# Take part Getting into an event, attending it, and what to do when something looks wrong. # How you get into an event There are four ways to end up at an event on Involvo. The event decides which one applies, so the first thing to do is open the event page and look at what it asks you to do. ## Apply You fill in a form, and the organizer decides. This is normal for events with limited places, selection, or a cost to the organizer per participant. Applying is not the same as having a place. You will get a status, and usually a second step after that — see [Applying, and what each status means](/books/take-part/page/applying-and-what-each-status-means). ## Register directly You fill in your details and you are in. Nobody reviews it. This is normal for open events — talks, meetups, larger public events. See [Registering directly](/books/take-part/page/registering-directly). ## Be invited The organizer adds you themselves. You do not apply; you are told. This happens for speakers, volunteers, staff, and for events that are not openly advertised. ## Walk in You turn up and are checked in on the spot, without having signed up beforehand. Whether this is possible is entirely the organizer's decision, and for anything with limited places or a printed list it usually is not. Do not rely on it unless the event says so. ## When the sign-up is not on Involvo Some organizers keep their own registration form elsewhere and simply link to it. In that case you follow their link and register with them; Involvo is not holding your registration. See [Registering directly](/books/take-part/page/registering-directly). ## After you are in For events where the organizer approves people, getting in is often two steps rather than one: they accept you, and then you confirm you are actually coming. Missing that second step can cost you the place. See [Applying, and what each status means](/books/take-part/page/applying-and-what-each-status-means). # Applying, and what each status means If an event asks you to apply, you will see a status change over time. There are two sets of statuses, which is the single most confusing thing about this process, so it is worth being clear about them. **First your application is decided.** Then, if you are accepted, **your place is confirmed** — by you. Being accepted is not the end of it. ## Stage one: your application - **Pending** — submitted, not yet decided. Nothing is required from you. - **Approved** — the organizer accepted you. Move to stage two below. - **Waitlisted** — you are in reserve. If people drop out you may be moved up, so do not write it off, but do not count on it either. - **Rejected** — you were not selected this time. - **Withdrawn** — you took your application back. ![The applications list showing counts per status and three applications badged Pending, Waitlisted and Approved](https://wiki.involvo.io/uploads/images/gallery/2026-09/47-application-statuses.png) ## Stage two: your place Once you are approved you become a participant, and the organizer usually asks you to confirm you are coming. You will get a link to do it. - **Awaiting confirmation** — they are waiting on you. **This is the one to act on.** - **Confirmed** — you said you are coming. You are on the list. - **Needs more time** — you asked for longer to decide. It buys you time; it does not hold the place indefinitely. - **Declined** — you said you are not coming. - **No response** — you were asked and did not answer. Treat this as having lost the place. - **Cancelled** — the organizer removed your place. ## Why this matters Places are limited, and an organizer who cannot tell who is actually turning up will give the place to somebody who answered. If you have been approved, confirm — even if the event is weeks away. If you know you cannot go, decline rather than ignoring it. It frees the place for someone on the waitlist, and it takes a moment. ## Where to see this Your applications and their statuses are together in one place in your account, so you do not need to revisit each event page to check. # Registering directly Some events let you register without anybody reviewing it. You fill in your details, and you have a place. This is the usual arrangement for open events — talks, meetups, larger public gatherings — where the organizer is not selecting between people. There is no status to wait for and nothing to confirm afterwards. If the event later needs something from you, the organizer will contact you directly. ## When the form is not on Involvo Some organizers keep their own registration form somewhere else — often a Google Form — and the event page simply links to it. When that is the case, **your registration is with the organizer, not with Involvo.** That has a few practical consequences: - Involvo does not know you signed up, so the event will not appear in your applications or your history. - You will not get Involvo reminders about it, and the organizer cannot message you through Involvo. - Anything about your registration — did it arrive, are you on the list, what happens next — is a question for the organizer. Check-in at the door can still work if the organizer has enabled it, even when registration happened elsewhere. Organizers choose this deliberately, often because they would rather registration data stayed with them. It is a normal setup, not a broken one. ## On events added by someone else If the event was added to Involvo by somebody other than the organization running it, the registration link starts out hidden along with the other outbound links, and opening it uses Impact Stars. See [Reading an event page](/books/find-opportunities/page/reading-an-event-page). ## Registering without an account Some organizers allow registration without signing up for Involvo. Where they have, you can register with just your details, and turn that into a full account later without losing the registration. See [Do I need an account?](/books/start-here/page/do-i-need-an-account) # Check in and check out Checking in records that you actually came. It matters for two reasons: the organizer knows who is in the room, and it is what unlocks the list of other people at the event — see [Seeing other attendees](/books/people/page/seeing-other-attendees). ## How to check in **Scan the organizer's QR code.** Most events do it this way. The organizer displays a code at the entrance and you scan it. ![The confirmation an attendee sees after scanning: a green tick with the words Checked in, and a note that it is redirecting to the event](https://wiki.involvo.io/uploads/images/gallery/2026-09/49-attendee-checked-in.png) **Or check in from the event page**, where the organizer has enabled it. This asks your device for your location, to confirm you are actually there. Either way you need an account, and you need to be signed in on the device you are using. ## Checking out Some events also ask you to check out when you leave, using the same method. Where check-out matters and you forget, it may be recorded for you when the event finishes. ## Events that run in parts An event split into sessions or days handles each part separately, so you check in for the part you are attending rather than once for the whole event. If you come to two days out of three, that is what the record shows. ## What you might see afterwards - **Checked in** — recorded, nothing more to do. - **Awaiting verification** — recorded but not yet final. This resolves on its own. - **Checked out** — your attendance is complete. - **Not counted** — an attendance record was set aside and does not count. If this happens and you did attend, speak to the organizer, who can correct it. ## If check-in does not work The organizer can check you in themselves. That is the fastest fix on the day, and it is what staff are there for — do not spend the event trying to make your phone cooperate. See [When something looks wrong](/books/take-part/page/when-something-looks-wrong). # After the event: feedback After an event you took part in, you can tell the organizer how it went — a rating and, if you want, a comment. You can leave feedback once per event. ## Where it goes Feedback goes to the organizer of that event. Involvo does not act on it or mediate it. **Feedback is not anonymous.** It is tied to your participation, and an organizer can see who wrote it — including your name and email address. Write it as something with your name on it, because it has your name on it. That is not a reason to be less honest. Organizers generally want to hear what went wrong far more than they want another polite five, and a specific criticism from a named person is more useful to them than an anonymous one. Some organizers also link a longer form of their own for anyone willing to say more. That is optional and it is theirs, not Involvo's. ## Why bother Two reasons beyond good manners. Feedback is most of what a small organizer has to work with. Attendance tells them how many came; it does not tell them the room was too cold, the schedule overran, or the second session was the good one. It also earns you a small amount of Impact Stars and counts toward your Impact Points — see [Impact Points vs Impact Stars](/books/account-rewards/page/impact-points-vs-impact-stars). ## If something went seriously wrong Feedback is for how the event went, not for reporting a problem that needs handling. For that, see [When something looks wrong](/books/take-part/page/when-something-looks-wrong). # When something looks wrong Things that go wrong on Involvo fall into two groups, and telling them apart saves time. **Questions about an event** — the schedule, the venue, your place, whether you were selected — belong to the organizer. Involvo does not run the event and cannot answer them. **Problems with Involvo itself** — the site misbehaving, a status that is plainly wrong, something you cannot access — belong to Involvo. Below, the common situations and which of the two each one is. ## Before the event **The event information looks wrong or out of date.** Most likely the event was added by someone other than the organizer, and has not been updated since. Check the organizer's own channels, which is the authoritative source — see [How event information on Involvo works](/books/start-here/page/how-event-information-on-involvo-works). *Organizer.* **The registration link does not work, or leads somewhere dead.** If the link is broken at the far end, that is the organizer's page and only they can fix it. Look them up directly. *Organizer.* **The links on the event page are hidden.** That is not a fault. Outbound links on events added by someone else start hidden, and opening one uses Impact Stars — see [Reading an event page](/books/find-opportunities/page/reading-an-event-page). *Neither — working as intended.* **My application has been pending for a long time.** Organizers review on their own schedule, and many decide only once registration closes. If the event is close and you have heard nothing, ask them. *Organizer.* **I was approved but never got asked to confirm.** Check your application status first — you may already be awaiting confirmation without having noticed. See [Applying, and what each status means](/books/take-part/page/applying-and-what-each-status-means). If the status says you are confirmed, you are fine. *Organizer, if it still looks wrong.* **I saved an event and the reminder is gone.** Removing the save removes its reminder. Save it again and set a new one — see [Saving events and reminders](/books/find-opportunities/page/saving-events-and-reminders). *Neither — working as intended.* **The event was cancelled.** Cancelled events stay visible rather than vanishing, so you can see what happened. The organizer decides about refunds, replacement dates or anything else. *Organizer.* ## During the event **The QR code will not scan, or check-in fails.** Ask a member of the event's team to check you in. They can do it directly, and it is faster than debugging a phone at the door. *Organizer, on the spot.* **Check-in cannot confirm my location.** Location checks need your device's permission and a reasonable signal, neither of which is guaranteed indoors. Again, the team on the door can check you in instead. *Organizer, on the spot.* **I forgot to check in and the event has started.** Ask the team while you are still there. Once the event is over this is much harder to fix. *Organizer.* ## After the event **I forgot to check out.** Usually harmless — some events record it for you when they finish. If your attendance matters to you for a certificate or a record, ask the organizer. *Organizer.* **My attendance is not counted, but I was there.** The organizer can correct the record. Ask them while it is recent. *Organizer.* **I cannot leave feedback.** Feedback is available for events you took part in, and once per event. If you registered through the organizer's own external form rather than through Involvo, Involvo has no record of your participation, so there is nothing to attach feedback to — see [Registering directly](/books/take-part/page/registering-directly). *Neither — working as intended.* ## When it really is Involvo If the site itself is failing — pages not loading, an action that errors every time, a status that is clearly impossible — that is ours. Contact Involvo, and say what you did, what you expected, and what happened instead.