SmartFair Attendee App Setup Requirements

SmartFair Attendee App Setup Requirements

We’re excited to feature the SmartFair Attendee App for your upcoming college fair. The app provides students, families, and counselors with an easy way to access event information, view participating colleges, receive announcements, and navigate the fair. To ensure everything is set up correctly and branded for your organization, please follow the steps below.

Global Configuration - Branding

Purpose: Personalize your fair’s app experience with your organization’s logo, colors, font, and more.

Customize SmartFair App Branding
  1. Log in to the GoToCollegeFairs Customer Portal.
  2. From the left-hand navigation menu, select Global Configuration.
  3. Scroll down to the Attendee Mobile App Configuration section and click Configure.

  4. On the configuration screen, customize your attendee app branding as desired.
Info
Note: Changes made in Global Configuration apply to all of your events. These settings are global and are not specific to a single event.

Preview Your Changes
As you make updates, use the App Preview panel on the right side of the screen to see how your changes will appear in the attendee app. You can also switch between different smartphone models to preview the app on various device types.



Customize Each App Screen
Use the navigation bar at the top of the page to move between the available app screens and customize each one before launching your app:
  1. Pre-Launch
  2. Login
  3. OTP (One-Time Passcode)
  4. Fair Listing
  5. App Home


Event Configuration

The following attendee app elements are configured at the event level and are located under Event Configuration.
  1. From the left-hand navigation menu, click Event Configuration.
  2. Use the search bar to locate the event you want to update.
  3. Click the event row to open the Event Overview page.

  4. At the top of the page, select the Attendee Mobile tab.

  5. From the sub-navigation menu, click Fair Content.

Within Fair Content, you can update the following event-specific elements:
  1. Fair Information
  2. Bus Schedule
  3. Announcements
  4. College Fair Map
  5. Our Partners

Fair Information

Purpose: Share the date and time windows the fair is open to attendees.
  1. Click Add Hours.

  2. Enter the Date, Start Time, and End Time for the fair session.
  3. If your event has multiple sessions on the same day (for example, a morning session and an afternoon session), click Add Hours again and enter the same date with the start and end times for the additional session.
  4. Repeat this process for any additional sessions or event dates.
  5. Click Save Fair Hours to apply your changes.


Bus Schedule

Purpose: Share high school bus schedules with attendees directly in the app.
Option 1: Add Schools Manually
  1. Click Add School.

  2. Complete the form by entering the school's information, including the Arrival Time and Departure Time.
  3. Click Add Row.

  4. Repeat these steps for each additional school.
Option 2: Import a Spreadsheet
  1. Click Import.

  2. Select your spreadsheet and click Continue.

  3. On the Field Mapping page, map each column in your spreadsheet to the corresponding target field in the system.
  4. Click Continue to Review.

  5. Review the import results. Any rows containing errors will be flagged for your attention. To correct a row, click the Pencil icon, make the necessary changes, and save your updates.

  6. (Optional) Map each school to its CEEB Code. While this step is not required, it is recommended if you plan to send announcements targeted to attendees from specific schools.

  7. When you are satisfied with the review, click Import in the bottom-right corner to complete the import.

Announcements

Purpose: Keep attendees informed during the fair with reminders, updates, and special notices.
  1. Click Create Announcement.
  2. Enter the Announcement Title and Message. When you're finished, click Continue.

Select Your Audience
Choose who should receive the announcement. You can send it to:
  1. All attendees
  2. A specific attendee group or registrant type
  3. Individual attendees that you select
After choosing your audience, click Continue.


Configure Delivery Settings
By default, announcements are:
  1. Displayed in the Announcement Feed
  2. Sent as a push notification to attendees who have enabled push notifications
You also have the option to enable SMS delivery, which is turned off by default.


Set Visibility and Send Options
  1. Choose whether the announcement should remain visible indefinitely or expire after a specified date and time.
  2. Decide whether to:
  3. Send the announcement immediately, or
  4. Schedule it to be sent at a later date and time.
Click Continue to review your announcement.


Review and Send
Review all of the announcement details. If everything looks correct, you can:
  1. Click Save as Draft to finish it later, or
  2. Click Send to publish the announcement immediately or schedule it based on your selected delivery time.

College Fair Map

Purpose: Display a map of the college fair with booth numbers to help students navigate the fair.
  1. More information coming soon...

Our Partners

Purpose: Our Attendee Mobile App provides great sponsorship opportunities to help brands connect with event attendees.
  1. More information coming soon...

Sessions

Purpose: Share presentation or workshop details with attendees directly in the app.

If you have Swoogo access: Adding Sessions
  1. Log in to Swoogo and navigate to your event.
  2. Go to Event Setup > Sessions > Import Sessions.



  3. Use the Fair Schedule - Import Template attached at the bottom of this article to fill out your session information.
  4. Select your import file.
  5. Make sure the checkbox for “This spreadsheet has headings in the first row” is checked.

  6. Click Continue — the file should automatically map correctly as long as you didn’t change the headings from the import template.
  7. Proceed with your import and you're good to go!

If you have Swoogo access: Adding Speakers
  1. Log in to Swoogo and navigate to your event.
  2. Go to Event Setup > Speakers > Add Single Speaker.

  3. Fill out the speaker’s details.
  4. Be sure to select the session they are associated with.
  5. Click Save.

If you do not have Swoogo access:
  1. Please send the Fair Schedule - Import Template (attached at the bottom of this article) to your Program Manager.
  2. Please send the following Speaker details to your Program Manager:
    1. *Email Address
    2. *Name
    3. Job Title
    4. Institution Name
    5. Bio
    6. Profile Picture
    7. Session(s) they are presenting

    • Related Articles

    • SmartFair Attendee App Sponsorship Opportunities

      Our SmartFair Attendee App provides great sponsorship opportunities to help brands connect with event attendees. Strategy recommendations for setting up sponsor tiers and prices are at the bottom of this article. Key Features for Sponsors: Sponsor ...

    • Best Practice: App Instructions to Colleges for Access Code Workflow

      This email can be sent from any email system. For Swoogo settings see below: Subject Line: Get the Most out of the GTCF Scanning App Body: Hello */registrant-first_name/*, Thank you for registering for the (insert fair name)! QR Code scanning is the ...

    • GTCF Sends: Attendee Access to Virtual Venue

      This email is automatically sent from the GoToCollegeFairs system when a registered attendee requests access to the virtual venue: Hi {{ user.first_name }}, Please click the link below to get access to {{ event.name }}. {{ url }} If the above is not ...

    • Release Notes: Attendee Status Update in Swoogo | v4.8 | March 1, 2022

      New and Improved: FairStop and Swoogo are now integrated to update attendee status.   Fixed: Small bug fixes have been applied. Notes:  Use this feature to communicate via Swoogo tools to attendees, non-attendees, etc.

    • Best Practice: App Instructions to Colleges for Included Scanning

      This email can be sent from any email system. For Swoogo settings see below: Subject Line: Scanning Is Included At Our Fair! Hello */registrant-first_name/*, Thank you for registering for the (insert fair name)! QR Code scanning is included with your ...