Facing issues while creating event page for RSVP

[user9642]

Dear Community,

We have been using Constant Contact for more than 8+ years, this is the first time we are facing issues while creating an event page. We are hosting a dinner for our employees where they need to RSVP, but now for creating an event page, they are asking for things like tickets & payment options that are compulsory to select. 

Is there any way we can just ask our employees to fill out a form, or is this the only option available.

Thanks

Marketing Team NexInfo

[Patricia]

I've found this frustrating, as well. We work with Volunteers and would never charge $ for them to come volunteer with us. During the "ticket's and add-ons" I've defulted to putting the price at $0.00 for everything. Then, at the end of creating an event "Registration" in the "payments" section, I've just clicked "Deduct platform fee from total revenue". Total revenue would be $0.00 because we haven't charged for anything. In turn, our volunteers (or your employees) won't be charged anything/no extra fee will show up on their "ticket". 

Hope that helps. 

Patricia
Coordinator of Volunteers, Fraser Valley Conservancy

[user9642]

In any case, this isn't helpful. Consider our situation: we're requesting RSVPs from C-suite employees, and they prefer a simple yes or no option with just one click. However, it's currently presented in a format involving tickets, payments, and additional add-ons.

[Patricia]

I hear you. Perhaps utilizing the Sign-up Forms feature would be more simplistic for your employees. In the mean time, may I suggest sending Constant Contact a direct feedback note about making this kind of change? 

Best of luck with your RSVPS. 

Paticia

[Patricia]

I've found this frustrating, as well. We work with Volunteers and would never charge $ for them to come volunteer with us. During the "tickets and add-ons," I've defaulted to putting the price at $0.00 for everything. Then, at the end of creating an event "Registration" in the "payments" section, I have just clicked "Deduct platform fee from total revenue". Total revenue would be $0.00 because we haven't charged for anything. In turn, our volunteers (or your employees) won't be charged anything/no extra fee will show up on their "ticket". 

I hope that helps. 

Patricia
Coordinator of Volunteers, Fraser Valley Conservancy

[William_A]

Hello @user9642 ,

Tickets are how registrations are tracked, so they are necessary to RSVP for events. Tickets do not need to have a cost associated with them, so if you don't have anything that requires a charge, then you do not need to setup payment options for the event. Even if you have some tickets or add-ons that have a cost, if the registrant hasn't selected anything that has a cost then they won't be prompted to pay for anything.

Your other options would be to use RSVP blocks in emails or a survey, if you're uninterested in the standard event sign-up flow. 

Please see our Community's Events FAQ for answers to common questions and step-by-step guidance on creating events. 

[user9642]

Dear @William_A Let's simplify the scenario. If you're inviting your boss to dinner, would you really ask them to fill out a payment form beforehand? Surely, they don't have the time for such extra steps. Unfortunately, this time, your product team has made updating the system quite challenging with a user-unfriendly interface. It would be greatly appreciated if you could at least provide an option to streamline this process.

Thank you for suggesting the RSVP Block. However, it doesn't quite meet our needs because we encourage employees to share the event link with their friends who also wish to attend dinner.

[William_A]

Hi @user9642 , if you're not charging them for the "tickets," then they're not going to be filling out "a payment form," so I guess I'm a bit confused on where this would be coming into play for your event setup. If all you're doing is inviting them to dinner, you frankly don't even need to setup an event. As mentioned earlier, the "tickets" system is purely for the sake of tracking registrants, so it would only be particularly necessary if you intend for your employees to be inviting "guests" (i.e. partners, children, etc.), or trying to offer particular items/addons/merchandise - like shirts or other paraphernalia related to the event. 

From what I'm gathering, part of the issue here is that the event tool, both the legacy version and the current version, aren't fitting the exact 100% setup you're preferring. If the event tool, even with free tickets, isn't fitting your preferred setup, then it seems like the following available options might be better fits for what you're trying to do:

• RSVP block in an email- if you don't need to collect any info beyond a confirmation of whether or not they're attending. This method would only really work for contacts you're directly emailing.
• Click-segmented buttons to add the contact to a specific list, if they click on it. You'd then link to a simple custom landing page thanking them for confirming their interest in attending. Once click-segmented into the "event" list, you'd then send emails with any necessary follow-up info. This method would only really work for contacts you're directly emailing.
• Linking to a survey page in an email. With this method, your contacts can fill out the form (thus confirming their attendance interest), and provide details on contact info, dietary restrictions, seating preferences, etc. Survey pages also have their own unique URLs, which allows them to be shared on multiple platforms, forwarded in emails, etc. However this method wouldn't really allow for adding non-contacts to a list for further email correspondence, so you'd want to also make social posts for non-email followers to be kept up-to-date.
• Linking to a sign-up page. With this method, your contacts can enter in their contact info and be added to a list for further email follow-ups on the "event." This would also allow for sharing outside of your direct contacts, but wouldn't really be viable if you're expecting to track number of guests, dietary restrictions, etc.

[user9642]

@William_A Thank you for sharing the details. Just to update you about the legacy version, we had options to choose a payment system. But this time you guys made it compulsory. In anyhow manner can we go back to the legacy version?

My feedback is: Please make constant contact user-friendly.

[William_A]

If you are not charging for your tickets, you are not forced to select a payment option. You can activate your event without selecting a payment option, if none of the tickets, addons, etc. for your event have a cost.

[user9642]

@William_A I hope you understood my question!

Is there any way we can just ask our employees to fill out a form without selecting the ticket option? In the legacy version, there is no ticket option. We used to create forms freely.

[William_A]

As previously stated, tickets are a required component for events to function at this time since they are what explicitly tracks a registration. An event must have a ticket. Tickets can be free. If all tickets for an event are free, no payment options need to be selected by you, and none will be presented to the registrants upon submitting their registration. 

Our devs are exploring additional ways for the registration system to function without tickets, or to make "tickets" a more customizable term for customers who prefer a different term for their registrations.