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Enable and Configure Virtual Events: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1278215
Before you can start using Virtual Events, you'll need to set the feature up in your account. In this article, we'll show you how to:
- Contact our support team
- Set your support contact URL
- Prepare your "emergency pull-switch"
- Set up file tracking for VOD Event Instances
- Follow Virtual Event discussions in the Client Community
Let's get started!
1. Contact our support team
First things first! Reach out to discuss adding this feature to your PatronManager account.
When you're ready to get started, submit a support request via the Community. We'll walk you through the details, then you'll sign a contract addendum, then we'll enable the feature for you.
Once the enablement is complete, you'll continue with step 2 below.
2. Set your support contact URL
The streaming player contains a "Support" link in the footer. We recommend pointing it at a specific page on your website with contact info for patrons to get in touch with you if they have questions before, during, or after a virtual event.
1. Head over to PatronTicket Settings from the PatronTicket Hub
2. Click "Edit"
3. Fill in the "Virtual Events Contact URL" field, and save!
You'll find this field in the "Virtual Event Settings" section at the bottom of the page.
You must supply a complete URL, including the "http://" or "https://" prefix.
3. Prepare your "emergency pull-switch"
Technology is inherently unpredictable; we want you to be prepared in case anything unexpected happens.
In this section, you'll prepare an email template with an alternate link to view or join your event, ready to send to all ticket-holders with a few clicks if anything goes wrong.
You have two options here; which you choose really depends on the size of your audience:
Q: Where do I find the alternate link?
A: You should be prepared to host your content on another platform in an emergency, such as a page on your organization's website or a platform like YouTube or Vimeo. This will be your alternate link.
Your best option is Automated Communications. You'll set up a template and send the emails from inside PatronManager. It's easy to use, quick, and convenient. However, there are limitations:
Warning!
These emails count towards your Salesforce Single Email Limit. Once you hit 5,000 total emails for the day, Automated Communications will no longer work. More importantly, ticket purchase and donation confirmation emails will no longer send, meaning you won't be able to process further transactions that day.
Once you've read the warning above and are ready to go, follow these steps:
The overall process is similar to sending cancellation emails, so you may want to read through that article first.
1. Make sure you've enabled Automated Communications
If you're not already using Automated Communications for pre- and post-show emails or cancellation emails, you'll probably need to enable the feature first.
Automated Communications is only available in Lightning!
2. Create a new Automated Communications merge field on the Event Instance object
This is similar to what you'd do for the "Rescheduling To" field in a cancellation email. If you're not familiar with the process, this article on creating custom merge fields for Automated Communications will help.
Ready? Create a custom field like so:
- Object: Event Instance
- Field type: text
- Field name: "Alternate Viewing Link"
Be sure to follow the steps in the article linked above to make the new field available for merging in your email template!
3. Set up an emergency email template
We'll use the Automated Communications feature to create a custom email template for this purpose: you can follow step 2 of the cancellation emails article for this part.
Be sure to add your new "Alternate Viewing Link" field to the template as a merge field.
What should I say in the template?
You'll only send out this template shortly before an Event if there's a problem, and the goal is to get your ticket-holders the alternate link to view the livestream. We recommend keeping it short and sweet, with the focus on the alternate link.
4. Make sure you're familiar with the steps required to send it out if needed
Read through the cancellation emails article one more time, and keep it handy: those are the steps you'd follow in a pre-event emergency.
- Assign the template for cancellation emails in Automated Communication Settings
- Send cancellation emails for the affected Event Instance(s) from the Ticketable Event
Feel good? You can move on to the next step, where you'll set up file tracking.
Make sure someone else at your organization is also familiar with this process, just in case!
The overall process is similar to how you'd send virtual event ticket links via Emma/MailChimp (just with a different link), so you may want to read over that article first before following the steps below:
1. Prepare an email template in your email marketing program to use
In Emma or MailChimp, prepare an email template to use in case you need to send out a new link to your stream.
What should I say in the template?
You'll only send out this template shortly before an Event if there's a problem, and the goal is to get your ticket-holders the alternate link to view the livestream. We recommend keeping it short and sweet, with the focus on the alternate link.
2. Be sure you've set up a report template to use quickly
The report needs to show Contact ID and Email Address, and you need to be able to filter only for patrons who purchased tickets to this Event Instance. You can build this report from scratch using Cross Filters or use a CRM Snapshot.
If you're not sure how to build this report, don't worry: we'll show you how to build it step-by-step in Step 2 here. The only difference is you won't need to include the Barcode field in your report, because you'll be sending a link to view your content on a different platform.
3. Make sure you're familiar with the steps required to send it out if needed
If something happens, you'll need to:
- Find (or create) the alternate link for your virtual event
- Adjust the report filters for just the virtual Event Instance you're trying to stream
- Sync that report with either an Emma Segment or MailChimp Static Segment
- Insert the alternate link in the email template and send the email
Feel good? You can move on to the next step, where you'll set up file tracking.
Make sure someone else at your organization is also familiar with this process, just in case!
4. Set up file tracking for Video On Demand
If you'll be using the VOD feature, we strongly recommend that you complete this step so that you'll have a record of which video file you uploaded and when. These details can be useful for troubleshooting.
1. Head over to Setup, search for "Feed", and click "Feed Tracking"
2. Scroll down in the "Objects" column and click on "Event Instance"
3. Check the box to "Enable Feed Tracking"
4. Check the boxes for "Video File Name" and "Video File Size"
5. Scroll back to the top and click "Save"
6. All set!
Now you'll be able to see the video file change history on VOD Event Instances in the Chatter feed section at the top of the page.
Most of the time you won't need this visible on your Event Instances; click the "Hide Feed" link to collapse it out of the way:
You can always click "Show Feed" when you need it!
5. Follow the Virtual Events topic on the Client Community
There's a discussion topic in the Client Community for organizations using the Virtual Events feature! This is a great place to learn from each other, ask questions, and see what other organizations are doing.
We encourage conversation here - don't be afraid to jump in and ask questions of your peers.
Here's how to find and follow the topic in the Community:
5.1. Search for "Virtual Events" and click the topic result
5.2. Click "Follow"
