Best Practices: User-led events

The short answer to this is that Gainsight CC is not set up for this type of event administration. Other event platforms offer that functionality and then can integrate with Gainsight CC so that the event show on your community calendar. I believe there’s a good number of Gainsight CC customer who leverage other platforms and then integrate it into their community (I’m just not one). 

If truly user-led events are key to your strategy and operations, you likely need to invest in an events platform and then integrate that into your community UX.

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The reason Gainsight cant do it is because fundamentally the event administration happens in the Control backend by those with admin access. You could potentially give users access, but they’d count against your license seats and I’d guess that you probably don’t want them in the backend (even with limited permissions). 

That said, a lot of what you’re looking to accomplish a lot of what you want to do using Gainsight CC and an automation tool like Zapier to leverage the API. You’d probably also need to use Google Workspace or Office365 tools for some of it. 

Probably Possible: 

• The hosts can create the events on our platform. 

Not possible unless you give them access to the backend. BUT you could build an automation where they fill out a Google Form and it uses the API to create the event on the calendar. 
 

• The Host can do an easy checkin by clicking who came and who was a no-show.
• There is a limit or way to say that the event is fully booked, ideally with an automatic waiting list. 
• A badge is automatically sent to users who participated. 

Badges can be automated easily via the API, but the tough part is how you’re tracking who came vs who was a no show. If you do the tracking just in a shared spreadsheet the users can edit, you could automate that easily enough. 
 

Very difficult

• The Confirmation and reminder can easily be scheduled from the host. 
• The followup emails with a link to the relevant posting, incl. pictures and a rating, are being sent out afterward automatically. 

These are much harder, but you could probably solution ways to some of them with the API and automation tools. However, you could automate some things using email campaigns. You’d just need staff to do the setup of all that. Very difficult to just do via the host

Some good news:

• Everyone can see who is coming. 
• The registrants can manage their event participation via the Community.

These should already be available out-of-the-box with Gainsight CC, if I’m not mistaken. 

Hi @DannyPancratz,

thank you soo much for your detailed answer! 😍

For the short time, solutions with workarounds:
I like your workaround with the Google Form creating an Event on the Community via a Zap, I haven’t thought of this.
 

The registrants can manage their event participation via the Community.

Here I seem to have missed something. How is if working to decline an event once registered? On the Community, I haven’t seen an option. 

Depending on the point above, if it isn’t possible to decline, we feel like we have to work with a HubSpot Landing page. And then we could send reminders etc. 

For the long term solution on a possible platform: 
I already thought that it is unrealistic to do it with Gainsight CC itself. So I am super curious to hear from users who are using an integration, which one and how it can be integrated to the Community Plattform. 

“Other event platforms offer that functionality and then can integrate with Gainsight CC so that the event show on your community calendar.”

That would be amazing!!

Questions to the Community/Event Managers out there working with an Event Platform: 

• Who of you is using another tool and pushing Events via API into the Community?
• Which Tools do you use?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages?

Thanks so much for your input, we really appreciate it!

Best,
Lena

How is if working to decline an event once registered? On the Community, I haven’t seen an option. 

If you’re using the community registration option (not an external link), users should be see an option to edit their registration. Here’s what I’m seeing on my community: 

We have changed the phrases for these from whatever they were originally to “interested” so yours may look a bit different.

Ah, good to know, I haven’t seen that in my test, I will have to check this again!
Thank you!