Logging Invitee's

What I do is to create a temporary Constituent Attribute, use it (with Global Add and Global Change, and some manual work) to refine the list, and then once done, convert or transfer the data from Attributes to Event Participation Records.  I prefer working with Attributes over Registrations when doing lots of changes, as it just seems more straightforward and less hassle.  Especially when you need to manually flip thru 20 records and change something...much easier on a Constituent Attribute rather than Event Participation.


I tend to keep track of as much info as possible...so if a committee member suggested that we invite Robert Hernandez, but my boss later removed him from the list, I would still end up adding an Event Registration to his record, with Do Not Invite and a reason (I typically use the Group/Seating Note space for this, because it's convenient and we don't use the Seating Function).  This way, if the committee member asks later why Robert wasn't invited, I can find that information.  This has saved me many times from situations where one coworker questions why a name isn't on the list and if I didn't know that it was because another coworker removed him, they would both start to question the validity of the lists to begin with and wonder who else should be on the list and isn't.  And then I spend way too much time double-checking and explaining.


I do this same thing with Appeals.  Then when you've got everything squared away on the Events Tab, you can delete the Const Attributes using Global Change.  (If you haven't ever done this, look for the entry "Attributes" in the Global Change field selections, not for the name of your temporary Attribute.  You then get the option to Delete and can select the Attribute to be deleted.  As always, test with a small batch of records first, until you're comfortable with how it works and what, exactly, it does.)  I keep a handful of "temporary" Attributes in my database, but you can also go back to Config and delete them when they've served their purpose.


If you need to store this data in RE but your committee/staff need to refine the list in Excel/outside RE, I would still recommend Attributes.  Once your final data is ready to go, use Import to create your Event Participation Records.