Upload once. Everywhere it needs to be.
From the presenter's phone to the laptop in the room — in under a second, with version history and AV approval baked in.
PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF, or video
Built for the way
shows actually run.
Six details that separate a presenter portal from a tool the AV team trusts on the show floor.
Day folders, auto-organized
Multi-day events get a folder per day automatically — Day 1 Keynote, Day 2 Panel, etc. The right files land on the right day, never mixed up at the rack.
SHA-256 verified on arrival
Every file is hashed at upload and re-verified after download on the desktop. Corrupt or tampered files get rejected before they reach your stage.
Every format crews actually use
PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF, MP4, and MOV — the five formats that cover 99% of conference content. Up to 4 GB per file, so a 60-minute 1080p sponsor reel uploads without ceremony.
Auto-push on reconnect
Desktop drops Wi-Fi mid-show? The next time it reconnects, the server checks for anything missed and pushes it down — no manual sync, no "did you get the latest" texts.
Every action logged
Upload, approve, reject, push, receive, ack — all timestamped in the BC activity log with author and IP. Pull a complete chain of custody for any file, any time.
HIPAA-aware, BAA-ready
Medical conferences with PHI in the slides? Encryption at rest in DigitalOcean Spaces, encrypted in transit, BAA available, and access logged. PHI handling baked into the platform.
When the network blinks,
the show keeps going.
File sync is one of those features that has to work the first time, every time, even when the venue Wi-Fi has other ideas. We learned this the hard way at events. Here's what holds it together when things get weird:
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DNS retry, exponential backoffVenue Wi-Fi DNS hiccups don't kill a sync. The desktop retries on its own with backoff until the file lands.
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Multi-instance safePostgres advisory locks ensure two server instances never push the same file twice — even during a rolling deploy mid-event.
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Heartbeat + auto-resumeEvery 30 seconds the desktop pings home. Miss too many, server flags it offline. Reconnect, pending pushes resume from where they stopped.
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End-to-end push under a minuteApprove click to file on the laptop typically takes <1 min, even with full SHA verification and DNU archival of the previous version.
"Are we ready?"
That question hits different when you have 80 presenters, 12 rooms, and the venue WiFi just went down. The BC Venue Node sits on site so every file is already here, every presenter checks in before they're due on stage, and every answer is on one screen. Not on a walkie. Not in someone's head. On one screen.
Presenters walk up, check in, and confirm their deck. You never leave the production desk.
At a conference with 80 presenters across three days, you can't have someone sitting at a table with a clipboard. You need a system where the presenters do the work — they check themselves in, they verify their own file, they see whether their deck is the right version. And you see all of it from the dashboard without picking up a radio.
The Venue Node runs the check-in station locally. That means it doesn't depend on venue internet. Presenter rosters, session assignments, and uploaded files are all cached on the node itself. If the WiFi drops during load-in — and it will — check-in keeps working. Presenters keep walking up. Status keeps updating locally. When the connection comes back, everything syncs.
If you need cloud connectivity during an outage, connect a USB cellular hotspot to the node's second network interface. Cloud sync runs over cellular while the node continues serving the venue LAN. Two paths, one device.
The node doesn't need the internet to run the Speaker Ready Room. Presenter rosters, session schedules, file metadata, and event branding are all cached locally. When the venue WiFi drops — during load-in, during the lunch rush, during the one hour that matters most — the check-in station keeps working. Presenters keep walking up. Their status records locally. When the connection comes back, everything syncs to the cloud automatically.
Files that were already cached on the node are still served to room laptops over the venue LAN — that traffic never touches the internet. The only things that pause are new uploads from presenters who haven't submitted yet and real-time dashboard updates to the cloud. Everything else continues.
✓ Keeps working offline
Presenter check-in and identification. Deck verification against cached files. Preflight checks. File serving to room laptops over LAN. Local status recording.
⏸ Pauses until reconnect
New file uploads from presenters. Real-time dashboard sync to the cloud. SMS/email reminders. These resume automatically when the connection returns.
The questions you're already asking.
How do I stop chasing presenters for their slides?
Each presenter gets a unique upload portal link via SMS or email. They upload their own presentation files directly — no email attachments, no shared drives, no confusion about where to send them. If they haven't uploaded by a deadline you set, the system sends an automatic reminder. You can also nudge them from the presenter readiness dashboard with one click, rate-limited so nobody gets spammed. The presenters who always wait until the last minute still will — but now you can see exactly who they are and when they finally come through.
How do I know who's ready and who isn't?
The presenter readiness dashboard shows every speaker on one screen with a status indicator — file uploaded or missing, review approved or pending, checked in or no update. Counters at the top show how many are ready, how many need attention, and how many are completely missing. You open one screen and you know. No spreadsheet, no cross-referencing, no calling around.
How do I know if a speaker is actually at the venue?
Presenters update their own arrival status through their speaker portal — running behind, on time, arrived on site, or in the room. That status appears on your dashboard in real time. When the keynote speaker checks in at the speaker ready room, you see it immediately. When someone marks themselves as running late, you see that too. No one has to physically walk to the green room to check.
What happens when someone uploads the wrong file?
Every uploaded presentation goes through a file review queue. You can preview PowerPoint and PDF files directly in the browser without downloading them. If something is wrong — wrong version, missing slides, bad format — reject it with a note and the presenter sees the feedback on their portal instantly. They upload the corrected version and it goes back through review. No email chains, no confusion about which version is current.
Do presenters have to create an account?
No. Each presenter gets a unique link to their speaker portal. No account, no password, no app. They tap the link, see their session details, and upload. If they lose the link, you resend with one click. Every step you add between a presenter and their upload is another reason they put it off until tomorrow.
We have 80 presenters. How does this scale?
The presenter management dashboard shows every speaker as a card with their name, session, room, file status, review status, and check-in status. Filter by room, day, or status. The counters at the top tell you at a glance how many are ready. When your client asks if all the speakers are confirmed, you look at one number — not three spreadsheet tabs.
Can I send reminders without annoying people?
Reminders go via SMS or email with a direct link to the presenter's upload portal. They're rate-limited to one every 30 minutes per presenter, so you can't accidentally spam someone. Automatic reminders can also be scheduled at intervals you choose — the system handles the follow-up so you don't have to send individual messages.
What if a presenter just emails me the file?
You can upload on behalf of any presenter from the dashboard. The file lands in the same review queue, gets the same version tracking, and syncs to the room the same way. The portal link is simple enough that most presenters use it once you send it — but the ones who insist on emailing a 40 MB PowerPoint in a reply chain will always exist. At least now that file has one place to live where it's tracked and reviewable.
How do I know the room actually has the right version?
When a presentation file is uploaded and approved, it syncs to the on-site Venue Node and then to the room's desktop client. The readiness dashboard shows whether the file is cached in the room and whether it's the latest version. If a presenter uploads v3 at midnight and the room still has v2, you see that discrepancy before the session — not when the speaker is on stage saying "those aren't my slides."
What is the speaker ready room?
The speaker ready room is a check-in station where presenters verify their identity, confirm their presentation is loaded and current, and update their status before going on stage. The BC Venue Node runs this check-in locally at the venue. For conferences with dozens of speakers across multiple days, it replaces the clipboard and the person sitting at a table checking names — and gives the production manager real-time visibility into who's arrived and who hasn't.
Do speakers need to install anything?
No. The presenter portal runs in any browser on any device. Nothing to download, no login to remember. This is deliberate — conference speakers are busy and every friction point is a reason to delay uploading.
What about last-minute changes?
Add a presenter from the dashboard, assign them to a session, send the portal link. They can upload immediately. If someone cancels, remove them and the readiness view updates. The system always reflects what's current, not what was planned — so your readiness number is always real.
Stop emailing slides at 8:59.
Push them where they belong.
File sync ships with every Breakout Connect plan — Starter, Pro, and Enterprise. Optional AV review gate unlocks on Pro. Spin up a tenant, invite presenters, ship slides.