Communications Step

Communication emails can be customized to suit each Event with company branding, promotional messaging, and bespoke timing for select Communications delivery.

Example of the Communications Step at Event Level:

Considerations

There are a wide range of automated emails in this area, targeted at keeping both your Registrants and Delegates up to date during the life span of your event.

Emails in the Communications Step can be deactivated if you deem them unnecessary. We recommend deciding at the time of the Event/Template creation which Communications will be sent to Registrants and Delegates.

If enabled, chosen emails will be sent automatically as displayed on the main Communications step. This is especially important to note when rescheduling, deleting, or unpublishing Events. EventBuilder recommends double checking the content of these emails before making changes to the Event's status, date, or time.

Carefully consider whether or not to disable Registration Confirmation and Event Reminder emails. Important Event links are included in those Communications, Registrants may use the confirmation or reminder(s) to join your Event. Keeping the Event URL easily accessible to Registrants with these email communications can help with Event attendance.

The Interface - Overview

The Communications Step displays the Name, Recipient, Timing, and Enabled status of each available Communication:

Communication Defaults

The communications available for your event will vary depending on the event type selected. Certain communications are enabled automatically based on best practice for that event format. For example, On-Demand events do not require Event Reminder emails, so these communications are disabled by default.

Distribution timings are also pre-configured for each communication, helping you get started quickly. These default settings can be adjusted at any time to suit your event requirements.

Available Registrant E-mails

Invite: Send Event Invitations with a link to your Registration page directly from your EventBuilder Tenant.
Live Event Registration: Sent immediately following registration, includes Event access information.
On-Demand Event Registration: Sent when a registration to view a recorded Event has been made.
Event Reminder 1: Notifies Registrants of the upcoming Event.
Event Reminder 2: A second Event reminder email for notification of upcoming Event.
Attended Live Event: Follow-up email - acknowledgement of Event attendance. Useful for event follow-up and can also contain a link to an Event's recording, Certificate, or Post-Event Survey.
Missed Live Event: Sent to Registrants who did not attend the Event and can include link to recording.
Event Rescheduled: Notification for an Event that has been rescheduled.
Event Canceled: Event cancelation notification.
On the Fly: Created at any time, an open-ended option for Registrant/Attendee communication.

Available Delegate E-mails

Event Rescheduled: Notification to Delegates that an Event has been rescheduled.
Event Canceled: Notification to Delegates that an Event has been canceled.
Access Granted: Access Granted email contains the delegate’s unique link to join the event.
Event Reminder: Notify Delegate of upcoming event.

Activate/Deactivate/Test/Copy/Delete Communications

To open and edit any Communication, click on its name.
Enabled emails are denoted by a circle with a tick mark inside.
The ellipses (three dots) to the right of each entry allows you to quickly Activate/Deactivate, Test, Send Invite (on Invite Communication only), Copy or Delete a Communication.

Deactivate: Choose which communications are sent to your delegates. For example, you may want to disable certain reminder emails, or turn off all communications entirely.

Test: Preview the design and layout of your email before sending it. This preview is for visual purposes only and does not reflect the live functionality of the email. Calendar invitations (.ics files) are not active, and any links included in the preview will not work. If you'd like to test the full delegate experience, register for your event yourself or create a test event to explore the journey from start to finish.

Copy: Create a duplicate of an existing email in a single click. This is useful when building additional reminders or creating a series of emails with a consistent design. You can make changes to the content, such as updating text or adding images, and then copy the email to reduce the time spent creating future communications.

Delete: Permanently remove the email from your event. A confirmation pop-up will appear before deletion to help prevent accidental removal.

Editing Communication Content

Each Communication will automatically be headed by the Banner Image you entered in the Branding Step of your build. This is visible when you open the Communication editor.

All Communications include a full-featured HTML editor to customize content, options for graphics and/or promotional images. EventBuilder's system-generated emails also allow for customization and personalization through database variables.

The following EventBuilder variables are available to add to Communication emails:

Event Name, Subtitle, Description, Identifier, Begin, End, Time Zone, Duration, Venue Name, Venue Location, Contact Name, Contact Email.

Registrant First Name, Last Name, Email, Event URL, Survey URL, Certificate URL.

Delgate First Name, Last Name, Email, Role.

Example of Registrants Live Event Registration Communication in editor and received email:

Using the Invite Communication

Inviting Registrants

There are two ways to invite delegates to your event using the Invite communication.

Once you've finished customising the Invite email content, select Send Invite. A pop-up window will appear, allowing you to add or upload a list of recipients before sending.

Upload an Invitee List:
- Upload a CSV file containing the email addresses of the individuals you would like to invite. Once uploaded, these individuals will appear as Invited in the Registrations area of your event.
- After receiving the invitation email, invitees can complete their registration by selecting the Register button within the email.
- Note: Registrant overages may apply depending on your subscription and event attendance limits.

Add Individual Email Addresses
- Alternatively, you can manually enter email addresses directly into the invitee list. This is useful when inviting a small number of delegates without creating a CSV file.

Before sending invitations, review your recipient list to ensure all email addresses are correct.

Privacy Notice

By sending invitations, you confirm that you have the appropriate permission to share this information with EventBuilder. For more information, please review our Privacy Notice.

Using On The Fly Communication

On-the-Fly Emails can be sent at any time before, during, or after your event. They are ideal for sharing additional information, notifying registrants of important changes, sending reminders, or communicating with specific groups of attendees.

Unlike scheduled communications, On-the-Fly Emails are sent manually when required, giving you complete control over who receives the message and when it is delivered.

Best Practice

Before sending an On-The-Fly Email, review both the content and recipient list carefully. Because these emails are sent immediately, confirming your audience beforehand helps ensure the right information reaches the right people.

Create and Edit an On-The-Fly Email

Create a new On-The-Fly Email or select an existing one.
Edit the subject line and email content as required.
Save your changes.

Send an On-The-Fly Email

Open the three dots menu beside the email.
Select Send.

A recipient selection window will appear, allowing you to choose who should receive the communication.

Send to all approved Recipients

The filter is set by default to send to all approved registrants. If this meets your criteria, simply continue by clicking the Send button.

Send Using Filters

Filters allow you to target groups of registrants based on specific criteria, ensuring the message only reaches the audience you intend.

For example, to send an email only to registrants who attended in-person. select the Filter and choose:

Attended In Person > Equals > Yes

You can also target registrants based on other criteria, such as:

Survey completion status
Registration status
Attendance information
Source of Referral Link

Creating Custom Communications

In addition to the standard event communications, EventBuilder provides several pre-configured email templates that can be used as the starting point for bespoke communications. These templates can be added to your list of active communications and customised to suit your event requirements.

To create a new communication:

Add a name to the blank field at the bottom of the Communications list area.
Select from available email types in the drop down box
Press the disk icon to save
Go ahead and set the timing and content of your email

Template Configuration Changes

If you make changes to communications within an event and later update the template configuration, any changes already made to the event's communications will be retained. Updating the template configuration will not overwrite your existing event-level customisations.

It's also important to note that child events do not inherit communication changes made to their parent template after they have been created. Only events created from the updated template going forward will include those changes.

Variable Buttons in Emails

Variable Buttons allow you to insert dynamic event information into your email communications. When selected, a list of available variable buttons for all event types is displayed.

Examples of variable buttons:

Not every variable will appear in every email. EventBuilder automatically determines which variables are relevant when the email is sent and only displays applicable information to recipients. For example, the Location variable will only populate for in-person events, while virtual event details will only appear for virtual or hybrid events.

This allows you to create flexible email templates that can be reused across different event types without manually updating event-specific details each time.

Editing Communication Distribution Timing

All Communications that are not automated to be sent immediately can be altered to reach your Registrants/Delegates at a time of your choosing. You may choose to use the default timings or select your own.

Simply, open the Communication you wish to change.

Select a new time frame from the dropdown list in the ‘When to send’ field.

Time periods available range from 1 month before to 1 month after, with week, day and hour increments available.

.ics Calendar Content

The Registration Confirmation email contains the unique 'join' link for Registrants, providing access to your Event. If disabled, Registrants will not receive the access link prior to the day/start time of your scheduled Event.

Calendar Content: Registrant

This is the text recipients will see in the ics file. You may customize Event information in the calendar invite. The invite file contains a 'Join' link that delivers them directly to the live Event. The default Calendar Invitation Copy also includes Event title and the event contact name/contact email. This should not be edited. You can add additional information and/or database variables by clicking in the text editor above the default copy.

Calendar Reminder: Registrant

Customize the timing of the registrant reminder automated by the Registrants .ics calendar item by hovering over the field and increasing/decreasing the number of minutes with the arrow function.

Calendar Content: Delegate & Calendar Reminder: Delegate

As above

Example of .ics attachment in a Communication email:

Example of ‘Add To Calendar’ field in Communication email body:

Note about Template to Event Inheritance in respect to Event Communications:

As a general rule, changes made at the Template level are inherited by any events created from that template. However, communications behave differently, and it is important to understand why.

When a communication is created within a template, timing is configured relative to the event rather than against a specific date. For example, an email may be set to send 6 hours before the event. Because templates do not have an actual event date associated with them, this timing remains a generic rule only.

When an event is created from the template, EventBuilder automatically converts that rule into a date and time that relates to the specific event. Once this happens, the communication timing becomes an event-level setting.

What This Means

Changes made to the content of a communication at template level can still be inherited by newly created events. However, the timing of a communication cannot be updated through the template once an event has been created.

This is because the timing has already been calculated and stored against the individual event.

Example

A template contains a reminder email scheduled for: 6 hours before the event

You create an event taking place on 15 October at 10:00am.

The reminder is automatically converted to: 15 October at 4:00am

At this point, the reminder timing belongs to the event rather than the template.

If the template is later changed to: 12 hours before the event existing events will not inherit this change because their communication timings have already been calculated and fixed at event level.