Content groups separate event registrants into different levels of participant viewership access. By configuring these limits, you can prevent users from viewing other participants on the event page, thus restricting them from messaging or scheduling breakout meetings with the participants in those groups.
1. Creating Content Groups
All new events come with the "default" content group, and all registrants are automatically added to this content group unless you make additional ones. Unless edited otherwise, users in the "default" group can view all other event participants as long as networking is enabled.
From the event management page, navigate to [Basic settings]>[Group] and click [Create new].
Enter the [Content group name] and click [Add] when finished.
<tips>As you create more content groups, you will see them appear as options for the [Viewable groups] field. We recommend creating all content groups before setting the [Viewable groups] for each one, as outlined in section 2 of this article.
See also section 4 of this article for more information about the [Display at QR check-in] field.</tips>
Confirm your newly created content group, and repeat the process to make as many groups as needed.
Once you have created the content groups you need, the next step is to set the [Viewable groups] for each one, as outlined in the following section.
2. Configuring Viewable Groups
What are viewable groups?
The [Viewable groups] setting determines which of the other content groups a member of a given group can network with. Participants excluded from a user's viewable group will not appear in the [Participants] or [Booths] tabs.
In an example like the one shown below, event participants can network in the following ways:
- Attendees cannot initiate networking with anybody.
- Exhibitors can network with attendees, but they cannot initiate networking with fellow exhibitors or staff.
- Staff can network with attendees, exhibitors, and other staff.
To configure the [Viewable groups] settings, click on a content group and then click [Edit].
Select the applicable content groups for the [Viewable groups] field and click [Save].
In the example image below, participants in the "Exhibitor" content group can view and network with attendees and exhibitors but not staff members.
Repeat the process to set each content group's [Viewable groups].
3. Registering Users to a Content Group
You can use two methods to register event participants into a content group.
1. Add a Content Group to a Ticket
Create a new ticket via [Basic settings]>[Tickets/Forms]>[Create new].
Select from your available groups for the [Content group] field. You cannot change this option once the ticket has been created.
All participants who register for the event using this ticket will automatically be included in the specified content group.
2. Include the Content Group in a User List for Excel Upload
Navigate to [Attendees] or [Exhibitors]>[User list]>[Create new]>[Download template] to access an Excel template file used to upload and register participants.
Fill in the necessary information for each user in the template file's [Data] tab. Enter the content group for each user in the [Content Group Name (searchGroup)] column.
Reference the following article for additional information: Registering Participants via Excel Upload
4. Displaying Content Groups at QR Check-In
When you set [Display at QR check-in] to [Display] and a participant checks in with their QR code, the scanning device will display the participant's content group. You can use this feature in some of the following ways:
- If you have both attendee and exhibitor groups, you can provide participants with corresponding badging by confirming their content groups when they check in with their QR code to the event.
- If you have sessions limited to VIP users, you can confirm each participant's content group when they check in to the session, helping you admit only the VIPs.
See below for an example of this use case:
Create a "VIP" content group and set the [Display at QR check-in] setting to [Display]. The rest of the content groups can remain in the [Don't display] setting.
When VIP event participants check in with their QR code, the scanning device will display "VIP" as their content group.
<tips>The QR check-in function is only for applicable in-person and hybrid events. For online events, set the [Display at QR check-in] to [Don't display] for each content group.</tips>
5. Using the Default Content Group
If you do not have any restrictions on participant networking or if the [Basic settings]>[Event information]>[Networking] setting is set to [Off], you do not need to configure content groups. You can leave the "default" content group as is.