be used for AMAs, podcasts, showcases, and so much more! You can learn more about Stage Channels here.

Stages or Voice? What’s Your Choice?

Deciding to use a Stage Channel, rather than a regular Voice Channel, is dependent on a few things. 

Choose Stage If…

• You don’t want to mute/unmute people individually to let individuals speak to a larger group.

• You’re hosting big events like AMAs, podcasts, debates, and poetry slams—big audiences work best in this format to keep users organized.

Choose Voice If…

• You need to stream visual content like sharing your screen, turning on a webcam, or streaming.

• You’re hosting smaller, more informal events for a smaller group of members.

Generally, stages are better for large audiences who need robust features to allow them to better control the audience and the people who are actively allowed to speak. They’re great for events that lean on discussion and discourse. 

Voice channels are better for smaller, more condensed conversations that may use visual content like screen-sharing or video chatting to host the event.

If your guests might be new to Discord, it could be helpful to cover some FAQs like...

• How to leave a voice channel via the disconnect button
• How to raise a hand during a stage event in order to speak 
• How to best ask a question

It's Showtime

Improving Attendance at Your Events

When it comes to running a successful event, it’s key to attract the right audience.

Discord’s new Events feature lets you create events for a specific time and date, including a name, description, and location. Once you’ve set an Event, it’ll appear at the top of your server and your members can reserve their digital seat by marking their interest.

Come showtime, your community members will be prompted to join the Event!

Top Tip: Consider creating an opt-in Events role too! Giving your would-be attendees a nudge in your community's Announcement Channel can help boost awareness and activity in events.

Announcement Channels let users follow a channel in their own private server and see every message published in that channel even while they're away. An announcement can help members stay up to date on future events and plans outside of the Events feature, so make sure you have Community on. 

Moderating Your Discord Voice Events

The key to a great event lies in two things: planning and moderating. When you get together with your moderator or event team to plan out an event, answer key questions like...

• How do we manage unruly behavior? Timing out, banning, or removing users can all be valid moderation actions to keep the integrity of an event intact.

• How do we plan on efficiently hosting our event? Dates, times, prizes, and any other background information should be communicated with your team in advance. Put the details in writing in a clear, easily accessible place for everyone to see.

• Who will be on hand to moderate during the event? If you’re busy hosting, it's important to select moderators before the event who can focus on safety and organization while the event takes place. 

There's nothing wrong with planning in advance. In fact, setting a routine can help make future events easier to plan, run, and manage.

GLHF, admins. Events are a blast!

With thanks to Deku ♡ for all their help in writing this article.