Community Management Academy
      Back to home
      1. CIONET Academy
      2. Community Management Academy

      CIONET Event Registration Guide - How does the event registration flow work?

      This guide outlines the standard process for managing event registrations in HubSpot. It covers how to handle different types of contacts, the importance of our Terms of Service, and our communication strategy.

       

      1. Understanding the Registration Flow/Scenarios

      Our IT team has launched a new feature to streamline registrations and capture better data from new contacts. 

      Here is the step-by-step process:

      1. A person clicks the "Register" button on any event page.

      2. A pop-up appears, asking only for their email address.

      3. HubSpot checks this email against our database in real-time.

      This check results in one of two scenarios:

      • Scenario A: Known Contact With an Existing Account (Member/Business Partner)

        • What happens: If the email is found in our database (meaning they have a CIONET account, even if not logged in), the system recognises them.

        • User Action: The pop-up will simply ask them to confirm their registration ("Register" button)

        • Result: The registration is instantly linked to their existing HubSpot profile. All their stored information (Name, Job Title, Company) will automatically appear in the event's registration list.

      • Scenario B: Unknown Contact with no (New Registrant)

        • What happens: If after they enter their email address, it is NOT found in our database, the pop-up will expand.

        • User Action: The user will see a message: "This email address is not known in our database. We need some extra information to be able to complete your registration request."

        • The form will now require them to fill in the following fields:

          • First Name

          • Last Name

          • Job Title

          • Company Name

          • LinkedIn URL (Optional)


        • Result: This new process ensures we capture the minimum information required to qualify a new contact, which will appear in the registration list. This significantly reduces the manual work previously needed to identify unknown emails.

      Ensure our database remains accurate.

      • Quickly check if their information (especially Job Title and Company) is up-to-date. This is particularly important if their profile hasn't been updated in a while (see ‘last checked’ field).

      • If they don't have a profile image, add one from LinkedIn. This is useful for materials like the Facebook or Goodybag.

      • Don’t forget to always click the ‘Last Checked’ field to ‘today’ when making changes.

      2. What to Do When Someone Registers

      If the registrant is an existing member (Scenario A):

      Ensure our database remains accurate.

      • Quickly check if their information (especially Job Title and Company) is up-to-date. This is particularly important if their profile hasn't been updated in a while (see ‘last checked’ field)
      • If they don't have a profile image, add one from LinkedIn. This is also useful for materials like the Facebook or Goodybag.
      • Don’t forget to always click the ‘Last Checked’ field to ‘today’ when making changes!

      If the registrant is a new contact (Scenario B):

      Identify, qualify, and (if applicable) onboard them.

      1. Identify the Contact:

      • The new form provides First Name, Last Name, Job Title, and Company, making identification much easier.

      • Your first step is to verify this information. If no LinkedIn URL is provided, search for them on LinkedIn to confirm their details and ensure the profile is a match..

      • If the details are vague or you suspect they are incorrect, send a polite email asking for clarification.

      2. Qualify the Contact:

        • Based on their profile, determine if they fit the CIONET membership criteria.

        • If YES: They are a qualified prospect. Proceed to the next step regarding Terms of Service.

        • If NO (e.g., they are a supplier, not the right profile, or too junior): Send a polite email explaining that CIONET events are exclusively for CIOs & executive digital leaders. If they are a supplier, you can suggest they explore opportunities to join as a Business Partner and introduce/cc the local sales team.

      3. Non-members & the "Terms of Service" 

      A contact can only become a member if 1. they comply with the CIONET requirements and 2. have accepted our Terms & Conditions. These are crucial checkpoints in the registration process.

      Did accept the Terms of Service

      • Onboard them. In Belgium, we manually create a CIONET account for them (by clicking "YES" on the 'Create CIONET Account' field on HubSpot, see below)
      • Process: Creating their account will trigger two automated emails:
        1. The official Welcome Email with information about their membership.  (update yours if needed). 
        2. An email to set up their CIONET account password.

      Did NOT accept the Terms of Service

      • Do not onboard them. They have actively opted out, so be cautious about this.
      • Process Options:
        • Standard Approach: Send an email explaining that our events are for members only and membership requires accepting the terms. Kindly ask them to accept (don’t forget to add this link: https://www.cionet.com/terms-of-service).
        • High-Priority Contact Approach: 
          • If you don't want to risk losing a key prospect, let them attend the event without accepting terms (if OK with your Country Manager). You can then use the event as an opportunity to explain the value of membership and guide them through the signup process in person. 
          • Alternatively, send a follow-up email after the event asking about their experience and explaining the need to accept the terms to join future events.

      4. Difference between asking a contact to create a CIONET account and accepting terms.

      • Asking the contact to create a CIONET account:
        • Pros:
          • Reduces manual work for the Community Manager.
          • Ensures more accurate and complete data for our database.
          • Gathers richer information (e.g., interests, how they hear about CIONET, phone number, dietary restrictions).
      • Asking the contact to accept the Terms & Conditions:
        • Pros:
          • It's a faster and simpler process for the prospect.
          • It's a lower friction ask, ideal for some high-level prospects you don't want to burden with a full form immediately.

      5. Event Confirmation Email

      In Belgium, we have stopped sending automatic confirmation emails for most community events.

      • The Reason Why: We often receive registrations from unqualified contacts (e.g., suppliers, junior profiles). This strategy prevents a situation where they receive a confirmation email, only to be followed by a cancellation email later. It helps us maintain professionalism.
      • The Exception: For smaller, curated events like Round Tables, where attendees are personally invited, automatic confirmations can be still used.
      • (Vlera, Luc & Alicja to work on a new system for the event registrations in terms of calendar invite and thank you email)
      • What we could do instead: 
        • Sending a "Reminder Email" ~a week before the event. This could serve as a confirmation for registered and qualified attendees, reduce no-shows, and give people who may have forgotten the time to plan.
        • OR make a confirmation email (choose email type: “Regular”, instead of “Automated”) and manually send it to contacts we are certain fit the criteria (via “send to more”)
        • Set up an automated email thanking attendees for registering, while politely noting that this is not yet a final confirmation and attendance may still be subject to approval.


      -

      If you have any questions, please send me a message at vlera.berisha@cionet.com