Hmmm, I think that once a member changes their RSVP from attending to not attending, and then wants to change it back to attending they should be at the bottom of the waitlist, otherwise it becomes a guessing game for those on the waitlist. This could be a nightmare scenario. 

Imagine you are that person at the top of the waitlist who has been added to the event due to someone changing their RSVP from attending to not attending, but on the day of the event that person changes their mind again and goes back to attending and now you are again on the waitlist. I'm managing a homeschool group, so these events are for children, so finding out at the last minute or maybe not until you show up to an event, that you no longer can attend is bad for these families and we could lose people over this. We have had to deal with some hurt feelings in the past when people don't show up to events and others could have gone. Not only that, but some venues also end up refusing to allow our group to plan field trips or attend shows because of the low attendance. We need the ability to put offending members on an automatic waitlist or ban them from RSVPing for a short time as a consequence of no-showing. 

All this to say, we would like our moderators to have the ability to directly manage event RSVPs. It would be incredibly helpful. I also agree with the suggestion to update members when there is movement on the waitlist. 

On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 04:24 AM, Nancy Funk wrote:

Has there been any move toward allowing moderators and owners the ability to manage RSVPs and waitlist?

Hi Nancy,

I'm glad you raised this again and I was about to do the same. I first raised a query about managing RSVP events on GMF in January 2019  That was followed up with an email request to support (ticket 8127) and a suggestion here on Beta.  I responded to one of your previous queries about this too in July last year showing that Mark had confirmed it was on the 'to do' list in the January.

I agree with you that with current restrictions about meetings with different group sizes, having the ability to effectively manage attendee and waiting lists would make Groups.io a more attractive option. I have advised members in my group who have suggested using RSVP events not to bother as it's not possible for the organiser to easily and effectively manage them.

I have done some testing recently to remind myself of some of the issues and using three different accounts (members A, B & C):

• Member A creates an RSVP event with a maximum attendees set to 1
• Member A confirms they will attend their own event (and so takes the only space currently available)
• Member B says they will attend and they are put on the waitlist with a message saying they are at the front of the queue
• Member C says they will attend and they are put on the waitlist with a message saying they are at the front of the queue (they cannot both be at the front of the queue!)
• Member A changes the maximum number of attendees for the event from 1 to 2.
• Member B gets an email message saying they have been added to the event and member C stays on the waitlist
• If member A knows that member B cannot attend the event, but member B does not update their RSVP status, A cannot remove B from the event, freeing up space for C
• If member A knows that member C cannot attend the event, but member C does not update their RSVP status, A cannot remove C from the waitlist
• Member A reduces the maximum number of attendees from 2 to 1 - the event is now oversubscribed but there's no message to member A to confirm this
• Member B updates their RSVP status to say they will not attend and they are removed from the attendee list (leaving C on the waitlist)
• Member B updates their RSVP status to say they will attend and they are placed on the waitlist (at the front of the queue!!)
• Member A increases the maximum number of attendees from 1 to 2 and member B gets an email message to say they have been added to the event (leaving C still on the waitlist)

So, it also seems that a member's priority when being taken from the waitlist to the attendee list is based upon when they first RSVPd.

As well as having the ability to effectively manage the attendee and waitlists (by adding, removing and reordering entries where needed), it would be helpful for those on the waitlist to know what position they are in (by being updated when it changes).  If a member knows they are genuinely near the front of the queue (and can see progression towards it) they are more likely to stay in the queue. If they join a waitlist at, for example, position 50 when there are only, say, 20 places available, then at least they know they may be unlikely to get on the event and they can go and do something else - it helps manage expectations.

Hopefully we can get some movement on this sooner rather than later.

Regards
Andy

Has there been any move toward allowing moderators and owners the ability to manage RSVPs and waitlist? Our group is trying to figure out ways to better manage our events, especially the dreaded no-shows. With all the public & private group size restrictions in place, it has become a much more pressing issue than ever before. We really need the ability to change a member's RSVP as necessary and manage our waitlist. 

Thank you so much for your consideration in this matter. :)

 Even with the first group event we held, we experienced people who cancelled literally in the 11th hour, a couple of whom strongly requested a change of time and venue to accommodate them. I want these people waitlisted the next time they RSVP as coming to an event, and would really like to be able to do that. Without it, we're stuck letting them hold places in the next events (which are limited to small numbers of attendees) while they make up their minds.

We have similar problems, we have people either cancel at the last minute or just not even show up. We need to be able to waitlist or remove repeat offenders as many of our events our limited by the venue we are visiting. It also makes our group look bad when only half the people show up. This could be resolved if I could have moved people off the waitlist who were waiting for someone to cancel, but never do. It's very frustrating!

On Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 08:58 PM, Nancy Funk wrote:

What isn't available yet is the ability for the organizer to take people off the list manually.

Does the word "yet" mean this might be coming down the pike? That would be awesome if it is! :)

I agree that this would be a very useful and important addition. Even with the first group event we held, we experienced people who cancelled literally in the 11th hour, a couple of whom strongly requested a change of time and venue to accommodate them. I want these people waitlisted the next time they RSVP as coming to an event, and would really like to be able to do that. Without it, we're stuck letting them hold places in the next events (which are limited to small numbers of attendees) while they make up their minds.
 
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J

Messages are the sole opinion of the author, especially the fishy ones.
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. - Desmond Tutu

What isn't available yet is the ability for the organizer to take people off the list manually.

I'll go the opposite direction: would it be possible to specify a minimum number of attendees by a certain date or the event is automatically cancelled? Probably pie-in-the-sky.
--
J

Messages are the sole opinion of the author, especially the fishy ones.
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. - Desmond Tutu

Mark,

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J

Messages are the sole opinion of the author, especially the fishy ones.
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. - Desmond Tutu

ps You could possibly add a waitlist capability to that if and when implemented.

--
J

Messages are the sole opinion of the author, especially the fishy ones.
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. - Desmond Tutu

It would be convenient to set a maximum number of attendees before locking the event. (It would be especially helpful currently, when there are no notifications to the event organizer that someone has RSVP'd, making it difficult to lock events by hand in a timely manner.)
--
J

Messages are the sole opinion of the author, especially the fishy ones.
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. - Desmond Tutu