Overview
MeetingMates is a feature in EventPilot Pro Onsite+ and higher helps turn networking from chance encounters into more relevant connections. By recommending attendee matches based on shared interests, professional profile, and schedule overlap, it helps participants make better use of their time and get more value from the meeting.
How does MeetingMates find matches?
MeetingMates compares users' schedules, selected professional and personal interests. MeetingMates relies on users completing their profiles which includes a selection for professional and personal interests.
How to set up MeetingMates?
If MeetingMates is included in your project, check with your project manager that you would like to turn the feature ON. Ensure that your agenda data has a filter like "Specialty" where you added / imported a list of keywords to tag all sessions by topic.
Decide, which filter keywords should be displayed in the Professional Interests list.
How to choose the filter:
- App Builder > Agenda > Sessions
- check which filter is most appropriate (learn more about filters)
- Navigate to Settings > App Settings
- Find Professional Interests Filter > Use the drop down to select which Agenda filter the Professional Interests filter should match
- Toggle Display Edit Profile Button to ON
- Toggle Prompt User Profile on Login to ON
- The first time a user logs into the app, they will be prompted to complete their user profile
- Publish
Check with your project manager to set up a Networking landing page that guides attendees to all the different networking options available via the app and a simple way to access their profile again.
FAQ
Is there a priority between schedule, professional, and personal interests for generating matches?
Yes. MeetingMates gives highest priority to overlapping schedules, then professional interests, and then personal interests.
How many matches does MeetingMates generate?
If matches are found, MeetingMates displays up to 5 matches per day.
How many personal or profession interests can a user select - is there a maximum?
Users can select up to 5 personal and up to 5 professional interests.
Where does the list of Professional Interests come from? Can I change it later?
Sessions are typically tagged by topic or speciality. MeetingMates is designed to utilize this list for attendee matchmaking. That way you can save yourself time and do not need to create a separate list of keywords, plus, your attendees are already familiar with your categorization or terminology. You can add additional keywords at any time.
If a user has already selected a keyword and you later delete it, it will stay in that user’s profile for matchmaking and will continue to display in the attendee list.
What happens if I don't have a filter in my agenda data or I have no keywords in my filter?
The professional interests selection will not show when users edit their profile.
What if I need to change or remove a filter keyword but users already selected it as their interest?
If a user has already selected that keyword as an interest, it will remain in their profile until they remove it. Once a user removes that keyword from their profile, they cannot add it again. Other users who already selected it will continue to have it in their profiles until they remove it themselves.
What is the list of personal interests? Can I change the list?
The list of personal interests is carefully curated for you and includes the following: Active & Outdoors, Arts & Culture, Family & Home, Food & Drink, Gaming & Tech, Learning & Wellness, Movies & Books, Pets & Animals, Social & Nightlife, Travel & Adventure.
The list is not designed to be edited to ensure simplicity.
If the user adds a country to their profile, is it used in MeetingMates for matchmaking? Is there maximum on countries?
Users can select up to 3 countries. Countries are not used for MeetingMates but they can be displayed in the attendee list to allow filtering by country and ease networking.
If I blocked a user via Moderation, will they be included in MeetingMates?
No. Blocked users are excluded from MeetingMates. They will not appear as potential matches for other users nor will they receive any match recommendations.
Can users exclude themselves from being matched?
Yes. Users can access their Settings (typically via More > Login Settings > Settings) and toggle Account Active to OFF. This will remove them from all matches on your next data publish.
When are new attendee matches generated in MeetingMates?
Each morning, attendees see an update list of matches in their networking page (if matches were found).
I am not importing an attendee list. Can I create an attendee list and display the profiles for attendee networking?
Yes. Contact your Project Manager to set this up for you.
If I create an attendee list from users filling in their profile, can someone remove themselves from that list? Does that impact their matches?
During profile edit, users can choose to display their profile in the attendee list or not. Showing or hiding in the attendee list does not impact MeetingMates. Users that hide themselves from the attendee list will still receive matches and appear in match recommendations.
If I am importing my attendee list from the registration system, can I show the interest filters from the user editing their profile editing?
Yes. Contact your Project Manager to add the filter keywords to your imported attendee list.
If I am importing my attendee list from a registration system, can users then remove themselves from that list?
If you are importing the data from a third party system, the decision if that user is displayed must be set up in that system. For example, if you are importing from a registration system, ask your attendees there first if they allow their name to be displayed in the app. The API must be implemented to match your setup.
If I have to block a user, does that user still show up in my attendee list?
If you are populating your attendee list from profiles directly, blocked users are no longer imported into your attendee list. If you are populating your attendee from another data source, e.g. your registration or membership system, the user will continue to display in the attendee list. Only if the attendee list is set up to be generated from users editing their profile, then it's possible to have a user removed via blocking.
I am importing an attendee list. How can I tell if a user edited their profile?
You will see an orange pencil icon in the attendee list in the CMS Attendees page.
When I set Prompt User Profile on Login, does the profile appear each time the user logs in?
Only when a user logs in for the first time, the user is shown their profile to edit. The information that they were already prompted is stored in the system and they are not prompted again. There could be a little delay across the different platforms, so if a user logs in on one platform and immediately after on another, then they may get prompted again.