6.1. Networking: Meeting Booking

Get your meetings booked in, plan your time and make the most of every networking opportunity. Whether you’re organising a virtual, hybrid or in-person event, being able to easily book in meetings and allow attendees to work independently will maximise engagement and efficiency during a hectic event schedule. By utilising the CrowdComms Meeting Booking feature, event organisers can import multiple meetings bookings on behalf of attendees or attendees can book and attend meetings with other delegates, exhibitors or event organisers, either virtually within the event platform or in-person at a designated physical space at the event. There’s no need to negotiate times or places when using Meeting Booking; each individual sets their availability and location, enabling potential contacts to choose from a selection of time slots. With one click, the meeting is arranged and in the diary! We’ve set out a user guide below on how your delegates can use this feature in your Event App. If at any time you require further support or assistance, please get in touch with your CrowdComms’ Account Manager or Support Specialist, who will be happy to guide you through the process. Content: 1. Enabling Meeting Booking 2. Setting up Meeting Booking on the Dashboard (CMS) 3. Import/Export Meetings on the Dashboard (CMS) - coming soon! 4. Logging in to the Event App and setting up your privacy preferences 5. Managing personal meeting availability 6. Creating a meeting with another delegate 7. Creating a meeting with a sponsor or an exhibitor 8. Accepting and declining meetings 9. Viewing upcoming and completed meetings 10. Joining a virtual meeting and virtual meetings in-progress 11. Alerts and email notifications 12. Amending a meeting

• 1. Enabling Meeting Booking
• 2. Setting up Meeting Booking on the Dashboard (CMS): Video Tutorial
• 3. Import/Export Meetings on the Dashboard (CMS) - Coming Soon!
• 4. Logging in to the Event App and setting up your privacy preferences
• 5. Managing personal meeting availability
• 6. Creating a meeting with another delegate(s)
• 7. Creating a meeting with an exhibitor or a sponsor
• 8. Accepting and declining meetings
• 9. Viewing upcoming and completed meetings
• 10. Joining a virtual meeting and virtual meeting in progress
• 11. Alerts and email notifications
• 12. Amending a meeting

1. Enabling Meeting Booking

Please contact your CrowdComms’ Account Manager if you would like Meeting Booking feature to be enabled on your Event App.

2. Setting up Meeting Booking on the Dashboard (CMS): Video Tutorial

1. Log into your CrowdComms dashboard (CMS) and input your details.

2. Select the Event App on which you would like Meeting Booking to be set up.

3. Click ‘Features’ on the left-hand menu, then click on ‘Meetings,’ which will appear as an option in the secondary menu to the right and you will see the Meeting Settings page.

4. On this page you can:

a. Choose your meeting options – You have the option to enable physical-only or virtual-only meetings or both.

b. Smart Sessions toggle – You can choose to enable a Smart Sessions room to be an option for a virtual meeting location.

c. Choose your meeting type – You have the option to allow delegate-to-delegate meetings only, delegate-to-exhibitor meetings only or both.

d. Set the meeting start and end dates – You can set the meeting dates to be outside of your Event App dates. By default, meetings can be booked between the start and end of the event, but you can extend the period to allow meetings to be booked before and after the event by populating these fields. 

e. Set the meeting start and end times – This timing will be relative to the time zone of your app.

f. Set the minimum and the maximum meeting length – As a minimum, you can choose between, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 minutes of meeting time. This time will also appear within each time-slots for users to select on the Event App. As for the maximum, you have the options of, unlimited, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 minutes of meeting time.

g. Add meeting locations and location descriptions – Type the name of the location, add any additional info in the description box and click ‘Submit’. These locations will be available as options on your Event App for your delegates to select.

h. Edit and delete location(s) – You can amend or delete meeting locations and their description. Note: You cannot amend or delete the location if your delegates have already selected them on your Event App.

i. Set up group privacy – You have the option to decide which People’s Group can access the Meeting feature.

5. Click ‘Save’

3. Import/Export Meetings on the Dashboard (CMS) - Coming Soon!

Import Meetings Overview

Introducing our powerful new Import Meeting Booking feature designed specifically for event organisers! Simplify your event planning process by uploading a spreadsheet with all your planned meeting details, including crucial fields like 'Id,' 'Owner,' 'Start Time/Date,' 'End Time/Date,' and 'Subject.' With just a few clicks, you can bulk book meetings for attendees, saving you precious time and effort. Once imported, our CMS will display a subset of this information in a user-friendly table for easy organisation and tracking. Monitor real-time stats on your meetings status, ensuring you stay on top of your event's schedule. Streamline your event management and enhance attendee experience with our innovative Import Meeting Booking feature!

Importing your Meetings

To begin importing your meetings, enter the app via the CMS and navigate to the 'Features' tab on the lefthand side menu, from here in the secondary menu select 'Meeting Booking' and from the drop down select 'Import Meetings'.

Once within this section you will see two buttons, 'Example Template' and 'Import File'. Select 'Example Template' to download your importable file, fill in the necessary criteria.

Template Details

1. Id - You may specify the meeting ID or one will be auto generated upon upload.

2. Organiser (email)

3. Start time & date (format YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ)

4. End time & date (format YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ)

5. Type (delegate to delegate or delegate to exhibitor)

6. Location

7. Subject (text)

8. Invite (message text)

9. Status (Cancelled / Scheduled)

10. Company (Name of the company - text)

11. Use company location (Yes/No)

12. Smart sessions room (Room name - text)

13. Virtual platform (Breakout / Smart Sessions)

14. Participants (comma-separated emails)

Please note that Locations for physical/in-person meetings will need to be added prior to the import. This can be done on the 'Meeting Settings' tab. For more information please see here. Please also note that to create meetings via this feature you will first need to be added to the people library before importing your spread sheet.

Once complete, save the file and return to the CMS dashboard. Navigate to the Import Meetings tab and select the 'Import File' button. A pop-up will appear, allowing you to drag and drop your file for import, or you can browse your desktop to find the desired file.

After the import is finished, all meetings will be automatically accepted and added to your attendees' calendars and can be viewed on the 'Meeting List' tab within the Features > Meeting Booking secondary menu. You will also have the option to cancel these meetings if necessary.

Export Meetings Overview

To view your recently imported meetings and all current delegate meetings navigate to the 'Features' tab on the lefthand side menu, select 'Meeting Booking' and from the dropdown select 'Meeting List'. Here you will be able to see a table displaying your meeting details.

Table Column Options

• Meeting Type

• Organiser

• Invited

• Accepted

• Declined
• Pending
• Start Time

• Duration

• Location

• Status Bar

At the top right of this page there is a new button 'Export Meetings' which enables you to export the complete list and type of the meeting details from the table to an excel file.

4. Logging in to the Event App and setting up your privacy preferences

1. Firstly, log in to your Event App and input your login details.

2. If this is the first time you have logged in to this app, you will see the Privacy Settings preference pop-up giving you the following options:

a. Make your profile visible on the App – The default is set to ‘visible’. If you don’t want others to see your profile, you will need to uncheck this box.

b. Make yourself available for Chat Messaging – Check this box if you want to send and receive private messages with other delegates within the platform.

c. Make yourself available for Video Meetings – Check this box if you want other delegates within the platform to be able to invite you to a private video call without having to first send a meeting invite. 

d. Make yourself available for meeting booking – Check this box if you would like other delegates within the platform to be able to book meetings with you. If you uncheck this option, you won’t be able to send or receive meeting invites.

e. Make yourself available for Business Card Exchanges – Check this box to allow you to create a virtual business card and swap contact information with other delegates and companies.

3. If this isn’t the first time you have logged in to this app, you can still amend the settings mentioned in step (2). You can do this by clicking on the right-hand menu and navigating to Account Settings, which appears as an option on the menu.

4. On the Account Settings page, click on the ‘Settings’ button to change your privacy settings. A pop-up module will appear, and you can amend your preferences here.

5. Managing personal meeting availability

[This enables you to set up your own meeting availability]

1. Click on the right-hand menu, where you can see your initials, and click ‘My Meetings’.

2. On the right-hand side of the screen, you can see ‘My Meetings’ along with several tabs at the bottom, click ‘My Availability’. This is where you will manage your own personal meeting availability.

3. The system’s default option is ‘Available all day’. You can turn off this toggle and pick your own available times by highlighting the time boxes.

a. By being ‘Available all day’ this allows other delegates to arrange a meeting with you throughout the duration of the event, which is set by the event organiser. For example, from 09:00 until 17:00.

b. By selecting individual time boxes, you are tailoring your availability to specific times only. For example, you can make yourself unavailable between 10:00 and 12:00 to enable you to attend a specific session.

4. The duration of each time box is 10 minutes.

5. If the event runs over multiple days, you can use the date selector at the top to move to another date.

6. Creating a meeting with another delegate(s)

[This enables you to arrange meetings with other delegates within this Event App]

1. There are two ways to create a meeting with other delegates within your Event App.

2. You can either:

a. Go via the right-hand menu, where you can see your initials, and click ‘My Meetings’.

b. Locate the person you want to meet, by searching for them in the Attendee/People list on the left-hand menu, select the person you wish to meet and click on the ‘Schedule Meeting’ button.

3. Either way, you will then be taken to the ‘Create a new meeting’ page with a form for you to populate.

4. The fields are:

a. Subject – Add a subject to your meeting to make it easier for the recipient of your meeting to read the purpose of the meeting.

b. Arrange a meeting with – Start typing the name of the delegate you wish to meet with. You will see a list of users that you can add. Select the appropriate user. If you opted for step 2(b), this field will be pre-populated with the delegate’s name and photo.

b(i). Group Meeting – You can also arrange a meeting with more than one delegate. Click on the ‘Add more people’ to add other delegates to your meeting invite. 

c. Where – Depending on the event organiser’s setup, you can either set up an in-person-only meeting, or a virtual-only meeting, or have both options available. Only one selection can be made for a meeting.

i. For an in-person meeting, you can select a location from the ‘Choose event location’ dropdown or you can also suggest a meeting place. The location capacity will be set by your event organiser so only locations with available capacity  at your chosen time and date will display.

ii. For a virtual meeting, you can select a Smart Sessions room (if available) or select ‘Video Meeting’ from the dropdown options. 

d. When – You then need to select a date and time for your meeting. The available meeting date(s) will be determined by the event organiser. You can arrange a meeting length of either 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 minutes or unlimited length, depending on the set-up chosen by the event organiser. The time and date selector will clearly display the participant(s) availability and notify you if there is an overlap in your bookings prompting you to select an alternative time.

e. Message – In this field, you can write a message that you want the person you wish to meet to see. You can write an introduction about yourself and the purpose of the meeting.

5. To restart the form, you can click ‘Cancel’ and it will reset to a blank form.

6. When you’re ready to send your meeting invite, click ‘Send Invitation’.

7. Creating a meeting with an exhibitor or a sponsor

[This enables you to arrange a meeting with the event’s sponsors or exhibitors within this Event App]

1. There are also two ways to create a meeting with an exhibitor or a sponsor within your Event App.

2. You can either:

a. Go via the right-hand menu, where you can see your initials, and click ‘My Meetings’.

b. Go to the company list from the left-hand menu, select the company you wish to meet and click on the ‘Schedule Meeting’ button at the top of the Company’s page.

3. Either way, you will then be taken to the ‘Create a new meeting’ page. On the right-hand side of the screen, click on ‘Create a new exhibitor meeting’ and you will see a form to populate.

4. The fields are:

a. Subject – Add a subject to your meeting to make it easier for the recipient of your meeting to read the purpose of the meeting.

b. Arrange a meeting with – Start typing the name of a sponsor or an exhibitor you wish to meet with. You will see a list of companies that you can add. Select an appropriate company. If you opted for step 2(b), this field will be pre-populated with the company’s name and logo.

c. Choose a representative to meet – You then need to pick the sponsor or the exhibitor’s representatives you wish to meet.

d. Where – Depending on the event organiser’s setup, you can either set up an in-person-only meeting, or a virtual-only meeting, or have both options available. Only one selection can be made for a meeting.

i. For an in-person meeting, you can select a location from the ‘Choose event location’ dropdown or you can also suggest a meeting place. 

ii. For a virtual meeting, you can select a Smart Sessions room (if available) or select ‘Video Meeting’ from the dropdown options. 

e. When – You then need to select a date and time for your meeting. The available meeting date(s) will be determined by the event organiser. You can arrange a meeting length of either 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 minutes or unlimited length, depending on the set-up chosen by the event organiser.

f. Message – In this field, you can write a message that you want the person you wish to meet to see. You can write an introduction about yourself and the purpose of the meeting.

5. To restart the form, you can click ‘Cancel’ and it will reset it to a blank form.

6. When you’re ready to send your meeting invite, click ‘Send Invitation’.

8. Accepting and declining meetings

[This is where you go to accept or decline meetings following an invitation or to view the status of meetings that you sent out]

1. Click on the right-hand menu, where you can see your initials, and click ‘My Meetings’.

2. On the right-hand side of the screen, you can see My Meetings along with several tabs at the bottom, click ‘Requests’.

3. You may also see a number next to this, this represents the number of meeting requests awaiting a response.

4. You can also filter them by ‘Sent’ or ‘Received’ only.

5. The ‘Sent’ tab will show all the meeting requests you sent out to other delegates or sponsors/exhibitors. You’ll also be able to see the status of your meeting requests:

a. Pending – Waiting for the receiver to accept or decline

6. The ‘Received’ tab will show you all the meetings requests which have been sent to you by other delegates. You can either:

a. Decline* – Once declined, this invite will disappear from your list

b. Accept – Once accepted, this invite will appear in your ‘Upcoming’ meeting list

*Occasionally, you can only see the ‘Decline’ button, this means that the organiser of the meeting is no longer available to attend the meeting.

9. Viewing upcoming and completed meetings

[This is where you view meetings which have been scheduled and meetings which have taken place]

1. Click on the right-hand menu, where you can see your initials, and click ‘My Meetings’.

2. On the right-hand side of the screen, you can see ‘My Meetings’ along with several tabs at the bottom, click ‘Upcoming’ or ‘Completed’.

Upcoming

3. You may also see a number next to this, this represents the number of meetings that you have scheduled and accepted.

4. All of your upcoming meetings are organised in a card layout with summary information about the meeting.

5. In each card you you’ll be able to see a context menu icon on the top right-hand corner of the card where you can ‘Cancel the meeting’.

6. If you take the action to ‘Cancel the meeting’, you will see a pop-up asking to confirm this action. If you confirm the cancellation, the person you are meeting will be notified.

7. In each card you’ll also be able to ‘View meeting’ or ‘Join meeting’ if you’ve set up or accepted a Virtual Meeting.

8. By selecting ‘View Meeting’ you will be able to see detailed information about the meeting including:

a. The person you are meeting

b. Their job title and company (If applicable)

c. The day, date and time of the meeting

d. The location. For example, Virtual or a physical location

e. Countdown timer if the meeting is due to start within the next 5 minutes

f. Notes which enables you to take notes during the meeting

g. Tags. 'Descriptive keywords’ that you can select during the meeting

9. If the meeting is a Virtual one, you will also see the ‘Join Meeting’ button which will enable you to join a meeting.

10. You can join a meeting up to 5 minutes before the start time as long as the other person is ready too, otherwise, you will be invited to wait.

Completed

11. You may also see a number next to this, this represents the number of meetings that have taken place.

12. All of your completed meetings are organised in a card layout and display a summary of information about each meeting.

13. From each card you’ll be able to ‘View meeting’.

14. By selecting ‘View Meeting’ you’ll be able to see detailed information about the meeting including:

a. The person you met

b. Their job title and company (if applicable)

c. The day, date and time of the meeting

d. The location. For example, Virtual or a physical location

e. Notes taken during the meeting. You can add further notes if you want to after the meeting has taken place.

f. Tags. 'Descriptive keywords’ that you have selected during the meeting. You can also add more after the meeting has taken place.

10. Joining a virtual meeting and virtual meeting in progress

Joining a virtual meeting

1. There are multiple ways for you to join a meeting, and they are:

a. Via alerts which you receive 5 minutes before the meeting is due to start. They will appear on a pop-up message on the top right-hand of the Event App.

b. Via an ‘Upcoming’ meeting card and by clicking on ‘Join Meeting’ on the card.

2. Please remember, if you join a meeting before the start time, you may have to wait in the virtual meeting room until the other person enters the room.

Virtual meeting in progress

1. When you click the ‘Join Meeting’ button, you will be taken to the ‘Meeting Details’ page and a one-to-one video call pop-up will appear with a joining instruction.

2. Click on ‘Get Started’ button. You will then be prompted to check your camera and audio settings.

3. Then click the ‘Join Call’ button.

4. If you’re the first person in the room, you’ll see the other party once they join the meeting room.

5. During your one-to-one virtual meeting, you can add notes and tags to your meeting in the ‘Meeting Details’ page.

6. On this page, you can see information including:

a. The person you are in the meeting with

b. Their job title and company (If applicable)

c. The day, date and time of the meeting

d. The location (This will always be Virtual Meeting)

e. A countdown timer of the remaining time left for the meeting

f. Notes – You can use this field to take notes whilst in the meeting

g. Tags – Prompt words which you can select during the meeting

7. To end your meeting simply click on the ‘End Call’ button.

11. Alerts and email notifications

In-platform alerts and email notifications are delivered to both meeting organisers and invitees each time a new meeting invitation is issued and when invitations are accepted or declined. Below is a list of triggers highlighting who will receive notifications when a user performs an action.

Action	In-platform alert (Inviter)	Email notification (Inviter)	In-platform alert (Invitee)	Email notification (Invitee)
Meeting invite has been sent			√	√
Meeting invite has been accepted	√	√
Meeting invite has been declined	√	√
Meeting has been cancelled by the inviter			√	√
Meeting has been cancelled by the invitee	√	√
Meeting starts in 5 minutes	√	√	√	√
Meeting is now	√	√	√	√

12. Amending a meeting

[This enables you to amend existing meetings that you have arranged with another delegate, a representative of an exhibitor or a sponsor]

1. Click on the right-hand menu, where you can see your initials, and click ‘My Meetings’.

2. On the right-hand side of the screen, you will see ‘My Meetings’ along with several tabs at the bottom, click on the ‘Upcoming’ tab.

3. In each card you you’ll be able to see a context menu icon on the top right-hand corner of the card, click on ‘Edit meeting’.

4. You will then be taken to the ‘Amend your meeting’ page. You can amend the location, the date and time, and message of the meeting invite.

5. You cannot amend the person you’re meeting.

6. Please note that this action is only available if you were the sender of the meeting invitation.

7. If you change your mind about amending the meeting, you can click ‘Cancel’.

8. When you’re ready to send your amended meeting invite, click ‘Send Invitation’.