IN THIS CHAPTER

Checking out Public events

Responding to event invitations

Creating and managing your own events

In the real world, just because all your friends are on Facebook doesn’t mean that it’s the only place you interact with them. In fact, the people you interact with most on Facebook may be the same ones you see at PTA meetings or at a book club or have over for barbecues. Facebook Events can help you bridge the divide between all the things that happen online and all the things you want to have happen when you’re not anywhere close to your computer.

Facebook Events work well for the same reason lots of other Facebook features work: Your friends are here on Facebook. You can invite them to events, keep track of RSVPs, and use Facebook to send updates or coordinate participants in an event to help out. Facebook’s Event Calendar also helps you keep track of upcoming events and your friends’ birthdays.

You’re Invited!

The first way you’ll most likely find out about an event is through a notification. When a friend invites you to an event, a small red flag appears over the notifications icon in the big blue bar on top. Click the icon to open your notifications menu; then click the invitation to be taken to the event. You can also see event invites on the right side of your Home page, above trending topics.

A sample event appears in Figure 13-1. The event photo appears at the top of the page, much like the cover photo does on your Timeline. Beneath the event photo is the event’s name, host (which can be a person, group, or Page), and privacy info.

Events have two possible privacy settings:

• Public: Public events are just what they sound like — open to the public. Anyone can see the event with or without an invitation, view the guest list and posts, and join the event herself.
• Private: Only people who have been invited are able to see the event and join it. Depending on the event creator’s settings, invitees may be able to add more friends to the event as well.

The most important info about any event is in the center of the page: where, when, and what. There’s a spot here for the date and time of the event, the location, and any info the event creator wants to share with guests. If the creator put in a specific address or location, you’ll see a weather forecast. Click the Show Map link to open a map showing where, exactly, the party will be.

To RSVP to an event, look below the event photo where you can see who invited you to an event alongside three buttons: Going, Maybe, and Can’t Go. Click on the appropriate button so your host can get an accurate head count. You can see other people’s RSVPs so far beneath all the event’s basic information.

Below the event info and RSVP box is the Posts section of the event (see Figure 13-2). The Posts section is where people can post messages and communicate with other guests (and potential guests) of that event. Event hosts use this section to post important updates — for example, a reminder to bring a sweater in case the weather is cold, or to let people know at which section of the park they’ll be meeting. Depending on the event, the posts may be from people just saying how excited they are or from people coordinating rides or the food they'll bring to a potluck.

Certain kinds of events—those created by a group or a Page—have two tabs: an About tab with info about the event and a Discussions tab where all the posts are. If hosts have opted to only let admins post, then you won’t see a publisher there. Even if you can post, your post may need to be reviewed by admins before it appears to the other guests. This is particularly likely for large public events.

To post to an event, follow these steps:

1. Click in the Publisher (where it reads Write Something).

   This is the same way you update your status or post to a group, except in this case your post will be shared with people who can view the event.

2. Type your message in the Publisher.
3. (Optional) Add photos, tags, activity, or location information by clicking their respective icons at the bottom of the Share box.

4. Click Post.

   Your message is posted to the Posts section of the event. Depending on settings, guests may be notified about it or see a News Feed story about it.

One feature of events is the ability to create a poll that all members of the event can respond to. This can make some of the planning that goes into certain kinds of events a little bit easier. Want to know how many people will eat pizza if you order it? If anyone has any food allergies you should know about? You can easily create a poll to ask them.

1. Click the Create Poll tab at the top of the Publisher.

   The Write Something box becomes an Ask Something box.

2. Enter your question in the Ask Something box.

3. Enter possible answers to the question in the Add an Option sections.

   Although three sections are visible, you can add almost as many options as you can think of. To expand more option sections, add your first two options, then click into the third space. Another space expands below. As you keep clicking to add more options, more spaces will appear below you.

4. After you add all the options you want, click Post.

   Everyone who is invited to the event can then respond. Keep in mind that some events are public, in which case an unlimited number of people can respond.

While creating your Poll, click on the Poll Options button at the bottom of the Publisher to decide on two options:

• Allow anyone to add options: By default, if poll participants don’t see an answer that applies to them, they can create a new answer option. You can turn this option off if you’d rather they be forced to choose one of the options you provided.
• Allow people to choose multiple options: By default, polls allow people to choose as many options as they like. If you’d rather people choose only one option, uncheck this box.

Public Events

Most of the time, you’ll view an event because you were invited. But occasionally, especially for large-scale public events, you may see an event in your News Feed. These events look the same and have the same components as smaller, private events, but instead of the options for RSVP’ing being Going, Maybe, or Not Going, the options for public events are Interested or Going. When you are viewing the event, you can click the Going button to RSVP to the event, or the Interested button to see reminders about the event and receive updates from the event. In other words, “Interested” is the equivalent of subscribing or following someone. When you list that you are interested in or going to a public event, that may create a News Feed story that your friends could see.

Viewing Events

From your Home page, you can see reminders about upcoming events (including friends’ birthdays) on the right side of the page. You can also view a complete Event Calendar by going to the Events page. To get there, click Events in the Explore section of the left-side menu. The Events page is shown in Figure 13-3. It lists your Upcoming Events (ones that you have been invited to, RSVP’d yes to, and said you are interested in). Beneath your upcoming events are public events that are happening in your area soon. On the right side of the page are search tools for finding events.

On the left side of the page is a menu of options related to Events. You can click

• Calendar to see a calendar of upcoming events listed by date.
• Birthdays to see when your friends’ birthdays are (assuming they share them).
• Discover to check out events in your area you may be interested in.
• Past to check out events you’ve been to in the past.

Creating Your Own Events

Eventually, the time may come when you want to organize an event. It might be a party or a barbecue or a book club or any other gathering of your friends. No matter what the context, follow these steps to create your own event:

1. Click Events in the left-side menu of your Home page.

2. Click the Blue Create Event button at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

   This opens the Event Privacy menu. You must choose whether you want your event to be private or public.

3. Choose to create either a Public or Private Event.

   The Create New Event window appears, as shown in Figure 13-4.

4. Fill out your event’s info.

   You can fill out a number of fields:

   • Event Photo or Video: Events look nice with a pretty picture to go along with them. Click Upload Photo or Video to choose from your computer’s hard drive. Alternately, you can choose from one of Facebook’s many pre-fab themes. You can see a preview of these themes in the Create Event window, or click the Choose a Theme button to browse by category.
   • Event Name: Don’t fill out your name here (a common mistake); this is the name of your event. Usually events get descriptive names like “Carolyn’s birthday party” or “Labor Day in the park.”
   • Location: Events are generally better when people know where to go. You can type an address or a location (like a restaurant or a park). Facebook attempts to auto-complete to a specific location while you type. When you see the desired location, click it or press Enter.
   • Date/Time: By default, Facebook assumes you're an impromptu party planner, so the date in the box is today. Click the calendar icon to change the date. Next to the date box is a box for the event’s time. Type in the time your event begins. Click +End Time to also add an end date and time.
   • Description (optional): This is the info guests will read about when they see the event, so provide any info that helps people understand what they're going to. For example, a bookstore event might list the readers who will be in attendance, or a party at a bar might let you know if there’s going to be a cover charge to get in.

5. Decide whether guests can invite friends.

   If you’d like for friends to be able to spread the word about your event, make sure the Guests Can Invite Friends box is checked. If your event is strictly invite-only, uncheck it.

6. Click the Create button to create your event.

   If you are creating a private event, the button will read “Create Private Event.”

   You’re taken to your event’s page. Even though your event is created, you still need to make a few finishing touches, such as oh, I don’t know, maybe inviting some people.

Inviting guests

Trust me, your party just won’t be the same unless some people show up, and the number one way to get people to show up is to invite them. Inviting people to your event isn’t a one-shot deal. You can follow these steps at any time to invite people to your event:

1. From your event’s page, click the Invite button in the upper right portion of the page (right under the event photo).

   The Invite Friends menu appears. You can choose to invite Facebook friends, or Invite by Text or Email. Clicking either option opens the Invite window, shown in Figure 13-5. The only difference is whether you see Facebook friends right away, or search for them first.

2. If you chose Invite Facebook Friends, click a friend’s name or face to select her.

   Because you may have a lot of friends, you can use the search box at the top to search for people by name. You can also use the categories on the left side of the window to filter down to certain friends. For example, you may be able to look at friends who live near you, or friends who are in a group with you. After you’ve selected a friend, they appear on the right side of the window under the heading “Selected.”

3. If you chose Invite via text or email, type a phone number or email address into the search bar at the top of the window.

   Facebook will try to match you to a Facebook profile linked to that phone number or email address. If they match, tap on your friend’s face to select them. If there is no match, or you’re not sure, you can just choose to send the invite directly to that email or phone.

4. Click Send Invites after you make all your selections.

   At this point, your guests receive the notification of a new invitation and will probably start to RSVP.

Managing Your Event

After you set up your event and people start to RSVP, you may need to manage some things. You might need to provide more info or change the location to accommodate more people. If it’s a large public event, you may need to do some moderation of the people posting. Here are some common management issues you might face and how to deal with them.