Automated attendance reminder Thread poster: Fiona Grace Peterson
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I come from having organised a Powwow today, which 21 people signed up for. The event was attended by 8 members - 7 did not enter their attendance in any way, and 6 entered their status as "may attend". This uncertainty as regards numbers makes it very difficult to book for the right number of people, and makes more work for the organiser.
I know that for (paid) Proz conferences, delegates are sent an automated reminded days before, to encourage them to finalise their attendance sta... See more I come from having organised a Powwow today, which 21 people signed up for. The event was attended by 8 members - 7 did not enter their attendance in any way, and 6 entered their status as "may attend". This uncertainty as regards numbers makes it very difficult to book for the right number of people, and makes more work for the organiser.
I know that for (paid) Proz conferences, delegates are sent an automated reminded days before, to encourage them to finalise their attendance status for the associated Powwows, thus making the job of booking the venue easier for the organiser.
I find it frustrating that those who sign up often do not take the time to confirm their attendance (or lack of it), and feel that it would be useful to have an automated reminder feature for Powwows too.
What do people think? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Luca Vaccari 
Italy
Local time: 09:59
Swedish to Italian
+ ...
| You have all my support | Jan 17, 2016 |
Hope the ProZ staff will take charge of your frustration.
A (small) amount of patience is needed when it comes to organizing events, no matter which, and I'm not so sure that payment would make the change. Some people can think that money can buy your patience and non-paid job.
A proposal: Considering that you get brownies if you take part in a powwow, the same (another) amount of brownies could be taken from you, if you register and then do not show; the same way you w... See more Hope the ProZ staff will take charge of your frustration.
A (small) amount of patience is needed when it comes to organizing events, no matter which, and I'm not so sure that payment would make the change. Some people can think that money can buy your patience and non-paid job.
A proposal: Considering that you get brownies if you take part in a powwow, the same (another) amount of brownies could be taken from you, if you register and then do not show; the same way you would pay for a no show at the dentist or blood test.
Last but not least: Thanks for a pleasant powwow yesterday! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You can send out your own reminder | Jan 17, 2016 |
I did, in fact. We have a Danish powwow every year in September, and it is quite an event.
It is some years now since I organised one, but I mailed all 'the usual suspects' early on, and invited some personally, as I knew they might not have seen the postings.
As the date approached, I mailed everyone who had registered, and asked for a commitment to come or a definite cancellation. We don't normally meet in a restaurant, so I did 'threaten' that there might not be eno... See more I did, in fact. We have a Danish powwow every year in September, and it is quite an event.
It is some years now since I organised one, but I mailed all 'the usual suspects' early on, and invited some personally, as I knew they might not have seen the postings.
As the date approached, I mailed everyone who had registered, and asked for a commitment to come or a definite cancellation. We don't normally meet in a restaurant, so I did 'threaten' that there might not be enough food.  I also asked people to order from a menu for the evening, as I needed to book tables. We often do that, and it works quite well.
I found that one person did not answer at all, but as I could see that he/she was in the USA at the time, I took that as a cancellation. And of course, we could have fed a couple of extra spouses or friends if they had turned up!
I like the BrowniZ suggestion, but you would have to tell everyone clearly in advance, or it would make no impression. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I did send my own reminder | Jan 17, 2016 |
Christine Andersen wrote:
As the date approached, I mailed everyone who had registered
I did the same, Christine - it made no difference. Of course you could argue by the same token that an automated reminder would also make no difference, however it might seem more "official", coming from Proz, also it would be an "extra" reminder.
Perhaps it is also partly a cultural issue, I really don't know. All I know is that it's incredibly frustrating from an organisational point of view.
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