An event communication plan needs more than an invitation date. It should show who needs each message, which channel suits the purpose and who handles changes. That makes it easier to keep information consistent throughout the participant journey.
Our example is Workshop Collective’s fictional repair evening. It has 30 places and is restricted to invited members. The timings below are planning suggestions, not universal rules about when event messages should be sent.
Define the groups first
An invitee who has not responded needs a different message from someone with a confirmed place. Keep invited, registered, waitlisted, cancelled and checked-in participants distinct. The last group represents recorded attendance; registration alone does not.
Also define what the event should achieve. Here, participants should get help deciding the next step for a broken item. That purpose shapes both the invitation and the feedback questions.
Plan each communication separately
| When | Group | Content and channel | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four weeks before | Selected invitees | Email with purpose, programme and registration. | Communications editor |
| On booking | Person with a confirmed place | Confirmation with time, location and a personal management link. | Event owner checks settings |
| One week before | Invitees who have not registered | Relevant reminder if registration remains open and the capacity situation permits it. | Communications editor |
| Day before | Registered participants | Practical email; SMS where useful and available for the recipient. | Event owner |
| When something changes | Affected participants | Corrected time or location with a clear heading. | Event owner |
| Day after | Checked-in participants | Thanks, materials and a short experience survey. | Survey owner |
The plan may combine manual tasks and scheduled messages. Say which is which: a row in a document is not yet a setting in the system.
Align the invitation and event page
The invitation explains why someone might attend. The event page collects the programme, time, location, contact details and registration conditions. Check that both describe the same event. For an online meeting, verify the link to the external meeting service.
An original confirmation example:
You have a place at the repair evening on 12 November, from 18:00 to 20:00, in the community workshop. Please read what you can bring. Use your personal link if you need to change or cancel your booking.
The finished message must use the event’s current details and intended personal link. Never copy one participant’s link into a general campaign.
Set up communication in IdRelay
IdRelay supports event confirmations by email and SMS, with options for channel, timing, audience and message. Scheduled reminders require an invitation-only event. Check the event type before designing an automatic reminder sequence. Do not assume the same sequence applies to an open event.
SMS requires SMS support to be enabled and a valid mobile number. Check channel unsubscribes too. Custom SMS text may create multiple message segments; test the finished text with links and required opt-out information before assessing cost.
If using custom campaigns, choose the right message for the channel and occasion. Check that the campaigns are published and their underlying sending jobs are active. For multilingual events, fixed text in separate campaigns needs its own language handling. It is not automatically translated because the event page has several languages.
Test exceptions too
Create a test registration, change it and cancel it. Check the messages for every channel you intend to use. Also test a waitlisted person and a participant without a mobile number. Review times in the event’s time zone.
If the date, location or content changes, review the event page, communication plan and affected messages. If a message appears to be missing, investigate its sending status before requesting another send.
Ask the right people about their experience
Ask checked-in participants about the event itself. If you want to understand why someone did not attend, use a different question for that group. IdRelay can connect a survey to the event and keep results in a separate survey round for that event.
Explore IdRelay Events and Surveys. Continue with participant management and writing useful survey questions.