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 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.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
The Re-do auto-match checkbox option is used when the Auto-Match button is clicked.
The system breaks all existing matches when the Re-do auto-match checkbox is selected.
The system re-matches all registrants when the Re-do auto-match checkbox is selected.
The checkbox default option is not-selected.
Auto-Match Button
The Auto-Match button matches roommates automatically based on the preferences in the Roommate Matching Preferences section.
The processing page displays 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 the Information icon, the message "Roommate matching has completed" displays.
Roommate Matching Preferences
The Roommate Matching Preferences section sets criteria for the Roommate selection process.
Registrant can select roommate from a drop-down list
If selected, Forms display a drop-down list of roommates.
Registrant can provide a roommate request
If selected, Forms display a text box where the Registrant can enter a roommate name.
The Matched Roommates page displays a Roommate Request column in its list of matches.
Priority / Data Fields / Conditions
The preferences set in Priority / Data Fields / Conditions restrict which attendees can be matched to each other.
The preferences allow up to 6 data fields.
Each data field uses 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 a match to be made.
Planners commonly wish to match Registrants' gender and smoking preferences.
Planners may also set additional criteria, such as stipulating 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 tries to match the values of this field for all roommates in the room.
If the system cannot match these values, the system still puts the roommates together rather than having two people in 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:
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" option or the "Registrants can provide a roommate request" option is selected on the Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page.
The Pending page lists roommate pairs that are pending approval by the planner.
The pairs are created when either:
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:
- Special Requests
- Any data fields that have been selected as matching preferences on the Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page are also listed here as columns.
Pending page links
There are two links at the top of the Pending page:
- Approve All: Approves all pending roommate pairs and moves them to the Matched tab.
- Decline All: Deletes 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 have Ascending and Descending sort options.
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 have been matched.
Matched roommates include roommates that were manually matched by the planner.
Matched roommates 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:
- Special Requests
- Any data fields that have been selected as matching preferences on the Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page are also 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 have Ascending and Descending sort options.
In addition, the Last Name column links to that Registrant's Accommodation page.
This link lets the planner 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, this section is 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 the Match button is clicked, the roommates are matched and moved to the Matched tab.
Available for Matching
The Available for Matching table includes these columns:
- Any data fields that have been 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.
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 the following rule at all times.
Registrants must be in the same hotel and room type to be matched.
This rule prevents the planner from matching someone in Hotel A with someone in Hotel B.
This rule also prevents the planner from matching someone in Room Type A with someone in Room Type B.
All column names have Ascending and Descending sort options.
The Rolodex feature works on the currently selected column.
Each Registrant's last name is hyperlinked.
When the link is clicked, the user is taken to the Accommodation page for that Registrant.
This lets the planner edit the room reservation details as necessary.