◷Events

As an entry with date, time, place and description. It is displayed via the Event list block.

What belongs in a good event description:

• What exactly is taking place — not just “General meeting”, but what it is about.
• For whom. Open to everyone or only to members?
• Whether registration is required and by when.
• What to bring, if anything.

What gets forgotten and then leads to queries: the time and how to get there. For a place that people from outside do not know, directions belong with it.

The event list only shows what is still to come — past events disappear by themselves. That is the real advantage over a list maintained by hand.

With the Event registration block. It needs the event ID, which you copy from the event list.

What you set:

• Heading and text — what happens after registration.
• Button label.
• GDPR text — what the data is collected for and how long it is kept.

What you should decide beforehand:

• Which details do you really need? Name and email address are almost always enough. Every additional required field costs registrations.
• Is there a maximum number? Then you have to keep an eye on it yourself.
• Who handles the registrations? A registration without confirmation causes uncertainty.

One block per event — for the next event, you swap the ID.

It is personal data and needs a purpose, a legal basis and a time limit — even if it is “only” a registration list.

What you should bear in mind:

• Purpose: running the event. Not: future advertising. Anyone who wants to write to the addresses later needs separate consent for that — ideally right in the registration form, as a voluntary tick box.
• Time limit: delete after the event, as soon as the data no longer serves a purpose. Different rules apply to a general meeting than to a summer party.
• Do not pass on participant lists — not even to other participants.
• No details about health or diet unless necessary. “Vegetarian” is harmless; “allergies” can be health information.

And the classic to avoid: the reminder email with all recipients visible.

With an email two or three days beforehand — and each person gets their own.

What belongs in it:

• Date, time, place once again in full. Nobody digs out the old email.
• Directions and parking, if not obvious.
• What to bring.
• A number to call in case someone cannot come or is running late.

What this achieves: the number of no-shows drops noticeably. For free events, it is the most effective lever of all.

Never with all recipients visible. With twenty registrations the temptation is great, and the incident is the same as with two hundred.

And in the event of a cancellation or postponement: inform people immediately, not just by changing the website. Someone who has the event in their calendar will not look at your website again.

In this order:

1. Inform those registered — immediately, by email and, for short-notice cancellations, also by phone.
2. Mark it on the website, do not delete it. Leave “cancelled” on the event until the date has passed.
3. A notice at the top of the page, if it is short notice and affects many people.
4. Give a replacement date, if there is one, and ask those registered whether they want to be transferred.

Why not delete: someone who has the event in their calendar and checks will find nothing and not know whether they made a mistake or the event has been cancelled. A “cancelled” answers the question.

Only after the event date can the entry disappear.

With two habits — then it almost looks after itself:

1. Enter events straight away, as soon as they are fixed. Do not collect them.
2. Look through it once a quarter: are the details still correct? Has anything been added?

The list automatically shows only what is coming up — that saves you tidying up. What you still need to check:

• Dates in texts. If the same date also appears in a paragraph, it gets forgotten when changes are made.
• Recurring events. The club evening on the first Tuesday of every month still has to be created.

And the honest question: if you only have two events a year, you do not need an event list. A paragraph on the home page is enough, and ages no worse than an empty list.

As individual entries — with the advantage that you can cancel or change each one separately.

In practice: create half a year in advance, in one go. Twenty minutes, and the list will last until the summer.

What you should not do: write a single entry “Club evening every first Tuesday” and leave it there. It does not say whether the next one is taking place — and in December it will not be right anyway.

What also helps:

• Take public holidays and school holidays into account when creating them. The first Tuesday in January is often not one.
• A notice on the page when a series pauses — summer break, Christmas break.

And put in a reminder for yourself to create the next six months in good time.

With the consent of the people shown — and you obtain it beforehand, not afterwards.

What works in practice:

• A note in the invitation and at the entrance that photos will be taken and what for.
• A way to opt out — a sticker, an area without photos, a word at reception.
• Overview shots instead of portraits. For a crowd in which nobody is singled out, the requirements are lower.
• Children need the consent of both parents or guardians. Without it: no photos.

What is not enough: a sentence in the small print of the registration. Consent must be recognisable and voluntary.

And if someone later asks for removal: remove it. Without discussion.

Through several channels at once — the website alone is not enough.

What works together:

• The event on the website, with all details.
• A post about it that tells more than the event line.
• Newsletter to those who have consented.
• The notice at the top of the page, in the last two weeks.
• Offline channels: noticeboard, newspaper, partners, multipliers.

What to bear in mind legally: an invitation to members is not advertising. An invitation to non-members to an event with a fee can be — then you need a legal basis for sending it.

And the timing: announce it three to four weeks beforehand, remind people one week beforehand. Earlier, it gets forgotten; later, calendars are full.

Three things, all within a week:

1. A short post with two or three pictures. That is the best evidence that things happen with you, and the best preparation for the next event.
2. Say thank you. A short email to the participants, perhaps with the link to the post.
3. Tidy up: delete participant data that no longer serves a purpose. Take the event off the page if it does not disappear by itself.

And for yourself: note what went well and what did not. How many came, out of how many registered? What were people asking? What would you change?

In a year’s time, when you plan the same event again, this note is the most valuable thing you have.

A great deal — as soon as money changes hands, a contract with consumers is created.

What then applies:

• Price information in full, including VAT and all additional costs.
• Pre-contractual information obligations.
• Right of withdrawal — with one important exception: for contracts for leisure events on a specific date, there is generally no right of withdrawal (§ 312g para. 2 no. 9 of the German Civil Code, BGB). But this must be presented correctly.
• Terms and conditions (AGB) or conditions of participation that govern cancellation, non-attendance and substitutes.

What Aurora Hive Sites is not for this purpose: a ticket shop. Registration and payment are two different things — for payment you need a separate route.

For regular events with a fee, it is worth having the conditions of participation checked legally once. After that, it is routine.

Via a downloadable calendar entry — if this has been set up. If not, there is a simple substitute that works almost as well:

Write the date in full and unambiguously. “Thursday, 14 March 2026, 19:00” can be transferred in two moves. “Next Thursday” cannot.

What you can also do:

• In the confirmation email after registration, repeat the full date.
• In the reminder email as well.

The point that achieves more than any technology is this: the reminder two days beforehand. It practically replaces the calendar entry entirely — and also reaches those who would not have added it.