Zapier / Make Automation Recipes for Event Organisers
Six ready-to-implement automation recipes. Welcome sequences, waitlist triggers, loyalty rewards, re-engagement campaigns, post-event surveys, and Slack notifications — no coding required.
You don't need a software engineer to automate your events. Zapier and Make are drag-and-drop automation platforms that let you connect Who's In to your email system, CRM, Slack, and databases. Build workflows that run 24/7 without touching a line of code.
What you're about to read are six battle-tested automation recipes. Copy them. Implement them. They'll save you hours per event and improve your guest experience immediately. Each recipe takes 5-15 minutes to set up on Zapier or Make.
Why Automate Event Workflows?
Save Time
5-10 hours per event saved. No more manual email sends, spreadsheet copies, or CRM updates.
Better Data
Automatic syncing eliminates errors. Your CRM, email, and analytics always stay in sync.
Higher Revenue
Automated welcome sequences and re-engagement drives increase repeat attendance and revenue.
The 6 Automation Recipes
Each recipe is designed to be self-contained and can be implemented in any order. Start with Recipe 1 if you're new to automation; it's the simplest.
New RSVP → Email Welcome Campaign
Automatically send a personalized welcome email to guests the moment they RSVP yes.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: Who's In → New RSVP received (status = confirmed)
- 2.Delay: Wait 5 minutes (let the RSVP settle in the system)
- 3.Email: Send welcome email from your email tool (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, etc.)
- 4.Customize: Use event name, date, location from Who's In in the email
- 5.CRM Sync: Also update attendee record in CRM with "rsvp_confirmed" tag
Setup Time
5 minutes
Tools Needed
Event Full → Automatic Waitlist Trigger
When your event hits capacity, automatically add new RSVPs to a waitlist in Airtable or Google Sheets.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: Who's In → RSVP count reaches event capacity
- 2.Condition: Check if event is now full
- 3.Airtable/Sheets: Create new record in "Waitlist" table with attendee details
- 4.Email: Send auto-reply to new RSVPer: "Event is full, but you're #1 on the waitlist"
- 5.Slack: Post notification in #events channel: "Yoga event full! 25/25 spots"
Setup Time
8 minutes
Tools Needed
Attendance Data → Loyalty Points System
When someone checks in at an event, automatically award loyalty points to their profile.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: Who's In → Attendee checked in (QR scan / manual confirmation)
- 2.Query: Check attendee's previous attendance count in your database
- 3.Award Points: Add 10 points for attendance + 5 bonus points if repeat attendee
- 4.Database Update: Update their loyalty balance in your system
- 5.Optional Slack: Post "${attendee_name} checked in! Total attendances: 5"
Setup Time
10 minutes
Tools Needed
No-Show → Re-engagement Email Sequence
When someone fails to show up despite RSVPing, automatically send a re-engagement campaign.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: Who's In → Event time passed + no check-in recorded
- 2.Find: Look up attendee in your CRM
- 3.Update CRM: Tag as "no_show_feb2026" and decrement engagement score
- 4.Send Email 1: Immediate re-engagement email ("We missed you!")
- 5.Delay 3 Days: Send Email 2 with special offer to re-engage
- 6.Alert Organiser: Slack notification for pattern tracking
Setup Time
12 minutes
Tools Needed
Post-Event → Feedback Survey Trigger
Automatically send a feedback survey 24 hours after the event ends.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: Who's In → Event end time reached
- 2.Delay: Wait 24 hours (let attendees settle)
- 3.Survey: Send Typeform or SurveySparrow feedback form to all confirmed attendees
- 4.Segment: Send different surveys for different event types (yoga vs. workshop)
- 5.Collect: Responses automatically stored in Airtable for analysis
- 6.Tag Results: Tag attendees based on feedback score in CRM
Setup Time
10 minutes
Tools Needed
New Member → CRM Tag + Slack Notification
When a new person RSVPs for the first time, flag them in your CRM and notify the team.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: Who's In → New RSVP received
- 2.Check: Query CRM — is this person a new attendee (no prior events)?
- 3.If New: Add to CRM with "new_attendee" + "source:event" tags
- 4.Slack: Post message in #new-members: "Welcome Sarah! Her first event is Yoga on Feb 25"
- 5.Email: Send welcome email explaining your event community
- 6.Track: Mark for team follow-up to ensure great first experience
Setup Time
8 minutes
Tools Needed
How to Set Up Your First Automation (Recipe 1: Welcome Emails)
Let's walk through setting up the simplest recipe — sending an automatic welcome email when someone RSVPs. This should take about 5 minutes.
Create a Zapier Account
Go to zapier.com (or make.com). Sign up with your email. It's free to try.
Click "Create a Zap"
Click the orange "Create" button. You're now building your first automation.
Choose Trigger: Who's In
Search for "Who's In" and select it. Then choose "New RSVP" as the trigger. Connect your Who's In account.
Choose Action: Email
Click "Add step" and search for "Gmail" or "Mailchimp" or "SendGrid". Choose "Send Email". These tools will send the email for you.
Map the Data
For the email subject, use dynamic fields: "Welcome to [Event Name]!". For the body, include event details from Who's In. Zapier shows you available fields — click and they auto-fill.
Test and Turn On
Click "Test step" to send a test email to yourself. If it works, click "Turn on Zap". You're done. Future RSVPs will get welcome emails automatically.
Stuck? Zapier has a huge community and free templates. Search "Zapier Who's In welcome email" and you'll find tutorials. Most common issues are just needing to reconnect your account or adjust how data is mapped.
Measuring Automation ROI
Automation isn't just about saving time. It should also improve your results. Here's how to measure whether your automations are actually working.
Metric 1: Time Saved Per Event
Before automation: How long did it take to manually send welcome emails, update your CRM, create Slack messages? Track hours. After automation: Same tasks take zero manual time. Most organisations save 5-10 hours per event. At $25/hour value, that's $125-250 in time savings per event.
Metric 2: Data Quality
Before: Manual data entry = errors. A guest might be in your email list but not your CRM. After: Automation syncs everything. Track: How many duplicate records? How many data mismatches? Both should drop to near-zero. Clean data = better decisions.
Metric 3: Email Engagement
Do automated welcome emails get opened? Do they get clicked? Compare: Manual welcome emails (open rate X%) vs. automated ones (open rate Y%). Often automation wins because: sent immediately, personalised, consistent. Measure engagement to prove ROI.
Metric 4: Attendance & Retention
Do automated reminders reduce no-shows? Do automated re-engagement campaigns bring back lapsed attendees? Before: No-show rate 20%. After: 15%. That improvement = revenue impact. Track repeat attendance year-over-year to measure whether automation is building loyalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Zapier and Make?
Both are no-code automation platforms that connect Who's In to other tools. Zapier is more beginner-friendly with simpler workflows and a larger app library (7,000+). Make is more flexible and powerful with advanced features like loops and scenarios, better for complex logic. Price is similar ($19-99/month). Start with Zapier if you're new to automation; use Make if you need advanced conditional logic. Many organisations use both for different purposes.
Do I need coding skills to set up these recipes?
Not at all. Zapier and Make are designed for non-technical users. They use a visual interface where you drag-and-drop steps, choose actions, and map data fields. If you can click buttons and fill forms, you can build these automations. The hardest part is usually just connecting your Who's In account for the first time. After that, each recipe takes 5-20 minutes to set up.
What happens if an automation fails or data doesn't sync?
Zapier and Make have built-in logging. Every automation run is recorded with details about success or failure. If something fails, you get an email alert. You can then click to see exactly what went wrong — missing data, connection timeout, tool down, etc. Most failures are easily fixed by reconnecting your account or adjusting data mapping. Both platforms have task limits (you run out at high volumes), but for most event organisers, the free or starter plans work forever.
Can I modify these recipes for my specific event types?
Yes. These recipes are templates — starting points. Once you build one, clone it and modify the conditions and actions. For example, Recipe 1 (RSVP → Welcome Email) can be customized: different emails for different event types, different delays, segmentation based on RSVP notes. Zapier and Make let you add conditions ("if attendee RSVP yes AND event type is yoga, then…") enabling infinite variations on these base recipes.
How do I measure if my automations are actually delivering value?
Track metrics before and after implementation. Before automation: How many manual emails did you send? How many CRM updates? How many spreadsheet entries? After automation: How much time saved? How many errors eliminated? Look at email engagement rates (do auto-sent emails get higher open rates than manual ones?). Check attendee retention (do automated welcome sequences improve repeat attendance?). Most organisations report 5-10 hours saved per event and better data accuracy. Use Zapier/Make task usage dashboards to see how many automations are actually running.
Start Automating Today
Pick one recipe. Set it up in Zapier. Watch it work. Then scale to all six. Your events will run on autopilot.
Related Reading
Automating Event Management with APIs
Connect your events to Slack, Discord, CRM and more via webhooks.
Integrating Event Data with Slack, Discord & CRM
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Trends shaping the next generation of event platforms.
AI-Agent-Ready: The Future of Event Discovery
How structured data and open APIs make events discoverable by AI agents.
