Sessions

Add Sessions to an Event for breakouts, presentations, discussions, or other activities.

Configure Sessions

Limitation: Sessions cannot be made mandatory out of the box. If you want to make Sessions mandatory, please see these steps for creating a flow.

1. From the Event record, navigate to the Sessions Related List and click New.
   

2. Enter the Session Name.

3. Add Session details such as,
   • Description
   • Image URL
   • Alternative Text for Visual Impairment - This field is required if the Image URL has a value.
   • Location
   • Start Date
   • Start Time
   • End Date
   • End Time

NOTE: The Session’s Start Date/Time and End Date/Time fields are not included on the Session’s page layout out of the box. They standardize calculations and display the Session’s start and end dates/times from the perspective of the time zone set on the authorized user’s profile instead of the time zone set on the Event record.

4. To limit the number of people that can register and attend a Session, enter an amount in the Quantity Available

The Quantity Remaining is a formula field that will automatically update.

Formula: Quantity Remaining = Quantity Available - Registered

Sorting Sessions

Sold Out

When Waitlist Enabled is not checked and Quantity Remaining = "0", the Session will be sold out.

Waitlisted

When Waitlist Enabled is enabled and Quantity Remaining = "0", additional Session registrants will have a "Waitlisted - Pending" status and be added to the waitlist.

Hide on Event Page

The Hide On Event Page checkbox allows users to hide the Session from the Event's Session tab. As a result the Session will be invisible to the public.

To prevent that from occuring, the following needs to occur:

• The Session belongs to a specific track that is associated with an AttendeeLink invitation.
• The Session is pre-registered to an Attendee in the AttendeeLink invitation.
  

5. Once saved, view your newly created Session on the Event page.

Visibility

To show the Sessions on the Event, navigate to the Event Settings record and update the Sessions field to "Always". Make sure that the Session's Hide On Event Page field is unchecked.

If you only want Attendees to see Sessions on their AttendeeLink and not on the Event registration page, complete the following steps.

• Relate a Session to an Event Item, creating an Event Item Session.
• Update the Event Settings’ Tab Visibility setting for Sessions to “Post Registration.”

The Event Item Sessions will now appear in an Attendee’s AttendeeLink.

Add Session to Calendar

Complete the following steps to add a specific Session to a calendar from the Event's webpage.

1. Go to the Event’s webpage.
2. Click the Sessions tab.
3. Click a Session Name.
4. Click Add to Calendar.
5. Select the calendar type.

Data Dictionary and Session Counts

Create a Data Dictionary Group

Create Data Dictionary Entries

Associate a Session with an Event Item Session

After creating a new Session, you need to create and associate the new Session with the Event Item Session.

1. On the newly created Session’s record, locate the Event Item Session's Related List.
2. Click New.
3. Select an Event Item in the Event Item field.
4. Click Save.

On the Event record, click Update. The Session will now appear on the Event's registration page.

Relate a Session and an Event Item to an Event Item Session

An Event’s Session and Event Item must be related to an Event Item Session record so the Event Item Session can be included in the AttendeeLink and checkout process.

Once you have created Sessions for your Event, complete the following steps.

1. Open the relevant Session record and locate the Event Item Session’s Related List.
2. Click New.
3. In the Event Item field, select the Event Item you want to attach the Session to.
4. Click Save.

You can also perform the process from an Event Item record.

1. Go to the Event Item Session's Related List.
2. Click New.
3. In the Session field, select the Session you want to attach the Event Item to.
4. Click Save.

After selecting an Event Item and entering their information during checkout, Attendees will see a Review Sessions button. They can then select an Event Item Session before completing the registration process.

Overlapping Sessions

Event Organizers can now prevent Attendees from registering for overlapping Sessions. This functionality allows for a more organized and manageable event schedule and ensures that an event's resources like Session seats and event spaces are used effectively.

The following event types are just a few examples where you can use the overlapping Sessions feature.

• Large-scale events & conferences:
  • Ensure that Attendees do not book Sessions that occur simultaneously, improving schedule management.
• Classes, workshops & training:
  • Prevent time conflicts in Session attendance for classes or workshop Sessions.
  • Avoid overlapping training Sessions to ensure employees can attend all required training without conflicts.

Prevent Session Overlapping Field

The Prevent Session Overlapping checkbox was added to the Event object to prevent Attendees from registering for overlapping Sessions.

• Field Label: Prevent Session Overlapping
• API Name: conference360__Prevent_Session_Overlapping__c
• Data Type: Checkbox
• Help Text: If this is checked, registration for overlapping Sessions is not available to an Attendee.
• Default Value: False (unchecked) When checked, Attendees cannot register for overlapping Sessions.

If Prevent Session Overlapping = “True” (checked), Attendees cannot register for overlapping Sessions. When the field is enabled, the following will occur.

• During checkout, the Add All button will not be visible on the Session Registration page.
• The Add button next to the Session will be grayed out if an Attendee tries to select a Session that overlaps with a Session already in their cart.

Limitations

• This only applies to Sessions within the same Event. It does not apply to overlapping Sessions across different Events.
• The overlapping Session validation occurs only on the Attendee-facing Event Page URL. There is no validation on the Salesforce side. This allows Event Organizers to book overlapping time slots when registering Attendees for Sessions in Salesforce.

Update the Event Page Layout

If the Prevent Session Overlapping field is not on the Event object’s page layout, follow the steps below to add it.

1. Go to Setup.
2. Click the Object Manager tab.
3. In the Quick Find box, enter and click “Event” (conference360__Event__c).
4. Click the Page Layouts tab.
5. Click Event Layout.
6. Enter “Prevent Session Overlapping” in the Quick Find box.
7. Drag and drop the Prevent Session Overlapping field onto the page layout.
8. Click Save.

Examples

The following examples show how using the Prevent Session Overlapping field can prevent Attendees from registering for overlapping Sessions.

Event 1

• Event Date: March 3
• Event Item 2 has the following Sessions.
  • Session C: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
  • Session D: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
• Registration Process
  • Attendee 2 selects Event Item 2 with Session C and Session D.
• Result: Fail – Attendee 2 cannot complete the registration process because the Session times overlap.

Event 2

• Event Date: March 3
• Event Items
  • Event Item 5 has the following Session.
    • Session G: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
  • Event Item 6 has the following Session.
    • Session H: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
• Registration process:
  • Attendee 6 selects Event Item 5 with Session G.
  • Attendee 6 selects Event Item 6 with Session H.
• Result: Fail - Registration failed because the Sessions overlapped. The Sessions are related to different Event Items, but the user used the same data for each Attendee.

Featured Sessions

If you would like to bring a few featured Sessions to the top of the page, the featured Session feature is just what you need!

Set Up (For Admins)

1. Open the Object Manager.
2. Navigate to the Session object.
3. Click Page Layouts and Session Layout.
4. Add the Feature Session checkbox field to the page layout.
   NOTE: If end-users need access to this and they aren't associated to a managed Blackthorn Events permission set, please add this field to their profile/custom permission set.

Test (For Event Managers)

If you would like to feature Sessions at the top of the Session tab in a carousel format, check the Feature Session checkbox field.

• If you add multiple featured Sessions, they will scroll through the featured session box every 10 seconds.
• Example: There are 3 featured Sessions added to this Event. There are 2 non-featured Sessions. Featured Sessions 1, 2, and 3 will scroll through the top margin.

Learn More About Session Related Items

• Add Attendees to Sessions here.
• Add Tracks to Sessions here.
• Add Staff to Sessions here.