Introduction to Events

We built the events toolset to help organizations more fully engage their members. By allowing members to organize and attend offline events, we hope to increase the engagement of these members and their connections both to your organization and one another. 

Within ControlShift, there are four types of events:

• Standalone events – these are events that are not related to anything else on the platform. More information about standalone events is below.
• Calendar events – these events are included in a calendar, which is often a day-of-action-style collection of events. Learn more about creating a calendar and calendar events.
• Campaign events– these events are associated with a campaign on the platform. Learn more about campaign events.
• Group events – these events are associated with a group. Learn more about group events.
• Virtual events – these events are not tied to a specific location. Learn more about virtual events.

In this article, we'll cover basic information about events through the lens of standalone events. Below you'll find information about creating a new event, using the event host's tools. By default, all events also have access to an event forum: learn more about event forums.

The event page includes information about the event, including: the date, time, and location of the event and its host. From the right sidebar, users can RSVP to attend the event. 

Creating Events

The event creation process is basically the same for all types of events; the main difference is how users get to the event creation page (whether from the calendar hub page, the petition creator tools, etc.).

To create a new standalone event, go to the admin homepage > Events > All > New Event. This will bring you to the new event creation form.

The event creation form is intentionally simple. Like petitions, we want people without organizing experience to be able to quickly and easily create events. Some notes on the event creation form:

• The title of the event is used in the event's URL. Like petitions, the URL of the event can't be changed after the event is created.
  
  
• The date and time formats will automatically update based on the locale you're viewing the site in.
  
  
• By default, events do not have set end times, but if you want to include one, you can click the set end time link.
  
  
• The location field will automatically fill based on Google Maps search results. It's important to only search for the address of the event location (for example, you shouldn't enter 'Outside the Safeway' as your location, instead search for 'Safeway [Anywhere, NY]' or  'Safeway [123 Main Street]').
  
  
• If you want to add additional details, like "Meet Outside Terminal 1" or "We've reserved the bar upstairs", you can enter these additional details later. 

  

  After entering a location, click the Enter more location details link to add more information. This additional context will be included on the event page, below the event address.

• If Google Maps doesn't understand your location, you can enter it manually instead. Just click the Can't find your location? link.
  
  
• If you'd like, you can also set an attendee limit – the max number of attendees does not include the host. When a limit is set, the system will only accept that number of Yes RSVPs. Once the limit is reached, site visitors will be asked if they want to join the wait list for the event. If one of the confirmed attendees then switches his response, or if the attendee limit is raised, members on the wait list will be emailed — in the order that they joined the wait list — notifying them that space has opened up and that they can now attend the event.

Event Host Tools

Once the event is created, event hosts will be prompted to share the event on social media and by email. Then, hosts and org admins will have access to the event host's tools, which are included in the black bar at the top of the event page. 

The Attendees includes a list of event attendees and people added to the event's waiting list. From this page, event hosts can also change attendees' RSVP status, confirm that they're planning to attend, or mark them as having attended the event.

From the Edit Content page, hosts and admins can update event information. If the date, time, or location of the event is changed, attendees will be notified of that change. If the event has an attendee limit, that can be set from this page too. If the attendee limit is raised, people added to the waitlist will be promoted to the attending status.

The Settings tab allows event hosts (or admins) to invite co-hosts who will have full host privileges over the event. To invite a new co-host, click the Invite New Event Administrator button and enter the user's email address. Additionally, from the bottom of this page, the host can also cancel their event. If the host cancels the event, attendees will be notified by email. This CANNOT be undone.