Making an RSVP mean something

The brief

Anyone who has organised a CME knows the number problem. Ninety doctors say yes. Fifty five come. You have catered for ninety, laid out ninety seats, and printed ninety certificates. The gap is not rudeness, it is that clicking yes three weeks out costs nothing.

The brief was to close that gap without nagging people, and to stop the attendance list dying in a register at the door.

What we built

• A three tier RSVP, with a reconfirmation the day before, so the forecast reflects who is actually coming
• Event day check in, with walk in capture for the doctors who arrive without an invitation
• Live counters on the day, so the organiser can see the room filling in real numbers
• Attendance certificates issued only to the doctors who actually came, generated from the check in
• A doctor community that grows with every session, because each event adds the people who attended it

Why the reconfirmation works

A yes given three weeks in advance and a yes given the evening before are different promises. Asking again, once, close to the date, costs the invitee ten seconds and turns a wish list into a plan. Catering, seating and certificates all key off that second number, and the waste goes away.

How it runs now

Every session leaves the programme better off than it found it: a verified attendance record, feedback, and more doctors in the community than before. The mailing list is not bought or scraped, it is the accumulated record of people who have actually turned up.