EVENT WIZARDRYStreamlining Event Creation

and Reporting"

!!

Rebecca Vander Linde"Alumni Communications Coordinator"

American University!

About American University

•  Private, coeducational, liberal arts institution in Washington, D.C.!

•  12,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states!

•  120,000+ alumni in 140 countries!

•  The Office of Alumni Relations holds between 350-400 events a year, most of which are hosted in iModules. !

•  We have been an iModules client for five years.!

•  Superlatives: Politically active student body, top producer of Fulbright Scholars and Peace Corps volunteers.!

BEFORE AND AFTER"

Training materials

BEFORE"

12-page, text heavy training manual!90 minute training session!

AFTER"

2 pages of training materials, plus online instructions!30 minute training session!

Registration reports

BEFORE"Messy data!

AFTER"Clean data!

THE MATH"

Staff time spent per week

30

14

120

90

72

300

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Training

Event Creation

Reporting

Minutes"

Before After

Time savings per year

AU hosted 373 events with registration in iModules in FY15!

WITHOUT TEMPLATES"

staff time to set up registration!62 HOURS, 10 MINUTES"

WITH TEMPLATES"

staff time to set up registration!

12 HOURS, 26 MINUTES"

WITHOUT EXCEL FORMULAS"

staff time to pull registration reports!

250 HOURS"WITH EXCEL FORMULAS"

staff time to pull registration reports!

100 HOURS"

HOW?

Templates"

+ Formulas"

+ Magic!"

EVENT TEMPLATES EXPLAINED"

What is an event template?

An event in iModules that has your standard settings. It can be duplicated and customized for individual events."

•  When you clone an event, most settings will carry over!•  After cloning, most settings can be tailored to each event’s needs!•  Saves event managers time !

•  Ensures registration process is consistent across all events!

CLONED" NOT CLONED"  Title!  Start and end dates!  Display dates!

  Registration dates!  Donation category!

  Form specific roles!  Attendee list settings!!

ü  Member fields!ü  Categories!ü  Steps and step settings!

ü  Commerce items!ü  Preview text!

ü  Description text!ü  Detail page layout!ü  Confirmation emails!

ü  Review and finish page!ü  Profile-driven roles!

What is an event template?

Role-base with instructions only

administrators can see"

Links to screenshot"

Links to iModules Confluence online help"

Custom breadcrumbs"

Logged in"

Logged out"

Template sets ticket price to $1, but event managers

enter their own price"

Note: Donation categories must be added by event

managers"

AU’s event templates

Important tips to remember

ü  Protect your template! Create an event that will serve as a template and nothing else. !

ü  Do not register anyone on your template event.!

ü  Changes made to your template will affect all

events created after the changes are made, but it

will not change existing events.!

ü  Make sure you VERIFY THE FORM!!

EXCEL WIZARDRY"

Event data!

Event data

Getting started"

•  Connect your database to iModules.!•  Create a custom saved fields export list.!•  What do you need to know about your registrants?!

Step 1: Choose the data you need!

•  AU ID !!•  First Name!•  Last Name!

•  Email Address!•  Number of Tickets !

•  Guest Names!•  Degree Information (User

Added)!

•  Degree Information (Database)!

•  Affiliations!•  Consecutive Years Giving!•  Lifetime Giving!

•  President’s Circle !•  Assigned !

•  Solicitation Goal!•  Date Added !

Saved fields list "

Step 2: Make a custom Excel formula template !

Important Formulas!•  HLOOKUP!

•  IF Statements!•  Nested IF Statements!

Helpful Cosmetic Formulas!•  Concatenate!•  Trim!

•  Lower!

"

HLOOKUP!•  Finds values in a specific row in large datasets!•  Examples: !

•  IDs!•  Names!

•  Date added!!

=HLOOKUP("ID",'Raw List'!$A$1:$ZZ$1000,2,FALSE)!

•  Look Up Value – the name of the column !•  Table Array – where the column is located !

•  Row Index Number – row # of data!•  Range Look Up – !

•  TRUE: Approximate match!•  FALSE: Exact match!

!

IF statements !

=IF(P2="", AL2, P2)!•  Is P2 blank?!

•  If yes, use AL2.!•  If no, use P2.!

•  Useful for: !

•  A choice between two options.!•  EX: Grad Information: user-added vs. database.!

Nested IF statements!

""!•  Useful for

multiple options. !

•  Examples: !•  Degrees!•  Schools!•  Ribbons!

Nested IF statements"

"!

•  Does Q2 have “School of International Service”?!

•  If yes, put SIS in the cell. !•  If no, check the next test: !

•  Does Q2 have “Kogod School of Business”?!•  If yes, put Kogod in the cell. !•  If no, check the next test:!

•  Does Q2 have “School of Communication”?!

Final steps!

Step 3: Export Raw Data from iModules!"Step 4: Transform Raw Data into Reg List!•  Copy “Raw Data” from iModules. !•  Paste into custom formula template. !•  Adjust as needed. !

Step 5: Copy and Paste!!"

Tips and Tricks

"""

•  Creating the custom formula template!•  Think before you do.!•  Get accustomed to formulas. !•  Copy and Paste Values. !

•  EX: All American Weekend!•  Sorting by events.!

•  Easy to count registration per event.!•  New iModules system with guests. !

Troubleshooting!

•  Spot-check a few to make sure the information is correct.!•  Common Issue: A formula repeats itself.!

•  Example: Formula pulls data from A50; then in A51, formula is repeating data from A50.!

•  Limitation: Will only do what’s been written.!•  A lot of front-end work, but WORTH IT!!

QUESTIONS?"

Stay in touch!Rebecca Vander Linde"

Alumni Communications Coordinator!vanderli@american.edu!

@rfvanderlinde!

THANK YOU!"