Feedback on: EventPro Planner Manual - Attendee Mail MergeAttendee_Mail_Merge_Chapter_8Chapter 8: Manage Attendees > Attendee Mail Merge /Dear EventPro Planner Documentation Department,
Attendee Mail Merge
Once you have set up your attendees for an event and have created letter templates for your frequently sent documents (see Chapter 14: Letter and Label Templates), you can use EventPro Planner’s mail merge feature to quickly and easily send documents to all of your event attendees.
You can include all of the attendees in the view in the mail merge or you can limit the number of attendee recipients:
a.
Multi-Select: Hold down the Ctrl key and click on the attendees you want to add to the mail merge. A red dot will appear in the far left column of each selected record, and a dot and arrow will appear next to the last-selected record. You will now be able to include only these selected attendees in the mail merge.
b.
Filter: Set a filter so that only the attendees you want included in the mail merge appear in the selection grid. For example, if you only want to send a letter to Sponsors and Exhibitors, set a filter so that only those types of attendees appear. To review how to set a filter, see Chapter 1: Overview, Common Functions: Filter Information above.
c.
All: If you want to include all of the attendees in the mail merge, you do not have to select any or set a filter.
2.
If you are in the Event Maintenance screen, under the Attendees | View Attendees tab, click the Detail Options button to the right of the selection grid and select Mail Merge. If you are in the Attendees screen, click the Mail Merge button to the right of the selection grid.
First, select the data you want to merge: Selected Records or All.
a.
Selected Records will send the communication to the one or multiple attendees you selected above.
b.
All refers to all of the records visible in the selection grid. Therefore, if you set a filter so that only half of the attendees are visible, those visible attendees amount to “All” for the purpose of the mail merge.
Email: The main email addresses for the Attendees.
c.
Alternate Email (or Fax): The alternate email addresses for the Attendees. This can also be used for creating a fax mail merge. Some internet service providers can provide faxing capabilities or you may be able to configure your email server to send and receive faxes. Ensure that you entered the correct fax/email information in the Alt. Email field when creating your attendees.
d.
Document: Letters are saved in an RTF file, each letter starting on a new page.
2.
If you choose Email or Alternate Email, you can choose your Email Options. Select the radio button next to one of the options:
a.
Normal: This option sends one email per recipient. In other words, if the mail merge includes ten recipients, you will send out ten emails. This is the option you should choose if you are using Letter Templates with merge fields specific to each recipient, e.g. First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, etc.
b.
Group: This option sends one email to all recipients. In other words, if the mail merge includes ten recipients, you will send out one email to all ten email addresses. Do not use this option in you are using Letter Templates with merge fields specific to each recipient, e.g. First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, etc. If you select the Group option you have two other options to choose from:
i.
Use the "To" field when sending: This option will put all of the mail merge recipients' email addresses in the "To" field of the email, meaning that the recipients can see all of the other recipients' email addresses.
ii.
Use the "BCC" field when sending: This option will put all of the mail merge recipients' email addresses in the "BCC" field of the email, meaning each recipient will not be able to see the other recipients' email addresses.
Click on a template to see a preview of the letter in the bottom of the window.
2.
Check the Selected box(es) next to the letter(s) you want to include in the mail merge.
3.
To bring up the Word Processor and make any changes to the template, click to highlight a template and click the Edit Letter button. When you are done, close the Word Processor to return to the Mail Merge Wizard.
4.
If you chose Email or Alternate Email as the merge destination, and you choose a Letter Template here, they will be sent as an Attachment to the email. If you want the Letter to be in the Body of the email, do not select any Letter Templates here. Later in the process, you will load the appropriate template into the body of the email.
5.
If you chose Printer or Document as the merge destination, the letters will be printed to paper, pdf or file (depending on the options you select).
Check the Update Communications checkbox if you want to save a copy of this communication in the records of the attendee recipient.
b.
Select a Method from the drop-down list and choose a Default Reference for the documents sent in the mail merge.
c.
Selecting a Communication Method is particularly important if you have marked certain recipients as "Do Not Contact By" certain communication methods. For example, if you send an email mail merge and attempt to include a recipient you have marked to not contact by email, the recipient will not be sent the email.
d.
If you do not need to save a copy of the letter and/or body content of the communication, uncheck the Store Letter and/or Store Body/Notes box. You may have selected a default in the Mail Merge Settings of System Settings.
2.
Follow Up Action:
a.
Check the Create Follow Up Action box if you want to create a follow up action.
b.
From the Method drop-down box, choose whether you want to create One Action per Recipient or OneAction for All Recipients.
c.
If you select One Action per Recipient, EventPro Planner will create multiple actions (one action for every attendee in the mail merge) and attach each action to an attendee so that it appears in the attendee’s individual Actions tab, as well as the Event’s Actions tab and the program Actions screen.
d.
If you select One Action for All Recipients, EventPro Planner will create only one action and attach the action to the event. The Action will appear in the Event’s Actions tab and the program Actions screen, but not in the individual attendees’ Actions tabs.
e.
Click the Edit button and create the action in the Mail Merge Action [New] window.
f.
To learn how to create an Action, see Chapter 12: Actions.
3.
Select a Report:
a.
You can also choose to print or attach reports for each attendee in the mail merge. Select the checkbox next to the reports you want to print or attach for each attendee.
b.
From the Report Template drop-down list, you can select another report template, if available.
c.
You may be able to select an option under Report Options, depending on the report you select.
d.
Choose a Reference for each report.
4.
Below, choose the Report Attachment Format: PDF, TIFF or RTF.
Enter a Subject for this communication. This will be the subject under which the communication is saved. If you send the communication via email, this will also be the subject header of the email.
2.
If this is an email communication, you may click the Add Signature button to add your personal email Signature. To review how to create a signature, see Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner: Step 4: Users, Create User: Email.
3.
In the notes area below, type in any notes you would like to record regarding this communication. If you chose Email or Alternate Email as the merge destination, any notes you enter in this space will become the body of the email message.
4.
If you want to send a Letter Template as the body content of an email, this is the place where you load the template (not the previous page where you had the option to check the Selected boxes). Click the Load Template button/icon. Select the appropriate template and click OK. The letter will appear in the notes field. Remember that when emailing letters, it is better to avoid templates that are intended for printing, i.e. with complex formatting and headers/footers. You may want to have two sets of templates: one for printed letters and one for emails.
5.
Check the Read Receipt box if you want to receive a message notification when the recipient opens the email.
If you want to attach reports to the mail merge communication, click the Add Report button.
2.
In the Run Report dialog, select the report you want to attach and click OK.
3.
In the next dialog, you can choose the printing options for this report. To learn more about these report options, go to Chapter 18: Reports. After you have selected the options you want, click OK. The report will be added as a PDF attachment to the bottom of the window.
4.
To add another report, click the Add Report button again. Continue until you have attached as many reports as you require.
The Confirm box will appear, asking if you want to continue with the merge to your selected destination. Click Yes to continue.
3.
If you chose Printer as your merge destination, the Print window will appear. If you need to adjust your printer settings, click the Properties button. Click OK.
4.
If you chose Document as your merge destination, the Save Merged Document To window will appear. Choose the folder where you want to save the file, type in a file name and click Save.
The Merge Results screen appears and will build a list of the attendees included in the mail merge.
2.
A checked Successful box indicates that the merge was successful for the attendee.
3.
If the mail merge was not successful for an attendee, the Successful checkbox will be unchecked and there will be an explanatory Error Message.
4.
If you have marked certain recipients as Do Not Contact By the communication method used in this mail merge, the recipient will be excluded from the mail merge and the Error Message will indicate that the contact "Does not wish to be contacted by this method". To review how you created the Do Not Contact By list for attendees, see Enter a Single Attendee: Classification above.
5.
If you want to print the list of merge results, click the Print button in the lower left corner.
6.
In the Mail Merge Results window, choose whether you want to show Successful, Unsuccessful or both Successful and Unsuccessful merge results from the Options drop-down list. Click OK. To learn more about report printing options, see Chapter 18: Reports, Print Reports.
7.
When you are done with the Merge Results window, click Close.
