Use this setup when a human host goes live first for a short pre-show, then a pre-recorded presentation plays automatically at the scheduled start time. Think of a quick on-camera welcome, a few housekeeping notes, or a warm-up interview, followed by your evergreen deck or video.

This is the reverse of the standard Hybrid pattern covered in How to Use the AEvent Support Portal for Live MC / Hybrid Presentations. That article walks through going live to close after your recorded content plays. Here, you go live before the recorded content, and AEvent takes the room from you at the start time.

Here is the one rule that makes or breaks this setup: AEvent must join the meeting before your host does.

AEvent runs the event from a waiting state into a running state on its own. It is expected to be the one who starts the meeting. When AEvent joins first, it holds the room, shows your Countdown Room, and stands ready to play your recorded presentation at start time.

If a person starts or joins the meeting before AEvent, AEvent sees the session as already started and steps back. Its presentation machine never joins, and the recorded video never plays. Attendees simply watch whatever the live host is doing.

Worth knowing: your reminder emails, texts, and timeline messages still send on schedule even when this happens, so at a glance, everything can look fine while the recorded presentation quietly fails to start. That is why the join time below matters so much.

Open your campaign and go to Event Info. In the Event Automation card, click Edit.

In the panel that opens, set Event Automation (presentation) to Hybrid. Hybrid is the mode that pairs your recorded video with a live human segment. Then turn on Planned Live Time and enter a Duration in minutes. This is the length of your live pre-show window, so set it to comfortably cover your welcome plus a little buffer. Over-estimating is fine and recommended.

Choose your recorded presentation as the video for this event, then click Update to save. If your campaign has more than one event, set the mode and live time for each one.

Optional: the Remain paused until i click start checkbox holds the recorded video until you start it by hand from the Support Center, instead of firing automatically at the scheduled time. Leave it unchecked if you want the video to auto-play at start.

For the full breakdown of every automation mode, see Event Automation.

You should see: the Event Automation card now reads Presentation: Hybrid with your Planned Live Time in minutes.

Still on the Event Info page, find the Countdown Room section and turn on its toggle. The Countdown Room is the branded holding page AEvent shows before your event begins. AEvent spins it up ahead of the scheduled start, which is exactly what gets its presentation machine into the room first.

Click Edit to open the Template customizer. In the element list, select Countdown Timer.

Under Set Duration, enter a Duration, then click Update Settings to save. This is your choice, up to a 30-minute maximum. The duration sets how long the branded countdown shows, and because your host joins at the start time minus this duration, it also sets how long your live pre-show runs. Pick 30 minutes for a full half-hour pre-show, or a shorter duration for a shorter one. Write down the number you choose, because your host join time depends on it in the next step.

To customize the headline, timer text, and pre-webinar media, see Countdown Room.

You should see: your chosen duration saved on the Countdown Timer, ready to count down before the event begins.

The whole plan comes down to one simple rule for your host. Use this formula:

Host join time = event start time minus Countdown Room duration.

For example, if you choose a 30-minute Countdown Room, an 11:00 start means your host joins at 10:30, and never earlier, giving a 30-minute live pre-show. A shorter duration simply means a shorter pre-show and a later join time. Joining before the host join time risks getting into the meeting ahead of AEvent, which breaks the automated handoff.

Here is how show day unfolds:

Spotlighting is a native Zoom action your host controls from inside the meeting, so there is no AEvent setting for it. Your host spotlights themselves for the pre-show, then switches the spotlight to the automation when the video begins.

Optional: if you turned on Remain paused until I click start in Step 1, the recorded video waits until you start it manually from your Support Center rather than auto-playing at the scheduled time. For how to open and use the portal, see Using your AEvent Support Center.

You should see: the Countdown Room on screen when AEvent joins, your host spotlighted during the pre-show, and the recorded presentation takes over the moment the countdown reaches zero.