OutreachSystems

The ability to create and manage attendee lists from WebCATS' conference records is a very powerful feature. Conference attendee lists can be used to:

• Advertise an upcoming event
• Track attendee status (prospective, registered, attended)
• Request that pre- or post-conference surveys be completed
• Generate sign-in sheets, mailing labels, or other relevant reports
• Automatically track attendee classifications
• Automatically track fees paid and total income for an event

But before we go into the many functions of an attendee list, let's first discuss how to manually create one.

Creating a Conference Attendee List

Before you can create a conference attendee list, you must first create the conference record. Once the conference record is created and saved, there are several ways to create an attendee list:

• Merge lists from other conference records, as discussed in the FAQ titled Can I merge conference attendee lists together or use an existing attendee list as the basis for a new one?
• Manually add attendees by clicking the Add Attendees button under the "Attendee List" area of a conference record (in read-only mode). This lets you browse for contact records to add to the attendee list.
• Add all contact records returned by a contact subset. To use this method, you must first create a contact subset. Then, click the Add Attendees button under the "Attendee List" area of a conference record (in read-only mode) and select the Last Contact Subset option.

When you add new contact records to an attendee list, they are always added with an initial status of "Prospective." This is likely the appropriate status because it isn't until people register for the conference (usually via eCenter Direct) that their status should be updated to "Registered". And it isn't until after the event that their status should be updated to "Attended."

If you're posting the event to eCenter Direct, as discussed in the FAQ titled How do I publish a conference or other training event on eCenter Direct?, and you'd like to expose different fees for different prospective attendees, now is the perfect time to go into the newly-created attendee list (by clicking the Edit button) and set the appropriate fees for each prospective attendee, as shown in the next graphic. The fee level options are pulled from the "Fees and Income" area of the conference record.

Note: If you'd prefer to let your attendee list grow organically as people register via eCenter Direct, that is perfectly fine. When this is the case, there is no need to manually create a conference attendee list. WebCATS will automatically create it for you as people register for the event.

Managing Conference Attendee Lists

As mentioned previously, there are many powerful attendee list management features. These features allow you to:

• Advertise an upcoming event
• Track attendee status (prospective, registered, attended)
• Request that pre- or post-conference surveys be completed
• Generate sign-in sheets, mailing labels, or other relevant reports
• Automatically track attendee classifications
• Automatically track fees paid and total income for an event

Advertising an Upcoming Event

Once you've created a conference attendee list and populated it with prospective attendees, you can advertise the event to those prospective contact records by clicking the E-mail button located above the attendee list, as shown in the next graphic.

From the subsequent e-mail screen, select the built-in "Conference Announcement" e-mail template, choose which list members to send it to, and follow the rest of the prompts (these prompts are discussed in detail in the FAQ titled How do I e-mail many clients or contacts at once (i.e. send a mass e-mail)?). Assuming your center posts events on eCenter Direct, this built-in e-mail template includes an auto-login URL that is unique to each recipient, as shown in the next graphic.

As discussed in the FAQ titled How do I customize the eCenter (and WebCATS) e-mail messages?, this conference announcement e-mail template can be customized on a per-program or per-center basis.

Tracking Attendee Status

Once an event has passed, you should go into the conference attendee list (by clicking the Edit button located above the list) and update the status of those who actually attended the event to "Attended". By diligently tracking those that attended, WebCATS is able to automatically break down attendee classifications as well as more accurately track fee and income information. In addition, it will be easier for you to perform a variety of follow-up actions for attendees.

Another status that you'll want to keep track of is "Registered." When a contact in your database registers for an event via eCenter, the contact's status on the attendee list will automatically be updated to "Registered." If you manually register a contact for a conference (this is most easily done via the contact record itself), then be sure to set the contact's attendee list status to "Registered."

Request that Conference Surveys Be Completed

Any event that you hold can be associated with a pre-conference survey, post-conference survey, or both. When you associate a survey with a conference record, WebCATS uses the attendee list to determine who the survey will be available to on eCenter. The process of creating conference surveys, specifying survey respondents via the conference attendee list, and advertising surveys via the conference attendee list is discussed in detail in the FAQ titled How do I create, post, and advertise surveys?.

Generate Conference Reports

From the conference attendee list itself, you can generate sign-in sheets, mailing labels, receipts, and other relevant attendee list reports by clicking the Report button located above the attendee list. In addition, the presence of an accurate conference attendee list lets you generate all kinds of helpful conference reports (and conference subsets) from the conference summary view listing.

Automatically Track Attendee Classifications

When reporting on conferences, SBA requires that you classify your attendees (DLA does not require this). If you've maintained an accurate conference attendee list, WebCATS will automatically classify them for you in the "Attendees" area of the conference record. This is much more convenient than manually filling in the more than 15 attendee classification fields.

Automatically Track Fees Paid and Total Income

Once an attendee list member pays any fees associated with an event, you can go into the attendee list (by clicking the Edit button located above the conference attendee list) and update the "Fee Paid" column for that list member. By accurately tracking the fees paid by each list member, you allow WebCATS to automatically calculate the total income for the event.

Want more? Browse our extensive list of WebCATS FAQs.