Waiting List

 

The "Waiting List" module was developed to help you efficiently manage events that are already fully booked. Instead of turning away interested participants, you can collect their registration details and manage them manually or automatically with evenito.

 

Activate waiting list

To enable your participants to join the waiting list as soon as your event is full, you must first activate the function in your contact settings.

To do this, navigate to "Guest Management" and select "Contacts".
Click on the gear icon at the top right to access the "Contact settings" and open the "Waiting list" tab there.

Activate the "Activate waiting list" toggle, decide whether the waiting list process should be "Manual" or "Automatic" and confirm your selection via the "Save & close" button.

Define limits

To be able to use the waiting list, your event must have an active registration process and set limits.

Go to the "Event settings" and open the "Limits" tab to store your general or group-specific registration limit. Further information on the limits can be found here.

Set up form

Now set up your registration form in the next step. To do this, go to "Guest Management" and open the "Forms" menu item.

Define notifications

In the "RSVP settings", you will now find the "Waiting list" tab under "System notifications".

In this tab, you can now define the new system notifications "Sign up for the waiting list" and "Waiting list confirmation".

The text "Sign up for the waiting list" appears in your form as soon as the registration limit of your event is reached. The text "Waiting list confirmation" appears as soon as a participant has successfully placed themselves on the waiting list of your event.

Create form

As soon as you have activated the waiting list in your contact settings, the waiting list form will automatically appear at the bottom of your forms.

You can now design this exactly like any other form in evenito and insert the necessary contact information fields and additional questions.

To save time, you can copy the structure of your registration form into your waiting list form with a click on the "Copy from main form" button.

Further information on form creation can be found here.

Set up messages

By activating the waiting list, two additional message types are now available for use.

You have the option to create a "Waiting list confirmation", which is sent automatically as soon as a participant has placed themselves on the waiting list, and you can set up the "Waiting list invitation", which you can send manually as soon as you want to invite a participant from your waiting list to your event due to a space becoming available.

To set up your messages, proceed as described here and select the corresponding type for your waiting list message in the settings of the message, in the "Type" dropdown.

Further information on setting up your message can be found here.

 

The participant journey

As soon as the defined limit of your event is reached, the registration process for your participants adjusts automatically:

The standard registration button on your website changes automatically to "Join the waiting list". Your participants are greeted with the system notification you defined under "Sign up for the waiting list" (e.g., "Registration is full. Would you like to join the waiting list?").

After submitting the form, your participants receive the "Confirmation for waiting list" on the screen and, if configured in the communication menu under "Messages", an automated email "Waiting list confirmation".

Manage participants

To manage your waiting list contacts, go to the "Waitlisted" tab in the “Contacts” navigation item in "Guest management".

All contacts who join the waiting list will be displayed in your waiting list and your contact list with the status "Waitlisted".

All contacts who have been invited to the event from the waiting list are displayed with the status "Waitlisted invited".

Manual management

The manual waiting list is a manual process, meaning it must be controlled by you

Manually placing contacts on the waiting list

You can also place a contact on the waiting list yourself by clicking on the registration status of the contact in the contact overview and selecting the status "Waitlisted". A window then opens in which you can decide whether you only want to change the participant's status (click on "Confirm & don't send") or whether you want to send your set up message for the "Waiting list confirmation" (click on "Confirm & send"). The participant will then be displayed in the "On the waiting list" tab.

 
Manually inviting/registering participants to the event

To invite a participant who is on the waiting list to your event, click on their registration status and change it from "Waitlisted" to either "Waitlisted invited" or "Registered".

• If you select "Waitlisted invited", you will be asked if you want to send the "Waiting list invitation" message.The participant will then receive your message and can be directed from it to the website to register for the event in the regular registration process.

• If you select "Registered", a pop-up asks if you want to send your set up "Registration confirmation". In this case, the participant has been registered directly by you and no longer needs to carry out the registration separately.

 

Automatic management

If you have set the waiting list to "Automatic", the system takes over the entire follow-up process in four consecutive steps:

1. Spot becomes available: The process is triggered automatically, within 1 minute, as soon as a spot in the event is available again, e.g., if a participant has deregistered from the event.

2. Invitation of the next contact: The system identifies the contact who joined the waiting list first (based on the registration time) and automatically sends the waiting list invitation.

3. 24-hour registration window: The invited contact now has a time window of exactly 24 hours to react to the invitation and complete the registration.

4. Passing on if not used: If the contact does not react within the 24-hour period, the claim expires, the contact is moved to the end of the waiting list and the free spot is automatically passed on to the next person on the waiting list.

Current restrictions

To ensure a smooth process, please note the following technical limitations:

• Adding companions: During the initial registration for the waiting list, guests cannot add their own companions.

  • If companions are required, the event manager must manually add empty companion contacts to the main guest's data record in the backend. The participant will then see the corresponding placeholders for companions when filling out the form and can complete them.

• Ticketing: The waiting list form does not work in connection with the ticketing module.

• Hospitality: The waiting list form does not work in connection with the hospitality module.