Creating an event with Vanco Events takes only a matter of minutes. An event could be allocated seating, general admission, a class, workshop, conference, registration, membership, selling merchandise and even running a raffle or special draw.
This article covers:
What you need to get started
If you haven't already done so, you will first need to create an account with Vanco Events: Create seller account
Whilst all information entered can be edited, it is helpful to have worked out your basics before you begin building the event. Before you start, make sure you have the following information at hand:
- Event name
- A short description of the event
- Contact details for your customers should they have any queries relating to your event
- Venue name and address
- Date of your event
- When you wish to open and close sales
- How many tickets you can sell
- Ticket prices
Creating an event
To create your event:
- Log in to your Vanco Events account
- From the Dashboard, click Create an event
The Create an Event wizard will prompt you for the minimum information the system needs in order to get your event up and running on Vanco Events. This wizard is comprised of 5 easy steps and will have you set up within minutes.
Step 1: Event Details
- Event Name: The title of your event.
- Description: A brief explanation of what the event is and what the attendees should expect.
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Contact details: Providing a name, phone and email address is best practice for allowing your customers to get in touch with any queries about your event or in relation to their booking. An email address needs to be provided as a minimum.
- Click Next: Venue Details
Step 2: Venue Details
- Select Create new Venue
- Name of Venue: Enter the name of the location your event is being held.
- Address: Enter the full address where the venue is located.
- Show map link: If selected it will provide a 'Get Directions' link on the homepage of the event. When click it will open up the address in Google Maps
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Allocation Type: Indicate whether your event is General Admission (Space) or Allocated Seating (Seat).
- If Space selected: enter in the capacity for your venue in the Number of Attendees field.
- If Seat selected: indicate the number of rows in the venue and seats within each row.
Further customization to your seating plan can be made once the event is created, see Creating seating plans. However, it is recommended that you create a Venue Template for Seat allocations venues, prior to going through Create an event.
- Click Next: Session Times
Step 3: Session Times
You will have 2 options for adding in your event dates:
Option 1: Add a single session time
This option is suitable for events with just 1 date and time, or events that have more than 1 date and time but the start time differs.
- Click Add Sessions
- Select Add a single session
- Using the drop-downs, fill in the following fields:
- Session Start Date and Time: The date and time your event will commence
- Session End Date and Time: The date and time your event will conclude
- Booking Start Date and Time: When your event will go live for ticket sales
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Booking End Time: When your event will close for ticket sales. You will have the option to choose from minutes, hours and days before or after the Session Start Date and Time
- Click Save
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Should you wish to add further Session Times: Click Add Sessions and repeat
Should you have no further sessions times to add: Click Next: Create Tickets
Option 2: Add multiple sessions
This option is should be selected should you have multiple dates and times on your event that are reoccurring either Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or should they be Timeslots that are evenly spaced across a date range.
- Click Add Sessions
- Click Add multiple session times
- Under Occurrence, select from:
- Daily eg. adding the same Session Time every day at 6pm over a specified date range
- Weekly eg. adding the same Session Time every Saturday and Sunday over a specified date range
- Monthly eg. adding the same Session Time for the 1st of each month, or should you wish to hold the same Session Time for the first Sunday of each month.
- Timeslots eg. adding 20 minutes sessions starting from 9am through to 5pm with a 10 minute break in between each session
- Complete the fields relating to When does your event occur. These will differ depending on your selection in Occurrence
- Complete the fields for When people can book to these sessions:
- Booking Start Date and Time: When your event will go live for ticket sales
- Booking End Time: When your event will close for ticket sales. You will have the option to choose from minutes, hours and days before or after the Session Start Date and Time
- Click Save
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Should you wish to add further Session Times: Click Add Sessions and repeat
Should you have no further sessions times to add: Click Next: Create Tickets
For a in-depth break down of each Occurrence option please see: Adding Multiple Session Times
Step 4: Create Tickets
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Free or Paid: Indicate if there is a cost for attending the event (Paid) or whether it is free to attend (Free).
- If Paid is selected: click on Create ticket.
- Ticket Name: Name your ticket appropriately for what you are selling eg. Adult, Child etc.
- Group Ticket: Select should the ticket represent more than 1 attendee or item Eg. A Family ticket that represents 2 adults and 2 children. A Good For field will then display, allowing you to enter how many attendees/items the ticket represents.
- Description: allows for additional information about the ticket to aid the customer in their selection. It's not a mandatory field, so if you feel that your Ticket Name is sufficient you can leave it blank.
- Account Code: Select from the ConnexPoint account you wish for these ticket sales to be posted to. Click here for more information on Account Codes
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Price: Enter the dollar value of the ticket.
- If Free is selected: Free events that use the Vanco Events default free ticket allows you to enable Return Free Tickets for your customer and gives the option to disable collecting either the Phone Number or Address fields at checkout.
- If Paid is selected: click on Create ticket.
- Click Next: Add Images
Step 5: Add Images
You will have the option to add in two images into your event during creation.
Type | Description | Best fit dimensions | Maximum file size |
Hero | A full-width banner that will appear at the top of your event page by default. The image uploaded will be automatically resized to conform across the page. Will replace the Search image should no search image be present |
890 pixels wide | 2.5MB |
Wallpaper | The background to your event page. Is present across all booking pages except the shopping cart | 3000 x 3000 pixels | 2.5MB |
- Choose which area you wish to upload an image, and click Upload Image.
- Select the desired image file from your computer (must be a jpg, png or gif file), click Open.
- Use the slider bar to zoom in or out on your image, or click and drag the image to adjust the placement.
- With your image/s in place, click Create Event.
It is not mandatory to add images to your event page during Create an Event. Should you not wish to add images, simply click Create Event. You will have the option to add images at a later point in time should you choose. See Homepage and Images
Additional edits and viewing the event
With your event created, the direct URL for it will be generated. You will also be given the option to View Event or proceed to the Event Dashboard.
Editing your event
Moving to the Event Dashboard will allow you to make further edits and customization to your event. These include (but not limited to):
- Adding in additional session times
- Terms & Conditions
- Early bird discounts
- Discount codes
- Build your own Custom Form
Should you need to make additional edits and customization at a later point in time, you will be able to navigate back to the Event Dashboard by clicking on your event name under the Manage Event Overview on the Account Dashboard.
For a full overview of features and customization please see: Learning Center
View Event
Once your event is complete and you have finished with the customization, it is important that you view your event to ensure that all data is displaying and working as expected.
Clicking on View Event at the final screen of Create an Event will allow you to preview the event as a customer.
On the Event Dashboard, you will also be able to view your event by clicking Preview Event in the top right or Make a Booking on the side menu.
As the event organizer, you are able to click through your event even if your Booking Start Date and Time hasn't taken place. This gives you the confidence that your set up is correct, prior to your event going live to your customers.