Roommate Matching

Roommate Matching

Roommate Matching is used by planners to manually match roommates or to let the system match roommates based on preferences.

You can manually match roommates or let the system match based on preferences by going to Plan > Accommodation > Roommates.

Roommate Overview and Auto-Match

The Auto-Match Roommate page ( Plan > Accommodation > Roommates > Auto-Match ) contains three sections: Summary, Auto-Match, and Match Preferences.

Summary

The Summary section contains a non-editable table with these rows.

• Shared Rooms (matched) – Total number of Registrants who are sharing a room and have a roommate.
• Shared Rooms (not matched) – Total number of Registrants who are sharing a room but don't have a roommate.
• Shared Rooms (match pending) – Total number of Registrants who are sharing a room and have a pending roommate assignment. This row only shows if the Pending tab is visible. This row shows when there is one or more matches pending.
• Single Rooms (not shared) – Total number of Registrants with a room reservation who are not sharing.
• No Room Needed – Total number of Registrants who do not need a room.
• Total Complete Registrations – Total of all above. This total excludes Pending, Denied, and Cancelled Registrations.

> Note: The system calculates the values for each row based on each Complete Registration's "Primary Room Reservation". Primary Room Reservation is defined as the first non-cancelled room reservation in each Registration record, based on date created. This room reservation is required to have Guest 1 Name = Registrant Name.

Auto-Match

The Auto-Match section enables planners to initiate Certain's automatic roommate matching feature.

• Re-do auto-match – If the checkbox option is selected and the Auto-Match button is clicked, all existing matches are broken and all registrants are re-matched. The checkbox default option is "not-selected."
• Auto-Match Button – Clicking the AUTO-MATCH button automatically matches roommates based on the preferences in the Roommate Matching Preferences section. The processing page is displayed while the auto-match completes. The spinning arrow icon indicates that the process is running. This page also lists the match criteria for the Event.
• After the Auto-Match finishes processing, the Information icon appears in the upper right corner of the page. When the user clicks this icon, the message "Roommate matching has completed" displays.

Roommate Matching Preferences

The Roommate Matching Preferences section sets the criteria for the Roommate selection process.

• Registrant can select roommate from a drop-down list: If selected, Forms will display a drop-down list of roommates.
• Registrant can provide a roommate request: If selected, Forms will display a text box in which the Registrant can enter a roommate name. The Matched Roommates page will display a Roommate Request column in its list of matches.
• Priority / Data Fields / Conditions: The preferences set in this area restrict which attendees can be matched to each other. Planners can use up to 6 data fields. Each data field includes conditions of "Equal" or "Not Equal". "Equal" means values must be the same for a match to be made. "Not Equal" means values must be different.

For example, planners commonly wish to match Registrants' gender and smoking preferences. Planners may also set additional criteria. Planners may stipulate that roommates must be from the same organization.

Existing data fields for these preferences are organized in groups.

• Standard Registration Fields
• Standard Profile Fields
• Roommate Data Fields
• Custom Profile Data Fields
• Custom Registration Data Fields

• Match Required:
• If checked, the values of this field are required to match for all roommates sharing a single room.
• If unchecked, the system will try to match the values of this field for all roommates in the room. If the system cannot match these values, the system will still put the roommates together. The system will not place two people into two separate rooms.

Tip for Manually Matching Roommates

This tip helps planners match two or more specific people to a room. This tip is especially useful when you have 250 or more unmatched Registrants.

1. Run Auto-Match first. 2. Find the desired roommates in the Matched tab. 3. Break their existing Auto-Match. 4. Using the No Match tab, pair the desired roommates together.

Pending Roommates

> Note: The Pending page ( Plan > Accommodation > Pending ) only displays if the "Registrants can select roommate from a drop-down list" or "Registrants can provide a roommate request" option is selected on the Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page.

The Pending page lists the roommate pairs that are pending approval by the planner.

Roommate pairs are created when either of these actions occur.

1. A Registrant successfully enters another Registrant's registration code on the Form. 2. A Registrant selects another Registrant from the drop-down list on the Form.

The Pending page table includes these columns.

• First Name
• Last Name
• Hotel
• Room Type
• Arrival
• Departure
• Special Requests
• Any data fields selected as matching preferences on the Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page are also listed here as columns.

The Pending page includes two links at the top of the page.

• Approve All: Approve all pending roommate pairs and move them to the Matched tab.
• Decline All: Delete the requested roommate data from all room reservations in the Event.

> Note: This includes not just those on this Pending page, but also those on the Matched and No Match pages.

All column names include Ascending and Descending sort options. Sorting applies to the selected column. The Rolodex works on the currently selected column.

Matched Roommates

The Matched page ( Plan > Accommodation > Matched ) contains a list of all matched roommate pairs.

Matched roommate pairs are room reservations that are being shared and that have been matched.

The Matched page includes roommates that were manually matched by the planner. The Matched page also includes roommates that were matched by the Auto-Match feature on the Roommates page.

Registrants that appear on the Matched tab do not appear on the Pending or Unmatched tabs.

The Matched page table includes these columns.

• First Name
• Last Name
• Hotel
• Room Type
• Arrival
• Departure
• Special Requests
• Any data fields selected as matching preferences on the Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page are also be listed here as columns.
• If the "Registrants can provide a roommate request" option was selected on the Roommates page, the Roommate Request column is also displayed.

All column names include Ascending and Descending sort options. Sorting applies to the data by that column. In addition, the Last Name column links to that Registrant's Accommodation page. The planner uses this link to make changes to their room reservation details, if necessary.

The Rolodex feature works on the currently selected column.

"No Match" (Unmatched) Roommates

Roommates to Match

When the No Match page ( Plan > Accommodation > No Match ) is first displayed, the Roommates to Match section is empty.

When a checkbox in the Match column is clicked in the Available for Matching section, the roommate is added to the Roommates to Match section.

All roommates are listed in a single table. The table includes a Match button in the Match column.

When the user clicks the Match button in the Roommates to Match section, the system matches the roommates. The system then moves the roommates to the Matched tab.

Available for Matching

The Available for Matching section includes a table with these columns.

• First Name
• Last Name
• Hotel
• Room Type
• Arrival
• Departure
• Any data fields selected as matching preferences on the Event > Accommodation page are also included in the columns.

If the "Registrants can provide a roommate request" option was selected on the Event > Accommodation page, the "Roommate Request" column is also displayed.

Matching rules for No Match

When the user clicks the "Match" button in the Roommates to Match section, the system enforces the matching rules defined on the Event > Accommodation page.

If a potential match breaks a rule, a warning displays.

The user can override and force the match, if needed.

The system enforces the rule at all times. Registrants must be in same hotel and room type to be matched. The planner cannot match someone in Hotel A with someone in Hotel B. The planner also cannot match someone in Room Type A with someone in Room Type B.

Sorting and navigation in No Match

All column names include Ascending and Descending sort options. Sorting applies to the data in that column.

The Rolodex feature works on the currently selected column.

Each Registrant's last name is hyperlinked. When a planner clicks a last name, the system takes the planner to the Accommodation page for that Registrant. The planner edits the room reservation as necessary.