Appointment Preferences (Attendee Form)

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 before it can be turned on for an event.

If Appointment Matching is used to generate Pre-Scheduled Appointments for attendees, collecting attendee preferences is required. Attendee preferences are attendee selections of whom they want appointments with.

Appointment Preferences are collected by adding an Appointment Preferences section to a form. The choices available are determined and constrained by settings configured in Engage > Appointments > Configure and Engage > Appointments > Pre-Scheduled/AME. The settings include:

• The minimum and maximum number of preferences an attendee can select
• The Attendee Types an attendee’s own Attendee Type is permitted to select as preferences
• Whether attendee preferences can be selected by names/organizations
• Whether attendee preferences can apply any filters

Appointment Preferences Form

A dedicated Appointment Preferences form is recommended. The recommendation is described in Setting Up an Appointment Preferences Form. The recommendation includes the following:

• The Appointments section should come after the Attendee Type section.

The Page Layout area on Plan > Forms > Setup controls the Page Layout.

• The Open date on Forms > Setup should be after event registration closes on the separate event registration form.

This timing ensures that all attendees complete event registrations before anyone selects appointment preferences.

• Sections not directly related to Preferences are not required.

Payments is an example of a section that can be removed.

• The Forms > Registrant Details page does not necessarily require registrants to confirm profile details again.

The confirmation can be skipped by not selecting any fields to display.

• First Name and Last Name are required fields for the Appointment Matching Engine.

Best Practice is to include First Name and Last Name as both "Required" and "Read Only" on Forms > Registrant Details.

• Form Entry Permissions should be set to "Restrict to registrations in this event".

Username and Password collection should be set to "Required".

• On the Forms > Confirm page, the only confirmation section needed is Appointment Preferences.

Other confirmation sections can 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. The Section Header displays additional instructions or event information related to the section being configured.

The text and HTML elements entered into the section header appear above the section elements themselves. If the fields in the Section Header area are left blank, the header becomes inactive for that section.

The section header editor supports plain text with or without HTML tags. The editor also supports an HTML EDITOR option that opens a pop-up window. The HTML/Web Content Editor is described in Using the HTML Editor.

The Section Header fields are:

• Text Above Header

This text appears above the header bar at the top of the section.

This field is typically used for instructions.

• Header Text

This text appears in the header bar in a contrasting color.

The example header text is "Appointment Preferences".

• Text Below Header

This text appears directly below the header.

This text can include any information to add.

• Provide instructions for appointment preferences minimums/maximums

If the check box is selected, the Appointment Preferences page includes instructions.

X and Y are the limits to preference counts configured in Appointments > Configure.

The instructions are:

"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:"

• Show Attendees who selected me as an appointment preference

If the check box is selected, a check box appears on the form with the same label.

If the attendee selects this check box, the only attendee preferences available are attendees who selected the attendee as one of their own preferences.

• Do not show attendee types

If the check box is selected, the preferences list becomes a single list.

The list is not grouped by attendee type.

When the Appointment Matching Engine runs, appointments are more likely to be created where preferences are mutual. Mutual preferences occur when both attendees select each other as a preference.

Select Fields for "More"

The fields selected here appear in a pop-up window of more information about an attendee. The pop-up appears when the attendee clicks the More icon after a name in the list of potential preferences.

The More icon is not shown on the form if no fields are selected here. The Available Fields box lists the fields available for inclusion. The Available Fields include Profile fields and Profile Custom Questions.

The process to include a field is:

• Click the field in the Available Fields box.

An add icon appears when hovering over the field.

• This action moves the field automatically to the end of the Fields To Display box on the right.
• This action also adds the field to the Select Attendee Types Eligible for "More" section at the end of the page.

The field can then be renamed and restricted to attendee types that will see it.

The order of fields displayed is controlled by dragging fields up or down in the Fields To Display box. A field can be removed from the Fields To Display box by clicking the Delete icon shown after the field name when hovering.

Removing a field moves the field back to the Available Fields box. Removing a field also removes it from the Preference Fields to Show section at the end of the page.

Select Attendee Types Eligible for "More"

The fields shown in the pop-up More window are listed here dynamically. The listing updates as fields are added to the Fields To Display box.

The fields display in the order set by dragging fields up or down in the Fields To Display box.

The displayed fields include:

• Row

This displays the number of the field.

The number is set when ordering fields in Fields To Display.

• Data Field

This displays the name of the field.

The example is "FirstName".

• Text to Display

This is the label displayed on-screen.

The example is "First Name".

• Attendee Types

This selects the attendee types for which the selected field will be displayed when it is clicked.

This feature supports different fields for buyers and for exhibitors at a trade show.

Tip: leaving the list of attendee types blank is the same as selecting all attendee types.

Save and Preview

Save is required to save changes to any other form section. Preview opens the form in a separate browser window.

How the Registrant Uses the Form

This section describes how the registrant selects preferences on the form.

Attendee names appear on the left. Three icons appear next to each attendee name:

• Add that person to My Preferences on the right

This action allows drag and drop to establish priorities.

The person’s name remains in the list outlined in green.

• Display More information about that person

This shows the "Preference Fields to Show for 'More'" selected above.

• Add that person to the Exclusion List on the right

This exclusion list contains attendees with whom the registrant does not want appointments.

This option is only available if the relevant setting above is selected.

The person’s name remains in the list outlined in red.

The registrant can limit names displayed using the following elements.

1. Attendee Type

If the registrant’s Attendee Type can select preferences for only one attendee type, only attendees of that type are displayed. The limitation is determined in Appointments > Configure.

If the registrant can select preferences for more than one attendee type, collapsible lists display attendees for each permitted attendee type.

3. Searching

If searching is enabled, the registrant can select the field to search on. The search fields are First Name, Last Name, Title, Organization, City, and Country.

The registrant can type the text to match and click the check icon.

4. Filtering

If filtering is enabled, the attendee can apply filters by selecting answers to one or more custom questions. The custom questions are configured in Appointments > Pre-Scheduled/AME. Only records matching the selected filter choices appear.

5. Mutual Preferences

The attendee can choose to show attendees who selected the attendee as an appointment preference. This choice is made by selecting the check box with that label. This option is only available if it is enabled when setting up the form.

If the attendee selects the option, the only listed attendees are those who selected this attendee as their own preference.

When the Appointment Matching Engine runs, appointments are more likely to be created where preferences are mutual. Mutual preferences occur when both attendees have selected the other as a preference.