- 08 Mar 2024
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Cancelling Events and Managing Crisis Communications
- Updated 08 Mar 2024
- 6 minute read
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If an emergency arises at your organization and your staff needs to review and update items in Slate, this list of items can help identify the likely areas you may wish to focus. This list is not exhaustive and is intended to review the most common changes/updates needed during an emergency.
Cancelling Events
Batch Cancel event registrations
Use the query tool to batch cancel event registrations.
Click Queries / Reports in the top navigation bar.
Click Quick Query and select the base of Prospects (or Applications for Application-scoped events).
Add a subquery filter and join to Form Responses and select the appropriate event instance.
Add at least one export to your query.
Run the query.
From the output, select Interaction (or Activity for Application-scoped events) and enter the following configurations in the popup window:
User - Select a user (optional)
Code - Forms and Events
Category - The Folder of the cancelled event
Instance - The cancelled event
Status - Cancelled
Date - Defaults to today's date
Click Submit. An interaction will now be added to the timeline of the affected records indicating the event registration has been cancelled.
NOTE: This will cancel any related events AND remove any event payment due activities.
Set custom unavailable message for cancelled events
In order to cancel an event in Slate, change the status to 'cancelled.' When the status of cancelled is selected, users now have the option of setting a custom message. Cancelled events will not appear on event landing pages, and the custom message will display if students access the registration page from a previously-provided communication.
The custom message will appear on the event page(s):
If no custom message is set, the default message will say the event has been cancelled. If an event is cancelled, users cannot administratively register records for the event. If a registration should be added to the event, the event will need to be marked as Confirmed/Active or Tentative. Administrative registrations will also see the custom unavailable message.
Event communication trigger of "Upon Event Cancellation"
When creating a new event communication, a new trigger for "Upon Event Cancellation" is available. This message will be sent out to all registrants and waitlisted students at the time of the event cancellation.
Event communication group options for "Upon Cancellation" (for registrations that are administratively cancelled)
Existing "Upon Cancellation" emails will continue as normal (sending only upon direct cancellation), but users can update their existing communications or add new ones to ensure registrants receive a communication when the registration is cancelled administratively.
The group options for this communication are:
Event Communications
Review all event communications pertaining to events or any communication that may have a deadline included in the text. You may wish to consider additional communications to constituents like parents or alumni.
Event Portals
We recommend updating any event portals with additional information about cancellations or a link regarding updated or cancelled visits.
Online Events
Details of online events
For full details on online events, please see Online Events and Webinars.
Online Events |
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Limit on number of simultaneous streams | None, although checking network bandwidth is highly recommended. |
Limit on event length | None. Starting and stopping of the event is possible and will result in multiple recordings. |
Changing from an in-person event to an online event
If an in-person event becomes an online event using the Share platform, the location of an event can be changed to an online event by clicking "Host event using Share webinar platform" in the location. This will make the merge field "Form-Share-Link" available as a merge field in event communications such as an Hours Before Event communication.
In order to notify registrants immediately that an event has changed from an in-person event to an online event, we recommend creating a mailing with the trigger of "Outreach Mailing (send as scheduled)." For mailings with this trigger, a recipient list must be created with these settings:
Name - Internal mailing name
List Type - Include
Type - Local
Base - Form and Event Registrations
Folder - The folder containing the online event
Form/Event - The instance of the event
Filters - You will likely also want to include a filter for "Form Status" for Registered
Exports - The merge field "Form-Share-Link" will allow registrants to access the Share Webinar and tie it to the registrant’s person ID.
If an Outreach mailing is not desired, you can use Deliver to create the message. Follow the steps in the Interview section below and replace step 7 with this Share link:
https://YOURSLATEDOMAIN.EDU/share/view?id={{registration_guid}}
Changing from in-person interviews to online interviews
The process for communicating a location change for interviews follows a similar process as events. However there are a few key differences since Outreach mailings are not available for interviews, and interviews cannot have communications for a single slot.
In order to notify interview registrants that an interview has changed from an in-person slot to an online slot, we recommend the following, which will create the recipient list that will allow you to recreate the "Form-Share-Link", which is not an available export in Deliver.
Click Events in the top navigation bar, click Scheduler, then choose appropriate template.
Click New Query from the template page. This will create a query using the base of event registrations for the template, which can also be done manually through the query tool.
Add/adjust the following filters:
Registration Status - Edit the filter to only include "Registered".
Create a Join to Form
Form > Start Date - and then add the start date as ">= today". This will capture all upcoming events in your selected template.
Add any additional filters to limit the event registrants to the desired group. Additional filters could include "Form > Status = Confirmed", "Event Title", "Folder", or "Template".
Add the following Join for additional exports and filters:
Template Name > Person
Add the following exports:
Form > Start Date/Time - consider using a format mask to change the way the date is displayed.
Person > Preferred (or First)
Person > Email
(Template Name) > GUID - This is a crucial field that will be used to create the Share link. Consider changing the name of the export to "registration_guid." (Note: the header should be the name of the Template, and not Form, Person, or Application.)
Add any additional export that you want to use as merge fields.
Run Query and Export to a new Deliver Mailing. This query will become the recipient list.
When creating the content of the message, the link for the Share interview will be:
https://YOURSLATEDOMAIN.EDU/share/interview?id={{registration_guid}}
Test this process by registering a test applicant for the slot.
Portals
To add a special notice in a Portal, the "Static Content" block should be used. Having content like notices and other links to information can help provide a central location for constituents to receive updates.
Inbox
We recommend Inbox users review any auto replies, set up new rules for messages containing key words like “cancellation”. We also recommend adding new snippets to maintain consistent messaging.
Self-service rescheduling
Even if self-service rescheduling was not enabled initially, by selecting "Allow Rescheduling" from an event template, registrants will be able to reschedule their registration to another event of the same template within a specified timeframe.
Projects and Tasks
Since many of the changes made during an emergency will be reactionary and unique, we recommend utilizing Projects and Tasks to track the changes that were made if they require future follow-up such as removing notices from a Portal or deactivating certain event communications.
Deadlines
As a general reminder, ensure that any upcoming deadlines that are extended in light of current events are configured as intended throughout your instance. If your institution is planning to extend deadlines, such as application deadlines, payment/donation deadlines, or reply deadlines, we recommend reviewing your application round settings, any hard/soft fails, and any checklist rules or form checklist items.
Slate Users
Since it is likely that internal staff will be working remotely, we recommend the following tools which may help coordinate work securely and efficiently:
Share Screen - Share your screen with others internally or externally.
Multi-Factor Authentication - An additional layer of security while working remotely.
Report Widgets - For displaying messages or reports for internal users