Session Layout (in Speaker and Session Management)

Navigation path: (event) > Manage > Speakers and Sessions > Setup > Session Layout.

Jump to Session Layout for:

Choice of Session Layout

Whichever you choose has a default layout, which you can customize or use as it comes "out of the box".

Session Layout for Simple Sessions

(List of Standard Fields) available for you to add to the layout.
Custom Fields: You can also add any Session Custom Fields configured on Setup > Custom Fields.

Session Type
(Required) The planner selects a session type from the dropdown list.
Standard values are Keynotes, Hands-on Labs, Breakout Sessions, Interactive Sessions.
You can add custom Session Types on Sessions > "Types".
A planner can also add new ones while adding or editing a session.

Waitlist Limit
The maximum number of attendees that can be waitlisted for the session instance.

Speaker(s)
The planner clicks Add Speaker to add the first speaker. (Speakers are set up on the Speakers page.)

Auto Publish Details (section break)
Background Info
Sessions have to be "published" to selected attendee types to make them available for selection on forms (and in Certain Mobile), or assigned on Registration Sessions or Assign Sessions.
You can choose whether to switch the Auto-Publish option ON, or leave it set to OFF.

Auto-Publish = ON
When you set the switch to ON, the following details are displayed with a heading "Automatically Publish Sessions":
Publish to Attendee Types — Click to select the Attendee Types to which each session will be published automatically as soon as an instance is scheduled.
Publish for All —
If selected, each session will be published for all attendee types as soon as at least one of its instances is scheduled.
If cleared, you select attendee types in the selection list.
Both cases depend on instances first being scheduled. You do that on the Add/Edit Session page, or in the SCHEDULER grid view on the Sessions page.

Auto-Publish = OFF
When you set the switch to OFF, a session must be published individually by a planner on the Add/Edit Session page. (Click the Publish button on that page, and select the attendee type(s) to publish to.)
You can only publish a session once you have scheduled at least one of its instances. You do that on the Add/Edit Session page, or in the SCHEDULER grid view on the Sessions page.

Session Layout for Conference Sessions

The default Conference Sessions layout includes the fields listed below.
Standard fields: Most standard fields are already included in the default layout for Conference Sessions. Others available for you to add are Industries, Job Functions, and Session Label — see Standard Session Fields.
Custom Fields: You can also add any Session Custom Fields configured on Setup > Custom Fields.
Downgrade to Simple Layout — This button is available (at top right) when:
you are editing the layout after selecting Conference Sessions, and
the layout has less than 15 custom fields.

Default Fields for Conference Sessions

Session Type
(Required) The planner selects a session type from the drop-down list.
Standard values are Keynotes, Hands-on Labs, Breakout Sessions, Interactive Sessions.
You can add custom Session Types on Sessions > "Types".
(A planner can also add new ones while adding or editing a session.)

Organizational (section break)

Tags
The planner selects any of the tags set up for the current account (by an Administrator in Account Settings > Management > Tags).
This is especially for use in conjunction with the Points value of the session as a metric for integration connectors, and for reporting. See this example.

Session level
The planner selects a level of difficulty, if applicable.
The standard levels included are Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.
You can add custom levels on the Sessions page. (A planner can also add new ones while adding or editing a session.)

Points
The number of points allocated per Tag (see Tags, above), used when attendees' interest metrics are calculated.
The aggregate number of points per tag can be exported via a connector to a third-party application (such as Eloqua or Marketo), or seen in the Interest Metrics Report.

Duration
The length of the session, in Hours and Minutes.
This is used when a planner schedules the session on the SCHEDULER grid view on the Sessions page.

No of Instances
The number of instances that can be scheduled.
The planner can click Add Instance until this limit is reached — the button is then no longer displayed.
(They can increase this number to be able to add more.)

Speakers
The planner clicks Add Speaker to add the first speaker. (Speakers are set up on the Speakers page.)

Schedules (section break)

Instances
The planner sees a list of the instances for the session being edited or viewed.
Details shown: Session, Instance, Code, Date & Time, Location, Capacity, and the numbers of attendees Registered and Waitlisted.
They click an instance to edit those details, and can add speakers, for example.
The planner can add multiple instances per session (to the limit set by No of Instances, above).
The planner enters or selects the following details for each one:
Start Date — The date of the session instance.
Location — The location. The planner selects from locations set up in Locations.
Note: A Location is still required even if the session is linked to a webinar for a digital event.

You can set up a "virtual" location for such sessions, such as "Zoom Meeting" instead of "Room A12".

Without a location, the button to Connect Online Session would not even be displayed.

Start Time & End Time
Capacity — The maximum number of attendees.
Waitlist — The maximum number of attendees that can be waitlisted for this session instance.
Add/Manage Speakers — The planner can add Speakers to the session (or edit the list of assigned speakers).

Additional Details (section break)

Abstract File — The planner can upload the abstract document (e.g., a PDF).
Abstract Description — The planner can add this using an HTML Editor.
Session Presentations — The planner can upload the presentations (e.g., Powerpoint files).
Auto Publish Details — See Auto Publish under "Session Layout for Simple Sessions" above.
Session Description — The planner can add this using an HTML Editor.
Session Notes — The planner can add internal text notes.
Fee — The planner can add date-based session fees and cancellation fees.