Gathering Interest in an Event

Overview

Not sure if you should run an event? Unscheduled events let you gauge interest from learners before committing to a date, time, or venue. This feature helps you focus your efforts on training that will deliver real value—and avoid empty rooms.

Pre-requisites

Before creating an unscheduled event, ensure you have the necessary permissions and that Events are enabled for your company.

Role Requirements

💡 Tip: Any user who can create standard events can also create unscheduled events.

Why Gather Interest First?

Unscheduled events are ideal when you want to:

• Test whether there's enough demand before booking a venue or external trainer

• Let learners tell you what they want to attend

• Be more efficient by only running events that will have good attendance

• Gather a list of interested learners before finalising logistics

• Avoid the cost and effort of organising poorly-attended sessions

Quick Start Guide

1. Navigate to Manage → Events in the sidebar

2. Click New Event

3. Select Unscheduled as the event type

4. Enter your event details (title, description)

5. Save the event

6. Share with learners and monitor interest

Creating an Unscheduled Event

Step 1: Start Creating

1. Click the + icon in the top navigation bar, or navigate to Manage → Events

2. Click New Event

3. On the event type selection screen, choose Unscheduled

Step 2: Add Event Details

The form is deliberately streamlined—you only need to provide the key details to communicate what the event is about:

• Title – What's the event called?

• Description – What will learners gain from attending?

• Thumbnail – Optional image to make it visually appealing

• Visibility – Who should be able to see and express interest?

You don't need to set dates, times, locations, or capacity at this stage.

Step 3: Save and Share

1. Save the event

2. It immediately becomes visible to learners (based on visibility settings)

3. Learners can express interest without committing to specific dates

The Learner Experience

Once created, unscheduled events appear:

• In the All Events tab (marked as "Unscheduled")

• In search results

• On the Discovery page (if visibility allows)

When learners view an unscheduled event, they see:

• The event title and description

• An Express Interest button

• The number of other learners who have expressed interest

Clicking Express Interest registers their interest. This doesn't commit them to anything—it simply lets you know they'd like to attend if you schedule it.

Managing Interested Learners

Viewing Interest

To see who has expressed interest:

1. Navigate to your unscheduled event

2. Click the three-dot menu (⋮)

3. Select View interested

You'll see a list of all learners who have expressed interest, including when they registered.

Communicating with Interested Learners

Keep potential attendees engaged by sending updates:

1. From the interested learners list, select individuals or click to select all

2. Click Batch Actions

3. Select Send message

4. Write your update (e.g., "We've had great interest! Looking at dates in March.")

5. Send

Learners receive the message via email and in-app notification.

💡 Tip: Include a reference to the event title in your message, as there isn't currently a direct link back to the unscheduled event in the notification.

Converting to a Scheduled Event

Once you've gathered enough interest, you can convert the unscheduled event into a full scheduled event:

Step 1: Initiate Conversion

1. Navigate to your unscheduled event

2. From the interested learners view, click Actions

3. Select Create event

Step 2: Complete Event Details

You'll go through the standard event creation process:

1. Add session details (date, time, location)

2. Configure capacity and enrolment settings

3. Set up notifications and reminders

Step 3: Pre-populate Enrolments

At the enrolment step, you'll see the interested learners pre-populated, ready to be enrolled:

1. Review the list of interested learners

2. Remove any learners you don't wish to enrol

3. Add any additional learners if needed

4. Complete the event creation

⚠️ Note: The unscheduled event's details (title, description, etc.) don't automatically carry over to the new scheduled event—you'll need to re-enter them.

Alternative: Batch Enrol Later

If you're not ready to enrol learners immediately:

1. Skip the enrolment step during creation

2. Access the Batch enrol option later from the event menu

3. The interested learners will remain pre-populated until the first learner is enrolled

Key Things to Know

Pre-population Limit

Once the first learner is enrolled in the scheduled event, the pre-population of interested learners is no longer available. Make sure to capture all interested learners in your initial batch enrolment.

Details Don't Transfer

The unscheduled event's title, description, and other details don't automatically transfer to the scheduled event. You'll need to re-enter them (or copy and paste).

Multiple Scheduled Events

You can create multiple scheduled events from the same pool of interested learners—useful if you want to offer the same training at different times or locations.

Visibility Inheritance

The scheduled event has its own visibility settings. Consider whether you want to keep the same visibility or adjust it.

Visibility of Unscheduled Events

Unscheduled events follow the same visibility rules as scheduled events:

• Entire company – All users can see the event and express interest

• Specific teams – Only team members can see it

• Specific groups – Only group members can see it

Visibility on Homepage Channel

Unscheduled events can appear in homepage channels that display events. Learners will see the "Express Interest" button instead of "Enrol".

FAQs

Can learners remove their interest?
Yes, learners can click "Remove Interest" if they change their mind before the event is scheduled.

What happens to the unscheduled event after I create a scheduled one?
The unscheduled event remains in the system. You can archive it once you've converted it to keep your event list tidy.

Can I see interest trends over time?
The interested learners list shows when each person expressed interest, so you can see how interest has grown.

Do interested learners get notified when the event is scheduled?
Not automatically. You should use the messaging feature to notify interested learners, or they'll see they're enrolled when you batch enrol them.

Can I set a deadline for expressing interest?
Currently, there's no deadline feature for unscheduled events. You can communicate timeframes via the description or through messages.

What if I decide not to run the event?
Simply archive the unscheduled event. Consider sending a message to interested learners explaining why it won't be running.

Can unscheduled events appear on homepage channels?
Yes, if your homepage channel is configured to show events, unscheduled events will appear with an "Express Interest" button.

Troubleshooting