Run your first event

You have an event idea and the responsibility for making it happen. This walks you through the full job: setting the event up, getting the word out, running the day-of, and following up after. It is the canonical "I am running my first event on OrganizeOS" path; deeper settings live in the reference docs you will see linked along the way.

The example assumes a single in-person event. Recurring series and shifts work the same way at this scale; pointers to those settings are at the end.

Set the event up

Open Events in your workspace sidebar and click New event. Fill in the name, date and time, location, and a short description. Upload a header image; events with images convert noticeably better on the public page.

Decide who can see and RSVP:

• Public: anyone with the link can RSVP. Best for general invites and outreach.
• Members only: only signed-in members of your org can RSVP. Best for internal coordination.

For the full set of fields and the visibility model, see creating an event. If you want custom registration questions (dietary needs, accessibility, t-shirt size), set those up before you publish; see event registration questions.

Click Publish when you are ready. You will get a shareable link.

Get the word out

Right after publishing, broadcast the event to the audience you want there. From the event page, open Broadcast and pick the segment of contacts you want to invite. The composer pre-fills with event details; trim and personalize before sending.

For the broadcast composer, segment rules, and the no-spam guardrails, see event broadcasts.

A few notes that pay off:

• Send 7 to 14 days out, then a reminder 24 hours before.
• Add the event link to your org's homepage and any pinned channels so people who missed the email can still find it.
• For high-stakes events, follow up with a phonebank or SMS the day before; people RSVP and forget.

The day of

A few hours before the event, open the event in your workspace. You will see the live RSVP count, the waitlist if your event hit capacity, and the check-in screen.

When attendees arrive, check them in from the event page. The check-in screen is touch-friendly and works on a phone, so a volunteer at the door can run it without a laptop. For capacity rules and how the waitlist promotes people, see event capacity and waitlists. For step-by-step check-in instructions, see checking attendees in.

If the event is a canvass or door-knocking outing, the day-of view has extra fields for tracking attempts and outcomes. See canvass event outcomes.

Wrap up afterward

Within 48 hours of the event:

• Mark no-shows. Check-in defaults to "did not attend" for anyone who did not get checked in; correct any false negatives.
• Send a thank-you. Broadcast a short follow-up to attendees, separately from a "sorry we missed you" to no-shows. The broadcast composer can filter by attendance status.
• Review the numbers. The event's overview page shows your RSVP count against capacity, how many people checked in, and how many are on the waitlist. Compare that against your registration table to see who converted and who did not, and note what worked for next time.

If this is the first event of a series, schedule the next one now while attention is high. See event series for recurring patterns.

Why this matters

Running an event is the canonical organizing task. The platform's job is to remove the bookkeeping so you can spend your time on the things that actually move people: the invitation, the welcome at the door, the follow-up call afterward. The features above (broadcast, check-in, post-event metrics) exist so that the parts a human has to do are the parts only a human can do. The reference docs cover the depth; this page is the playbook.