Appointment Preferences (Attendee Form)

An Appointment Preferences section for a form is only available if Appointment Matching is turned on for the event in Plan > Configure > Options. Appointment Matching must first be enabled for the account.

Appointment Preferences are used to collect attendee preferences. Attendee preferences are selections of who attendees want to have appointments with. Appointment Preferences are added to a form.

Setting Up an Appointment Preferences Form recommends that Appointment Preferences are not configured in the actual registration form.

Appointment Preferences are configured in a separate Appointment Preferences form.

The separate Appointment Preferences form is restricted to people who have already registered. The separate Appointment Preferences form only opens after event registration closes. This timing ensures that all attendees have completed their event registrations.

Appointment Preferences Form

On the form itself, the registrant is prompted to select who they would like appointments with. The available choices are determined and constrained by the settings configured in Engage > Appointments > Configure and Engage > Appointments > Pre-Scheduled/AME.

The settings include:

The minimum and maximum number of preferences the registrant can select
The Attendee Types that the registrant’s own Attendee Type is permitted to select as preferences
Whether the registrant can search for names or organizations
Whether the registrant can apply any filters

As described in Setting Up an Appointment Preferences Form, a dedicated Appointment Preferences form is recommended. The recommendations include the following:

The Appointments section should come after the Attendee Type section.
The Page Layout area of Plan > Forms > Setup configures the page layout.
The Forms > Setup page Open date should be after event registration closes on the separate event registration form.
This Open date timing ensures that all attendees have completed their event registrations before anyone selects appointment preferences.
The Forms > Setup page can remove any sections not directly related to Preferences.
An example section is Payments.
The Forms > Registrant Details page does not necessarily require registrants to confirm their profile details again.
The Appointment Matching Engine requires First Name and Last Name as required fields for the Appointment Matching Engine.
Recommended Best Practice is to include First Name and Last Name as both “Required” and “Read Only”.
This configuration requires the registrant to enter a value if either First Name or Last Name is blank.
This configuration prevents the registrant from changing values if First Name and Last Name already have values.
The Forms > Entry page Form Entry Permissions should be set to “Restrict to registrations in this event”.
Username and Password collection should be set to “Required”.
The Forms > Confirm page should include only the Appointment Preferences confirmation section.
Other confirmation sections should be hidden by clearing their header names.

Section Header

A Section Header can be set on most pages that determine the appearance of the registration form. A Section Header displays additional instructions or event information related to the specific section being configured. The text and HTML elements entered into the Section Header area appear above the section elements themselves.

If the fields in the Section Header area are left blank, the Section Header is set to inactive for that section.

Three text fields support plain text and HTML. HTML tags can be included in the plain text. The HTML EDITOR can also be used to edit content using the HTML/Web Content Editor described in Using the HTML Editor.

The Section Header fields are:

Text Above Header – Appears above the header bar at the top of the section.
Usually instructions.
Header Text – Appears in the header bar in a contrasting color.
Example: “Appointment Preferences”.
Text Below Header – Appears directly below the header.
Any information can be included.

The Section Header area can include options for appointment preference instructions. The option is labeled Provide instructions for appointment preferences minimums/maximums. If the check box is selected and is checked by default, the Appointment Preferences page includes instructions using X and Y limits configured in Appointments > Configure:

"Your event coordinator requires that you select at least X and no more than Y people or organizations from the following list(s) that you would like to meet with during this event:"

The Section Header area can include the Show Attendees who selected me as an appointment preference option. If the check box is selected, a check box with the same label appears on the form. If an attendee selects that check box, the only attendee options listed as preferences are attendees who have selected the attendee as one of their own preferences. When running the Appointment Matching Engine, the creation of appointments with mutual preferences is more likely. Mutual preferences exist when both attendees select the other as a preference.

The Section Header area can include the Do not show attendee types option. If the check box is selected, the list of attendees available for preference selection becomes a single list. The single list replaces selection lists by attendee type.

Select Fields for "More"

Select Fields for "More" configures fields displayed in a pop-up window of more information about an attendee. The pop-up appears when an attendee clicks the More icon after a name on the list of potential preferences.

The More icon is not shown on the form if no fields are selected.

Fields available for inclusion appear in the Available Fields box on the left. Available fields include Profile fields and Profile Custom Questions.

To include a field:

Click the field in the Available Fields box.
An add icon appears when you mouse over a field.
The field moves automatically to the end of the Fields To Display box on the right.
The field is also added to the Select Attendee Types Eligible for "More" section at the end of the page.
The field inclusion supports customization of the field name.
The field inclusion supports restricting the attendee types for whom the field will be shown.

To determine the order of displayed fields:

Drag fields up or down in the Fields To Display box.

To remove a field from the Fields To Display box:

Click the Delete icon shown after the field name when hovering with a mouse.
The field moves back to the Available Fields box.
The field is also removed from the Preference Fields to Show section at the end of the page.

Select Attendee Types Eligible for "More"

Select Attendee Types Eligible for "More" configures the fields shown in the pop-up More window. The fields are listed dynamically as fields are added to the Fields To Display box.

The pop-up fields are displayed in the order set when dragging fields up or down in the Fields To Display box.

The fields configured here include:

Row – Displays the number of the field based on the ordering in Fields To Display.
Data Field – Displays the field name.
Example: "FirstName".
Text to Display – Displays the label shown on-screen.
Example: "First Name".
Attendee Types – Selects the attendee types for whom the selected field is displayed.
This feature can show different fields for buyers and exhibitors at a trade show.
Tip: leaving the list of attendee types blank selects all attendee types.

Save and Preview

To save changes for any form section, click Save. To open the form preview, click Preview. Preview opens the form in a separate browser window.

How the Registrant Uses the Form

The registrant selects appointment preferences using the form.

The attendee names appear on the left. Each attendee name includes three icons.

Add that person to the list of My Preferences on the right.
The list supports drag and drop to establish priorities.
The person’s name remains in the list and is outlined in green.
Display More information about that person.
The More window uses the "Preference Fields to Show for 'More'" selected in the configuration above.
Add that person to the Exclusion List on the right.
The exclusion list contains attendees with whom the registrant does not want appointments.
Exclusion List access is only available if that option is selected above.
The person’s name remains in the list and is outlined in red.

The registrant can limit displayed names using the following elements.

1. Attendee Type

If the registrant’s Attendee Type can select preferences for only one attendee type, then only attendees of that type are displayed. Appointments > Configure determines the attendee type restriction. If the registrant can select preferences for more than one attendee type, then collapsible lists are displayed for each allowed attendee type.

3. Searching

If searching is enabled by selecting the check box in Appointments > Pre-Scheduled/AME, the registrant can search using a selected field. The searchable fields include First Name, Last Name, Title, Organization, City, and Country. The registrant types the text to match. The registrant clicks the search control.

4. Filtering

If filtering is enabled by selecting the check box and appropriate custom question(s) in Appointments > Pre-Scheduled/AME, the attendee can apply filters. Filtering is configured by selecting answers to one or more custom questions. Only records matching the selected filter are displayed.

5. Mutual Preferences

The attendee can choose to Show Attendees who selected me as an appointment preference. The attendee selects the check box labeled with that option. This option is only available if it was enabled when setting up the form.

If an attendee selects the mutual preferences option, then only attendees who have selected the attendee as their own preference are listed.

When running the Appointment Matching Engine, appointments with mutual preferences are more likely. Mutual preferences are preferences where both attendees select the other as a preference.