There are instances where certain events or ticket types are exclusive to a select audience. Gradual now allows you to set parameters around the access to those events using invitation-only ticketing. Keep your events visible to the community or public, but restrict who can register through this feature.
Lastly, a native form is included in this flow to collect interest from those who are interested in registering, but are not on the invitation list.
Invitations can be offered by providing a specific list of email addresses or you can generate access codes to send to potential attendees, that they enter during registration.
Setting up Ticket Types
Invite-only ticket types
Within the event dashboard, you can customize and enable different ticket types for registrants to choose from.
Invitation-only tickets must be set up at the ticket level within the event before you add invites or generate an invitation access code.
Sign into the event dashboard and navigate to the Ticket Types menu item on the left.
Edit a ticket type, or add a new ticket type.
Toggle the ‘Invitation Only’ to Enable.
(Optional) Limit the number of tickets of this kind, assign a price or keep it unlimited and free.
Entirely invite-only event
For an event where all attendees must be by invitation, you will enable ‘Invitation-Only’ for the singular ticket type, or all if there are multiple tickets.
Invitations
There are two ways to send invitations or provide registration access to invites in the dashboard: by adding them to the invitation list or by generating invitation code(s).
You will set up and manage invitations in the event dashboard, in the Invitations tab on the left-hand side. The Invitations list shows those added to the list by email, or who have registered by code in the Invitees tab and all available codes in the Invitation codes tab. The Invitation Requests tab will show all users who’ve requested an invite and hope to register for the event.
Setting up Invitations: By List
If you know the invitees who should have access to the event registration, you can add them to the invitation list in the dashboard. When a registrant is added to the invitation list, they will be able to register without any gate or barrier on the front end registration flow.
Add invitees in the event dashboard:
Navigate to the Invitations menu item on the left, and to the Invitations tab within.
Select the + Invitee button in the upper right-hand corner.
Choose the type of ticket this code should unlock, which attendee type should be assigned (Guest, Staff, Speaker, etc.) and enter the invitees email address.
Note: Invitees will not receive any notification of being added to this list. And, if your community is set to ‘Open’, the invitee does not need to be a member to be added to the invitation list.
The invitee is now added to the Invitees list tab, and can be edited or removed at any time.
If you need to bulk upload invites to this invitation list, let the Gradual team know and we can process that through our bulk upload process. In the future, we will support exporting of this list as well.
Invitee Experience when they are on the Invitation List
On the front end, invitees will register for the event by selecting the Register button and selecting the ticket type appropriate to them. Any invitation-only ticket types will include an ‘Invitation-only’ icon, and if they are on the invitation list, a small Invited logo will also appear - to drive them to register using that ticket type.
If there are registration questions, they will be prompted to complete those, and confirm their registration!
Setting up Invitations: By Code
You can generate a code to include in invitation communications and promotions to potential registrants to grant access to the event for anyone with that code.
Generate that code from the event dashboard:
Navigate to the Invitations menu item on the left, and to the Invitations tab within.
Select the + Invitation Code button in the upper right-hand corner.
Choose the type of ticket this code should unlock, which attendee type should be assigned (Guest, Staff, Speaker, etc.), and if there is a quota to how many codes can be used before saving the code.
The code can be copied from the generated pop-up during build, or from the Invitations page → Invitation codes tab
Send this code in communication and promotion to those invitees, and be sure to include which ticket type they should select (if there are multiple types) for the code to work!
Note: This code is case-sensitive and cannot be customized.
Invitee Experience using Codes
On the front end, Invitees will register for the event by selecting the Register button and selecting the ticket type appropriate to them (any invitation-only ticket types will include an ‘Invitation-only’ notation).
Note: Codes are associated with ticket types, so the invitee should know (or be told) which ticket to select when using a code. They will then be prompted to enter the invitation code to continue to register.
If there are Registration Questions, they will be prompted to complete those, and confirm their registration!
Invitation Request & Interest Form
If a member is not on the invitation list but tries to register, they will hit a gate and can submit an interest form to request an invite. That interest form information will appear immediately in the dashboard, for you as the admin to evaluate their request from the Invitation Requests tab.
Invitation Ticket Data
Track who’s used event invitation codes, or registered for the invite-only tickets and when in the Invitations tab of your event dashboard. Export this information from those pages as well.
Export invitations data:
Sign into your event dashboard and navigate to Invitations.
Select 'Invitees' to see and export a list of who has registered from the invitation list and when, or select 'Invitation codes' to export a list of codes used and by whom.
These exports will be sent to your email inbox.
