Planning an Event

How to Get There

To start a new event, select "Plan an Event" after clicking on the Plan Badge as shown below:

**You may also select Calendar in the same drop down menu and simply click on the date desired.

 

Basic Event Details

There are a lot of details you can provide about an event, so to make things simpler we're going to discuss them one section at a time, starting with the basic details, which I've highlighted below:

Here's a break down of what each of the fields in this section mean:

  • Title: Short description of the event. This is the phrase that will be used when listing events in the calendar and on the agenda view.
  • Event Type: Campout, Court of Honor, Fundraiser, Hike, Meeting, Other, or Service Project. Each type has its own default color that will be used when displaying the event in the calendar.
  • Custom Color: If you don't want to use the default color, pick your own!
  • Location: Where the event will be held. When describing the event later, TroopTrack will display the location in summaries of the event.
  • Start at: The date and time the event starts. This field uses a special calendar picker that I'll explain in a second
  • End at: The date and time the event ends. This field also uses the special calendar picker.

 

Choosing a Date and Time with the Calendar Picker

Here's an annotated image of the calendar picker describing how to use it.

 

RSVP Deadline and Event Reminders

Set your RSVP deadline.

Choose when to send the ORIGINAL invitation.

Finally, you may select when to send a reminder (example: the night before).  

 

Inviting Members to Attend

Then click the "members" header, and it will take you to a screen like this:

Simply select groups or individuals you would like to invite.

Important Note: If you don't choose a value for 'Send invites when' or 'Send reminder when', the respective emails will NOT be sent.

 

Creating an Attractive Event Description

By now you may have noticed the WYSIWYG editor at the bottom of the basic section. With this editor you can create an event description that is formatted attractively using elements such as bold, bulleted lists, color, changes in font size, etc.

 

Advanced Event Details

Then you’ll see:

Here are what each of these fields mean:

  • Adult Coordinator: If an adult is organizing this event, choose them from the list. They will be listed as a contact person on summaries of the event.
  • Scout/ Girl Coordinator: If a scout is organizing this event, choose them from the list. Like the adult coordinator, they will be listed as a contact person. Many scouting units will assign both a scout and adult coordinator for events, in which case they are both listed.
  • Camping nights: How many nights will you be camping? Scouts who attend will have the nights credited to them for using in the Camping Merit Badge (Boy Scout Troops only) and other awards. If you won't be camping just leave it blank. 
  • Hiking miles: If you will hike as part of this event, how many miles will you go? Like camping nights, miles are credited to anyone who attends. You can use the custom report tool to see a summary of each of these fields.
  • Service hours: If your event includes a service project, how many hours will be given? Service hours are required for some rank advancements, but it is also helpful to know how many hours your scouting unit  spends serving the community.
  • Permission required: If completion of a permission slip is required, check this box. The event email will include a link to the standard BSA permission slip that will be pre-filled with information about the event and scout for the parents to print and sign.
  • Medical required: Check this box if a current medical must be on file in order to attend. 
  • Tour plan required: Check this box if a tour plan must be filed with the scout office prior to this event. 
  • Fees:Is there a cost associated with this event? If so, enter it here. If you are using event integrated accounting, scouts who RSVP for this event will automatically have the fee deducted from their scout money account and transferred to the troop account.
    • Event Items Available for Purchase: If there’s event items that can be bought they can be added here. Ex: T-shirts, special patches, etc.

 

Reoccuring Events

Let's say Pack meetings are every Wednesday at the church. Committee meetings are on the second Sunday of each month. With the "Meeting Schedules" feature you can plan both those events and have them repeat for a specified amount of time.

How to Get There
Simply click “Plan”, then “Meeting Schedules”.

Then click “New Meeting Schedule” to plan a new repeating event.

From there you’ll be able to plan a meeting schedule in a similar way of planning a normal event. You can customize the name, when the first meeting occurs, the specific time of the event, and then how often it will occur after the first meeting.

Don’t forget to save:

After that you’ll see each individual event, and the time for those events. You can edit those events, or add extra ones if you need more. Then just click on “save events”, and those events will be added to your calendar.

1 Like

where can i add the sign up sheet? i can’t find it in the advanced section

Enhancement idea - allow an event to have multiple signup slots. If we are doing a fundraising event and we’ve broken it out into 3x 2 hour sessions, we want to make sure that we have scouts to fill each time slot. Easy enough to do on paper, or in something like signupgenius - but it would be nice if we could build it into the event.

3 Likes

My Troop is moving to Troop Track from Scoutbook. I’m adding old activities to the calendar hoping to pick up the camping nights/service hours for the scouts.

I created the event and added the camping nights on the Advanced tab. We entered the attendance but the scouts aren’t getting credit for the nights. On the attendance page it shows 2 nights at the top and I’ve checked the box for the attendees under the attendees column. Should it credit the scouts 2 nights or do I need to physically click the up arrows to enter the nights for each person or is there a step I’m missing?

Thanks.

Can we limit who actually sees a particular event? I was thinking of putting our leadership meetings on the calendar, but I do not want to publicize these meetings to the whole troop. Thanks!

2 Likes

Any responses or closure on this? We would love this option too!!

We are getting multiple reminders/invites to our events. Why? I only see an option for one invite. Does a new invite go out if changes are made to the event?
Also, after a person has RSVP’d no, why are they still getting the reminders?

2 Likes

When I entered all of my Scouts I entered them in the section “Scouts” and then place them into Patrols. When I plan an event that I want to invite my Scouts to, if I click on the “Scouts” tick box, all of the Parents of the Scouts get invited but none of the Scouts do! To invite the Scouts I need to select each of the Patrols individually. Why are Scouts not in the Scouts group and why are Parents in there?

I’m getting reminders to pay, provide documentation and RSVP for items I’ve already responded to on the TroopTrack site. Is there a way to allow the scout leaders to only send reminders to those who have yet to respond to these events? Thanks from an overwhelmed new parent who is double-checking status more often than attending events.

1 Like

When a permission slip is due, we would love a way to track that the permission form has been received and then a way to send reminder emails to those who have not submitted their permission slip. This would be very helpful!

1 Like

We would also love to see in the RSVP section of the website and app, a way to break out the girl count, vs the adults. This is helpful when planning for events, especially when it comes to activities in which supplies are needed for the girls but not adults and it is especially when food planning is involved. I know there is a filter in the RSVP section, but it doesn’t tally those attending, maybe and those not attending. If this feature is already in there, please let me know. Thanks!

So if I invite just the leaders (by name) to meeting then it only shows up on their calendar. HOWEVER, the meeting still shows up on the “Year at a Glance.” It’d be really great if the “Year at a Glance” only showed the events that the person is invited to.

1 Like

I agree, it would be helpful if the attendance form showed what paperwork is on file (permission form, medical, high adventure) and payment status.

1 Like

I’m getting reminders to pay, provide documentation and RSVP for items I’ve already responded to on the TroopTrack site. Is there a way to allow the scout leaders to only send reminders to those who have yet to respond to these events? Thanks from an overwhelmed new parent who is double-checking status more often than attending events.

I like this. I just sent out reminders for parents, but 90% had already replied. So either I bug 90% unnecessarily, or I have to manually send reminders. Add the option to the reminder emails like you have for the Email Invitees function.

When I create an event and select Everyone from Groups not all of the members are getting the email while others are. If I select recipients manually it appears to work as it does for other group names.

It would be helpful if invitees or attendees could ask a question and for that question and answer(s) to appear somewhere in the event info.

Thanks,

Dave

I just had the opposite happen. I selected only Leaders and Scouts for an email and EVERYONE is in the “waiting for Response.”

We have a big trip planned that will require payments to be made. Is there a way to break the payments down so I can keep track of who made each payment? In other words, can I figure more than one amount on the event?

I would like to be able to select my custom mailing list instead of using the new members tab roles/patrols. How do I get it back or add it?

You would need to disable the Use Dynamic Meeting Invitations option under Settings, Edit Unit Settings, TroopTrack Settings.