How do I publish a conference or other training event on eCenter Direct?
When eCenter Direct is installed, your conference records display a section that is devoted entirely to eCenter, as shown in the next graphic.
The fields found under the "eCenter" heading, as well as some others found throughout the conference record that significantly impact an eCenter Direct posting, are highlighted next:
- Post this conference on eCenter? This field must have a selection other than "No" in order for an event to be available for viewing on eCenter. Events can be posted for the entire public, or only a select few, depending upon which option you select:
- Public. When "Public" is selected, the event displays in eCenter's training events calendar page.
- Private (Unlisted). When "Private (Unlisted)" is selected, the event does NOT display on eCenter's training events calendar page, but it is still available on eCenter to anyone that you've given its unique URL to. So, for example, you could invite a select group of prospective attendees, provide them with the unique link, and this group would be able to register via eCenter. The unique URL is located to the right of the Post this conference on eCenter? field.
- Title & Description. Be as descriptive as possible in your title and description so that potential attendees can evaluate whether or not the event is right for them.
- Registration Deadline. The registration deadline determines how long the event remains open on eCenter Direct for online registration. Once the deadline date has passed, eCenter visitors are no longer able to register for the event.
- Conference Status. From a conference record's Conference Status field, you must assign one of five statuses to the conference:
- Open. When "Open" is assigned as the status, the conference is available for viewing and registration via eCenter's training events calendar page.
- Full. When "Full" is assigned as the status, the conference is either available for viewing only via eCenter's training events calendar page or, if the Allow Waitlist? option is selected in the conference record, interested attendees are allowed to add their names to the event's waitlist. When a conference record reaches its maximum number of registered attendees (as entered into the Maximum Number of Attendees field, the conference's status will automatically update to "Full."
- Postponed. When "Postponed" is assigned as the status, the conference is available for viewing only via eCenter's training events calendar page. eCenter visitors will not be able to register for a postponed conference.
- Phone Registration Required. When "Phone Registration Required" is the event status, the conference is available for viewing only via eCenter's training events calendar page.
- Cancelled. When "Cancelled" is assigned as the status, the conference is available for viewing only via eCenter's training events calendar page. As with postponed and phone registration conferences, eCenter visitors will not be able to register for a conference that has been cancelled.
- Maximum Number of Attendees. When you provide a maximum number of attendees, WebCATS will track the number of registered attendees in the conference record's attendee list. When the maximum number of attendees is reached, the event's status automatically switches to full, disallowing any more registrations. If the event allows waitlisting, eCenter visitors will be able to add their names to a waitlist.
- Allow Waitlist? When this option is selected, events that have reached their maximum number of registered attendees will allow eCenter visitors to place themselves on the waitlist.
- Event Location. When a valid and complete physical location is entered into the conference record's Address, City, State, and Zip fields, the resulting event listing on eCenter will display a Google map of the event location.
- Expose fee on eCenter? By default, the fee information displayed for a conference on eCenter's training events calendar page is pulled from the conference record's Full Fee field. If you don't want the full fee to display due to a multiple-fee structure, you have two options:
- You can deselect the Expose fee on eCenter? option. When this option is deselected, eCenter displays the phrase "(contact center)" where it would otherwise display the full fee amount.
- Or, you can create a prospective attendee list for the event and mark all attendees with their appropriate fee level before advertising the event on eCenter. When expected fee levels are designated in the attendee list, each logged-in contact sees the fee level assigned to them. For more information on assigning expected fee levels, see the FAQ titled How do I create and manage conference attendee lists?.
- Publishing Center. Found in the "eCenter" area of a conference record, the Publishing Center field displays the name of the center that eCenter will display as the training event's hosting center. Only centers that have been designated as public centers (designated in the center record) are available for selection from this field's drop-down menu. It is possible for a conference record to be published under a center other than the center that displays in the Center field.
- Scheduled Time(s). The scheduled time displayed for a conference on eCenter's training events calendar page is pulled from the conference record's Scheduled Time(s) field. This field is a free-form text field, allowing you to be as descriptive as necessary since there could be varying start and finish times for training events that last multiple days.
- Conference Contact, Phone, and E-mail. Found in the "eCenter" area of a conference record, the Conference Contact field and its associated E-mail and Phone fields determine the conference contact information that will display on eCenter. This person may or may not be the actual instructor but rather the person handling all registration related questions. The e-mail address provided here plays a very important role in eCenter's operations. The automated registration status e-mail a visitor receives upon completing an eCenter training event registration arrives from this e-mail address as does the follow-up confirmation e-mail or rejection e-mail that is sent upon the acceptance or rejection of the registrant's conference request record. In addition, all conference request notifications are sent to this e-mail address.
- Additional Instructions/Information. The free-form text Additional instructions/information for prospective attendees field lets you expand upon the events description or provide any necessary instructions to attendees.
- Online Payment. When a fee is associate with a conference and exposed on eCenter, WebCATS and eCenter can be configured to allow registrants to pay online. For more information on this, see either the FAQ titled How do I set up my PayPal account in WebCATS for use on eCenter? or How do I set up my online payment account (other than PayPal) in WebCATS for use on eCenter?.
- Attached Documents. When attached to conference records, conference materials can be downloaded from eCenter. For detailed information on this, see the FAQ titled How do I post Documents to eCenter Direct?.
- Pre- or Post-conference Surveys. From the "Attendees" area of a conference record, you can associate survey definition records to act as pre- or post-conference surveys for the event. For detailed information on this, see the FAQ titled How do I create, post, and advertise surveys?.
After saving a conference record that is enabled for eCenter Direct posting, it's always a good idea to review the event listing on eCenter Direct to ensure it looks and reads as intended. An easy way to do this is to click on the hyperlink located to the right of the Post this conference on eCenter? field. This link can also be provided to potential attendees as a way to easily direct them straight to the event listing.
Note: If you'd like to create an attendee list for your newly-created conference record for the purpose of advertising the event or taking advantage of other convenient event management features, see the FAQ titled How do I create and manage conference attendee lists?.