If the person you hired wants to build your summit from scratch in GoHighLevel, Kajabi or ClickFunnels, they can do it, and for a small event that's often fine. A multi-speaker summit is different. Building it from scratch means making speaker pages, schedules, links, replay windows and promoter tracking by hand, and doing it all again for every summit you run.
This article is for the coach, therapist or practitioner who finally hired help with the tech, and now that person says to skip the summit software. You trust them and you're paying for their judgment. You also don't want to learn a whole new tool just to win an argument.
So let's go through it fairly, including the times your VA is right.
Key Takeaways
- Before you decide, ask your VA how many hours the first summit will take and how many the second will take.
- Choose a DIY build in GoHighLevel, Kajabi or ClickFunnels for a single webinar, a workshop or a small panel. Use summit software once you have several speakers, sessions and promoters.
- Keep GoHighLevel for your CRM and sales. EventRaptor works on top of it and doesn't replace it.
- Find out how you'll see which speaker brought in which registrants, because speaker promotion is where most summit sign-ups come from.
- Put both options side by side, with software cost and paid hours, before you commit.
Why a Good VA Might Push Back
Most of the time the reason is ordinary. Your VA knows GoHighLevel inside out, and adding one more login feels like friction. They might be picturing a single webinar when they hear the word summit. Or they learned a way of building events years ago, it worked, and they've never needed to question it.
Billing can play a part too. If you pay by the hour, a bigger custom build means more paid hours. That doesn't make your VA dishonest. It's simply worth knowing about while you're both deciding.
None of this makes them a bad hire. It just means the decision deserves a proper look before anyone builds 30 pages.
What a Scratch Build Actually Involves
GoHighLevel, Kajabi and ClickFunnels are good tools. But they have nothing built in for speakers or sessions, so every piece of the summit gets assembled by hand.
One summit producer explained it on the podcast. Even with five speakers, you could easily be building 10 or more web pages plus the system that connects them. Every link you add is one more place where a missing character can break access, and sometimes nobody notices until the day of the event.
| Task | Built from scratch | On EventRaptor |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker pages | One page per speaker, made and edited by hand | Generated from each speaker's profile |
| Speaker onboarding | Email threads for bios, headshots, files and agreements | Speakers apply, sign agreements and upload through the platform |
| Schedule | Built and updated manually | Calendar, tracks and on-demand schedule come from the session records |
| Promoter tracking | Separate affiliate setup, often in a spreadsheet | Unique promoter links plus a leaderboard speakers can see |
| Replay access | Access and expiry workflows built by hand | Attendee dashboard runs off the event's sessions |
| CRM | Native if you build in GoHighLevel | Registrants sync to GoHighLevel/CRMRaptor with tags |
| Your next summit | Rebuilt or cloned, then re-checked link by link | Duplicate the event and swap in new speakers |
That last row matters most if you plan to run more than one summit, which I'd encourage. Our guide to what a virtual summit really costs to run puts software, setup hours and VA time next to each other so you can do the math with real numbers.
When Building It Yourself Is the Right Call
Sometimes your VA is simply right. A one-speaker webinar, a live workshop or a three-person panel doesn't need summit software. GoHighLevel can handle the registration page, the reminders and the follow-up very well.
DIY also makes sense if your VA already has a tested summit template you're happy with and the hours have been agreed up front.
You should also know what EventRaptor doesn't do. Live sessions run on Zoom, and it doesn't have team accounts, or in-event networking, Q&A and polls. If any of those are must-haves, you'll need another tool whichever way you go. Video hosting for session recordings and replays is available through CRMRaptor, EventRaptor's GoHighLevel solution, and EventRaptor has video view analytics so you can see how session and replay videos are viewed.
Questions to Ask Before You Agree
Take these to your next check-in. They aren't meant to catch anyone out. They just make the trade-offs visible.
- How many hours will the first summit take, and how many will the second one take?
- When a speaker sends a new bio or giveaway link two days before launch, who updates it, and in how many places?
- How will we know which speaker brought in which registrants?
- How will replay access open and close for each session?
- If you're sick during summit week, who else can find and fix a broken link?
- Is this the best fit for a summit, or the tool you know best?
If you're a therapist, add one more check. Whoever builds the pages, run the wording past your licensing board's advertising rules before anything goes live.
How EventRaptor Fits With the Tools You Already Use
You won't have to make your VA give up GoHighLevel. EventRaptor handles the summit itself: speakers, sessions, event pages, reminder emails and promoter links. Registrants land in GoHighLevel/CRMRaptor with tags, so your VA's workflow skills go into the follow-up that turns attendees into booked calls. That work pays off far better than rebuilding a speaker page for the fourth time.
By the way, I was Chief Technology Officer at Brave Thinking Institute from 2014 to 2020, so I get why a tech person likes to build things their own way. But Jennie and I built EventRaptor because no summit system on the market worked for our coaching clients. We designed it around a 70-year-old group coaching client who had only been using computers for two or three years. In December 2021 she ran a virtual summit with twelve speakers on EventRaptor without help from anyone else.
If neither you nor your VA wants to carry the build, our done-for-you team can run the whole summit while you teach, host and sell. You can see the full list of summit features organized by job to share with your VA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Build a Virtual Summit in GoHighLevel?
Yes. GoHighLevel can hold summit pages, forms and email workflows. It has nothing built in for speakers or sessions, though, so speaker pages, schedules, promoter tracking and replay windows all have to be built by hand. That's manageable for a few speakers and gets heavy as the lineup grows.
Do I Have to Stop Using GoHighLevel to Use EventRaptor?
No. EventRaptor works on top of GoHighLevel. Registrants sync into GoHighLevel/CRMRaptor with tags, and you keep using it for your CRM, calendars, workflows and sales.
Is Kajabi or ClickFunnels Good Enough for a Summit?
Both work for single events and simple funnels. For a summit with many speakers, each one needs their own page, session time and links, and on these tools that work is manual and gets repeated every time you run a summit. Count the hours before you decide.
Does EventRaptor Host the Summit Videos?
Video hosting is available through CRMRaptor, EventRaptor's GoHighLevel solution, so your session recordings and replays don't need a separate video host. Live sessions run on Zoom, and EventRaptor manages the join links, schedule and attendee dashboard around them. EventRaptor also has video view analytics, so you can see how session and replay videos are viewed.
A Practical Next Step
This week, sit down with your VA and go through the six questions above. Ask for two time estimates, one for the first summit and one for the second. That one conversation usually settles it, and nobody has to feel overruled.
If you'd like an outside view before you choose between a scratch build and summit software, Book your Client Attraction Planning Call. We'll look at your offer, your lineup and what your VA already does well, and work out which setup makes sense for you.