Events that don’t fit CiviCRM

I had two clients ask me last week about how to set up CiviCRM Events (CiviEvent) for their events, and both times the answer was:

Don't use CiviEvent for that.

Here's the first one:

We have a regular schedule of drop-in events like karaoke night, trivia night, and open mic. We want to display these in a calendar format so they're easy for people to find. We don't need people to register; we just want them to know the event is there so they can come and go as they please.

So why is this not a good fit for CiviEvent?

Because you're not collecting any data about the participants.:

• They don't need to register with their name in advance.

• You won't track attendance as to who came and who didn't.

In short, this is similar to anonymous surveys: there's really nothing for a CRM to track here.

Instead, you could just list these on a page on your website. If you want a calendar format, your CMS almost certainly supports any number of plugins or modules to handle that kind of display.

Here's the thing:

If you're not tracking anything about a specific named human being, there's nothing for your CRM to do here.

Count yourself lucky that you have a simple situation, and use your extra time to work on your guitar licks for open mic.

Break a leg!

All the best,
A.

P.S. More tomorrow on that second don’t-use-CiviEvents client situation!