Bookshelf Home | Contents | Index | Search | PDF

Siebel eEvents Management Guide for Financial Services > Preparing for an Event > End-User Procedures for Preparing for an Event >

Content and Speaker Preparation Tasks

---

Most business events involve the presentation of information. The amount and type of information presented varies across events, as do the means of presentation. This section describes the processes for organizing the information for presentation, choosing speakers for the event, and preparing collateral for distribution during the event.

This section provides material on how to prepare information for an event. Later sections of this chapter provide information about venues, equipment, budgets, vendors, and other aspects of event preparation and implementation.

Basic Questions

In the course of organizing the information for an event, you may find it useful to consider the following questions:

What kind of audience do you hope to reach?
What professional challenges do members of your audience face?
How will the information help the audience meet its challenges?
What is the size of the audience you intend to reach?
What kind of presentation will your audience find most useful and appealing? For example, is your information appropriate for a lecture format, a hands-on workshop, a demonstration, and so on?
How long will it take to present the information?
What equipment, such as computers, projectors, projection screens, slides, sound systems, and telephone or network wiring, will you need for your presentation?
What collateral item do you want audience members to take with them from the event?
What resources (human and monetary) do you have for the event?

Having at least tentative answers to these questions helps you decide on the basic structure of an event, including session type and length, speakers, and collateral.

Organizing Presentation Content into Sessions

During event preparation, you need to establish sessions within subevents, allowing attendees to choose which presentations to attend. It is not mandatory to create sessions for a subevent with only one presentation, but creating sessions allows an attendee to synchronize to their personal calendar. Additionally, you can associate a speaker with one or more sessions, but not with subevents and events. You can also record feedback received on a session using the session's Feedback Form, as described in Adding a Session to a Subevent.

When you organize a subevent into sessions, each session behaves like a subevent within a subevent, with its own requirements and staffing. Remember that certain information stored in Siebel eEvents Manager for Finance at the session level is not visible at event or subevent levels.

Adding a Session to a Subevent

After you create an event, your Siebel application generates the subevents. You can add one or more sessions to a subevent.

To add a session to a subevent

From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Events > All Events.
In the Events list, click the name hyperlink of an event.
In the Sub-Events list, click the name hyperlink of the subevent to which you want to add a session.
Click the Sessions view tab.
In the Sessions list, create a new record.

The session record inherits the start date and end date from the subevent. The Status field displays the default value of In Progress.

Modify the Start and End fields as necessary.

NOTE:  A session's start and end times cannot be outside the range of its parent subevent's start and end times.

After entering a name, click the name hyperlink to navigate to the Sessions screen.
In the Session form, click the show more button and fill in the fields as needed.

The following table describes some of the fields in the session form.

Field	Comments
Session Fee	Any fee specific to the individual session, in addition to the event Registration Fee. This field may not be displayed in the Sessions list by default, but can be made visible by using the Columns Displayed command.
Comments	A text field for notes related to the session. Visible to administrators only. This field may not be displayed in the Sessions list by default, but can be made visible by using the Columns Displayed command.
Description	A description of the session. Information stored in this field is visible to potential event attendees who request detailed information about the session.
Dress Code	The recommended session attire. Values available by default include Business Casual, Business Professional, Black Tie, Sport, and Casual. This field may not be displayed in the Sessions list by default, but can be made visible by using the Columns Displayed command. LOV Type: EVENT_DRESS_CODE
End	Required. The date and time when the session ends. Defaults to the value of the End field for the event.
Fee Type	A description of the kind of fee noted for the session in the Additional Fee field, if any. Typical values include Donation, None, Registration, and Voluntary. This field may not be displayed in the Sessions list by default, but can be made visible by using the Columns Displayed command.
Feedback Form	An optional field for entering feedback received about the session.
Format	The type of session. Values available by default include Keynote, Lecture, Panel, and so on. LOV Type: EVENT_FORMAT
Session Capacity	The maximum number of people who can attend the session. This field may not be displayed in the Sessions list by default, but can be made visible by using the Columns Displayed command. If a value is specified for Room, defaults to the capacity of the room. If no value is specified for Room, defaults to the Event Capacity value for the event. For more information about entering room characteristics, see To enter room information for a potential event venue.
Name	Required. A name to identify the session.
Related Sessions	One or more other sessions that cover related information. Available values are all sessions for all events. This field may not be displayed in the Sessions list by default, but can be made visible by using the Columns Displayed command.
Room	The specific room in the venue where the session is held. This field may not be displayed in the Sessions list by default, but can be made visible by using the Columns Displayed command. Available values depend upon information entered under the Rooms view tab of the Accounts screen. For more information about entering room information in the Accounts screen, see To enter room information for a potential event venue.
Start	Required. Date and time when the session starts.
Status	The status of the session. Values available by default include Planned, Executing, In Progress, Completed, and Cancelled. LOV Type: EVENT_STATUS_CODE
Venue	The location or facility where the session is held, which may or may not be related to primary venue for the event.

You can add a group of sessions to a subevent using a session template. As application administrator, you must set up a session template before you can associate it with a subevent.

NOTE:  Once a template is applied, it cannot be changed. If sessions already exist for the subevent, applying a template has no effect. It appears that the template has been applied (the field is complete on the subevent); however, the sessions are not generated.

To associate a session template with a subevent

From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Events > All Events.
In the Events list, click the name hyperlink of an event.
In the Sub-Events list, click the name hyperlink of a subevent.
In the Sub-Event form, click the select button in the Session Templates field to select a session template.

Viewing Session Schedules and Attendees

This section describes procedures for viewing session schedules and attendees. There are two ways you can view sessions. You can view session schedules using the Session Calendar. This method is helpful for confirming that there are no unintentional gaps or overlaps in the timing of sessions. You can also view only the available sessions for an overall event. These are sessions for which the value in the Signup Status field is Open. You may also view a session's list of attendees to determine the session's popularity, or for informational purposes.

The following procedure describes how to view the Session Calendar.

To view the Session Calendar

From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Events > All Events.
In the Events list, click the name hyperlink of an event.
In the Sub-Events list, click the name hyperlink of a subevent.
Click the Session Calendar view tab.

The following procedure describes how to view only the available sessions for an overall event.

To view only the available sessions for an event

From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Events > All Events.
In the Events list, select an event and click the Sessions view tab.
In the Sessions list, select Open from the Show drop-down list.

The following procedure describes how to view a list of session attendees.

To view session attendees

From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Events > All Events.
In the Events list, click the name hyperlink of an event.
In the Sub-Events list, click the name hyperlink of a subevent.
Click the Sessions view tab, and click the name hyperlink of the session for which you want to view attendees.
Click the Attendees view tab.
To see a list of all companies registered for a session, click the Account Attendees view tab.

NOTE:  Registering a contact automatically registers that contact's company.

Publishing Event Information to a Web Site

If your company has purchased the optional Siebel eEvents for Finance module, you can prepare your event information for Web site publication. It is important to note that only subevents and sessions display on the customer-facing eEvents Web site (the Web site). Events and Tracks do not display on the Web site.

The combination of six Siebel eEvents Manager for Finance settings affect whether or not information in the Sub-Events and Sessions screens is visible to prospective event attendees on the Web site. These settings are as follows:

The status of the event
The start date of the event
The type of event
The Registration Status of the prospective attendee
The Registration status of the company of the prospective attendee
The External flag setting

NOTE:  The flag is set to False when the event is created. You can set this flag only on the Event level. It is read-only at the subevent and session levels. When you set the flag on the event, the setting is copied down to all children.

The following procedures describe how to choose settings for the visibility you want.

To make event information visible to invited company employees

From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Events > All Events, and select an event.
Make sure the External column check box is checked (value = TRUE).
In the Event form, set the Status field to Executing or In Progress.
Set the Start field to a date in the future or to today's date.
Make sure the Event Type field is not set to Restricted.
Click the Sub-Events view tab, and then click the name hyperlink of a subevent.

To make event information visible to internal employees

From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Events > All Events, and select an event.
Make sure the External column check box is not checked.
In the Event form, set the Status field to Executing, Planned, or In Progress.
Set the Start field to a date in the future or to today's date.

To make event information visible to administrators only

Set Status to any value except Executing or In Progress, or set Start to a date earlier than today's date.
If a subevent is visible, then the sessions related to it can be visible or not based on the value in the Status field in the session itself. As with events, a status of Executing or In Progress allows all users to see the session information.

Preparing Event Collateral

Another aspect of organizing information for an event is preparing literature such as brochures, white papers, presentation handouts, trade show exhibit maps, and so on. Collectively, such literature is known as collateral. Collateral can be a Web page URL or a file.

You can manage collateral preparation using activities in Siebel eEvents Manager for Finance. After collateral is prepared, those electronic files, as well as vendor and venue contracts, can be stored in the Siebel eEvents Manager for Finance.

Adding Collateral to a Subevent or a Session

You can use Siebel eEvents Manager for Finance to store collateral for a subevent or for a specific session.

To add a collateral item to a subevent or a session

From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Events > All-Events.
In the Events list, click the name hyperlink an event.
In the Sub-Events list, click the name hyperlink of a subevent. To add collateral to a session instead of a subevent, continue by clicking the Sessions view tab and the name hyperlink of a session.
Click the Collateral view tab.
In the Collateral list, create a new record.

The following table describes some of the fields in the Collateral list.

Field	Comments
Auto Update	A check box here indicates that a copy of this file is updated each time the original file is saved.
Extension	The file name extension for the electronic file. Typical values would include doc, ppt, xls, and so on.
File	The long file name of the collateral, without the file name extension. This field allows you to attach new collateral, not yet added as literature to the database, using the select button.
Local	The local availability if the file. If it is not locally available, you can request that it be downloaded at the next synchronization by checking the Request field.
Modified	The date that the file was last modified. This information is updated automatically whenever the file is saved.
Name	The name of the electronic file.
Request	A check box that allows a remote user to request a file download at the next synchronization.
Status	The current stage of preparation for the collateral item. Typical values include Designed, Draft, Final, Printed, Shipped, and Submitted. LOV Type: EVENT_COLLATERAL_STATUS
Type	The kind of collateral item. Typical values include Brochure, Flyer, Handout, Layout, Map, and Presentation. LOV Type: EVENT_COLLATERAL_TYPE

Bookshelf Home | Contents | Index | Search | PDF