Events Marketing, Registrations, and Payment with RSVPMaker

The most common use of RSVPMaker in WordPress fot Toastmasters is to create and manage events linked to a meeting template. The setup of those events is described in the Agenda Administration section of the knowledge base. However, that is not all RSVPMaker can be used for.

You can use it to:

• Promote a club open house
• Promote a TLI, conference, or other event and register people for that event.
• Collect money online via integration with PayPal and Stripe.
• Send broadcast email messages based on events or blog posts, using integration with MailChimp.

The RSVP / registration features can also be used in combination with Toastmasters agenda management. For example, Online Presenters Toastmasters uses RSVPMaker to register guests who wish to attend its online meetings. The online meeting sign in link is included with the confirmation message visitors get when they register.

See the RSVPMaker documentation for complete details, but here is the basic event setup process:

When you click the Add New option under RSVP Events, you do not launch straight into the WordPress editor the way you would with a page or post. Before you create an event post, RSVPMaker prompts you to provide basic details such as the event date and whether you will be collecting RSVPs (event registrations).

The box in the upper right hand corner is where you would click if you want to create an event template, or create one or more events based on a template. Otherwise, you should ignore that.

Enter a title and use the controls on this screen to set the date and time of your event, the end time, and a few RSVP and event display options. You can change these settings later.

When you click Save Changes, RSVPMaker will create a draft event based on those settings. Use the WordPress editor to fill in the details about your event and why people should attend.

The process of creating events and event templates is much the same as it would be with meeting event templates — except that instead of making the body of the post a series of Agenda Role and Agenda Note blocks, you include whatever text, images, and other content that will do the best job of marketing your events.

The event date, time, and many RSVP and display parameters can be changed through the document sidebar represented by the calendar icon.

To see all the options, including pricing and online payment for events, visit click RSVP / Event Options on the black admin bar at the top of the screen. A complete list of options will be displayed in a separate window.

When you create an event template, the RSVP, pricing, and other parameters are copied to the events generated based on that template.