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How to create a meeting or event
How to create a meeting or event

Add an event or meeting to your project to connect offline event and meeting engagement.

Jay Dawkins avatar
Written by Jay Dawkins
Updated over a week ago

We've updated the meetings and events workflow! You can watch the video above, or read step-by-step instructions below:
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Table of Contents

There are 2 ways that you can create an event:

OPTION 1: New Meeting

On the project admin dashboard, click the +Create new item dropdown menu, and select New Meeting.

πŸ‘‰ Note: creating a meeting/event this way will ask you to select an existing project to associate this meeting with, or create a new project to add this meeting to (as you can see in the image below:)

If you opt to create a new project, the project will have the exact same name as your meeting title in the Active Projects column. You can update the project title at any time.


OPTION 2: From an existing project

On the project admin dashboard, scroll down the page and select the project in which you'd like to create an event.

On the main project page, head over to the Meetings & Offline tab and click on the Add Meeting or Event button.

In either case, the Event Settings window will appear.Β 

Event Settings

  1. Β Enter a Name for your event so it is easy to find if you want to edit the details later.

  2. Begin typing a Location and then choose one from the list of Google suggestions, or choose your own location (e.g. the Chill Room.) If you are hosting a virtual meeting, skip the address & toggle the Vitual Meeting switch on (indicated in green.)

  3. Enter a start Date and Time. If you do not know the actual end time for your meeting, you can set it for the following day, and edit this once your meeting ends.

NOTE: If you're hosting a Virtual Meeting, or to allow for some prep time for meeting presenters, your Webex/Zoom meeting should start a few minutes (15-30) before the Public Input meeting time. This will allow your presenters to get settled before the meeting is broadcast live on PublicInput.com. The Public Input meeting time should be set to the time you want the public to attend, not when you want meeting presenters to join (they should join before.) Be sure to select a time zone, even for virtual meetings, so the meeting will start on time!

Next, you have options to edit the meeting's Public Description (appearance,) Comment options, and Event Registration options.

Public Description

1. Add your Public Description, e.g. the purpose of the meeting or a summary of the event.
​Tip: Use the content editor that pops up when you click inside the description box to customize this free-format content and create an eye-catching invitation using different fonts, colors and layouts. This will appear at the top of your meeting.

🌟 BEST PRACTICE: Keep the meeting description short and sweet. You want to explain what the meeting is about, but don't write a book. A couple lines of text should be all you need here. You can further explain the details and goals of your meeting in the agenda section, or add additional text (like lengthier descriptions of meeting or project goals) to your project layout, including images, videos, text, documents, and more!
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The goal is to have the meeting's participation information – like how to call in to the meeting, text, or email comments to the meeting number – be visible above the meeting's video stream (if streaming.) The longer your description, the further away this important information is from your meeting video.

Click More Display Options to see additional meeting options.

2. These two toggles allow your meeting to be displayed on the live project page, and/or on your organizational hub (if enabled.) If you do not want the meeting to be displayed in either of these places, just leave the toggles off (indicated in white) to keep them hidden from public view. You can opt to add the meeting to a specific location on your project page, such as a secondary step, or in a sidebar. If toggled on, you can click the black arrow button to quickly navigate to your hub to see your meeting displayed.

3. These options are how the public can contact your organization and will be displayed publicly if selected. You have the option to display the phone number associated with your meeting, the specific project email, text code (if enabled,) and you have the option to include the meeting as a project milestone (used in project timelines.)

4. This is your default Meeting email. To customize this email, you can now use the custom link builder, located in the project's Settings tab.

5. If your organization has text messaging enabled, this is the auto-generated shortcode that participants will text in to participate. The number they will text the shortcode to is listed below, and is also listed at the top of the opening screen content for participants.

To create a custom text-in shortcode, you can now use the custom link builder, located in the Project's Settings tab. (This is sometimes called a "text keyword".)

πŸ‘‰ Note: Text messaging (SMS) must be enabled for your project to allow text participation. Head to the Text tab to enable this feature.

To customize the public meeting link, you'll use the custom link builder, located in the project's Settings tab.
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Participants can type in the custom URL on their smartphone, tablet, or another device to participate, allowing for live results in real-time during your meeting.

Comments (Optional)

Once Accept meeting questions and comments is enabled, a comment box will appear next to the meeting during the specified time frame.

Learn more about accepting meeting questions and comments here.
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You can add a registration form and an RSVP to your meeting. This helps you get a rough headcount of meeting attendees, and collects their participant information.
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Learn more about enabling event registration here.

Conferencing (for virtual meetings)

Livestreaming

To live-stream a virtual meeting, select the Videoconferencing Service & Streaming Video Service you will be using (Facebook Live or Youtube Live, etc.) Copy & Paste the URL into the text box that appears below. None will be selected by default.
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You can connect a phone line so that participants can dial in and listen to a meeting, or be added to a speaker queue to speak during the meeting. This is a great option so that those who do not have access to the internet or a smart device can listen to the meeting.
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For more on setting up a virtual meeting, check out these articles:
​Setting up a meeting and adding a facebook live stream
​How to set up a YouTube livestream

Save your meeting

Click the Save Settings button.

Add Agenda items (optional)

If you'd like to make your meeting's agenda public, you can add individual agenda items to your meeting under the Agenda tab:

If you've also enabled meeting registration, the agenda feature is displayed in a tab beside the comments form, and shows agenda items with the option for participants to register to speak on (if enabled). The item the caller has registered to speak on is displayed in the live speaker queue when they call in, so that you can better manage your phone participants, and get an idea of which topics the public is most interested in.


Learn more about adding agenda items here.

View your meeting or event

To view your meeting as it will appear to the public, you can click the View Live Site button next to the meeting:
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This will take you to the public meeting link (seen in the browser window.)

You can also find your meeting link next to your meeting in the Meetings & Offline tab. Click the drop-down menu (the circle with 3 dots β‹―) to the right of your meeting to see it's meeting URL.

Projector Screen

If you plan to present your meeting in person on a projector, you can choose Open projector screen from the drop-down menu (above.) This will launch the meeting and any associated survey questions so that you and your audience can see live results come in as they participate (if enabled.) You could also share this screen virtually, via screen share.
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The Meetings & Offline tab will show all events associated with a project. Here, you can view and modify your event - e.g., invite participants to the event, add meeting collateral, open a sign-in screen, etc.


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