Zapier / Make Automation Recipes for Event Organisers
Six automation recipes built on Who's In webhooks and exports: Slack alerts, Google Sheets logs, full-event and cancellation alerts, post-event surveys, and loyalty follow-ups.
You don't need a software engineer to automate your events. Zapier and Make are drag-and-drop automation platforms that connect Who's In to Slack, spreadsheets and your CRM. Who's In sends three webhook events (rsvp.confirmed, event.capacity_reached and event.cancelled), and everything else comes from its CSV exports.
What you're about to read are six automation recipes. Copy them and adapt them. Each takes 5-15 minutes to set up on Zapier or Make once your webhook is registered.
Why Automate Event Workflows?
Save Time
No more manual spreadsheet copies or team updates every time someone RSVPs.
Better Data
Automatic syncing eliminates errors. Your CRM, email, and analytics always stay in sync.
Higher Revenue
Loyalty rewards and win-back emails built on your check-in data help bring people back.
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 → Slack Team Alert
Post a message to your team channel every time someone confirms, with their name and party size.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: Webhooks by Zapier → Catch Hook (or a Make custom webhook)
- 2.Register: subscribe that hook URL to Who's In's rsvp.confirmed event (one request to the Who's In API)
- 3.Format: build the message from attendeeName and totalSpots in the payload
- 4.Slack: post to #event-rsvps: "Sarah Chen is in (party of 2)"
Setup Time
10 minutes
Tools Needed
New RSVP → Running Log in Google Sheets
Keep a live sheet of every confirmation for your team, venue or sponsors.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: catch the rsvp.confirmed webhook in Zapier or Make
- 2.Google Sheets: add a row with the timestamp, eventId, attendeeName, plusOnes and totalSpots
- 3.Optional: a second tab that totals confirmed spots per event
- 4.Note: the payload carries names and party size, not emails or phone numbers
Setup Time
8 minutes
Tools Needed
Event Full → Team Alert + Next Session
When an event fills, tell your team and line up the next session while demand is hot.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: catch the event.capacity_reached webhook
- 2.Slack: post "Community Yoga is full (15/15)" with the event title and start date
- 3.Tasks: create a to-do to open another session or a bigger room
- 4.Note: Who's In runs the waitlist and its emails itself, so no waitlist zap is needed
Setup Time
8 minutes
Tools Needed
Event Cancelled → Team Alert + Sheet Update
When you cancel an event, keep your team and your records in step automatically.
Steps:
- 1.Trigger: catch the event.cancelled webhook
- 2.Slack: post the event title, start date and how many attendees were affected
- 3.Google Sheets: mark the event row as cancelled
- 4.Note: Who's In emails the attendees about the cancellation itself
Setup Time
8 minutes
Tools Needed
After the Event → Feedback Survey
Collect feedback after every event, with or without an automation tool.
Steps:
- 1.Built in: Who's In can email attendees a short feedback survey after the event, with results in your dashboard
- 2.Prefer Typeform? There is no "event ended" webhook, so export the attendee list after the event
- 3.Send: email your survey link to that list from your email tool
- 4.Collect: store responses in Airtable for analysis
Setup Time
10 minutes
Tools Needed
Attendance → Loyalty or Re-engagement
Reward regulars and win back no-shows using the check-in export.
Steps:
- 1.Export: download the check-in CSV from the event's analytics (name, email, status, checked in)
- 2.Import: load it into Airtable or your CRM (there is no check-in webhook)
- 3.Reward: add points for everyone who checked in
- 4.Follow up: email a "we missed you" note to confirmed guests who didn't check in
Setup Time
15 minutes
Tools Needed
How to Set Up Your First Automation (Recipe 1: Slack Alerts)
Let's walk through setting up the simplest recipe — a Slack message when someone confirms. This should take about 10 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: Webhooks by Zapier
Choose "Webhooks by Zapier" and the "Catch Hook" trigger, then copy the hook URL. Register it for the rsvp.confirmed event with one request to the Who's In API (see the API docs). The native Who's In Zapier app is in review.
Choose Action: Slack
Click "Add step", search for "Slack" and choose "Send Channel Message". Pick the channel your team watches.
Map the Data
Build the message from the webhook fields: "[attendeeName] is in (party of [totalSpots])". Zapier shows you the available fields from your test request — click and they auto-fill.
Test and Turn On
RSVP to a test event yourself, then click "Test step". If the message lands, click "Turn on Zap". Every future confirmation now posts to Slack.
Stuck? Check that your hook URL is registered for the right event and that your test RSVP was confirmed (webhooks fire on confirmed RSVPs only). Most other issues are just how the 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?
Mostly not. Zapier and Make are designed for non-technical users: you drag-and-drop steps, choose actions, and map data fields. The one technical step today is registering your hook URL with the Who's In API (a single authorised request, documented in the API docs), because the native Who's In Zapier app is still in review. 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 → Slack alert) can be customised: a different channel for each event, or a louder alert for groups of four or more. Zapier and Make let you add conditions ("if totalSpots is 4 or more, then…") enabling many 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?). 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
Step-by-step guides for piping event data into team tools.
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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.