Sessions

What's a session?

In Lineup Ninja, a session is basically just a block of time that gets scheduled in a specific location and time slot. It can have various properties associated with it:

  • speaker(s) profile data
  • session title
  • description
  • track (theme)
  • a duration
  • a required capacity (i.e. minimum capacity for the room or stage where the session will be scheduled)
  • a list of physical resources required to deliver it
  • uploaded files (academic papers, slide decks)
  • scheduling rules that can govern when it may or may not be scheduled (very handy)
  • labels (useful for distinguishing between oral presentations and round-table sessions, or the language the session will be conducted in)

Once a session has been scheduled, it will also have:

  • location
  • date, time
  • information about whether there are any scheduling problems (clashes/double booking etc)
  • information about whether the speaker(s) has been notified of the proposed time, and has confirmed that they’ve seen this.

How do I create and manage sessions?

Sessions are created in two main ways:

  1. Manually:

    • On the Session List view, you can click on the blue ‘+’ button to add a new session and associated various properties with it.

    • You may optionally invite a speaker(s) to deliver a session that you have created and written a title (and a description if you wish).

  2. Via a Call for Papers/Call for Speakers:

    • Invite speakers to propose sessions via a Call For Papers form that you can publish.

    • Once you’ve reviewed and chosen submissions for your event, you can create sessions from the accepted submissions.

How do I schedule a session in my agenda?

  1. In your event, navigate to the Agenda Planning view
  2. The right-hand column shows any unscheduled sessions
  3. Simply drag and drop a session from this list onto the Agenda Planning board
  4. Locations and times that are valid scheduling options for the session will appear white. Invalid options will be greyed out.

For a detailed introduction to scheduling sessions check out the Scheduling guide.

How do I set the expected number of attendees for a session? / How do I set the minimum venue capacity required for a given session?

  1. Navigate to the Session List view.
  2. Find the session who’s duration you want to change
  3. Click on its name to enter the Session Detail view.
  4. The “Required Capacity” field appears near the top of this view.
  5. Click the pencil icon on the right-hand side of the row to edit the capacity.

How do I change a session’s duration?

To update an individual session

  1. Navigate to the Session List view.
  2. Find the session who’s duration you want to change
  3. CLick on the pencil icon at the right-hand end of the row.
  4. Edit the duration

To update session lengths in bulk:

  1. Navigate to the list of sessions Sessions
  2. Filter the table to show the sessions you want to update
  3. Click the checkbox in the heading of the table to select all filtered row, or individually select the rows you want to update
  4. Choose ‘Update Session Durations’ from the bulk action

How do I manage session booking?

Lineup Ninja doesn’t currently allow delegates to interact with the published agenda. If you need session booking, we can offer this via integrations with our partners, such as Eventscase or Guidebook.

How do I invite a speaker to deliver a session?

  1. Create a session
  2. Click on the session name to navigate into the Session Detail view
  3. Scroll down and click on “Invite Submission”
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions

How do I keep notes for internal use about a session?

  1. Navigate into your event and click on “Agenda Planning” in the left-hand menu
  2. Next click on “Sessions” in the left-hand menu. This brings up the Session List view
  3. Click on the Session’s title
  4. In the Session Detail view there is a “Notes” field.

How do I copy sessions?

  1. Navigate to the list of sessions Sessions
  2. Either click the copy icon on the row of the session to copy,
    Or select the sessions to copy and choose ‘Copy Sessions’ from the bulk actions at the bottom of the table.
  3. This dialog will display:
  4. Choose the name for the new sessions. If you are copying multiple sessions then the {{original_session_name}} text will be replaced with the session name. I.e. if you leave the default option of {{original_session_name}} - Copy then a Session called Latest Trends would be called Latest Trends - Copy when created.
  5. Choose which data relating to the session you would like to copy. If unsure leave just accept the default to copy everything, you can always edit the sessions later. The options are:
    • Speakers - The new session will have the same speakers are the session being copied. I.e. if Alice was presenting Latest Trends then she will also be presenting Latest Trends - Copy
    • Tracks - The new session will have the same track as the session being copied.
    • Resources - The new session will require the same resources as the session being copied.
    • Labels - Any labels on the session being copied will also be applied to the new session
    • Session Code - The new session will receive the same ‘code’ as the existing one
    • Description - The description will be copied to the new session
    • Required Capacity - The new session will have the same ‘required capacity’ as the existing session
    • Duration - The new session will have the same duration, in minutes, as the existing session. If you don’t set this then the event default will be used. You can set the default on the Event Settings page.
    • Notes - Any notes on the existing session will be copied to the new session
  6. Press the big green ‘Copy’ button!

Note that some data is not copied:

  • Explicit scheduling rules that have been applied to the session will not be copied to the new session. If you need this please reach out to support, we would like to understand your use case.
  • Files attached to sessions are not copied.