Activity Setup
Last updated
Last updated
Activity setup is a much, much simpler version of the Event setup screen - you should feel both right at home and relieved!
From the View Event page, click the green New Activity button or click on an existing activity.
Like event setup, you will see a form with sections. For activities there are only two: Essentials and Location
All fields with red labels are required.
If your event is virtual, you will want to read the docs on webinar configuration too.
We'll skip over the self explanatory items.
Short Name is selectively used in certain reports to keep column widths from getting out of control and in select admin views; keep it super short but clear.
Description is visible during registration and in the virtual event reminder email. Remember that last bit - it will come in handy if you need to send out a last minute note to your participants!
Confirmation Note is visible in the conf email only for those who have signed up for this activity. Extremely helpful field for program-specific information. A practical example is an activity that is a hike. The confirmation note field could be to remind the attendees to wear boots and sunscreen, both context-specific and not gone from view like the description would be.
Account the default is the one set on the event, but if the receipts for this activity should be credited elsewhere, set the account dropdown to that alternative holding account.
External Activity Id exists for integration purposes. For most customers this is the Advance Activity Code.
Begins/Ends define the boundaries of the event in the selected Time Zone (helpfully defaulted to the event's begin/end and time zone)
Waitlist Trigger is a helpful feature when there are multiple activities defined on an event, one for "real" registration (and fee collection) and another one created inactive as the waitlist once the primary activity fills up. The waitlist trigger is set on the waitlist, pointing to the primary activity. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see more on waitlist activities.
Check Unlimited Capacity to show that the activity doesn't have a capacity.
This will automatically set the Capacity field to 0.
Capacity is the approximate maximum number of people that you can safely accommodate for the activity.
Be sure to leave a little "wiggle room" to accommodate multiple parties registering concurrently. While we try to detect and cut the overflow off, there are certain edge cases where it is possible we'll overshoot by a couple people.
0 means that the activity has an unlimited capacity.
This is different from the Max Guests field on the event itself. That field allows you to put a cap on the number of people allowed per party, while Capacity is the total number of people allowed for this activity.
Default Selection allows you to specify if the registration form will have Attending or Not Attending selected by default.
Selection Label allows you to use different phrasing if attending/not attending don't quite fit the nature of the activity.
Locations for activities function almost exactly the same way as the event location but with a major difference for virtual programs.
The Copy From Event button will automatically fill the area below with the event location data. We set this by default in most cases.
If the activity is virtual, however, you'll see far more fields on screen that are required depending on the provider and config. Please review the virtual programs section to understand what each of these settings mean and how they operate.
If you're running a managed Zoom meeting or webinar, you MUST set up the Zoom end BEFORE setting up in AlumnIQ -- we make an immediate call to Zoom to confirm and set up the integration when you save the activity.
After the activity has been created, you will see the view activity screen. You will be warned that an activity needs at least one fee.
Activity fees are covered in the fees guide.
Activities can have multiple sections. Maybe there are multiple tour groups. A talk could be simulcast into multiple rooms. Sections provide more granular control over capacity and start and end times for these situations. To create a section, click on the green Create New Section button in the upper right corner of the Sections area of the view activity page.
The Capacity and Unlimited Capacity fields behave the same as the ones for the activity.
Begins and Ends can be different than those of the activity. Please be sure to select both a date and a time or just leave these fields blank.
For example: there could be multiple tours offered within a certain time frame, and each one might leave at a different time.
Edit button allows you to edit the section details.
The Active button shows the current status of the fee. Clicking it will change it to inactive.
The Inactive button will display if the fee is inactive. Clicking it will change it to active.
Maybe your activity offers a shirt or mug. It could be a meal with multiple choices. Activity options allow registrants to customize their experience.
To create an option, click on the green New Option button in the upper right corner of the Options area in the view activity screen.
The Active button shows the current status of the option. Clicking it will change it to inactive.
The Inactive button will display if the option is inactive. Clicking it will change it to active.
Group is used to keep collections of activity options together. Say one of the activities is an ice cream social. One group of options could be "Cone". All of the cone options would have "Cone" as a group.
Display Order is the order in which options will be displayed within their groups on the registration form.
Use Fee if there is an upcharge for a certain option. For example a waffle cone could be more expensive than a regular sugar cone.
Custom fields replace the old Activity Options functionality and offer far more useful capture types.
Custom Fields can capture:
a dropdown
a single line of text
a multi-line response
All custom fields (unlike activity options) can be marked as required or optional, and sorted in whatever order you like.
If your activity or section has a cap on the number of attendees that may register for it, you may want to create a waitlist for your prospective registrants to select once the parent activity sells out. Our waitlist approach requires a little bit of manual effort on your part, but with the best of intentions: it gives you ultimate control over who and when to promote from the waitlist to actually registered.
Create a new activity to serve as your waitlist. If the actual activity is Pie Eating Competition name your waitlist activity Pie Eating Competition -- Waitlist so it's 100% clear to the registrant that they are not signing up for the real activity.
Ideally your waitlist should be free. It is imperative your waitlist activity be set to inactive; marking it active will make it immediately visible (which in most cases is not the desired outcome).
A little louder for the folks in the back:
Your waitlist activity must be INACTIVE in order for the trigger to fire when the primary activity hits sold out status.
Setting it active is the #1 cause for waitlists not triggering when the capacity is reached.
The waitlist activity's status is viewable on the main event setup screen.
Prematurely Active If your waitlist activity is showing 0 registrants AND it is active AND the parent activity is under capacity, we will holler. Note that this state is ok for only a few minutes - the waitlist activates at the start of a registration session when the parent activity is at capacity. Most of the time, though, that is not the case and it is in fact prematurely hot. Set it inactive to reload.
Once the real activity sells out, the next visitor to the registration page will trigger the automatic activation of the waitlist activity. The sold out activity will still be visible to registrants but not selectable and marked "sold out," and they will be able to register for the waitlist activity instead.
When space opens up in the real activity (or if, at your discretion, you choose to exceed the limit), you may go in to any registration record and swap out the waitlist activity for the real one.
Add the "real" activity to their registration, selecting appropriate options and sections as needed.
Repeat as needed for all party members.
If the real activity has a charge associated, the party will now have a balance due. Follow your standard process for collecting payment, which may be as simple as resending the confirmation email (containing a link to satisfy the open balance).
The reports section offers a report to view the attendee data by activity and/or section to facilitate looking for an attendee to move from the waitlist to the original activity/section.
Ever want (or need) to let a registrant pick "at most one" from a set of Activities? Probably! And you probably tried to do it with Sections but they don't have all the pricing flex that Activities have (among other things). You can do this now!
On the event view screen once you've created at least two activities you'll see a new set of options become visible:
A restriction group is home to two or more activities. When those activities are shown to the registrant, they'll be prohibited from selecting more than one of that set. An activity can only belong to one restriction group, which should be more than sufficient for most use cases.
Steps:
Create several activities.
BE SURE TO set the activities to "Force Interaction"
Tap "Add Restriction Group" and give it a name.
At the bottom of the restriction groups panel you'll see two dropdowns: one of restriction groups, one of activities.
Select the group, select the activity, tap "add" -- and repeat to add all the activities you want locked down.
That's it!
This is particularly helpful for two common(ish) use cases:
Hybrid events where you want the registrant to pick the in person activity or the virtual one, not both.
Activities with waitlists so you can offer both the activity and the waitlist side by side (for...reasons) but still lock the registrant down to just one of them.
And a special note to our friends at the University of Delaware: this is going to save your bacon for football games this fall, limiting a donor to the presidential suite on precisely one weekend all on one registration form.
We want the waitlist activity to automatically activate when the 'real' activity sells out. To do so, select the 'parent' activity (the one that will sell out) in the Waitlist Trigger field. You'll also want to adjust the Attending/Not Attending labels as shown (or something similar)
Ready This is what it looks like when the waitlist activity is created as inactive and the parent activity has not reached capacity.
Triggered This is what it looks like when the waitlist activity has tripped active due to the parent activity hitting capacity.
Delete the waitlist activity from their registration by clicking on the waitlist item, then click the red Delete Activity button:
