Roommate Matching

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
• 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

The row Shared Rooms (match pending) only shows if the Pending tab is visible.

The Total Complete Registrations value excludes Pending, Denied, and Cancelled Registrations.

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.

The definition uses date created.

The same 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 this checkbox option is selected and the Auto-Match button is clicked, all existing matches are broken and all registrants are re-matched
• 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 is finished 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, and the Matched Roommates page will display a Roommate Request column in its list of matches

Priority / Data Fields / Conditions

The preferences set here restrict which attendees can be matched to each other.

The preferences allow up to 6 data fields.

Each data field can use conditions of "Equal".

"Equal" means values must be the same for a match to be made.

Each data field can use conditions of "Not Equal".

"Not Equal" means values must be different for a match to be made.

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.
• Putting the roommates together happens rather than having two people in two separate rooms.

Tip for Manually Matching Roommates

To match two or more specific people to a room, especially when you have 250 or more unmatched Registrants, use this process.

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

Pending Roommates

The option is one of these.

• "Registrants can select roommate from a drop-down list"
• "Registrants can provide a roommate request"

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

The pairs are created when one of the following occurs.

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.

These columns are included in the table.

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

There are two links at the top of the Pending page.

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

All column names have Ascending and Descending sort options which sort the data in that 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.

A matched roommate pair is a room reservation that is being shared and that has been matched.

Matched pairs include roommates that were manually matched by the planner.

Matched pairs also include roommates that were matched by the Auto-Match feature on the Roommates page.

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

These columns are included in the table.

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

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

All column names have Ascending and Descending sort options which sort the data by that column.

In addition, the Last Name column links to that Registrant's Accommodation page so that the planner can 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

The No Match page (Plan > Accommodation > No Match) first displays the Roommates to Match section as empty.

When a check box 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.

Each roommate row includes a Match button in the Match column.

When this button is clicked, the roommates are matched and moved to the Matched tab.

Available for Matching

The Available for Matching section includes a table.

The table columns are the following.

• First Name
• Last Name
• Hotel
• Room Type
• Arrival
• Departure
• Any data fields selected as matching preferences on the Event > Accommodation page
• If the option "Registrants can provide a roommate request" was selected on the Event > Accommodation page, the "Roommate Request" column is also displayed

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 over-ride and force the match, if needed.

The system enforces this 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 cannot match someone in Room Type A with someone in Room Type B.

All column names have Ascending and Descending sort options which sort the data in that column.

The Rolodex feature works on the currently selected column.

Each Registrant's last name is hyperlinked.

When clicked, the User is taken to the Accommodation page for that Registrant.

The planner can edit the room reservation as necessary.