Event Preparation for Names

Transcription

1 Event Preparation f Names Your auction is coming up quickly now! You re focused on assigning bid numbers, recding ticket purchases, grouping guests with hosts, and assigning tables and seating. We know your attendees may make a variety of special requests regarding tickets and seating. We give you control and flexibility to readily handle most situations. Tip We have strived f clear and simple terminology. We recognize that conversational usage of some terms can be confusing. It s not too hard to st out in actual practice, but can be confusing in prose. Please note specifics f Reservation, Guest and Attendee. Reservation designates the purchase of tickets by someone that the person is a guest of another person. A Reservation Host purchases tickets f me than just themselves and their immediate party. Guest occurs in several contexts that overlap. A Reservation Guest has had his her ticket purchased by someone else. A Table Guest is simply someone seated at a particular table. Persons who have had Number Attending set to me than zero are also considered Guests, as are Bidders. Assigning Bid Numbers Bid Numbers are a key element in Auction! They must be assigned befe attempting to enter a winning bid f the person; you can assign them fairly late in the process. Winning bids may be recded only by bid number, not by name. You can assign bid numbers manually on Name Entry. See Name Infmation - Type Bid/Number f details. It may be me convenient to assign all bid numbers at once. You can quickly pre-assign bid numbers to all Invitees, only Attendees. Automatically Assigning Bid Numbers 1. (Netwk edition only) Click Settings, Switch to Exclusive Access if this option is not already selected. 2. Click Activities, Assign Bid Numbers. 3. Auto Assign Bid Numbers is displayed. Attendees are a subset of your Invitee and Don names. Attendees are persons who have one me of the following characteristics: Number Attending is greater than zero. (You may have simply set the number to count dinners f your caterer.) Have purchased Tickets. Are Guests of someone else who has purchased tickets. Event Preparation F Names 75

2 4. On the left, select All Invitees Only Attendees. 5. On the right, you can enter a Starting Bid Number. 6. Click Assign Bid Numbers. 7. Auction! makes an automatic backup of your data. Any names meeting the selection criteria are checked to determine if they already have a bid number. 8. If any bid numbers are already assigned, and are greater than the selected starting bid number, the effective starting bid number is increased to the first available bid number. 9. Your project dataset is evaluated f number of names that need bid numbers based on your selection criteria. Auction! limits bid numbers to four digits (maximum 9999.) When there are too many names f the available numbers, you will be notified to assign bid numbers manually. 10. Existing bid numbers are not changed re-assigned. 11. Click Cancel to exit without assigning any additional bid numbers. Tip It can be helpful to manually assign bid numbers cresponding to table number, e.g. Table 14 uses bid numbers 140 to 149, Area 14 has bid numbers 1400 to Select Names Grid View and click the Table Number heading to st names by table number, facilitating manual bid number assignment to each respective table s guests. Assigning Tables Table Seating Overview Guests can be easily moved to from a particular table number. Guest names can be sted alphabetically, by host, by bid number, current table number to facilitate locating them. You can review seating assignments at any time; Netwk Edition customers must be in Exclusive Access mode to assign change seating. Assign Tables shows guest names on the left and specific table groupings on the right. When a table is selected, you see an indication of seats available. At the top left, select a St Sequence f names, and names to show. You can select from Show Names to view All Guests Guests without Table Numbers. You can also click the heading over a particular column to change the st der. Tip: When you st by Host, it s easy to assign a host and guests to the same table. Arrow keys f adding and removing guests are located in the center of the screen. To add me tables, click Add Table. The number of tables and number of seats per table may be adjusted in Table Setup. On the left, guests are shown. On the right, table numbers may be selected, and will indicate guests. 76 Auction! V3 User Guide

3 Tip Seating assignments are saved immediately as you make them; there is no separate Save command. Adding Guests to a Table 1. (Netwk Edition Only) Click Settings, Switch to Exclusive Access. 2. Click Activities, Assign Tables. 3. Select the desired st sequence and show the appropriate names. 4. Scroll to the guest of interest, and click to select their name. 5. Click Table Number dropdown list to select the table number, if it is not already selected. Tab to Table Number and click the arrow keys to select the table number. 6. Click Right Arrow (Add Guest to Table) to add the selected guest to the table. Removing Guests from a Table To remove a single guest from a table: 1. (Netwk Edition Only) Click Settings, Switch to Exclusive Access. 2. Click Activities, Assign Tables. 3. Scroll and click to select the table number from which you d like to remove the guest. If you are not sure where the guest is seated, select the appropriate st sequence, and click to highlight their name. The table number is listed just to the left of their name. Make sure All Guests is selected in Show Names. 4. On the right-hand side, click to select the guest to be removed from the table. 5. Click Left Arrow (Remove Guest from Table) to remove the selected guest. Removing all Guests from a Table 1. Click Activities, Assign Tables. 2. Scroll and click to select the table number from which you d like to remove these guests. 3. Click Double-Left Arrow (Remove all Guests from Table) to remove the table s guests. Event Preparation F Names 77

4 Purchasing Tickets As RSVP s come in, you ll recd ticket purchases and payments. You can set up as many ticket types as you need, such as Standard, Early Bird, Complimentary, Teacher Two-f-One, and Table. To set up ticket types, see Ticket Types. A person who is the guest of someone else is considered to have a reservation, just as someone who purchases tickets has a reservation. Persons who are designated as Guests of someone else may not purchase tickets unless they are removed as guests of their current host. Persons who have already purchased tickets are displayed with the active ticket purchase(s) shown. You can select appropriate ticket options f guests without an active ticket purchase. Persons who are already a guest of a host do not need to purchase tickets so all choices will be disabled. Purchasing Tickets With Reservations / Purchase Tickets on screen: 1. Highlight the type of Ticket being purchased. Click Choose Quantity of Selected Ticket. 1. Highlight the desired Name. Click Activities, Purchase Tickets. Edit the name of interest. On Name Entry, click Reservation Details, then Purchase/Change Tickets & Assign Guests. 2. Auction! checks the highlighted name f existing ticket purchases Guest/Host reservation relationships. 2. Enter the number of tickets purchased of this particular ticket type. Click Save. 3. Repeat this process if the guest is purchasing me than one type of ticket. 4. The screen will now reflect the total Number of Tickets being purchased. Total Price is calculated automatically. 5. Tab to Cashier and begin typing your initials. Add your initials by using the dropdown list and clicking on <Add New>. 78 Auction! V3 User Guide

5 6. Click Save Reservation to recd the Reservation. Press Tab, then Enter. The reservation is saved and Reservation Details shown. Number Attending is zero until you enter number attending f the family sharing one bid number. During each data entry session f Reservations, you will receive a message, clarifying the necessity of entering payments f the ticket purchases. The message is displayed only once each session. You can enter payment f tickets now later. After selecting number attending and entrée choices f this family, you can enter payment f the tickets see Selecting Guests f a Host. Tip When you will also use this credit card infmation f payment on the items purchased at the auction event, you can check Payment Info on File box on Name Entry f each of these guests. Checking this box displays Quick Checkout on the bidder s invoice, so you ll know that their credit card other payment is already on file. These guests can leave your event after picking up their items, and do not need to stand in line at the cashier. 1. On Name Entry f the individual guest, click Reservation Details tab. 2. Click Purchase/Change Tickets, & Assign Guests. 3. The Payment section is displayed near the bottom of the screen. Enter Payment Method, e.g. Visa check. Tip Reservations / Ticket Purchases are included in Invoice Net Balance; enter cresponding payments f prepaid tickets pri to printing invoices on event night. This assures the crect balance on invoices. The reservation is saved, and Reservation Details f the current name are shown. See Reservation Details f me infmation. Receiving Payment f a Specific Guest As guests RSVP and purchase tickets f your event, you will enter their payments f tickets. You may enter payments one at a time, as you enter other infmation f each individual guest. 4. Enter a tracking number if desired. This might be the check number the last 4-5 digits of a credit card.. Caution We do not recommend entering full credit card numbers. The Auction! software is teamware and is not passwd protected. Please keep your guests credit card numbers in a secure location. 5. Enter expiration date f the credit card, if applicable. 6. Enter payment Amount. You can enter a whole number f the dollar amount; zeroes f cents are added automatically. F example, 150 is saved automatically as $ Tab to Cashier and type your first initials, automaticallly scrolling to the crect cashier initials. Add your initials by selecting <Add New>. 8. Click Save Payment press Enter to save the payment. Event Preparation F Names 79

6 9. On Name Entry, click View Register to see the purchases and payments n the Guests Payment Register. 10. Click Close to return to Reservation/Purchase Tickets. Receiving Payments f many Guests (Batch mode) 1. Select Activities, Receive Payments. 2. Select Bid Number Guest Name from the drop-down lists at upper left. Tip If you are typing in the Bid Number, you must type all four digits, including leading zero(es). 3. Enter payments as in Receiving Payment f a Specific Guest. 4. Continue with subsequent Bid Numbers Guest Names until all payments have been recded. 5. Click Close to return to the main Auction! screen. Reservation Details Reservation Details indicates number attending in a particular party and recds their entrée preferences. Reservation Details is available as the third tab on Name Entry screen by clicking Activities, Purchase Tickets. Reservation Details applies to the specific name selected. 1. When you purchase tickets f an attendee, set the Number Attending to the number of guests who are sharing a Bid Number (typically 1, 2 if spouses are sharing a bid number.) The Number Attending is not necessarily the same as the number of tickets purchased. 2. Tab to Entrée Selections. Your entrée names should be shown, along with Unspecified. To add entrée names, see Entrée Names. Where there is only one entrée choice a buffet, you can 80 Auction! V3 User Guide

7 simply leave entrée count as Unspecified. Otherwise, type quantity next to each selection. 3. Click Save to ste these preferences. Click Cancel to close this screen without saving. Selecting Guests f a Host When you purchase tickets f additional guests, a group/table, you can select specific guest names to be covered by the purchase. After saving the ticket purchase and reservation details, the Add Guests tab f the Reservations screen will be selected. The upper list shows the current name and any previously selected guests. The lower list shows potential guests. The list of potential guests can be further refined by selecting one of the three options at right. Potential Guests shows each name, number attending (if specified) and No Tickets, Host, Guest, Cancelled. Selecting Host f a Guest (from the Guest s Name) 1. Click Activities, Select Host f Guest. Use the dropdown list to select the name of interest. Click Select Host f Guest on the Reservation Details screen f the GUEST name. 2. On Host Request screen, select Show Current Hosts f those hosts who have already purchased tickets. Select Show All Names. 3. Scroll through names and click the name to add. 4. Click Save to add guests to the host. Ticket purchasers are, by definition, Hosts; they may host themselves, other friends, an entire table. 5. Reservation Details is shown f the new guest. Enter Number Attending and Entrée Selections. 6. Click Save. 7. Continue adding guests until the group is complete. Adding Guests f a Host (from the Host s Name) 1. Double-click on the Host s Name to open the name entry screen. 2. Click the Reservation Details tab. Event Preparation F Names 81

8 3. Click Purchase/Change Tickets, & Assign Guests. 4. Click Add Guests tab. 5. Scroll through Potential Guests to find the guest f this host. 6. Click Add Guest(s) to Group. Voiding Ticket Purchases Should you need to void a ticket purchase, perhaps because a guest will not be able to attend, you can void the ticket purchase. 1. Highlight the guest name, then click Activities, Purchase Tickets. 2. Click Void Reservation. 3. Void Transaction screen is displayed. Enter a reason and data entry clerk (cashier) initials. 7. As guests are added to the host, all guests, including the host, will be shown in the center area of the screen. Removing Guests from a Host When a guest has been added to a host by mistake, you can remove the guest. On Add Guests tab of Reservations / Purchase Tickets: 1. In the upper list, select/highlight the guest to be removed. 2. Click Delete Guest from Reservation. 3. This removes the guest from this host s party. It does not delete the guest name other details, such as entrée choices. 4. Click Void Transaction click Cancel to return to Reservation Details. Note Changing ticket quantity by Modify Reservation is recded as a void and new purchase. Voiding Payments Occasionally a guest s payment will be returned declined by the bank, they will change their method of payment. Payments should be tracked carefully, so Auction! does not permit deletion of payments. Payments that are no longer valid should be Voided; they cannot be deleted. 82 Auction! V3 User Guide

9 1. Click Activities, Receive Payments. 2. Select the guest name bid number on the dropdown lists at the top of the screen. The guest s purchases and payments are shown in a checkbook-like register fmat. 3. Click a row, highlighting the payment to void. 4. Click Void Selected Transaction. 5. Void Transaction is displayed, and the specific transaction is shown f your review. 6. Select a reason f the void, and a cashier clerk, then click Void. Removing Voids from your Project If certain transactions are no longer valid, they must be Voided. This retains traceability, such as cancellation date, etc. Voided transactions may show on guest invoices, if you choose that option. Transactions are tightly connected to their associated names and types, so deleting transactions is not readily available to users. You can, however, create a new project, and drop these voided transactions as you transfer infmation. 1. Open the iginal project which contains the Voids. Click Settings, Event Preferences, Project Name. Rename the project Old Data - Your Project Name 2. Click File, New Project. Select New Project with some Data Transferred from an Existing Project. 3. Name the new project the iginal event name. 4. Select the old project, Old Data - Your Project Name as the Source f data to be transferred. 5. On Project Data to Transfer, select the options shown, and click Create New Project. Do not select Retain Voided Transactions. Event Preparation F Names 83

10 6. Review the data in the new project to ensure that all data has been properly transferred. Creating a Practice Project We encourage practicing Ticket Type entry, Reservations (Ticket Purchases) and Payment Receipt in the Sample Project your practice project. This reduces the likelihood of mistaken entries in your dataset. You can create a project called Practice Project and transfer all of your current data into this project. Then you can practice entering data without damaging your actual project dataset. 1. Click File, New Project. Select New Project with some Data Transferred from an Existing Project. 2. Name the new project Practice Project. 3. On the second tab, Transfer Data Source, Select the real project, Your Project Name as the Source f data to be transferred. 4. On Project Data to Transfer, select the options shown, and click Create New Project. 5. Review the data in the new project to ensure that all infmation has been properly transferred. When you no longer need the practice project, you can delete it. See Deleting a Project. 84 Auction! V3 User Guide