Scheduling Events Overview
An Event Project is where you actually schedule and configure the templated options of the event. It’s during this step that you choose the capacity for the event, the event date and time, as well as a few other Event specific features.
Start an Event Project
After you have created your Event Template, it’s now time to build and schedule your first Event Project. From the Tenant Homepage, select Start Event Project from the Actions section on the right.
After selecting Start Event Project, the following pop up window will appear.
Unless your tenant was configured to use “User as Stakeholder” (i.e. the currently logged-in user), you will see and need to provide a valid Owner ID in the Stakeholder text box. The event “Stakeholder” is the client. The OID that should be put here is the OID from the order request (the ERF).
The Project Name box is where you name the project; this is not the event title, but it will be auto populated into the event title field for project/title consistency. There are no dependencies on an Event Project name verses an Event Title name. It is strictly a matter of nomenclature preference.
Choose an Event Template, then associate the Event with the Site that was created and uploaded for you. Finally, click Submit. After clicking Submit, the work flow process will take you to the Event Schedule page. This is the page where you choose the date, time, time zone, duration, and capacity of your event. When you have finished, click Submit.
Event Content
The next section is Content. This is where you add the event title, a sub-title if desired, the event description, a topic, and any category tags. Keep in mind that the Event Title and Description are required. Category tags are a good way to associate your event for quick event searches and will also be used in customization of event presentation built by the Registration Dev Team.
When you are finished editing the Content section, press Submit.
TIP: The content can be edited with a simple language called Markdown. Learn more here: http://markdowntutorial.com/
Event Windows
The next menu option is Event Windows. This section controls the registration and attendance windows. These options can be set and locked within the Template or you may edit them as you are setting up the event.
Click Submit when finished.
Web Event Platform Providers
iER offers a great variety of built in APIs (Application Program Interface) for the following Web Event Platform Providers:
WebEx Event Center
WebEx Meeting Center/Training Center
Adobe Connect
InterCall Webcast Studio (IWS)
On24
Microsoft Live Meeting
iER uses provider event information to leverage the built in provider API to push registrants seamlessly from the registration attendance page into the specifically declared events. What iER does not do is dynamically configure the event on the provider platform, nor do any providers dynamically instantiate an event within the iER platform. There is no dynamic synchronization of platform event building and iER event building; they are separate and manual processes. They are independently constructed and not mutually exclusive, yet they each have to have matching values in the principal event fields within each platform.
One of the most important notes about Providers is that they must be declared within the Template initially. This means that if you forget to declare a web and/or audio provider in your Template, when you get to the Providers section of your event build project, you will hit a dead end because the providers you need to configure your event will not be listed. At that point you will have abandon and re-start your event project once you have edited your Template.
Event Platform :: WebEx (Event Center and Meeting Center)
To add a WebEx Event, Meeting, or Training Center provider, you must select the appropriate provider. WebEx Event Center and WebEx Meeting Center have their own unique APIs, but Training Center does not--which is why it is not listed as a WebEx Platform option in the Template Event Providers listing. To configure a WebEx Training Center provider, simply use the WebEx Meeting Center option.
IMPORTANT: WebEx Training Center uses the same API as WebEx Meeting Center.
TIP: Build separate and clearly named WebEx Event templates to keep all of the WebEx platform offerings free of confusion.
For all of the WebEx Site field, add just the WebEx site (i.e. not the entire link). For example, if your link is https://intercallcenters.webex.com, just add intercallcenters.
The next step is to add your Meeting Number. If your WebEx event is set up on the provider site as requiring a password, make sure you enter it in the iER password field. Because WebEx passwords are optional, iER also does not require an entry in this field. Ensure that you know how your event is configured in the provider before you build iER registration for it.
IMPORTANT: Make sure there are no spaces in the meeting number--this is critical for the functionality to work correctly.
The only thing left to do is add your Conference ID and Toll and Toll Free numbers.
Event Platform :: Adobe Connect
To add an Adobe Connect provider, select Adobe Connect from the Provider dropdown.
Add Account ID, Event ID, and the Adobe Connect Server URL.
Adobe Connect Server is simply the URL for the Adobe site.
The Account ID can be located in the resolved URL for the Adobe site after you log in.
The Event ID can be found at the very end of the Connect Attendee URL, as seen below.
Event Platform :: IWS
Very Important: All new IER clients who want to use IWS as their web provider MUST have a new VEC created. IER passes the values for First Name, Last Name, Email Address and Password to IWS for reporting. If a user has previously registered via the IWS microsite and the Fast Access integration detects that previously registered user, they will instead be registered by the IWS microsite. This will cause the passthrough via Fast Access to fail and that attendee will not be able to join the meeting.
To add an IWS provider, select InterCall Webcast Studio (IWS) from the Provider dropdown.
Add an Event ID and a VEC ID. **Please note that IWS refers to the VEC ID as EID and the Event ID as SEID.
The Event ID (SEID) can be found in IWS next to the event name, as seen below.
The VEC ID (EID) can be found at the top of any page within the VEC.
Also, the Activate internal microsite alongside an external microsite checkbox must be deselected.
Additionally, in the Registration tab, you will need to ensure that the only the following registration questions have been marked as Mandatory.
First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Confirm Email Address, Password and Confirm Password.
If any other fields have been marked as mandatory, your event will fail.
Finally, in the Access Control tab, you need to make sure that No password is required when registering/accessing to the event has been selected.
All of these features need to be set as shown above for your event to succeed.
Event Platform :: Live Meeting
To add a Microsoft Live Meeting provider, select Microsoft Live Meeting from the Provider dropdown.
Add a Conference Center, Meeting ID, and a Meeting Password (if applicable).
Conference Center can be found at the end of the Live Meeting site URL.
Meeting ID and Meeting Password (Attendee Entry Code) can both be located on the Meeting Details page in Live Meeting.
Attachments
When you click upload, you will be taken to a finder window that will allow you pick files from your computer's hard drive.
After you select your file and wait a moment, the attachments panel will look like this:
If you'd like to add a note about the attachments you can add one in the Note field. The Class dropdown menu is not used.
You can add multiple attachments if your client needs them.
**Please note that attachments can be no larger than 3mb in size.
The next section is called Presenters. If a Presenter is desired, click Add Presenter.
The following required fields are available by default for simple Presenter set up:
After you have finished, click Submit.
IMPORTANT: Should you want more field data options like Phone Number and/or Email Address etc., then you will need to stop, abandon the event, and update the Presenter Fields in the Tenant Admin > Account Settings section.
Registration Fields
The next section is Registration Fields. Registration fields are set up the same way as in the Template itself.
To edit an existing registration field, highlight the desired field (red box above) and edit appropriately (blue box on right).
You can copy a field by clicking on the green box with a grey cross in it. Keep in mind that if the field is locked in the Template, you will not be able to edit it at the event level.
To add a new field, select the Add Field tab from the box on the right. Then select the field type which matches your registration question requirement.
NOTE: Checkbox-type questions require additional steps and can potentially require additional formatting updates to the theme. Contact the Registration Development team for assistance with that field type.
After you have added a field, you will be taken back to the editor. From there you can label your question, mark it as required, and edit several other options. When you are finished editing, click <<Back to Template from the menu options on the left.
Custom Event Fields are created exactly the same way as standard registration fields. Keep in mind that if you initially set up a required Custom Event Field in your Template, you will be required to add data to it in your Event.
Custom Fields
Once again, this option is completely dependent upon how your Template is configured. If you are using a template that does not have any custom fields predefined, then you will not see the Custom Fields option in the event project build workflow. If there are fields defined in the Template, such as the InterCall default use case pictured below, than you will have editable options.
This example shows available custom fields that were created to add the event contact information. Keep in mind that this information is pulled in to multiple places within the site, so you will want to format it however you prefer.
NOTE: Custom Fields, as self-described, are a form of customization for registration projects.
Prices
The Prices tab will only appear if you have activated Ecommerce on the account. Start by clicking the Add Price button.
On this page you can set an Amount, give a Description, and set Starts At and Ends At dates/times for the price range. Click Submit when finished.
NOTE: If you click on the Prices tab and you just get a “Loading” page, double-check to make sure you have added Ecommerce credentials to the Site.
Notifications
To add or edit email notifications, click on Notifications from the menu options on the left. To edit an existing notification, click the Notification Type on the left in blue. You can then select Update Notification on the right in purple. To add a new notification, click Add Notification on the right in red. (If the Notifications are locked in the Template, you will not be able to edit them at the event level.)
Selecting Update Notification will bring up the Transactional Notification window shown below.
You can disable notifications by clicking the green “Yes” under Enabled.
Review
The Review option is a handy feature that streamlines the review communication process. It allows you to send the event stakeholder or a QA peer a review notification automatically from the Admin UI. Within this notification is a review link that will take them to a special location on the site where they can view and test the event. This notification also includes links that will provide them with self service capability to get all of the relevant emails sent to themselves for review. Lastly, the review recipient will have the ability to accept or reject the event and provide feedback as to their decision.
Click Start a Review on the right as shown below.
A pop up window will appear titled Start a Review. The Review Instructions box can be used if you would like to include an extended message to your reviewer.
Add a Reviewer
If you would like to send the Review to more than one person, press Enter on your keyboard to go to a new line, then add a new email address.
Below is an example of the email sent out to the targeted Reviewer(s):
When the reviewer selects the Review Event button in the review notification, they are taken to a special review page on the event portal (site). From here they can navigate through the entire event registration process in the pane on the right by clicking on the Register >> button. In the pane on the left, which will remain visible on this review page, the reviewer can send themselves a copy of each of the transactional and scheduled (reminder) emails that have been enabled for their event so they can review and approve those as well. The reviewer can then add approval (or rejection) notes in the comments area so that the event builder can make edits based on the feedback or publish the event upon a reviewer approval.
Publishing
If you have any errors in the event, they will be displayed in the Validation Check section shown below. If there are no errors in the Event, you may choose to Publish Event to publish or Abandon Event to discard your event.
Once you have selected Publish Event, the following pop up window will be displayed. You may choose to Notify Stakeholder if you would like a message to go to the person associated with the Owner Number initially used to set up the event.
Event Details View
As we have seen, selecting the Event tab will take you to Event Search. Performing a general yet relevant search of events within your tenant will display a set of events which meet the search criteria. From this return set, you may see events in multiple stages of completion: Building, Published, and Completed. Up to this point we have focused on the specific view and corresponding elements available when an event is in the ‘Building’ status. Drilling into events that have been published and/or completed will provide you with a different view of the event. Events in these states will show you the Details of the Event. From these views, there are still some ways to manage the event, but for the most part it is simply an overview of the event.
Event Details
Click the Events button at the top of your screen. You may then search for the title of your Event. You can also find the event in the Recently Selected Events section.
Selecting a completed event will take you to Event Details. Event Details is a summary of all the different information regarding your event. You can do some event management from here as well, like manually completing your event and/or set the recording link, but the majority of event configuration requires an event to be in the ‘Building’ status or in the ‘Event Change’ status.
Notifications
From the Notifications section, you can check the status of the emails sent to your registrants. The two statuses are Sent (successfully sent emails) and Bounced (failed emails).
Registrants
From the Registrants section, you can browse the individuals who have registered for your event. You can also manually Add a Registrant, Upload Registrants, Export Current Registrants, or Export All Registrants.
To manually add a registrant, click on the Add a Registrant link in the Actions pane. This will open a dialog window where you can select the registrant’s time zone, enter their first name, last name, and Email. Once completed, click Submit.
Keep in mind that the fields shown are the fields that are configured within the event.
History
Lastly, the History section shows you details about the different changes that have been made to the Event.
Add a Recording Link
Once your event has completed, be it manually or automatically, you can add the Recording Link for the follow-up emails. After locating and clicking on your event in the Tenant site, from the Event Details tab click Set Recording Link under the Actions pane on the right side of your screen.
Choose whether or not you would like to Notify Registrants, add your Recording Link and any notes you may have. Then click Submit.
**Please note that you must make sure to remove any spaces from the end of the recording link. IER does not strip these spaces from the link, so if you leave them, the recording link will not work.