The word 'attendees' refers to all user accounts in the system, regardless of their member type (members, speakers, exhibitors, moderators, or custom types).
When adding a person to the Zerista platform the following is REQUIRED:
- First Name
- Last name
- Email Address
NOTE: The unique identifier in the system for an attendee is their email address; only one user account can be assigned to an email address within the system.
Importing Attendees
1. In the admin, go to Attendees>Import.
2. Click on 'Sample file and instructions'.
3. On the next page, scroll down until you see Attendee Import Template. Click on it.
4. Save the .csv file to your hard drive.
5. Populate the template with your data.
6. Go back to Attendees>Import.
7. Click 'Choose file', then browse and find the .csv file on your laptop/computer.
8. Click 'Upload'.
Reconciling Errors
The system sends you a confirmation email after you upload a file. If the email has NO spreadsheet attachment, then your data was properly imported. If that email has a spreadsheet attachment, then you have errors you must reconcile. Download that file and open. The last column will give you an explanation of the error. They should be self explanatory, but if not please contact you Zerista Project Manager.
Here is a list of common upload errors:
- Missing required fields - you MUST have First Name, Last Name, and Email
- Mismatched Name - The first or last name you attempted to load does not match the name already assigned to that email in the system. Usually this is due to a nickname (Chris vs Christopher). The error will tell you what name is showing in our system. You can adjust your input file to match the information that is all ready in the system and reload your file. If the name is completely different and you need to change the record in the system to match the name you are loading, contact your Zerista Project Manager.
- Adding Job Title without a Company - In order to add a Job Title, you must also have a company listed for the attendee
- Partial Address - If you enter a Street Address, you must also enter a City (State and ZipCode also required if in US/Canada). Or if you enter JUST a City you must enter a State (if in US/Canada).
- Duplicate email address - Email address must be unique to each user account. What will cause an error is when many people have the same email address, e.g. a generic company email.
Manually Adding Attendees
In case you need to add a few people at a later date (e.g. at the event), there is no need to use the import tool. You can add those people in manually.
Follow these simple steps:
- Go to Attendees tab
- Click Create
- Type in First Name, Last Name, and Email Address
- Select Membership type:
- Member - This is the standard option. Just a normal attendee to the conference
- Moderator - This option will allow the attendee to log in and help to configure your conference on the Zerista Admin website.
- Exhibitor - Select this option if this attendee will be a company contact for one of the Exhibitor/Sponsors in your site. Once selected, a window will pop up to allow you to add the person as a company contact. Type in the name of the company and a list will populate with matching results. If a list does NOT show, then the company has not been added to the conference. You can leave this field blank.
- Speaker - Select this option if this attendee will be speaking at one of the sessions you have added them to your agenda. Once selected, a window will pop up to allow you to add the person to a session. Type in the name of the session and a list will populate with matching results. If a list does NOT show, then the session has not been added to the conference. You can leave this field blank.
- Click 'Add Another' if you would like to enter another attendee. (optional)
- Check 'Invite New Users?' box if you would like the invitation email to go to these users. Confirm your site is ready to launch before doing this. Contact your Zerista Project Manager if you are unsure.
- Click Create
Exporting Attendees
You have the ability to export attendee data from the admin. When managing large amounts of data it's common that you'll need to make changes. In these cases it's useful to export the data, make the changes on the resulting .csv and then import those changes back into the system in bulk.
For that, go to the admin, Attendees>Export. Not long after you've clicked on 'Export', you will receive an email from the system containing a .csv file with your attendee data. Open the file and make updates to the data in there. Once you've made you changes, go back and reimport this file with the updated changes the way outlined above.
Common Questions and Issues
- For best practice DELETE the columns and rows of data you are not making modifications to. This is a much safer approach to only reimport the data that is changing vs all the data exported.
- Please note: For optimal results please load data in the following order. Exhibitor/Sponsor, Attendees, (members, speakers, and exhibitors contacts), Sessions.
You can go to the front end and verify changes are appearing as they should.
If you have any questions about the process, contact your Zerista Project Manager.