Surfaces
Communications
Section index for Email Blasts and SMS Blasts event communication surfaces.
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communicationsemailevent-management
Overview
Communications is the section that holds event blast channels. The email surface is now Email Blasts and the phone-number surface is SMS Blasts.
The split matters because email and SMS use different routes, API contracts, delivery evidence, and safety checks. Treat both as public communication tools, not scratchpads.
Dashboard route
/ems/manage/communications?id=:eventId/ems/manage/communications/email-blasts?id=:eventId/ems/manage/communications/sms-blasts?id=:eventId
Surface split
| Surface | Route | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Communications index | /ems/manage/communications?id=:eventId | Choosing the channel-specific page. |
| Email Blasts | /ems/manage/communications/email-blasts?id=:eventId | Branded email blasts with rego-site inbox notifications. |
| SMS Blasts | /ems/manage/communications/sms-blasts?id=:eventId | Plain SMS campaigns through verified online-mode Android wrapper devices. |
The old generic Communications route should not own the email composer. New dashboard and API work should use explicit email-blasts and sms-blasts route families.
Audience controls
| Input or control | What it changes | Before sending |
|---|---|---|
| Audience groups | Enables selecting event-defined recipient groups returned by the API. | Use for broad sends such as all event attendees, volunteers, dealers, waitlist, or other generated groups. |
| Specific attendees | Reveals the attendee picker. | Use for targeted follow-up when a full group would be too broad. |
| Audience group checkboxes | Select one or more generated audience groups and show their recipient counts. | Counts are deduplicated at delivery; overlapping groups do not send duplicate messages. |
| Search attendees | Filters the attendee picker by attendee name, username, email, source, status, or account ID. | Clear search before assuming an attendee is unavailable. |
| Filter | Narrows attendee picker by Active, Pending, or Other. | Active includes confirmed/onsite/paid/accepted/approved states; pending includes queued/offered/submitted/pending states. |
| Select visible | Selects the currently visible attendee rows. | Check active filters first so hidden rows are not accidentally skipped. |
| Audience summary | Explains selected groups and selected attendee counts. | Read this before sending; it is the easiest way to catch an audience mistake. |
| Bulk delivery note | Shows whether bulk delivery is configured in the current environment. | If bulk delivery is unavailable, only supported single-recipient sends can complete. |
Compose controls
| Input or control | What it changes | Before sending |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Email subject line and default inbox notification title. Maximum 160 characters. | Keep it specific, event-scoped, and free of internal shorthand. |
| Headline | Optional large heading inside the message. Blank uses the subject as the email heading. | Use when the email needs a more readable body heading than the subject line. |
| Message | Markdown-ext body, up to 5000 characters. Supports tables, code fences, Mermaid diagrams, task lists, footnotes, highlight, subscript, and superscript. | Preview formatting, links, lists, and line breaks before sending. |
| Send blast | Sends the email blast and creates inbox notifications. Disabled until at least one audience or attendee is selected and both subject and body are present. | Confirm timing, support routing, and whether recipients already received related messages. |
Preview and delivery states
| Preview field or state | What it shows | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Live preview badge | Shows Loading, Live, or Preview error. | Wait for Live before final review. |
| Subject preview | Shows the exact subject from the latest preview response. | Confirm it is not still placeholder text. |
| From | Shows the sender name used by the branded template. | Confirm recipients can recognize the organizer. |
| Reply-to | Shows partner support routing or the default support mailbox. | Confirm replies go somewhere monitored. |
| Audience preview | Shows selected audience labels or selected-attendees fallback. | Compare with the audience summary before sending. |
| Email iframe | Renders the branded email wrapper and message body. | Read it as a recipient would, including mobile-length paragraphs. |
| Inbox preview | Shows the matching rego-site inbox notification title and body. | Confirm it makes sense even if the recipient reads it outside email. |
| Feedback alert | Shows send success or failure. | Keep the success count for audit and retry only after reading failure text. |
Flowchart context
Active Event Workflow links here when public information changes or attendees need a coordinated update. It is separate from Notification Config, which is for staff webhook alerts.
Common mistakes
Do not use Communications for drafts or internal notes. Anything sent here is attendee-facing or staff-facing email and should be written accordingly.