Getting started

This chapter is for everyone who uses Sympozium: people booking a place on a course, faculty and speakers, check-in staff and organisers. It covers your account: creating it, signing in, your profile, invitations, your dashboard and your privacy.

What is Sympozium?

Sympozium is a platform for medical and healthcare education events. Organisations use it to publish courses and conferences, sell or give away tickets, run the programme and faculty, check people in on the day, collect feedback and issue CPD certificates. Attendees use it to find and book events, keep their tickets, open the programme and get their certificates.

Everyone uses the same kind of account. What you can do depends on what you have been given: a ticket, or a role on an event or organisation.

The rest of this guide is split by what you are doing:

Attending an event: finding and booking events, your tickets, the programme, feedback and certificates.
Faculty and speakers: your sessions, uploading slides, presenting and seeing feedback.
Check-in staff: checking attendees in on the day.
Running an event: creating, publishing and managing an event, its tickets, programme and attendees.
Running an organisation: setting up your organisation, its team, its plan and getting paid.

Create an account

You need an account to book a place, accept an invitation or run events. Browsing events does not need one.

Go to sympozium.co.uk and choose Start your first event (if you want to run events), or Sign in and then Sign up (if you want to book or take part). Both open the same Create your account page.
Choose your Title from the list (Dr, Prof, Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Mx), choose No title, or choose Other… and type your own in Other title (for example Rev, Sister or Col).
Enter your First name and Last name. Both are required. Names can't contain web addresses.
Enter your Email.
Enter a Password of at least 12 characters, and type it again in Confirm password.
Tick the box to accept the Terms of Use and confirm you have read the Privacy Policy. You cannot create an account without it.
If you would like them, tick Send me occasional product updates. This is optional and you can change it later.
Choose Create account.

You may see a short "verify you're human" check from Cloudflare on this form, and on the Sign in, Reset your password and Resend verification email forms. Most people see nothing, or just a tick box. If it says it couldn't run the check, select Try the check again.

You then see Check your email. Your account is not ready until you confirm your email address (see the next section).

Signing up to attend or to organise

There is only one sign-up form, and no "attendee" or "organiser" account type. The only difference is where you land after confirming your email:

If you started from Start your first event (on the home page, the pricing page or the site header), Sympozium takes you to Create your organisation so you can set one up straight away. If you're already a director or admin of an organisation, you go to your dashboard instead. A role on someone else's event, such as speaking or helping at the desk, doesn't count: you still go to Create your organisation.
Otherwise you go to your dashboard, or back to the page you were on (for example the event you wanted to book).

You can create an organisation later at any time, and an organiser can book places on other people's events with the same account.

Good to know

Use your title, first and last name as you want them on certificates and programmes. You can add post-nominals later in your profile.
If you tried to sign up with an address that already has a confirmed account, you still see Check your email, but instead of a confirmation link we email you to say you already have an account, with a link to sign in or reset your password. No second account is created. We do this so the sign-up form cannot be used to find out who has an account.
If you signed up before but never confirmed your email, signing up again with the same address sends you a new confirmation link, and your account takes the title and names you enter this time.

Confirm your email

After you create your account we send you an email titled Confirm your email address.

Open the email and select Confirm my email. You can open it on any device, including your phone.
A Sympozium page opens, also called Confirm your email. Select Confirm my email on that page.
You are signed in and taken to where you were going: your dashboard, the event you were booking, or the invitation you were responding to.

Why is there a second button to click?

Some email systems, including many NHS and university ones, open every link in an email automatically to check it for safety. If the link confirmed your account by itself, that scan would use it up before you ever saw it. The extra click on our page means only you can use the link.

"This link has already been used or has expired"

Confirmation links only work once, and they expire after a short time. You will see this message on the Sign in page if:

you have already confirmed (for example you opened the link twice, or already on your phone); or
the link is too old.

If you have confirmed, just sign in. If you have not, select sign up again in that message and create your account again with the same email address: we send you a new confirmation link.

The email has not arrived

Check your junk or spam folder.
On the Check your email page, select Resend verification email. For the first minute after you sign up the button is greyed out, with a countdown, because we can only send one email a minute to the same address.
If you confirmed on another device (such as your phone), select Sign in here on the computer you started on.
If you have closed the Check your email page, sign up again with the same email address: we send you a new link.

If you see "Too many attempts — please wait a few minutes and try again.", wait a few minutes before asking again.

Select Sign in at the top of any page.
Enter your Email and Password.
Select Sign in.

You go to your dashboard, or back to the page that asked you to sign in.

You stay signed in on that browser until you sign out. To sign out, open the menu with your name at the top right and choose Sign out. There is also a Sign out button under My account > Login & security.

"Email or password not recognised — or your email hasn't been verified yet"

Sympozium shows the same message for a wrong email, a wrong password and an account that has not been confirmed yet, so that nobody can use the sign-in page to find out who has an account. If your email and password are right but you have not confirmed your email, look for our Confirm your email address email (check your junk folder too). Signing in does not send a new one: to get a new link, sign up again with the same email address (see The email has not arrived).

Reset a forgotten password

On the Sign in page, select Forgot password? (next to the Password field).
On Reset your password, check your Email and select Send reset link.
You see "If an account exists for that email, we've sent a link to reset your password." Open the email and select its button.
On the Sympozium page that opens, select Reset my password.
On Set a new password, enter a New password (at least 12 characters) and type it again in Confirm new password.
Select Set new password. You are signed in and taken to your dashboard.

Good to know

Reset links expire after a short time and only work once. If you see "That link has expired or already been used. Please sign in, or request a new one.", start again from Forgot password?.
If you are already signed in and just want a different password, use My account > Login & security instead (see below).

Why am I asked to "Complete your profile"?

Every account needs a first and last name, because that is how organisers, speakers and your CPD certificates show you. If your account does not have one (for example, an account created before names were asked for), you see Complete your profile when you open your dashboard, your tickets or any other page that needs you to be signed in.

Choose your Title (or No title), and enter your First name and Last name.
Add your Job title (optional) if you like.
Select Save and continue. You go straight back to the page you were heading for.

Good to know

You can still browse events, read the legal pages and sign out without completing it.
If you attended an event that issues certificates, your certificate is issued as soon as your name is added (and anything else it needs, such as feedback, is done). If your name is missing after such an event, we email you a link to add it.

Edit your profile

Your profile is under My account. To get there, open the menu with your name at the top right and choose My account. The page has three tabs: Profile, Login & security and My Tickets.

Open My account > Profile.
Change any of these:
- Profile picture: JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF, up to 5 MB. It saves as soon as it uploads. A moving image is saved as a still picture of its first frame.
- Title, First name and Last name (first and last name are required). Names, including your preferred name, can't contain web addresses.
- Post-nominals, for example MBBS FRCA.
- Preferred name: what we call you in emails. Leave it blank to use your first name.
- Phone, Job title and Place of work.
- Bio.
- Send me occasional product updates.
When you change something, a bar appears saying You have unsaved changes. Select Save changes (or Discard to undo). The bar then shows All changes saved.

If you try to leave the page with unsaved changes, your browser asks you to confirm.

How your name appears

Sympozium builds your name from your title, first name, last name and post-nominals:

Where	How it looks
Certificates, faculty lists and names in emails about you	Dr Jane Smith FRCA (title, name and post-nominals)
Programmes (as a speaker)	Dr Jane Smith (no post-nominals)
Email greetings	Your preferred name, or your first name if you have not set one
The site header	Your first name

Your name is shown exactly as you typed it. Check the spelling and capitals before an event that issues certificates.

A certificate that has already been issued keeps the name it was issued with. If you change your name afterwards and need a corrected certificate, ask the event's organiser: they can re-issue it with your current name.

If you are faculty: your photo and biography on event pages

When you are faculty at an event, the event's public page lists you so that people can see who is teaching. Your name (with your title and post-nominals) is always shown. Your profile picture and Bio are shown too, unless you choose otherwise.

At the bottom of My account > Profile, the section Your photo and biography on event pages lists each event where you are faculty. Untick Show on event name to hide your photo and biography on that event's page. The change takes effect at once. Your email address, phone number, job title and place of work are never shown on event pages.

Change your email address or password

Open My account > Login & security.

Change your email address

Under Email, check the Current address.
Enter the New email and select Change email.
You see "Check both your old and new inboxes to confirm the change." Open the emails we send, select the button in each, then select Confirm the change on the Sympozium page that opens.

The change only happens once you've confirmed it from both addresses. Until then, keep signing in with your old address.

Change your password

Under Password, enter a New password (at least 12 characters) and type it again in Confirm new password.
Select Change password. You see "Password updated."

Invitations are tied to the email address they were sent to. If you change your email address, an invitation sent to your old address can no longer be accepted from your account. Ask the organiser to send it again to your new address.

Accept an invitation you were emailed

Organisers can invite you in 2 ways:

To a role: for example to be faculty, event support staff, an event admin or director, or an organisation admin or director. The email says "Name invited you to be role for event or organisation". Select Respond to this invitation, or Accept and join for an online event that's already open.
To book a place: usually a private ticket type that only invited people can book. The email says "You're invited to event" and has a View your invitation button.

You need a Sympozium account with the same email address the invitation was sent to.

If you do not have an account yet

Open the email and select its button. The invitation page, You've been invited, opens.
Select Create account. The email address, and the name the organiser entered, are filled in for you. Check your title and name: they appear on programmes and certificates.
Choose a password, tick the Terms of Use box and select Create account.
Confirm your email from the message we send (see "Confirm your email" above). The confirmation link brings you straight back to the invitation, even if you open it on your phone.
Respond to the invitation (below).

If you already have an account

Open the email and select its button.
Select Sign in and sign in. You come straight back to the invitation.

You can also find invitations waiting for you on your dashboard, under Invitations (role invitations) or Attendance invitations (invitations to book). Select Respond next to one to open it.

Respond to a role invitation

If you have been invited as faculty, decide whether to keep Show my photo and biography on this event's public page ticked. You can change this later in My account.
Select Accept, or Decline if you cannot take part.

If you have been invited to the same event in more than one role (for example as an event admin and as faculty), the page lists your other invitations under You have other invitations for this event, each ticked. Leave them ticked and select Accept 2 roles (or however many) to accept them all at once, or untick any you want to answer separately. Decline only declines the invitation you opened.

When you accept, the page says "You're now role for event or organisation" with a button to the right place to start: Open the programme (faculty), Check-in desk (event support staff), Manage the event (event admins and directors) or Open the organisation (organisation roles). We also email you a confirmation. Your access starts straight away.

Respond to an invitation to book a place

Select Go to event. This opens the booking page for the ticket type you were invited to.
Book the place in the usual way (see Attending an event). The invitation counts as accepted once you have booked.

If you do not want to go, select Decline instead.

"This invitation was sent to another address"

If you are signed in with a different email address from the one the invitation was sent to, the page says so and shows both addresses. Select Sign out, then sign in (or create an account) with the invited address. If you would rather use your existing account, ask the organiser to invite that address instead.

Other messages

"This invitation has already been accepted / declined / …": an invitation can only be used once. Ask the organiser to invite you again if you need to.
"This invitation could not be found. It may have been withdrawn or the link may be incorrect.": the organiser may have withdrawn it. Contact the organiser.

Your dashboard

Your dashboard is the first page you see after signing in. Open it at any time with Go to dashboard at the top of the page. What it shows depends on what you are involved in:

Today: on the day of any event you have a ticket for, a role at or a talk in, a card at the very top with Open programme.
Your organisations: if you are a director or admin of two or more organisations, a row of links at the top, one per organisation with its number of upcoming events. Press one to jump to that organisation's panel. On a phone, swipe the row sideways to see them all.
Your organisations and events: if you are on an organisation's or event's team, a panel for each organisation, with its logo and name. Directors and admins also have Manage organisation, which opens the organisation's management page. Each panel lists the upcoming events, soonest first, then those that ended recently, each with a small picture (the event's image, or the organisation's if the event has none) and links to Programme, Manage, Check-in or My sessions depending on your role. Drafts are listed too, marked Draft. Directors and admins see up to 5 upcoming events and 3 recently ended ones, then See all (for example "See all 14 events"), which opens the organisation's full list of events; if you're on the team of particular events only, you see all of yours. Directors, organisation admins and event directors also see Recent activity: the latest bookings and refunds. Event admins see it only for events where they can see the Finance area. Directors also see a line about money at the bottom of the panel. The organisation with the soonest upcoming event comes first; organisations with no upcoming events come last, in alphabetical order. If you run an organisation you also see Create another organisation.
My sessions: if you are listed as a speaker, your upcoming and recent sessions across all events.
Faculty certificates: certificates for sessions you led, each with Download certificate.
Invitations and Attendance invitations: anything waiting for your reply, each with Respond.
My Tickets: your upcoming tickets, each with Programme and View ticket, and a count of past events with View all.
Run an event: if you have no tickets and no roles, a prompt to Get started with an organisation.

If you have nothing yet, the dashboard says "You have no tickets or events yet", with Browse events and Run an event.

Request deletion of your account

Accounts are deleted by Sympozium support, not instantly, because some records have to be dealt with carefully first.

Open My account > Login & security.
Under Delete account, select Request account deletion.
Read the message and select Send deletion request.

You see "Request sent." and we email you to confirm we have your request. Nothing is deleted at this point. Sympozium support checks your account and contacts you before deleting anything.

What happens when your account is deleted

We remove what identifies you: your name, title and post-nominals, email, phone, job, workplace, photo, the details on your bookings, your registration answers and your feedback comments.
Your certificate files (as an attendee and as faculty) and the receipt files for your places are deleted, so download any certificates and receipts you want to keep first.
We keep the financial record of each purchase, and whether you attended, without your name, because the law requires it. Star ratings you gave are kept without your identity.
You cannot delete your account while you hold a place at an event that has not finished, while a refund or payment dispute is open, or while you are the only director of an organisation. We will tell you what needs to be sorted out first.
Stripe keeps its own payment records under its own policy, and copies an organiser has already taken off Sympozium (for example an exported attendee list) are the organiser's responsibility.

You can also ask for deletion by emailing admin@sympozium.co.uk from the address on your account. The Privacy Policy (section 11) has the full details.

Your privacy: who can see what

The public can see published event pages, including the organiser's details and the names of faculty and speakers. Attendee lists are never public.
Other users cannot see your profile. Where they need to, for example on an event team you are both part of, they see your name only.
An event's team can see the details they need to run an event you have booked: your name, email address, ticket and payment details, check-in status, and the phone number, job title and place of work you gave when booking. If you agree to share accessibility, dietary or allergy notes, only the people with a role on that event can see them. Sympozium's support team can also see them if they need to, for example to help with your booking. Event admins and directors also see your registration answers, and can export the registrant list.
Speakers see the names and job titles of people expected at their sessions, but no contact details.
Feedback is anonymous to organisers and speakers, unless you tick the box saying you are happy for the organisers to contact you about it.
Product updates are only sent if you tick Send me occasional product updates. Emails about your bookings, roles and certificates are part of the service and are always sent.
We never sell your data.

The organiser of each event is responsible for how it uses any data it takes off Sympozium. For everything else, read the Privacy Policy, linked at the bottom of every page.

Get help

Email admin@sympozium.co.uk. Tell us the email address on your account and, if it is about an event, the event's name.

For questions about a particular event (its programme, venue, refunds or certificates), contact the event's organiser first: replies to emails an organiser sends through Sympozium go straight to them.