Speakers (in Speaker and Session Management)

Quick Tips

To add a new speaker, click Add New (at the end of the Speaker List heading).
To edit an existing speaker's record, click under Actions in the Speaker List panel.
To edit an existing speaker's record, use the Add Speaker or Edit Speaker pop-up window.
To delete a speaker's record, click under Actions in the Speaker List panel.
To delete a speaker's record in bulk, select multiple speakers in the Speaker List.
To delete speaker records in bulk, click Delete mass action.

Background

This page adds, edits, and views speakers in Speaker and Session Management.

This module must be enabled for the event in Plan > Configure > Options > Functional Areas Needed by the Event.

> Note: Speaker records are added to the account’s Profile database, with additional information on this Speakers page. An administrator is able to "anonymize" a speaker's record if asked to do so. This includes removing all Personal Identifying Information (PII) and optionally deactivating the record. See Profile Anonymization.

Related Info

Video: Adding a Speaker.

Speakers may add their own records via the Speaker Portal if the event has one.

If the event uses Certain Mobile, that mobile experience uses the same speakers set up on this page.

This speaker setup replaces Event Setup > Speakers, which is not available when Speaker and Session Management is enabled for the event.

This Page

Buttons

The buttons in the upper right corner are:

Add New – Add a new speaker, in the Add Speaker pop-up window.
Import – Import speakers from an Excel file or a CSV file. See Import below.
Export – Export all speakers to an Excel file or a CSV file.
You could, for example, make changes and additions, and Import the amended file.
Note: If a filter is applied to the list, then the same filter applies to the export.
Notes about using Google Drive to view exports that include non-standard characters. Especially important if editing and re-importing the data.
Mass Actions – Disabled until speakers are selected to process in bulk.
Mass Actions – Run a Mass Action on selected speakers.
Create Registrations – Create registrations for selected speakers. Select the Attendee Type and Registration Status to use.
Delete – Delete the selected speakers.

Speaker List

Search / Filter

By default, all speakers are listed.

To filter the list, enter values in the fields below the Speaker list heading and click the magnifying glass. To clear filters, click X.

A blank filter (or All where the filters are Yes/No) means the filter is ignored.

Type – Select one or more of the Speaker Types defined for the event.
Default: All.
Speaker Name – Type any part of a name (First Name or Last Name).
Email – Type any part of an email address.
Organization – Type any part of an organization name.
Contains Profile Pic – Select Yes or No, or leave at default of All.
All means all speakers, regardless of whether speakers have a Profile Pic.
Has Associated Sessions – Select Yes or No, or leave at default of All.
All means all speakers, regardless of whether speakers are assigned to any sessions yet.
More – Click to select additional search options.
Fields are added where values can be typed.
Bio – In the added Contains Bio field, select Yes or No.
Default: All.
All means all speakers are included, as if the filter was not added.
No. of Sessions – In the added No. of Sessions field, select a number of sessions.
Default: All.
All means all speakers are included, as if the filter was not added.
Custom Fields – Select any speaker custom fields added on Setup > Custom Fields.
This filter is not shown if no custom fields have been set up.

List

All speakers are listed with the following columns (detailed in Add Speaker or Edit Speaker):

First Name
Last Name
Speaker Type
Organization
Email
Sessions
Total number of assigned sessions.
Includes only qualified, scheduled, and published sessions.
Exclusions.
Reg Code, with one of the following:
Create Registration – Click to open a pop-up window that selects an Attendee Type and Registration Status to create a registration for the speaker.
Registration Code – Displayed if a registration has already been created for this speaker.
Click to go to the registration’s Attendee Overview.
Actions, with these icons:
View the speaker's details.
Edit the speaker's details in the Edit Speaker pop-up window.
Delete the speaker.

Speaker Types

> Note: Using speaker types is entirely optional.

> However, once speaker types are set up for an event, one speaker type must be assigned to each new speaker.

Add Speaker Type – Enter a new Speaker Type Name in the text box and click Add.
The name must be unique in the event.
Make Default – Select this check box to make the new type the default for new speakers.
See below.

All Speaker Types are listed with these three columns:

Default
One record has a check mark indicating it is the default speaker type for new speakers.
The default applies to speakers added on this Speakers page and speakers added on the Speaker Portal.
To make a different speaker type the default, click in the Default column for the row.
Clicking moves the check mark to that record.
Note: The default speaker type cannot be deleted.
Speaker Type Name
To change the name of a speaker type, click edit in the Actions column.
Actions, with two icons:
Edit the Speaker Type Name.
Click to save changes.
Cancel unsaved changes.
Delete the speaker type.
A confirmation prompt appears.
There is no Delete icon for the default speaker type.
The page does not allow deleting the default speaker type.
To delete a default speaker type, first make a different speaker type the default.
Note: A speaker type that is assigned to a speaker cannot be deleted.
Change that speaker’s speaker type first.

Import

To import speakers, click Import (at top right).

The import file must be an Excel file (.xls or .xlsx) or a CSV file (.csv).
The import file must include all required fields: First Name, Last Name, and Email.
Fields must match validation mentioned in Add Speaker or Edit Speaker.
Gender must be "Male" or "Female" (or blank).
DOB must be a valid date in mm/dd/yyyy format (or blank).
Speaker Type must exist in the event (or be blank).
etc.
Note: The Username must be unique in the account.
See Add/Edit Speaker.
Possible results when importing:

1. A new speaker with no existing Profile record in the account.

Success, if no other Speaker or Profile record has the Username being imported.

2. A new speaker with an existing Profile record.

Success, if no other Speaker in the event has the Username being imported.
New details are merged into the existing profile record.
A new speaker record is added.

> Note: You cannot change a Username via a Speaker import.

Include Speaker Custom Fields as their own columns.
Use the custom field Code as the column header.
For custom fields with pre-set options (answers), use the option Code as the value in the spreadsheet.
To assign more than one pre-set option value to a custom field where the Custom Field Type allows it (such as a Checkbox List or Multiple Select List), separate the options using the | (pipe) character.
Example: "English|Spanish|French".
The import file cannot include a Profile Picture.
Suggestion: Use Step 1 below to download a template.
The template has the columns named appropriately.
This makes mapping in Step 3 below more likely to map columns automatically.

Steps to follow to import speakers

1. In the first step of the wizard, click a link to download a template Excel file to populate.

If updating existing speakers, download a list of all speakers for editing, saving, and uploading back.
After a file is ready to import, click Next in the first step.

2. Drop a file into step 2, or click Choose File and select the file to upload.

3. In the Speaker Import step, map the columns in the import file to the Speaker Field in Certain.

4. Click Complete Import to start or schedule the import process.

5. Receive an email advising that the import is complete.

The email includes details of any rows that failed to import.
Failed rows can occur because rows did not match validation rules mentioned above.