Programme and delivery tools
Event invitation sequence planner
Invitations and reminders are being planned across several audiences, and nobody wants a reminder reaching someone who asked to stop.
Opens WhatsApp with a draft you can edit before sending. Nothing is sent automatically.
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The short answer
The planner lays out invitations and reminders by audience segment, with a date, an owner role and an approval tick for each step. A step for a segment you mark as opted out or not eligible is blocked and left out of the active sequence, whatever else is ticked.
A step for a segment that is unlisted or has no confirmed eligibility is held. The tool sends nothing: it produces a plan and an approval checklist, and you keep the authority to decide who is contacted and to send every message yourself.
What to enter
- Segments: a label for each audience group (no names or email addresses), its eligibility from your own records, your basis for contacting it and anything else to suppress, such as people already registered.
- Steps: each invitation or reminder with its segment, planned send date, owner role, a message reference and an approval tick.
- The event date, if you have it, so the tool can warn about anything planned after the event.
How suppression works here
Eligibility has three settings you choose: eligible, opted out or not eligible. Blank means not confirmed. A step for an opted-out or not-eligible segment is blocked, so a reminder can never be repeated to that segment through this plan.
A step whose segment is not in the segment list, or whose eligibility is blank, is on hold until you confirm it. The tool does not know the rules that apply to your audience, so it never decides eligibility for you.
Sequence checks
For the segments that are not blocked, the tool checks that a reminder is not dated before the first invitation to the same segment, that a segment with reminders has an invitation, and that two sends to the same segment do not fall on the same day.
It also lists steps with no owner role, steps with no date, and steps planned after the event date.
The approval checklist
The checklist asks whether eligibility is confirmed from your own records, whether the sender will apply the opt-out and suppression lists immediately before each send, whether the message wording is approved and whether each send is made by hand by the named owner.
It then lists each step in the active sequence with its date, segment, owner and whether you have approved it. Steps awaiting approval are shown as such.
Limits
The tool plans and checks. It does not hold a contact list, apply suppression to one or send anything. Whether a segment may be contacted is your decision and your responsibility. For the numbers behind each segment use the attendance scenario planner, and for the event timeline use the run-of-show builder.
Worked example · Fictional example
A fictional association campaign
Fictional segments and dates, to show what is blocked and held.
A fictional association plans six steps for an event on 20 April 2027. Members and past attendees are eligible, former members are marked opted out, and sponsor contacts have no confirmed eligibility. The final member reminder has no owner role.
The reminder to former members is blocked even though it is ticked as approved, and the sponsor invitation is held. Four steps are in the active sequence: two approved by the organiser and two awaiting approval. The tool also flags the missing owner on the final member reminder.
| Step | Segment | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Save-the-date, 1 March | Members | Approved by you. You send it |
| Final reminder, 12 April | Members | Needs your approval, no owner role |
| Reminder, 22 March | Former members | BLOCKED: do not send |
| Invitation, 10 March | Sponsor contacts | HOLD: eligibility not confirmed |
Use this yourself
Invitation sequence and approval checklist
Complete the table, then tick each approval line before anything is sent.
| Date | Step | Segment | Eligibility (eligible, opted out, not eligible, not confirmed) | Owner role | Approved by the event owner (yes or no) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opt-out and suppression lists applied by the sender immediately before each send | |||||
| Each send made by hand by the named owner |
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- One or two segments, one owner and an organiser who holds the opt-out records.
- The schedule is short and every step has been approved.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Many segments, several senders and opt-out records held in different places.
- Reminder dates must follow registration and programme milestones and keep changing.
- Approvals, suppression and dates must be tracked by someone against the event timeline.
Need the invitation plan coordinated?
A project lead can keep the invitation sequence in step with the event timeline, track approvals and chase owners for dates. Who may be contacted, the wording of each message and the act of sending remain with you.
Questions organisers ask
Does the tool send the invitations?
No. It produces a plan and a checklist. You and the named owners send every message yourselves.
What happens to a reminder for an opted-out segment?
It is blocked and left out of the active sequence, even if it is ticked as approved.
Can I enter names or email addresses?
Use segment labels only. The tool does not need contact details and does not hold a contact list.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.