Eventsforce allows event managers to set attendee categories to “invitation only”. An “invitation only” category will restrict registration only to people who have been invited (via an invitation list). Attendees registering on the public website will not see “invitation only” categories.
A common scenario is making a “Speaker” category “invitation only” as event managers will likely know which speakers will be registering for the event, and may want to provide discounted registration, without requiring a discount code be entered.
Note: Event managers must set a category for the "invitation only" attendees in order for them to register in the pre-assigned category.
Making a category “invitation only”
The attendee category must first be added to your Eventsforce account before it can be activated in the event. Once the category has been added, you can set it to “Invitation only” by taking the steps below:
Go to Setup > Event > Categories
Change the dropdown box to “Invitation only” for the category
Click “Save”
Note: As soon as the category is made “invitation only” and saved, the category will no longer appear on the “Attendee type” page during registration.
Assigning the category to invitees
Before anyone can register in the “invitation only” category, they must first be added to your invitation list. View our “How to create an invitation list” article for more information. If adding invitees from a list of people, you can assign a category to everyone on the list using the “Optionally, import using this attendee category” dropdown box.
Alternatively, you can select a category against an individual invitee at any point by taking the steps below:
Go to Communications > Invitations
Click the “x people” link
Select “All” to view all invitees
Click the “i” icon to the right of an invitee
Choose the attendee category on the right hand side
Click “Save”
Invitation only categories with group registrations
If using group registrations in your event in combination with “invitation only” categories, we strongly recommend both of the following settings on the Setup > Event > Registration page:
Allow multiple attendee categories in a registration
Authenticate group attendees
If “Allow multiple attendee categories in a registration” is not enabled, the registration contact will be forced to choose a public category at the start of registration. All attendees in the group will be placed into the same public category.
If “Authenticate group attendees” is not enabled, the registration contact can be placed in an invitation only category, but each additional attendee will be forced to select a public category as there is no “check” against the email address.