Running an event

This chapter is for the people who set up and run an event: event directors and event admins, and organisation admins and directors, who can do everything on their organisation's events. It covers creating an event, filling in its details, setting up tickets, the programme and the team, and publishing it. What happens after publishing (registrants, invitations, emails to attendees, refunds, cancelling, the day itself, feedback, certificates, name labels, finance and cloning) is covered later in this chapter.

Who can do what

Each person on an event's team has a role. Organisation admins and directors can do everything an event director can, on every event of their organisation.

Task	Event support staff	Event admin	Event director
Check attendees in	Yes, until 24 hours after the event finishes	Yes	Yes
Open the event's management page	No (they go straight to check-in)	Yes	Yes
Edit event details, tickets, programme, questions and files	No	Yes	Yes
Invite faculty, support staff and event admins	No	Yes	Yes
Invite or remove an event director	No	No	Yes
Publish an event, or revert it to draft	No	Yes	Yes
Switch a private event between basic and full features	No	No	Yes
Cancel an event	No	No	Yes
Delete a draft	No	No	Yes
See the event's Finance section	No	Only if the organisation allows it	Yes

Only organisation admins and directors can create a new event. Only an organisation director can change whether event admins see an event's finances (see "Event settings" below).

Create an event

You create events from your organisation's page. Nothing is saved until you press Create event (or, for a template or a copy, Confirm and create).

1. Open your organisation's management page and go to the Events tab.
2. Press Create an event.
3. Under How do you want to start?, choose one:
   • Start from scratch: a few questions about how the event works (below).
   • From a template: one of your organisation's templates (see "Start from a template or a copy" below).
   • Copy one of your events: any of your organisation's events, in the same way.
4. Press Continue.

Start from scratch

Sympozium asks one question on each page. Each page says which question it is (for example Question 3 of 7); the number depends on your answers, because some questions are only asked when they apply. Press Continue after each answer, or Back to go back.

Your answers are kept in this browser until you create the event, even if you refresh the page or close the tab. If you leave part-way, the Events tab and Create an event show Continue setting up with the event's title: it takes you back to the question you'd reached, with your answers. Press Discard to throw the answers away. Choosing Start from scratch again also starts afresh.

1. What's your event called? Enter the title, up to 120 characters. You can change it later.

2. How will people attend? In person, Online or Both (in person and online). For an online or hybrid event you can add the Join link now (it starts with https://), or later on the event page.

3. Will people pay to attend?

   • No, it's free: the event gets one free place called "Place".
   • Yes, places are paid: give the place a name (it starts as "Standard place") and a Price in pounds, at least £1.
   • Some places are free, some paid: name the free place and the paid place, and give the paid place's price. For example, free for trainees and £40 for consultants.

   On the Free plan, events are free to attend, so you'll see only No, it's free, with a line saying paid places need Pay as you go or the Organisation subscription. Organisation directors also see a link to Plan & billing, which opens in a new tab so you don't lose your answers; once you've upgraded, you can add paid places on the event page.

4. Who can register? Anyone, or Only people you invite (you send each invitation from the event's Attendees page).

5. Show it on Sympozium's public listings? Asked only if anyone can register. No means only people with the event's link can find it; anyone with the link can still book. An event that isn't on the public listings is a private event, so you're then asked whether it needs the basic or full features (see "Run a private event" below).

6. When is it? Choose each date; press Add another date for an event over several days (the days don't have to be consecutive). For each date you can give a Starts and Finishes time, in your organisation's time zone:

   • On most events the times are optional. If you give them, each date gets one session called "Main session", which you can rename or replace when you build the programme.
   • On a private event with only free places, the times are needed: on a basic private event they're its programme.

7. Do you need the full features for this private event? Asked only for a private event with only free places, on Pay as you go or the Organisation subscription. No, the basics are enough or Yes, I need full features. The page lists what each includes and what full features cost (see "Run a private event"). On the Free plan, private events have the basic features, so this isn't asked. A private event with a paid place always has full features.

8. Is this event part of a series? No, Yes, an existing series (choose it) or Yes, a new series (name it). A series groups events that repeat, such as a monthly teaching programme; attendees' attendance records show their totals for the series. It doesn't change how the event works.

Then Check your answers before creating the event lists every answer. Press Change beside one to change it: you come back to this page afterwards (and if the change means another question now applies, that question is asked first). The page also says:

• booking opens when you publish, and closes when the event starts (you can change both in Tickets and registration → Registration times and capacity);
• for an event with paid places, if your organisation isn't yet approved to sell them, that we check your organisation before your first paid event can go on sale, and, if it can't take card payments yet, how to set that up. Neither stops you creating the event: you can set everything up meanwhile.

Press Create event.

Start from a template or a copy

A template or a copied event already carries most of its settings, so you only choose the title and dates. See "What is and isn't copied" below.

1. Step 1 of 3: choose the template, or the event to copy. Optionally choose a Series from the list, or type a name under Or create a new series to start one. Press Next.
2. Step 2 of 3: enter the Event title. It starts as the template's name, or the copied event's title; change it as needed. Press Next.
3. Step 3 of 3: choose the Event dates. For an event over several days, press + Add another date for each extra day.
4. Press Confirm and create.

What happens next

• The event opens on its Overview as a draft, with a line saying what's next: describe it, add the programme and team, then publish. Only the event team can see it until it's published.
• Started from scratch, the event already has its dates, its places and its registration times, so those publishing tasks are done. What's left is listed under Ready to publish?.
• You become the event's director, and you get an email confirming it.
• The event takes its time zone, terms and conditions, and finance visibility setting from your organisation. You can change the time zone and the terms in the event's Settings.

Good to know

• Every answer is an ordinary setting you can change later on the event page: the format and join link in Event → Venue and format; the places in Tickets and registration → Ticket types; who can register and the listings in Tickets and registration → Who can register; the dates in Event → Event dates; basic or full in Tickets and registration → Private event features; the series in Settings → Series.
• You can change the dates later, in Event → Event dates. Sympozium shows you what will change, and who will be emailed, before it saves.
• If a date you choose is in the past, Sympozium warns you, but still lets you create the event.
• From a template and Copy one of your events bring over the event's whole set-up: who can register and the listings, descriptions, image, venue, contact details, capacity, check-in, CPD details, the programme and its speakers, ticket types (with their sale windows moved by the same number of days), cancellation policy, registration questions and files. You set the dates, and the registration opening and closing times. Bookings, payments, the join link and the CPD approval reference are never copied. Speakers come across as Not invited yet, and nothing is sent to them until you send it. See "Copy an event, or save it as a template" at the end of this chapter.
• Dates on a copy: you get one date box for each day of the original, and sessions keep their time of day and go on the matching day. If you enter the dates out of order, they're used earliest first. You can use more days or fewer. With fewer, Sympozium warns you first, then moves the sessions from the extra days onto the last day so nothing is lost. They may clash with sessions already there, so check the Programme before you publish.
• To make an event into a template, see "Copy an event, or save it as a template" at the end of this chapter.
• If the Create an event button is missing and you see "New events can be created once the Organiser Terms have been accepted", an organisation director needs to accept the Organiser Terms first, on the organisation's page.

Find your way round the event management page

Open an event from your organisation's Events tab, or from your dashboard (which lists the events you help run, drafts included). It opens on Overview.

At the top is the event's header: its image, title, dates and status (Draft, Published or Cancelled), with buttons for Check-in desk, Presenter view (once the programme has sessions), View public page and Download resilience pack. On a phone, the header is shorter: Check-in desk stays, and the rest are in the ⋯ menu.

The sections

The page is split into sections, grouped by when you need them:

• Overview: what's left to do, and how your event is doing.
• Set up: Event (the title and dates, description and image, contact details, venue and format, and information for attendees), Tickets and registration (who can register, registration times and capacity, ticket types, the cancellation policy and registration questions), Programme (days, sessions, breaks, rooms and groups) and Team (your faculty and the people helping you run the event).
• Run: Attendees (everyone who's booked, invitations, emails to attendees and name labels) and On the day (check-in, presenter view, room screens, registration screens and the resilience pack).
• After: Feedback and certificates, and Finance (shown only to people who can see the event's money).
• Settings: the event's terms and conditions, its time zone, its series, who sees its finances, your own booking notifications, copies and templates, and the Danger zone.

On a wide screen the sections are listed down the left of the page. On a phone or tablet, press the Section button under the header to open the list, and press a section to go to it.

A section marked Needs attention has something missing that publishing needs or recommends. Each section opens with a sentence saying what it's for, and everything in it is shown open, one card under another.

While the event is a draft, Event, Tickets and registration, Programme and Team each end with a link to the next one, so you can work through them in order, then Back to Overview. Elsewhere, a slim line under the header says how many tasks are left, with a See what's left link to Overview.

Overview

While the event is a draft, Overview shows Ready to publish?: a list of the tasks publishing needs, such as adding a ticket type. Each task says, in words, whether it's Completed or Incomplete, or Cannot start yet when it waits on another task. Press a task's name to go straight to the card where you do it.

Under the tasks, Recommended lists things your event page would be better with, such as an image or a description, marked Optional or Completed. They never stop you publishing. The Publish button is at the bottom.

Once the event is published, Overview shows how it's going instead: places taken, whether registration is open, how many days are left, and shortcuts to what you're likely to need.

Saving your changes

Each card is saved on its own. When you change something in a card, press Save at the foot of that card. Discard puts the card back as it was. Saving one card never saves or discards another, so finish one card before you start the next.

If you try to leave the page, or move to another section, with changes you haven't saved, Sympozium asks you first.

Some cards are lists (ticket types, refund tiers, questions, rooms, groups, files and screen links). These save one item at a time, as you add or change it. Remove, Delete and Archive always ask you to confirm first, and say what will go. Images save as soon as they upload.

Once an event is published, changes you save show on its public page straight away, and the card says so. There's nothing to republish.

Summary cards

Basics (the event's title), Contact details and Venue and format show as a short summary once complete: one line for each detail, with Change beside it. Press Change to open the card's form, make your change, and press Save (or Discard) to go back to the summary. While a card is incomplete, it shows its form instead. Contact details counts as complete once it has a contact email.

Long lists show one line per item, with its key details: for example a ticket type's name, price and how many are sold. Press Edit on a line to open just that item underneath.

Fill in the event details

Open the Event section.

Basics

• Title: up to the length shown by the character counter.

Event dates

The Event dates card comes straight after the title. It lists the event's days, with how many sessions and breaks each has. You can move days, add a day or remove an empty one. Each change shows you a summary first, including which sessions move and who will be emailed, and saves only when you confirm. When the first day moves, you can also move the registration opening and closing times, every ticket sale window and the expiry dates of invitations not yet answered by the same number of days.

Moving a published event's dates before it starts gives attendees a right to a refund. Anyone who has already booked can cancel for a full refund for up to 14 days, or until the event starts if that's sooner, whatever your cancellation policy says. The summary shows you the deadline before you confirm, and the email tells them.

The card says which time zone the event's dates and times are in (for example "UK time"), with a link to change it in Settings. Every time attendees see (sessions, sale windows, closing times) is shown in that time zone. A new event takes your organisation's time zone. If you change it, times you've already set stay at the same moment, so the clock times shown move to the new time zone.

Description and image

• Short description: shown on event cards.
• Long description: shown under "About this event" on the event page. Leave a blank line between paragraphs. Start lines with "- " for a bulleted list. You can also use **bold**, *italic* and [link text](https://example.org).
• Event image: below the descriptions. Pick an image, crop it to a wide banner, and it saves as soon as it uploads (JPG, PNG or WebP). To change or remove it later, press Change or Remove beside its thumbnail.
• Under the event image, you can use your organisation's main image instead. If the event has its own image, press Replace with your organisation's image: it replaces the event image. If the event has no image of its own, your public event page already shows your organisation's main image; press Use your organisation's image to make it the event's own.

Contact details

All optional, and shown on your public event page:

• Contact email (optional): attendees' replies to their booking emails go to this address.
• Contact phone (optional).
• Your own website (optional): a link to your course's or organisation's own website.

Images never move on Sympozium. If you upload a moving image (an animated GIF, PNG or WebP), its first frame is saved as a still picture, and Sympozium tells you so.

Venue and format

• Format: In person, Online or Hybrid (in person and online). See "Set up an online or hybrid event" below.
• Venue name and Venue address: if it's shown, use Find the venue's address on Google Maps (optional) to search for the address and pick it. That fills in the address fields; type the venue name yourself. The venue is then marked Linked to Google Maps, with a View link to check the place.
• Town/City and Postcode: the town is shown with the venue name on certificates.
• Venue map: an image of the venue or site map, saved as soon as it uploads (JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF, up to 5 MB). It's shown to attendees on the event page. An online event has no venue map, so the card doesn't offer one.

Catering, certificates and the event's capacity are set elsewhere: Catering provided under Registration questions in Tickets and registration, the event's capacity under Registration times and capacity in the same section, and certificates in Feedback and certificates (see "Issue certificates of attendance" below).

Rooms

Rooms say where each session happens. Directions help attendees find the room on the day. Rooms and groups are in the Programme section, under the programme.

1. In Rooms, press Add a room.
2. Enter the Name, and optionally the Capacity and Directions (for example "First floor, end of the corridor").
3. Press Add room.

To rename a room, press Rename on it. To take a room away, press Remove.

Good to know:

• Signed-in ticket holders see a room's directions under its name on the programme.
• Sessions at the same time are listed in the order the rooms were added.
• An event doesn't need rooms.
• An online event has no rooms: the Rooms card isn't shown, and sessions have no Room choice. For breakouts with their own online meeting, give each session its own join link (see "Set up an online or hybrid event" below). If an event already had rooms before it became online, the card stays so you can remove them.

Set up groups

Groups say who a session is for, for example "Red" and "Blue" rotating round stations. A ticket holder in a group sees only their own group's sessions, plus sessions for everyone.

1. In Groups, press Add a group.
2. Enter the Name, and optionally the Expected size. Press Add group.
3. Once you've added a group, Putting attendees into groups appears. Set Group assignment:
   • Manual: you put each ticket holder into groups yourself, from Attendees.
   • Automatic: each new confirmed ticket goes into the group with the fewest members.
4. Press Save.
5. In the programme, choose the groups on each session that's only for certain groups.

To rename a group, press Rename on it. To take a group away, press Remove.

Good to know:

• A ticket holder who isn't in any group sees every session.
• An event doesn't need groups.

Set up an online or hybrid event

1. In Event → Venue and format, set Format to Online or Hybrid (in person and online).
2. Enter the Join link (https://…): your Zoom, Teams or Meet link.
3. Press Save.
4. If a session needs its own link (a breakout room, say), add it in the Programme with Add join link in that session. It overrides the event's link for that session.

Good to know:

• Only ticket holders ever see the join link. They open it with a Join online button, which also checks them in. It opens 15 minutes before the first session starts (or before a session with its own link), so they have time to check their sound and camera. Until then their ticket, the event page and the programme say where and when it will appear, and their confirmation email and the reminder the evening before say where to find it.
• Attendees see one Join online for the whole event. A session shows its own Join online only if you've given it its own link.
• If an online or hybrid event has no join link anywhere, publishing warns you, but doesn't stop you.

Set who can register, and registration times

Open Tickets and registration.

Who can register

The Who can register card asks two questions:

1. Who can register?
   • Anyone: anyone who finds the event can book a place.
   • Only people you invite: you invite them from Attendees; nobody else can book.
2. Show it on Sympozium's public listings? (asked only when anyone can register)
   • Yes: the event is on the public events list, the homepage and your organisation's page.
   • No: only people with its link can find it. Anyone with the link can still book.

An event only for people you invite is never on the public listings, so the second question isn't asked. Press Save.

Registration times and capacity

1. Set Registration opens and Registration closes. Both are in the event's time zone, which each field's label names. Registration must open before it closes.
2. Optionally set the Event capacity (blank = unlimited): the most places the event can sell in total.
3. Press Save.

What if there's no opening or closing time?

You need both times to publish. You can clear them afterwards, and if you do, a notice on Overview (and a slim line in the other sections) says what happens:

• No opening time: booking is open now.
• No closing time: booking closes automatically when the event's first session starts (counting only sessions attendees can see). If the programme has no sessions yet, it closes at the start of the event's first day. The banner gives the exact time.

The notice has a Set the registration times link that takes you back to this card.

Run a private event

An event is private if any of these is true:

• only people you invite can register (Who can register? is Only people you invite);
• it isn't shown on the public listings (Show it on Sympozium's public listings? is No);
• every one of its ticket types is private (not public).

An event open to everyone always has every feature, on every plan. A private event has either basic or full features. You can see which in the Private event features card in Tickets and registration: one line says "This event has basic features" or "This event has full features". Press Show details for what each includes, the charge, and the switch.

	What's included	Plans
Basic	Registration, registration questions, the waiting list, invitations, the attendee list, check-in (including QR self check-in) and series, with a start and finish time for each day.	Free on every plan
Full features	Everything in basic, plus the programme builder, speakers and faculty, rooms and room screens, groups, files and session resources, emails to attendees, feedback and certificates.	Pay as you go or the Organisation subscription

Basic private events

On a basic event, the parts it doesn't include aren't shown, and Overview says it's a basic private event. Feedback and certificates is greyed in the section list, marked Not on basic events: press it for an explanation, with a Switch to full features button for event directors. Instead of the programme builder, the Programme section has a Times form: enter a Start and Finish for each day and press Save times. Self check-in opens 2 hours before the start.

On a basic event you can still invite event admins, directors and support staff in Team. Faculty are part of full features.

What a full private event costs

On Pay as you go, full features cost your organisation £2 for each free place booked on a private event. Attendees pay nothing.

• Places for the event's faculty (with a session on the programme), directors, admins and support staff aren't counted, and nor are your organisation's directors and admins. Everyone else's are.
• The total is fixed 48 hours before the event starts. Places cancelled before then aren't counted. Places booked after then are counted when they're booked.
• The charges are added to what your organisation owes Sympozium, and invoiced.
• On the Organisation subscription, free places cost nothing extra.

The section tells you exactly what applies to your event.

Switch between basic and full

Event directors (and organisation admins and directors) can switch.

1. Open Tickets and registration and go to Private event features, and press Show details.
2. Press Switch to full features or Switch to basic.
3. Read the confirmation, then confirm.

Good to know:

• When an event becomes private, it starts as basic, unless it already uses full features or has a paid ticket type, in which case it starts as full.
• A private event with a paid ticket type always has full features.
• To switch back to basic, you must first remove everything a basic event can't have (the section lists it), and archive or remove any paid ticket types.
• You can't switch back to basic in the last 48 hours before the event starts.
• On the Free plan, private events are basic only. To use full features, upgrade to Pay as you go.

Set up ticket types

Every event needs at least one ticket type before it can publish. A free one is fine.

1. Open Tickets and registration and go to Ticket types.
2. Press Add a ticket type.
3. Fill in:
   • Name, for example "Standard" or "Trainee".
   • Price in pounds (0 = free): for example 25 or 12.50. A paid ticket must cost at least £1.00.
   • Capacity (leave blank for unlimited): the most of this ticket type that can be sold.
   • Description (200 characters max): optional.
   • On sale from (optional) and On sale until (optional): see "Sale windows and early-bird prices" below.
   • Public: leave it ticked for a ticket type anyone can see. Untick it for a private ticket type, which only people you invite can book.
4. Press Add ticket type.

What you receive from each ticket

As you type a price, Sympozium shows what attendees pay and what you receive. Attendees pay exactly the ticket price. For example:

Attendees pay £100.00 · Platform fee £5.00 · You receive £95.00 in your Stripe account, less Stripe's card processing fees, which Stripe charges there

If the fees would take the whole price, Sympozium says so: "At this price you would receive nothing after fees."

Any fee waiver or agreed reduced fee for the event is shown in a green note above the list.

Paid tickets: what you need first

• Pay as you go. The Free plan can't sell paid places. If you try to add one, Sympozium offers the upgrade.
• Approval from Sympozium. Paid places need a quick approval for your organisation. Press Request approval when Sympozium shows it. You can still prepare paid ticket types on a draft while you wait. You can request again after 24 hours. Sympozium emails the organisation's directors once it's done.
• A way to take payment. For card payments, Sympozium sets up your organisation's own Stripe account with you, and the money goes straight to your organisation. Until it's set up, a paid event can't be published and paid tickets can't go on sale. You don't need to give Sympozium bank details. For now, paid places are sold through your organisation's own Stripe account. If that doesn't suit you, email admin@sympozium.co.uk and we'll talk it through.

If the event is already published, a paid ticket type would go on sale straight away, so it can't be added until these are in place.

Change or remove a ticket type

Each ticket type shows as one line: its name, its price (or Free), whether it's public or private, and how many are sold. Press Edit on it to open that ticket type underneath, with everything you can change:

• Its details: change the Name, Description and Capacity at any time (capacity can't go below the number sold). The price can't change once tickets have been sold.
• Sale window: change when it's on sale.
• Early bird: see below.
• Delete: only while none have been sold. You can't delete the last ticket type.
• Archive: once any have been sold. An archived ticket type stays in the list, marked Archived, and is no longer on sale. Tickets already sold are kept.

Sale windows and early-bird prices

Each ticket type can have its own sale window. Times are in the event's time zone. Leave a side blank for no limit.

To run an early-bird offer:

1. Add the full-price ticket type, for example "Standard, £150".
2. Add the early-bird ticket type at a lower price, with On sale until (optional) set to the date the offer ends.
3. In Early bird of (optional), choose the full-price ticket type. (On an existing ticket type, press Edit and set it there.)

On the event page, the full price is shown struck through beside the early-bird price, with when the offer ends ("Ending soon" in its last 7 days).

Good to know:

• A sale window must end after it starts.
• The event's own Registration opens and Registration closes times still apply on top of each ticket type's window.

Set a cancellation policy

The cancellation policy says how much attendees get back if they cancel a paid ticket themselves. You set it as tiers. A new event has no tiers: the policy is yours to choose.

1. Open Tickets and registration and go to Cancellation policy.
2. Press Add a tier.
3. Enter Days before event and Refund %, then press Add tier.
4. Add more tiers as needed. Each shows as one line, for example "30+ days before: 80% refund".

For example, two tiers of "30 days, 80%" and "7 days, 50%" mean: cancel 30 or more days before the event's first day for 80% back, 7 to 29 days before for half, and less than 7 days before for nothing (the attendee can't cancel online and must contact you).

Things to think about

• With no tiers, attendees can't cancel a paid ticket themselves, unless you've moved the event's dates (see "Event dates"). They'll contact you instead, and you can refund them from Attendees (see "Refund a ticket" below).
• A refund never returns the card processing fee. If attendees can cancel for 100% back, each cancellation costs you that fee. You may want to refund less than 100%, or set a cut-off: with no tier for the last few days, nobody can cancel online in that time.
• While an event with a paid ticket type has no tiers, Overview's Recommended list reminds you to set a cancellation policy, and so does the Publish confirmation. It never stops you publishing.

Good to know:

• Days are counted to the event's first day.
• The policy is shown in plain words on the event page and on the registration form.
• A free event doesn't need a policy: free tickets can be cancelled at any time before the event starts. The card says so instead.
• To remove a tier, press Remove beside it, and confirm.

Add registration questions

Every registration form asks for the standard details: name, contact details, job title, accessibility needs, and dietary choices and an allergen tick-list if catering is provided. You can add your own questions after these. Attendees answer in their own words.

Don't ask about health, disability, diet or religion in your own questions. Use the accessibility and dietary boxes, which have the attendee's consent and are deleted after the event. Answers to your own questions don't have that protection. Your event's admins and directors, and your organisation's directors and admins, can read those answers; support staff can't.

1. Open Tickets and registration and go to Registration questions.
2. Press Add a question.
3. Enter the Question text. Tick Required if attendees can't register without answering.
4. Press Add question.

Each question shows as one line, with whether it's Required or Optional and how many people have answered. To change a question, press Edit on it, then Save question. Before anyone has answered, you can change anything. Once people have answered, you can still change the wording and whether it's required, and the answers already given stay exactly as they are.

To remove a question, open it with Edit, press Remove and confirm. It disappears from the registration form for new registrations. Answers already given are kept.

Catering provided is at the foot of the same card: tick it to add the dietary choices and the allergen tick-list to the registration form, then press Save. Without it, the form doesn't ask, and Sympozium doesn't keep any dietary notes.

Give attendees information before the event

While Information for attendees is empty, it's one line, "No files or pre-event information yet", with Add files and Add pre-event information buttons. Either button opens the full card.

Pre-event information

In Event → Information for attendees, the Pre-event information box is for short practical notes, such as parking or what to bring. It appears in attendees' booking confirmation emails and on their ticket page. Press Save after typing it.

Pre-event files

Pre-event files belong to the whole event: joining instructions, a reading list, a map.

1. Open Event and go to Information for attendees, under Files.
2. Press Add files.
3. Under Who can see the new files, choose:
   • Checked-in attendees and the event team: ticket holders can open it once they're checked in.
   • Pre-course: ticket holders, before the event: everyone with a ticket can open it from when they book, on their ticket page under Before the course, without checking in. Use this for pre-reading, a reading list or a pre-course quiz.
   • The event team only: never shown to attendees.
4. Choose one or several files, up to 50 MB each.

To swap a file for a new version, press Replace. To take it down, press Remove.

Files for one session are added in the Programme instead (see below).

Build the programme

The programme is built day by day in the Programme section. Each event date is one day.

Add a session or break

1. Open Programme and choose the day from the buttons at the top. While the event is on, today's day is chosen for you.
2. Press Add session.
3. At the top of the editor, choose Session or Break.
4. Fill in the editor's sections:
   • Basics: Title, Start and End (in the event's time zone; the length is shown beside End), and Room. Press Add description to add a description. For online and hybrid events, press Add join link for a link just for this session.
   • Who it's for: Audience (Everyone, Attendees or Faculty only), and Groups. All groups is chosen until you pick one or more groups. The line underneath says who will see the session.
   • Speakers: search the event team by name and pick from the list, or press one of the Suggested faculty. Press the × on a speaker to take them off.
   • For attendees: Feedback.
5. Press Save session.

Good to know:

• Breaks have only a title, times and an optional room. They're shown to everyone and have no speakers, groups or feedback.
• Faculty only sessions are seen only by faculty and the event team, and are marked Faculty only on the programme. They don't count towards the start and finish times attendees see on the event page, in their confirmation email and in their calendar, so an early faculty briefing doesn't change the time attendees are told to arrive.
• Faculty, event admins and directors, and the organisation's admins and directors can be speakers. Event support staff can't. If nobody can be chosen yet, invite faculty in Team first.
• You can add someone as a speaker as soon as you've invited them, before they accept. They aren't named on the public programme until they accept.
• Anyone you add as a speaker is added to the event's Faculty in Team, if they aren't there already. They stay in Faculty if you later take them off their sessions. If their own invitation (as an event admin, say) is still waiting for an answer, their Faculty place follows it: it's accepted, declined or removed with it.
• Event directors and admins aren't listed as Faculty just for being on the team: only once they speak.
• Each session has its own files. Press Add files (or Files) under a session. Choose whether each file is Slides: presenter only (only the event team and that session's speakers can open them) or Handout: for attendees once checked in.

Choose session feedback

Each session has one feedback setting:

• No feedback: attendees aren't asked about it. Use this for registration, housekeeping and similar slots.
• Optional: attendees can rate the session if they want to. It never counts towards their certificate.
• Required: attendees must rate the session before they can get their certificate.

In the Programme section, Default feedback for new sessions sets what each new session starts with: choose it and press Save. Each session can override it. Press Apply to all existing sessions to set every session (not breaks) to the default, after confirming.

If you switch a session that has already been rated to No feedback, Sympozium warns you first. The ratings already given are kept and still shown in Feedback and certificates.

Change, duplicate or remove a session

• Edit: opens the session in the editor. Press Save changes when you're done.
• Duplicate: opens a copy with everything filled in from the original, including speakers and settings. Change what you need (usually the time or the group) and press Save session. If the session has files, Include files is ticked: the copy shares the same files. Speakers who've been removed from the team aren't copied. Nothing is saved until you press Save session.
• Remove: asks you to confirm, naming the session and its time. Removing a session also removes its speakers, groups and uploaded files. This can't be undone. You can also press Remove session at the bottom of the editor.

Sessions at the same time

Sessions that overlap are grouped under one time heading, such as "09:00 – 10:30 · 3 sessions". In the builder they're listed one under another, so each keeps its buttons. On the public event page and attendees' programmes, they're shown side by side, one column per room, when there's space.

Clash warnings

Sympozium warns you when two overlapping sessions share a room, a group or a speaker. It's only a warning: you can always save, because some overlaps are deliberate.

• After you save, a notice says the session "was saved, but it clashes with" the other session, and why. Press Dismiss to close it.
• Each session involved shows a Clash: line, for example: Overlaps "Airway station" (08:00–08:30): same room (Simulator 1), same speaker (Dr A Smith). The line stays until the clash is resolved.

One session ending exactly as the other starts isn't a clash. A session for all groups never counts as a group clash. To resolve a clash, change either session's time, room, groups or speakers.

Invite faculty and the event team

You invite people by email from the Team section. They get an email with a link to accept.

1. Open Team and press Invite faculty or team.
2. Either choose someone under Someone from your earlier events (optional), or fill in their Title, First name, Last name, Post-nominals (optional) (for example "MBBS FRCA") and Email.
3. Choose a Role:
   • Faculty: speakers and teachers.
   • Event support staff: check attendees in.
   • Event admin: manage the event.
   • Event director: manage the event, and also cancel it, delete it, see its finances and manage other directors. Only event directors (and organisation admins and directors) see this option.
4. Optionally add a Note (optional) for the invitation email.
5. Press Invite (or Invite followed by the person's name, if you chose them from your earlier events).

Choosing someone from your earlier events

The list shows faculty and speakers from your organisation's other events. Search by name and press the person. The invitation goes to the email address on their Sympozium account, and they join only once they accept. People already on this event are shown but can't be chosen. To type an email instead, press Choose someone else, or type an email.

The team list

Team lists everyone by role: Directors, Admins, Faculty and Support staff, each with a count. Anyone who hasn't answered yet is marked Pending. Someone who declined is marked Declined and drops off the list after 14 days. To try again, invite them afresh.

Someone copied from another event is marked Not invited yet (see "Faculty on a copied event" below). A Pending or Declined invitation shows the email address it was sent to, under the person's name, so you can check it went to the right place. Once someone has accepted, only their name is shown.

If someone already has a pending invitation for that role, or already holds it, Sympozium says so rather than sending another.

Give someone another role

Someone on the team can hold more than one role, for example a director who also speaks as faculty. Rather than inviting them again by typing their address, add the role from their row:

1. In Team, press Add a role beside the person (anyone who is Pending or has accepted).
2. The form says where the invitation will go: the address their first invitation was sent to, or, once they've accepted, the email address on their account. You can't change it.
3. Choose a Role. Roles they already hold, or have already been invited to, are shown but can't be chosen. Only event directors (and organisation admins and directors) are offered Event director.
4. Optionally add a Note (optional) for the invitation email.
5. Press Send invitation.

They get the usual invitation email, and have the new role once they accept it. Each invitation is accepted on its own.

Team roles after the event

Roles don't end by themselves, because people may still need theirs for feedback and certificates. 24 hours after the event finishes, support staff stop seeing accessibility and dietary notes and can't change check-ins or certificates any more. They can still look people up at the desk. If something needs correcting after that, an event admin or director can do it. Its admins and directors can still read them until they're removed, 30 days after the event. If someone no longer needs a role at all, remove them (see "Remove someone" below).

Faculty on a copied event

When you copy an event, its faculty and speakers come across marked Not invited yet, still listed on their sessions. Nothing has been sent to them, and the link in any earlier invitation doesn't apply to this event. Their email address isn't shown while they're Not invited yet. Once you send the invitation, it shows where it went, as for any other invitation.

• Press Send invitation beside a person when you're ready. They get the usual invitation email and are marked Pending until they answer.
• Press Remove if they aren't coming back. Nothing is sent to them.
• People who haven't accepted, whether they're Not invited yet or Pending, aren't named on the programme attendees see, or on room screens. Your team can see them, on the programme and here. On the programme, your team sees Not invited yet or Invited, not yet accepted beside their name, including on the check-in desk, in the presenter view and in the programme in the resilience pack.

Remove someone

1. In Team, press Remove beside the person (or Withdraw invitation if they haven't accepted yet).
2. Read the confirmation and confirm.

What happens:

• They lose that role on the event straight away. If they hold another role here, such as a director who also speaks and is listed under Faculty, they keep it until you remove that too. A withdrawn invitation link stops working, and the person gets a short email saying the invitation has been withdrawn. Nobody is emailed when you remove someone who had already accepted, or someone marked Not invited yet.
• They're taken off any sessions they were due to speak at that haven't started yet. Sessions they've already given still credit them.

Good to know:

• Only event directors (and organisation admins and directors) can remove an event director.
• An event always needs at least one director. To remove the only director, invite another director first and, once they've accepted, remove the first.

Set up room screens

A room screen link opens the presenter view for one room (or all rooms) without anyone signing in. Use it on a PC that stays connected to a room's projector all day, so nobody's account is left signed in there.

1. Open On the day and go to Room screens.
2. Press Create a room screen link.
3. Choose the Room, or All rooms, and check the Name (for example "Simulator 1 screen").
4. Tick Include faculty-only sessions only for a screen in a room the faculty use.
5. Press Create link.
6. Press Copy link straight away. For security it's shown only once.
7. On the room's PC, open the link in the browser and leave it there.

Good to know:

• Anyone with the link can open every file of that room's sessions, presentation files and handouts alike, and nothing else. Share it only with whoever sets up the PC.
• Links stop working at the end of the event's last day, if the event is cancelled, or when you press Cancel link. A screen showing a cancelled link says so within two minutes.
• If you lose a link, cancel it and create another.
• Once the event has ended, new links can't be created.
• Room screens aren't available on a basic private event.

Set up registration screens (QR self check-in)

A registration screen lets attendees check themselves in. You open its link on a screen at the registration desk, with no sign-in. It shows a QR code that changes every minute. An attendee scans it with their phone, signs in if asked, and their own ticket is checked in.

1. Open On the day and go to Registration screens (QR self check-in).
2. Press Create a registration screen.
3. Enter a Name (for example "Main entrance") and press Create registration screen.
4. Press Copy link and open the link on the screen at registration.

Good to know:

• The QR code shows only from 2 hours before each day's first session until the end of that day. The card lists when self check-in opens each day. Self check-in won't open until the programme has a session attendees can see.
• You can create the screen on a draft event. Its link works once the event is published.
• If a link has been shared by mistake, press New link to replace it. The old link stops working straight away.
• Press Cancel link to stop a screen working. This can't be undone, but you can create a new one.
• Running check-in on the day is covered later in this chapter.

Event settings

The Settings section has:

• Event terms & conditions: copied from your organisation when the event was created. Change them for this event if needed, then press Save.
• Financial visibility: whether event admins can see this event's Finance section. Event directors always can. Only an organisation director can change this.
• Time zone: the time zone the event's dates and times are in. A new event takes your organisation's.
• Series: whether the event is part of one of your organisation's series. Choose a series, or No, and press Save. Organisation admins and directors can also start a new series here.
• My notifications for this event: your own booking emails for this event: Every booking, Daily summary (one email at 07:00 event time when anything has changed) or Off. Only for you; others on the team choose their own.
• Copies and templates: a link to copy the event, or save it as a template (see the end of this chapter).
• Danger zone: Revert to draft, Cancel event or Delete draft, depending on the event's status and your role.

Publish an event

Publishing makes the event page live so people can register.

1. Open the event's Overview. While it's a draft, Ready to publish? lists the tasks publishing needs, and which are done.
2. Press Publish at the bottom of Overview.
3. If something essential is missing, you'll see Can't publish yet, with each item and how to fix it. Fix them and try again.
4. If everything essential is in place, you'll see Ready to publish?. It may list things the page is missing, such as an image. Press Publish (or Publish anyway).

What stops an event publishing

You'll see	What it means and how to fix it
Add at least one event date	The event has no dates. In Event → Event dates, add the day or days the event runs.
Set when registration opens and closes	In Tickets and registration → Registration times and capacity, set both Registration opens and Registration closes, with opening before closing.
Add at least one ticket type	In Tickets and registration → Ticket types, add a ticket type. A free one is fine.
This organisation is archived	Archived organisations can't publish events. Contact admin@sympozium.co.uk if this is a mistake.
Accept the Organiser Terms	An organisation director needs to accept the Organiser Terms on the organisation's page.
Set up card payments	The event has a paid ticket type, and your organisation can't take card payments yet: its own Stripe account needs to be connected. Contact admin@sympozium.co.uk and Sympozium sets it up with you. For now, paid places are sold through your organisation's own Stripe account. If that doesn't suit you, email admin@sympozium.co.uk and we'll talk it through. A free-only event doesn't need it.
Get approval to sell paid places	The event has a paid ticket type, and paid places need a quick approval from Sympozium. Press Request approval. A free-only event doesn't need it.
Pay the overdue amount your organisation owes	The event has a paid ticket type, and Sympozium's invoice for money the organisation owes is past its due date. A paid event can publish once it's paid.
Finish setting up the organisation's Stripe account	Your organisation takes payments through its own Stripe account, and that account can't take payments yet. Check your Stripe dashboard for what Stripe needs, or contact admin@sympozium.co.uk.

These are the tasks on Overview. Each one links to the card where you fix it, and its section is marked Needs attention while the event is a draft.

Recommended, but not required

Publishing also checks for things your event would be better with. They're listed under Recommended on Overview, and in the Publish confirmation. These never stop you publishing:

• an image (your organisation's main image counts);
• a short description (shown on event cards);
• a full description (shown under "About this event");
• for an online or hybrid event, a join link (attendees won't be able to join online until you add one);
• for an event with a paid ticket type, a cancellation policy (without one, attendees can't cancel a paid ticket themselves).

What happens next

• The event's page is public and booking opens at the Registration opens time.
• A private event stays private when published: it isn't listed on Sympozium, and only people with the link (or an invitation) can see it.

Revert an event to draft

Reverting takes the public event page offline. Nobody can register until you publish it again.

1. Open Settings and go to the Danger zone.
2. Press Revert to draft, then confirm.

Event admins and directors can revert an event.

Delete a draft

Event directors (and organisation admins and directors) can delete an event that hasn't been published.

1. Open Settings and go to the Danger zone.
2. Press Delete draft, then confirm.

A deleted draft no longer appears in your organisation's Events list.

See who has registered

The Attendees section lists every ticket booked for your event, newest first. Event admins and event directors can use it, and so can organisation admins and directors.

1. Open the event and go to Attendees.
2. To narrow the list, type in Search name or reference, or choose a payment status (for example Confirmed, Cancelled or Refunded) or a ticket type from the two filters.
3. Each row shows the attendee's name, ticket type, ticket reference, check-in status (Checked in, No-show or Not arrived), payment status and the amount paid.

Good to know:

• If an email to an attendee couldn't be delivered, their row shows a warning such as Email bounced, Email failed or Marked as spam. Check their address, or contact them another way.
• Faculty and the event team don't appear here unless they have booked a ticket themselves.

Open an attendee's record

Press anyone in the list to open their record. It shows:

• their ticket: reference, ticket type, amount paid, payment status and the ticket's QR code;
• their check-in status, which you can change from the menu beside it (Checked in, No-show or Not arrived, side by side on one line);
• their contact details: name, email, and phone, place of work and job title if they gave them;
• Accessibility needs, Dietary requirements and Allergies, if they gave any;
• Registration answers: their answers to your registration questions;
• the Groups they are in.

From the record you can also:

• Resend confirmation email: sends the booking confirmation to the attendee again.
• Assign groups: tick the groups this person belongs to and press Save groups. This only appears if the event has groups.
• Refund the ticket (see "Refund a ticket" below).
• Release or re-issue their certificate after the event (see "Issue certificates of attendance" below).

Accessibility and dietary notes

Attendees only give accessibility or dietary notes if they tick a box agreeing to share them with you. The notes are visible to the people with a role on the event (its directors, admins and support staff) on the attendee's record and at the check-in desk. Support staff lose sight of them 24 hours after the event finishes. Your organisation's directors and admins see them only if they also have a role on the event; otherwise the record says These are for people with a role on this event, and support staff can see them until 24 hours after it finishes. To see them, give yourself a role on the event in Team. They are not in booking emails or the CSV export.

Sympozium deletes these notes 30 days after the event. The record then says Removed 30 days after the event. If a place is refunded or cancelled, its notes are deleted then, including when you cancel the whole event. If you later republish a cancelled event, its places don't come back, so anyone rebooking enters their notes again.

The accessibility and dietary list

So that nobody has to copy notes by hand, the event's admins and directors can see who needs what in one place. Support staff read one attendee at a time at the check-in desk, and your organisation's directors and admins need a role on the event first.

1. In Attendees, press Accessibility and dietary list.
2. By requirement shows who needs what: allergies first, with a tile for each such as Allergic to peanuts, then a tile for each dietary choice, each with how many people and their names, and tiles for other allergies, written notes and accessibility needs with what each person wrote.
3. Below that, the list shows confirmed places with notes, each with the person's name and reference. Print this list prints all of it, on its own. A printout carries the event's dates and place, your organisation's logo and Sympozium's, and when the list was correct (in Chrome or Edge, at the foot of every sheet too), so you can tell which copy is newest. Bookings and changes after that time aren't on it, so print a fresh copy close to the event.

When people have shared notes since you last opened the list, Attendees shows a number beside the button, such as 2 new. It clears when you open the list, and each person on the team has their own count.

Event directors and admins also get an email when people share notes:

• Accessibility needs: a summary once a day, in the morning. In the 7 days before the event's first day, it comes within about 15 minutes of the booking.
• Allergies: only in those 7 days, within about 15 minutes of the booking. Allergies shared earlier are included in the first email of those 7 days.
• Dietary choices: no email. They are on the list.

The email says how many people, never who or what they wrote, so you need to sign in to see the details. If an event has no director or admin, the organisation's directors get it, and need to give themselves a role on the event before they can open the list.

The list is confidential. Don't copy it or send it to anyone who doesn't need it. Each time it is opened, or printed using Print this list, Sympozium records who did it and when. Notes written before the set choices existed are shown as the attendee wrote them.

Dietary and allergen counts, with no names are at the top: how many places, how many of each dietary choice, and how many of each allergen that anyone ticked. Someone with two choices or two allergens counts in each, and a note written before the set choices existed is counted separately. To give the caterer these numbers, press Open a page for the caterer, with counts only, then Print the counts. That printout also carries the event's details, both logos and when the counts were correct.

Anyone who typed an allergy of their own, including anyone who booked before the tick-list existed, counts as "other". The caterer's page shows a tile for Other allergies with the number and The organiser will give you details, and never shows what they typed. That wording is on the list, so pass on what the caterer needs without names.

Export your registrants

1. In Attendees, press Export CSV.
2. Your browser downloads a spreadsheet file.

The export has one row per ticket, newest first, with these columns: Name, Email, Phone, Ticket type, Reference, Payment status, Amount paid, Check-in status and Registered at.

Good to know:

• The export includes every ticket, whatever its status (confirmed, cancelled, refunded and so on). Use the Payment status column to filter it in your spreadsheet.
• Registration answers and accessibility or dietary notes are not in the export. Open an attendee's record to see them, or use the accessibility and dietary list for the notes.
• The file contains personal details. Store it securely and delete it when you no longer need it.

Choose your booking notifications

Each person on the event team chooses their own booking emails for each event.

1. Open the event and go to Settings.
2. Under My notifications for this event, choose:
   • Every booking: an email each time someone books or cancels.
   • Daily summary: one email at 07:00 (in the event's time zone) when anything has changed.
   • Off: no booking emails.

Press Save to keep your choice.

Good to know:

• Event directors start on Every booking. Everyone else on the team starts on Off.
• Once an event has more than 20 bookings, anyone still on Every booking is moved to the daily summary. The booking email that moves you says so. This happens only once per event: if you switch back to Every booking, you won't be moved again.
• The daily summary covers the 24 hours up to 07:00, and is only sent if there was a booking or a cancellation.
• Booking emails show the attendee's name, their ticket type and how full the event is. They never include dietary, accessibility or registration answers.
• Booking emails stop after the event's last day.
• Only people with a role on the event get these emails. An organisation director without a role on the event gets none, and their Settings section explains this instead of showing the choices.

Invite attendees to a private ticket type

Use attendee invitations when only named people may book, for example on an invitation-only event or a ticket type that isn't public. The invited person gets an email with a link, and can then book the ticket type you chose.

1. Open the event and go to Attendees.
2. Press Invite attendees, the first button at the top. (Email attendees and Print name labels are beside it.)
3. Choose the Ticket type.
4. In Email addresses, enter one address, or paste a list (one per line, or separated by commas). You can invite up to 200 people at a time.
5. If you're inviting one person, you can add their First name (optional) and Last name (optional).
6. Optionally, add a Personal note (optional) for the email, and a date and time in Expires (optional).
7. Press Send invitation (or Send invitations).

Sympozium tells you how many invitations were sent. Any that couldn't be sent stay in the box with the reason, so you can correct them and try again. If you've typed into the form and try to leave the page without sending, you're asked first.

What happens next

• The invited person opens the link in their email. They sign in or create an account with the address you invited, then press Go to event to book. They can also press Decline.
• Booking the ticket type accepts the invitation automatically. There's nothing else for them to do.
• Online and hybrid events: for a free ticket type, once the join link is open, the invitation page offers Accept and join (and so does the email, if it's sent while the link is open). It opens the booking form, then takes the person into the session: they tick the usual box confirming they're attending, which checks them in. Before the link opens, the invitation says when Accept and join will be there, and they can book as usual meanwhile. While the link is open, an invited person can still accept even after booking has closed for everyone else.
• Each invitation is listed under Attendee invitations with its email address, ticket type and status: pending, accepted, declined, expired or withdrawn.

Mark someone attended before they accept

Sometimes an invited person takes part (joining an online session from another link, say) before they've accepted their invitation. Without a place they can't give feedback or get a certificate. Mark them attended instead of waiting for them:

1. In Attendees, under Attendee invitations, find their pending invitation.
2. Press Mark attended. The row then says Marked attended, with your name and the time.

When they accept, their place is created already checked in, recorded as checked in by you at that time, so they can give feedback and receive their certificate straight away. They don't have to tick the attendance box. They can accept after the event too.

Good to know:

• Mark attended appears from 2 hours before the event starts.
• Changed your mind? Press Undo beside it. You can undo it until they accept.
• Each mark and undo is recorded with who did it and when.
• Support staff can do the same on the check-in desk, under Invited, not registered yet, until 24 hours after the event finishes.

Withdraw an invitation

To withdraw an invitation that hasn't been used yet, press Withdraw beside it. Only pending invitations can be withdrawn. The link then stops working, the invitation page says it has been withdrawn, and the person gets a short email saying so.

Good to know:

• An invitation past its expiry can't be used to book.
• You can't send a second invitation to the same person for the same ticket type while the first is still pending.
• The invitation must be used by the account with the invited email address. Someone signed in with a different address is told the invitation was sent to another address.

Send an email to attendees

Email attendees sends a one-off email about your event to attendees, faculty or your team. Event admins and event directors can send these emails. Every send is logged, and there's no reply channel through Sympozium.

1. Open the event, go to Attendees and press Email attendees.
2. Under Send to, choose who gets it:
   • Everyone (attendees, faculty and team)
   • All attendees
   • A specific ticket type (then choose the Ticket type)
   • A specific group (then choose the Group)
   • Specific people (then tick names under Attendees and Faculty & team)
   • All faculty
   • Event team (directors, admins, support staff)
3. Write a Subject and Message.
4. Press Preview recipients. Sympozium lists everyone it will go to, with their email addresses.
5. Check the list, then press Confirm and send to (followed by the number of people). To change anything first, press Edit.

When it has sent, you see "Sent to X of Y recipients", and how many failed, if any.

Sent messages

Everything sent from the event is listed under Sent messages, newest first: the subject, when it was sent, who sent it, who it went to and how many people. Press Show message to read the whole message. Every event director and event admin, and your organisation's admins and directors, can see this list, whoever sent the message.

The daily sending limit

To protect email delivery for everyone, each organisation can send these emails to a limited number of people in any 24 hours:

• New organisations (in their first 30 days): up to 300 people in any 24 hours.
• Established organisations: up to 2,000 people in any 24 hours.

If an email would go over the limit, Sympozium tells you how many more people you can send to now. Send to fewer people, or try again later. If you need a higher limit, write to admin@sympozium.co.uk.

Good to know:

• "Attendees" means people with a confirmed ticket. Cancelled and refunded tickets don't get these emails.
• An email can't be edited or unsent once sent.
• Emailing attendees isn't available on a basic private event, so the Email attendees button isn't shown there.

Refund a ticket

Event admins and event directors can refund tickets from an attendee's record. There are two kinds of refund:

• Refund & cancel: refunds everything the attendee has left to get back, and cancels the ticket.
• Refund part of this ticket: refunds an amount you choose, and the attendee keeps their place.

Refunds go back to the card the attendee paid with. It can take 5 to 10 working days to appear on their statement.

Refund in full and cancel the ticket

1. Open the event, go to Attendees and open the attendee.
2. Under Danger zone, press Refund & cancel.
3. Enter a Reason. This is required. It is kept for your team and is never shown to the attendee.
4. Press Refund & cancel to confirm, or Keep the ticket to back out.

The attendee gets back everything they paid (less anything already refunded), the ticket is cancelled, their place is released and they're emailed. The reason then shows on the record under Refund reason (seen by your team only).

Fees on a full refund: Sympozium's platform fee is returned to you. Stripe's card fee isn't.

Refund part of a ticket

Use this for a goodwill gesture, a missed day or a price correction.

1. Open the attendee's record. It shows what they paid, and what has been refunded so far.
2. Press Refund part of this ticket.
3. Enter the Amount to refund (£). It must be less than what is left on the ticket. To refund everything that's left, use Refund & cancel instead.
4. Enter a Reason (required, seen by your team only).
5. Press Refund.

The attendee keeps their place, their check-in, their feedback and their certificate, and is emailed the amount. You can make more than one partial refund on the same ticket, one at a time.

Fees on a partial refund: Sympozium's platform fee and Stripe's card fee aren't refunded, so the whole amount comes out of your share.

When attendees cancel their own tickets

Attendees can cancel their own booking from their ticket, under the cancellation policy you set (see "Set a cancellation policy" earlier in this chapter):

• A free ticket can be cancelled at any time before the event's first session starts.
• A paid ticket is refunded at the percentage of the tier that applies on the day they cancel. If no tier applies, or the event has no tiers, they can't cancel a paid ticket themselves and must contact you.
• Attendees can't cancel their own place once the event's first session has started. You can still cancel or refund it from Attendees.

If they cancel under a 100% tier, the platform fee is returned to you, as with a full refund. Under a lower tier, Sympozium's fee is kept. If you've already refunded part of the ticket, their refund is reduced by what you've refunded.

If you're on Every booking notifications, you're emailed when an attendee cancels.

Where refunds come from

Your organisation takes payments through its own Stripe account, so refunds go back from your Stripe account to the attendee. The attendee's email says the refund came from your organisation.

• On a full refund, Sympozium's 5% fee is returned to your Stripe account. On a partial refund it is kept.
• Stripe's own fees on your account are between you and Stripe.
• Refunds stay open after the event: there's no payout from Sympozium to close them.
• If your Stripe account has been disconnected from Sympozium, make the refund in your Stripe dashboard instead. If you try to refund here, Sympozium tells you so. The ticket stays confirmed here until we've recorded your refund, so email admin@sympozium.co.uk with the ticket reference, the amount, the refund's id from Stripe (it starts re_) and a screenshot.

Cancel the whole event

Cancelling an event is permanent. Every ticket holder is refunded in full and emailed. Only event directors (and organisation admins and directors) can cancel an event, and only once it has been published.

1. Open the event and go to Settings.
2. Under Danger zone, press Cancel event.
3. The confirmation tells you how many confirmed tickets will be refunded, and the total.
4. Type the event's title exactly, where it says Type the event title to confirm.
5. Press Cancel event. To back out, press Keep event.

What happens next

• Every confirmed ticket is refunded in full, and each attendee is emailed.
• If your organisation's Stripe account that took a payment isn't connected any more, that refund can't be made here. The event is still cancelled, and the email summary you get lists those tickets. Refund them from that Stripe account directly, then email admin@sympozium.co.uk with the same details for each one, so we can record the refund.
• If a refund fails for any reason, that attendee is told the event is cancelled, that their refund couldn't be issued automatically and that you'll contact them about it, and not to travel. Your summary says so. Please contact them.
• Your organisation's directors and the event's directors are emailed a summary.
• The event shows as cancelled on its public page.
• Room screen and registration screen links stop working.

Good to know:

• Platform fees are returned to you on these refunds, as with any full refund. Stripe's card fees aren't.
• To take an event offline before anyone has booked, use Revert to draft instead. To remove an event that was never published, use Delete draft. Both are covered earlier in this chapter.

On the day

Open the check-in desk

Press Check-in desk at the top of the event's management page, or in On the day. The check-in desk works on a phone, tablet or computer. Event admins and directors use the same desk as check-in staff: search for someone by name, email or ticket reference, and press Check in. An Undo button appears for a few seconds after each check-in.

To give someone else the desk without giving them access to the rest of the event, invite them as Event support staff in Team. The full guide to the desk is in the "Check-in staff" chapter.

Presenter view

Presenter view, at the top of the management page, in On the day and on the check-in desk, shows a room's sessions for the day in time order, with the current and next sessions highlighted and every file ready to open. Choose the day and the room (or all rooms). Anyone on the event team can use it, and speakers see their own sessions' files. For an online or hybrid event it also has Join online at the top (and on a session with its own link). Room screen links don't show it.

For a PC that stays connected to a room's projector all day, use a room screen link instead, so nobody's account is left signed in (see "Set up room screens" earlier in this chapter).

Presenter view isn't available on an event with no sessions, or on a basic private event.

Registration screens (QR self check-in)

If you've set up a registration screen, open its link on a screen at registration and leave it there. The QR code appears from 2 hours before each day's first session. Attendees scan it with their phone, sign in if asked, tick a box confirming they are attending, and their own ticket is checked in. The desk shows them as "self check-in (QR)" alongside everyone the stewards check in.

Print the check-in sheet and download the resilience pack

Venue Wi-Fi fails. Prepare the evening before:

• Print the check-in sheet: on the check-in desk, open the ⋯ menu at the top right and choose Print check-in sheet. It lists everyone with a confirmed ticket in surname order, with a tick box each.
• Download the resilience pack: press Download resilience pack at the top of the management page (on a phone, it's in the ⋯ menu), or use the Resilience pack card in On the day. Use Chrome or Edge on a computer for the full pack: the check-in sheet, the programme and every session's files, sorted into a folder for each room. In other browsers you get the check-in sheet and programme only.

We help you remember. The day before your event starts, its directors and admins get an email with a link to the pack. If there's nobody in those roles on the event, the organisation's directors get it instead. If attendees have shared notes, the email says how many, so you can check the accessibility and dietary list before the day. From that day until the event ends, the event's management page also shows a reminder with a Download now button. Once anyone on the team has downloaded the pack in the last 48 hours, the reminder goes away for everyone. An older download doesn't count, because its check-in sheet and programme may be out of date. Printing the check-in sheet on its own doesn't end it. Online-only events don't get this reminder.

If the internet goes down, tick people off on the paper sheet, and enter those check-ins on the desk as soon as you're back online. Handouts and certificates depend on check-in, so anyone left off will miss out.

The "Check-in staff" chapter covers the pack and working offline in full.

Print name labels

1. In Attendees, press Print name labels.
2. Under Who, choose Everyone, Faculty only or Selected people. For selected people, tick them in the list below.
3. Under Which, choose All of them, Not yet printed, or Added since… (then enter a date and time).
4. Choose the Label size:
   • 90 × 56 mm badge inserts (10 per A4 sheet, to cut out)
   • Avery L7165 labels, 99.1 × 67.7 mm (8 per A4 sheet)
5. Under What to show on each label, choose the Top of the label (Organisation logo, Event name, or Logo and event name) and tick what else to show: Title (Dr, Ms…), Post-nominals, Job title and Role band.
6. Press Download (followed by the number of labels) to get a PDF, and print it on A4.

Good to know:

• The list shows each person with Printed and the date, or Not printed. Use Not yet printed to print only late bookings and new faculty.
• The logo choices need your organisation to have a logo uploaded. Add one in your organisation's settings.

Online and hybrid events

Ticket holders join from Sympozium with the Join online button on their ticket or on the event page. There's one for the whole event; a session with its own link (a breakout, say) has its own Join online on the programme. If only sessions have links, the ticket says so and points to the programme. The link opens 15 minutes before the start; until then, attendees see where and when it will appear. The first time they join, they tick a box confirming they are attending, and joining checks them in, which counts towards their certificate. Attendees get a reminder the evening before each day. Faculty and support staff can join without a ticket.

People you've invited who haven't booked yet use Accept and join in their invitation (see "Invite attendees to a private ticket type"). If someone took part before accepting, mark their invitation attended so their place is checked in when they accept. Faculty and team invitations to an online or hybrid event offer Accept and join too, once the link is open: it accepts the role and takes them into the session.

The join link is never shown publicly or put in an email. Setting it up is covered earlier in this chapter.

View feedback

After the event, attendees are asked for feedback about the event overall and each session. Event admins and directors, and your organisation's admins and directors, see it in Feedback and certificates.

1. Open the event and go to Feedback and certificates.
2. Under the overall section you'll see Responses (how many of the checked-in attendees have given overall feedback), Response rate, Average rating, Would recommend, the spread of ratings from 5 stars to 1, and the written answers to "What went well" and "What could be improved".
3. Below that, each session is shown as one line with its number of responses and average rating. Press See answers on a session to open its spread of ratings, speakers and comments.

Feedback is anonymous

You see what attendees wrote, not who wrote it. If an attendee ticked that they're happy to be contacted about their feedback, their name and email are shown with their overall feedback, marked Happy to be contacted. Speakers never see names.

When comments appear

Ratings appear straight away. Written comments are added each morning at 07:00 (in the event's time zone), once a session, or the event for overall comments, has at least 3 responses. Until then you'll see, for example, "Comments appear the morning after this session reaches 3 responses." This stops anyone matching a comment to when it was written.

Hide a comment from speakers

Speakers see the ratings and comments for their own sessions. If a comment shouldn't reach a speaker (because it's personal or inappropriate, say), press Hide from speakers beside it. The comment stays in your Feedback and certificates section, marked Hidden from speakers, and is left out of everything the speaker sees. The rating still counts. Press Show to speakers to undo it.

Export feedback

Press Export CSV to download the feedback as a spreadsheet: one row per session rating (with the session, speakers, rating, comment and whether it's hidden from speakers) and one row per overall response. There are no names, except for attendees who ticked that they're happy to be contacted.

Good to know:

• Attendees are emailed the morning after the event asking for feedback. On events that issue certificates, the email and its reminders tell them what's still needed for their certificate.
• Attendees can change their feedback for 7 days after submitting it.
• Speakers are emailed a report of their sessions' feedback: an early one from 24 hours after the event, and a final one once all feedback is in or 14 days after the event.
• Which sessions take feedback, and which are Required, is set in the Programme (see "Choose session feedback" earlier in this chapter).
• Feedback isn't available on a basic private event.

Issue certificates of attendance

Sympozium issues certificates of attendance automatically. You choose whether the event issues them and whether they carry CPD.

The settings

1. Open Feedback and certificates and go to Certificates and CPD.
2. Automatically issue certificates of attendance is ticked for new events. Untick it if the event shouldn't issue certificates.
3. If the event carries CPD, enter the CPD amount (optional) and choose the CPD unit. Leave the amount blank if it doesn't: the certificate is then a plain certificate of attendance, without the CPD seal or accreditation line.
4. Optionally, enter the Accrediting body and CPD approval reference. They're printed on CPD certificates.
5. Press Save.

Set the CPD details before the event finishes. Certificates already issued don't change unless you re-issue them.

Who gets one, and when

The event has finished when its last session for attendees on the last day ends (breaks and faculty-only sessions don't count). From then on, each attendee's certificate is issued as soon as they:

• were checked in;
• have a first and last name on their account; and
• have given their overall feedback, and rated every session you marked Required.

There's no separate "require feedback" setting: the certificate always needs the overall feedback, and also needs a rating for any session whose feedback is set to Required. To make a session's feedback count towards the certificate, set it to Required in the Programme.

The certificate is emailed to the attendee and kept on their ticket. It usually follows within moments of their last step, or within about 15 minutes of the event finishing for anyone who did everything during the event.

Reminders Sympozium sends for you

• Missing name: checked-in attendees with no name on their account are emailed "Add your name to receive your certificate" when the event finishes, and once more 3 days later.
• Feedback not finished: the feedback email, and its reminders, say the certificate depends on the feedback and list what's still missing. They stop once it's complete.

Nobody who wasn't checked in is emailed about a certificate.

Release a certificate by hand

For a genuine exception, such as an attendee who had a problem with the feedback form:

1. Open the attendee's record from Attendees (or their ticket on the check-in desk).
2. Press Release certificate and confirm.

This works once the event has finished, even if the attendee wasn't checked in or hasn't given feedback. Check-in staff can do this too, until 24 hours after the event finishes.

Re-issue a certificate with a corrected name

If an attendee corrects their name after their certificate was issued:

1. Open the attendee's record.
2. Press Re-issue certificate and confirm.

The certificate is made again with their current name and the event's current details. It keeps the same certificate reference, replaces the stored copy and is emailed to the attendee. The record shows when it was issued and re-issued.

Good to know:

• Each certificate prints a certificate reference, which is the attendee's ticket reference. If someone asks whether a certificate is genuine, look the reference up in Attendees.
• Certificates aren't available on a basic private event.

Issue faculty certificates

Faculty certificates thank the people who led your sessions.

• Automatically issue faculty certificates is in Feedback and certificates → Certificates and CPD, and is ticked by default. Untick it if the event shouldn't issue them.
• Everyone listed as leading at least one session gets one, whatever their role on the event, and so does every event director.
• Each certificate lists the sessions the person led and their total time leading sessions.
• They're issued automatically once the event's last session of any kind has finished (faculty-only sessions included), emailed, and listed on the person's dashboard.
• Someone needs a first and last name on their account, and to have accepted their invitation, to receive one.

Event finance

The Finance section shows what the event has taken and what you'll receive. It's listed only for people who can see it.

Who can see it

Event directors, and your organisation's admins and directors, always see it. Event admins see it only if an organisation director has ticked Event admins can see this event's Finance area in the event's Settings and pressed Save.

What it shows

• Gross revenue: everything attendees have paid.
• Platform fees: Sympozium's fees, after any returned on refunds.
• Card processing (charged by Stripe): Stripe's card fees on your Stripe account.
• Refunds: what has been refunded to attendees.
• Your share: what the event has made for your organisation.
• Net to your Stripe account: the event's running total.
• Transactions: every purchase, free registration and refund, with its date, the attendee, the amount, the fees and the effect on your share. Press Export CSV to download them.

A green note above the figures explains any fee waiver or reduced fee agreed for your organisation.

When you're paid

The money goes straight to your organisation's own Stripe account, and Stripe pays it to your bank on your Stripe payout schedule. The section says so, with a link to your Stripe dashboard.

The fees, in plain terms

On each paid ticket, Sympozium's platform fee is 5% of the ticket price, taken from the payment to your Stripe account. There's no processing charge from Sympozium; Stripe charges its own card fees on your account. Attendees pay exactly the ticket price.

Example: a £100 ticket

Attendee pays	£100.00
Platform fee (5%)	£5.00
You receive, before Stripe's card fees	£95.00

If that ticket is later refunded in full, the attendee gets £100 back and the £5.00 platform fee is returned to you, but Stripe doesn't return its own card fee.

Good to know:

• Free tickets carry no fees on public events. For the cost of free places on private events with full features, see "Run a private event" earlier in this chapter.
• If an attendee's bank takes a payment back and the dispute is lost, the amount shows under Disputes lost. Stripe charges its own dispute fee on your Stripe account, and you'll see it in your Stripe dashboard.
• If Your share and Net to your Stripe account ever disagree, the section says so. Contact admin@sympozium.co.uk.

Copy an event, or save it as a template

Both are on the Copies and templates page, on every plan. Open Settings and press Copy this event, or save it as a template.

Copy this event

1. On Copies and templates, under Copy this event, press Clone this event.

Sympozium creates a new draft called "Copy of" followed by the event's title, with the same dates, and opens it with a line saying what's next. You become its director and get an email confirming it. Change the title and dates in the new draft.

Save as a template

1. On Copies and templates, under Save as a template, tick Save this event as a template.
2. Enter a Template name and press Save.

To use it, create a new event, choose From a template in the first step, pick the template, and give the new event its title and dates. Sessions move to the matching days of the new event, at the same times.

What is and isn't copied

Copied:

• who can register, and whether the event is on the public listings;
• descriptions, image, venue, venue map and your event website;
• contact details, catering, how attendees are put into groups, pre-event information, event capacity and check-in;
• CPD amount, unit and accrediting body, and whether it issues certificates and faculty certificates;
• the event's format (in person, online or hybrid), its default session feedback and its private event level;
• rooms and groups;
• the programme's sessions and breaks, with their feedback settings and speakers;
• ticket types, with their prices and sale windows (moved with the new dates), and early-bird links;
• the cancellation policy (if the event has one);
• registration questions;
• event and session files.

Archived ticket types and archived registration questions stay archived.

On the Free plan: a copy with paid ticket types is refused. If the event uses private-event settings the Free plan doesn't include, the copy comes out open to anyone and listed instead. If all of its ticket types are private, one of its archived public types stays on sale instead, and if it has none, the copy is refused.

Not copied:

• the dates, and the registration opening and closing times: you set these;
• tickets, registrants, attendee invitations and payments;
• how the event takes payment;
• the join link and the CPD approval reference: add these on the new event if it needs them;
• the rest of the event team. You become the new event's director. Faculty and speakers come across as Not invited yet (see "Faculty on a copied event" in the Team section).

Good to know:

• The new event's time zone, terms and conditions and financial visibility come from your organisation's current settings, not the original event.
• If the new event has fewer days than the original, sessions on the extra days go on its last day, at the same time of day. The new event's Overview lists them, so you can move them in the Programme. They may overlap other sessions until you do.
• On the Free plan, a private event that uses full features can't be copied as private. The copy is then open to anyone and listed, and its Overview says so. Check Who can register before you publish.
• The new event is a draft. Check it and publish it as usual.