Communication before an event is not one e-mail but a sequence of waves — the save the date, the full invitation, one or two reminders to people who have not registered, and a logistics e-mail shortly before the event. Each wave has a different goal and a different audience, which is why the tool differs too: the first invitation is usually fine as an Invitation e-mail, while anything targeted at a specific status or group belongs in an E-mail campaign. Plan the waves before you send the first message.
Take the event date and count backwards. This skeleton works for a mid-sized corporate event or a conference:
T−2 to T−6 months — Save the date. To everyone invited, as an Invitation e-mail with the registration button hidden.
T−4 to T−8 weeks — Full invitation with registration. To everyone invited, as an Invitation e-mail or a campaign.
T−2 weeks — Reminder. Only to people who have not responded, as a campaign targeted by status.
T−3 to T−5 days — Last call. Only to people who have not registered, as a campaign targeted by status.
T−1 to T−2 days — Logistics e-mail. Only to registered people, as a campaign.
Shift the timings to match the event: an internal company meeting needs a shorter run-up, while a conference with paid tickets should start earlier and use more reminders.
The first wave has one job — to block the date in people's calendars. Neither the agenda nor the registration has to be finished. In Happenee you send it as a variant of the Invitation e-mail with the registration button hidden and an ICS file attached so the attendee can save the date straight away. The full procedure is in Using the Invitation e-mail as a save-the-date.
The second wave asks people to register. This is where you decide between the Invitation e-mail and a campaign:
The Invitation e-mail is enough when you send one message to every assigned contact and do not need targeting.
A campaign is the choice when you want to address different groups with different text (management invited one way, staff another) or when you want to schedule the send for a specific time.
The difference between the two tools is described in When to use the Invitation e-mail vs. an E-mail campaign.
The most effective wave and the one most often skipped. You target the campaign by attendee status so that only people who did not respond to the invitation receive it. Anyone who already registered must not get it — you gain nothing and it reads as careless.
Two reminders is usually the ceiling. A third and beyond return less and raise the odds of recipients marking the message as unwanted.
The last wave before the event goes only to registered people and covers the practical details: where the entrance is, how parking works, when the desk opens, the dress code, what to bring. This is also the place to remind people that their QR-code ticket arrived in the Confirmation e-mail and is available in the attendee app.
Detailed logistics do not belong in the invitation — at invitation time most people do not read it, and by the event day they have forgotten it.
This article stops the day before the event. The morning e-mail with the QR ticket, in-app notifications during the day, and the final campaign for people who have not registered are a separate sequence — see Communication flow on the event day.
Write every wave before you open registration, not one at a time. A reminder written in a hurry the evening before it goes out shows, and on a bilingual event it is where the second language version is most often forgotten. Campaigns can be created and scheduled well in advance.
A classic, and it costs you credibility with exactly the most engaged people. Always target a reminder campaign by status rather than at the whole list. Before sending, check how many recipients the targeting selected; if it matches the invitation count, the targeting is wrong.
A save the date registers nobody on its own — it has no registration button. When the full invitation slips, people have the date in their calendars while the registered list stays empty. Agree the date of the second wave with your team at the moment you send the first.
The e-mail about parking and dress code also reaches a hundred people who never registered and will not come. It drives unsubscribes and clutters inboxes for no reason. It should be targeted at registered attendees.
On a bilingual event every wave has two language versions. The most common mistake is filling in Czech only — English-speaking recipients then get an empty or half-empty e-mail. After writing each wave, switch the language and check the second version.
