A launch breakfast for sixty
A client is launching a new restaurant concept with a press breakfast. The agency invites eighty journalists and influencers. Replies come by email to three different executives, by phone, and by direct message. Some want to bring a photographer. Some can only come if they can interview the chef. Some reply yes and then say they are sending a colleague.
The spreadsheet has three versions. On the morning, the door list is missing four people who said yes by phone, and shows two who cancelled. The chef's interview slots were double booked. Afterwards, nobody is sure who actually came, so follow-up emails go to everyone, including those who did not turn up.
Why RSVPs spiral
- Replies arrive through several people and channels.
- Substitutes and plus-ones change the list after the fact.
- Interview slots, dietary needs and access needs are tracked separately.
- Nobody sends reminders because the list is not trusted.
- Attendance on the day is ticked on paper and never typed up.
What a messy guest list costs
Journalists who said yes and are not on the door list leave with a poor impression. Double-booked interview slots waste the spokesperson's time and the journalist's. Afterwards, following up with everyone rather than the people who came makes the agency look careless, and the client does not get a reliable view of who attended and what coverage followed. The executives running the event spend the week before it answering the same questions about the list instead of briefing the spokesperson.
How we build the event guest list
- Invitees are chosen from your journalist records, so title, beat and relationship owner come with them.
- Invitations go from your normal mailbox with a personal link to an RSVP page, where the guest answers yes or no, adds a plus-one or photographer, notes dietary or access needs, and picks an interview slot if offered.
- Replies by phone or message are logged by any executive in a short form, so every answer lands in one list.
- Substitutes are handled on the RSVP page or by an executive, with the change recorded.
- Reminders go to confirmed guests before the event, with travel details and their interview time.
- On the day, a check-in list on a tablet or phone marks who arrived.
- Afterwards, a follow-up list separates attended, did not attend, and declined, so each group gets the right message, and coverage from attendees is linked back to the event.
| Guest status | Follow-up after the event |
|---|---|
| Attended | Thank you, assets pack, interview follow-up |
| Confirmed, did not attend | Sorry we missed you, assets pack |
| Declined | News release and images |
| No reply | News release and images |
The next launch
Invitations go out from the guest list. Most guests reply on the RSVP page. Phone replies are logged by whoever took the call. The chef's interview slots fill without overlap because each guest picks from what is left. Two days before, confirmed guests get a reminder with their time. On the morning, the door list is printed from the system and matches the tablet.
After the event, attendees get a thank you and the assets pack, and the client gets a list of who attended and, over the following weeks, the coverage that came from them.
The event record stays with each journalist too. Next time the agency plans a launch for this client, it can see who came last time, who accepted and did not turn up, and who never replies to event invitations at all, which makes the next invitation list shorter and better.
Does this sound like your launches?
- RSVPs are collected in several inboxes and one spreadsheet.
- The door list has been wrong on the day.
- Interview slots have been double booked.
- Attendance is ticked on paper and not recorded.
- Everyone gets the same follow-up, whether they came or not.