The Agenda Setup tool is used to create a public agenda on your event website. If you are looking for a way to build an interactive agenda that is connected to your registration items see our ARTICLE on linking those registration items to the agenda.
MANAGE & CREATE AGENDAS
Enter the Event Builder of a new event, then click the AGENDA section at the top. Click the Agenda Setup tool on the left. You will see the first step to creating a new agenda is to click the CREATE ONE NOW! link:
The system will generate your agenda, with a block for each day that occurs within the start/end dates of your event (which are configured within the Event Builder >> Event Basics >> Basic Event Information tool):
Here are a few key tips to managing your event agenda(s):
- Use the dropdown in the upper left to cycle through existing agendas and create new ones
- The text box in the upper right corner to rename your agenda; delete with X icon next to it
- Add slots via import, item connection or manually using the buttons on each day
CREATING NEW SLOTS
You can see that each day block on your agenda offers 3 distinct ways of generating a new agenda slot:
- NEW SLOT: build a freeform agenda slot directly on your agenda
- ITEM-CONNECTED SLOT: create a new agenda slot that is linked to a registration item
- IMPORT SLOT: bring in agenda slots from a different agenda under a different event
CREATE A NEW SLOT + SLOT SETTINGS
Click the blue NEW SLOT button to manually create a new agenda slot:
A new slot will appear under the day block. Click a slot to open its settings and options panel.
- Title & Description: Set the main title of the activity and the date/time
- Options: this section will allow user to change the color of the agenda slot as it appears within the Virtual Event Organizer (VEO); you can also disable the Add to My Itinerary function here (SEE #1 BELOW)
- Virtual Event Organizer: this tab is used to associate a live or pre-recorded video meeting link with an agenda slot. Once a link is added to the slot, it can be activated within the Virtual Event Organizer (VEO)
- Venue & Room: specify where the activity will take place
- You can create additional venues in the EVENT BASICS > LOCATION DETAILS tool
- Add custom rooms to your venues in the AGENDA > ROOM SETUP tool
- Speakers: Tag speakers from your event roster (created in the Speaker Manager tool) to agenda slots
- Ratings: customize the 5 rating categories that are used across all agenda slots (SEE #2 BELOW)
- Tracks: Create color-coded tracks, then tag your agenda slots accordingly. Users can then filter their view of the agenda on the event website by using these tracks
- Sponsors: associate existing sponsor logos with the agenda slot
1) MOBILE ITINERARY: The mobile agenda interface allows users that are signed in and registered for the event to save agenda slots to their own personal itinerary. Check the box to disable the "Add to My Itinerary" feature (read HERE for more information on the mobile itinerary feature)
2) RATINGS: The mobile agenda/itinerary interface allows users that are signed in and registered to rate agenda slots on a scale of 1-5 stars in 5 customizable categories. Check the "Turn off reviews" checkbox to disable reviews for this slot.
- Notice in the screenshot above that you can also disable reviews for the entire day of slots
- Use the "Rating Link Designation" to rename the rating button that appears within the slot
- Click the "Change Rating Categories" button below to rename the rating categories (NOTE: that a change to a rating category on one slot reflects on all slots to keep a level rating playing field)
ITEM-CONNECTED SLOT
For events that require registrants to sign up for activities that occur on the agenda, you will follow a different order of operations for agenda creation.
BEFORE creating an agenda slot, you will create the activity/session as a registration first. Then, you can import that registration item into the agenda so that it has a corresponding slot.
Instead of designing the agenda slot first, you will create a registration item for each activity that needs to be signed up for. Once you have these items built, you can add them to the agenda, which creates a corresponding slot for each activity.
Here are a few key reasons why you might want to follow the Item-Connected Slot route:
- You need attendance data for a certain set of agenda items
- You would like the ability to check attendees into agenda items on-site
- Certain agenda items cost money to attend
For an advanced walkthrough of item-connected slots, click HERE for an in-depth tutorial.
You can create an item-connected slot in one of two ways:
- 1) Event Builder > REGISTRATION tab > Registration Items tool > click on the item > select Location & Time tab
- 2) Event Builder >> AGENDA tab > Agenda Setup tool > click ITEM-CONNECTED SLOT button (on any day)
Both of these methods lead to the same place, shown in the screenshot below. You'll see an editor window that allows you to associate a date/time/location with the registration item in question:
When set, click the ADD TO AGENDA button below. This will create a new slot on the agenda that is connected to the registration item. Inside the slot's editing panel (within the Title & Description section), there is a indication of the slot's connection to an underlying registration item:
During registration, the user will see the date/time/location that you assigned to this option.
Once registration is complete, the item (that has a connected slot), will be added to the registrant's mobile-view itinerary:
Agenda slots that are NOT connected to any underlying registration item CAN be added / removed from the users itinerary, so long as they are logged into the mobile-view of the event website (click HERE for an article reviewing this top); however, when an item is connected to a slot, then that slot is automatically added to the Personal Itinerary after registering for that item.
With the item-connect slots, you give your registrants the ability to create their own custom itinerary through the registration process.
Here are a few other key rules to using the MY ITINERARY function:
- 1) Agenda slots (without an item connection) can be freely saved to/removed from the itinerary via the mobile agenda interface. These choices WILL NOT reflect in your event's data reports.
- 2) Item-Connected slots can be saved to/removed from the itinerary via the registration form or the mobile agenda interface, with the following exceptions:
- PRICED items must be purchased through the registration form
- Items with EXCLUDE LOGIC must be selected/purchased through the registration form
IMPORT SLOT
The Import Slot function allows you to bring in agenda slots that have already been created, with a few restrictions:
- The event that you are importing slots from MUST be in the past
- The slot(s) that you are importing MUST NOT be connected to a registration item
When you click the grey IMPORT SLOT button on a day block, you will see a list of your past events, each with eligible days listed below the name of the event.
A day's worth of slots can be imported into your current agenda day by clicking the name of the day:
Here are the elements that will stay attached to each individual slot, when carried over from a past agenda:
- 1) Start & End Time
- 2) Venue & Room
- 3) Tite & Description
Speakers, associated sponsor logos and tracks will need to be configured in the new event, as these settings are very specific to the event.
ACTIVATE AGENDA
Once you are ready to publish your agenda, enter the WEBSITE section of the Event Builder, then select the Content Activation tool on the left.
Activate the main agenda as well as a home page, shortened summary of your agenda by flipping the corresponding switch. You can also click and drag to reorder the agenda tab within your main menu (as well as rename the tab itself).