Creating an Event Agenda File

In this topic you will learn how to create an event agenda file that can be uploaded to initially populate an online agenda for a Virtual Event Experience.

In many cases, the event agenda is initially created/organized using a third-party tool, for example, Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. The Agenda module provides the ability to upload an external .csv agenda file to initially create the event agenda. Once the agenda file is uploaded, it can be edited using the Agenda module.

Column naming requirements

When creating the initial agenda file, you can download a sample agenda template from the Agenda page and edit it or use an existing agenda file you may have created. The Agenda module looks for the existence of specific column names. These columns will be mapped to the appropriate fields in the agenda module. Other columns that may be in your agenda file will be ignored by the Agenda module. In order to upload an agenda file, the following columns are required:

  • name - Session name
  • start_date - Session start date (MM/DD/YYYY format)
  • start_time - Session start time
  • timezone - Timezone for start_time (using zone ID from the IANA time zones)
  • duration - Session duration in minutes
  • track - Value that identifies the track (i.e. technical, sales, marketing); a track name of ALL indicates that the session spans all tracks (i.e. lunch, breaks)

The following columns are optional, but if they exist in your agenda file, they will also be imported into the agenda module:

  • description - Session description
  • speaker1_first - Speaker first name
  • speaker1_last - Speaker last name
  • speaker1_email - Speaker email address (used to uniquely identify a speaker)
  • speaker2_first - Speaker 2 first name
  • speaker2_last - Speaker 2 last name
  • speaker2_email - Speaker 2 email address (used to uniquely identify a speaker)
  • speaker3_first - Speaker 3 first name
  • speaker3_last - Speaker 3 last name
  • speaker3_email - Speaker 3 email address (used to uniquely identify a speaker)
  • session_type - Session type (session, keynote, meeting, other)
  • video _id - Video ID (for session, keynote and other session types)
  • url - Meeting URL (for meeting session types)
  • related _label - Label for the related link that will appear in the Agenda module
  • related_link - URL link to a session handout, slides, etc.

When you are ready to import your agenda into the Agenda module, export it as a .csv file. The Agenda module can only import a .csv file. For information on how to upload your agenda file into the Agenda module, see Managing the Event Agenda.