Chapter 7
In This Chapter
Finding events on Facebook
Creating your own events
Privacy settings for events
Using Facebook to promote events
Facebook is a great tool for connecting with your friends and finding out what they’re doing. And with Facebook events, you can plan and promote an occasion, invite friends, and then see who has declined and who is planning to attend.
Planning and keeping track of events in life can be challenging. Facebook makes it simple to set up small events, such as a dinner party for six, or a large event, such as a concert you're promoting beyond your own network. Facebook makes it easy to see what events you’re attending and who else is going. You can even coordinate events with popular online calendars such as Google Calendar or Mac’s iCal.
What makes Facebook events so great is their integration with other Facebook activities. Users can share with friends and comment on events to which they are invited. Public events appear in your news feed, so you have the opportunity to let your friends know what’s going on. Your friends then have a link to find out more, share information, include pictures, and join the event. If you want to get the word out about your event, friends that RSVP to the event can invite their friends on Facebook, too!
In this chapter, we show you how to use Facebook to manage all the events you're attending, RSVP to events, and interact with friends on the events screen. We also show you how you can use Facebook events to create your own events and promote them to friends and beyond.
Events are an easy way to interact with others. To plan an event in Facebook, you need to understand how people discover events in Facebook. When an event is created and you invite people, they see it in two areas:
Notifications for event invitations are mixed in with other notifications, so if you don’t pay close attention to notifications, you might miss one. Keep in mind that the situation is the same for your friends.
Events describe the time, place, and details about the gathering, and also list the attendees. The great thing about the virtual world is that the event place can be anywhere. For example, if you're planning a worldwide “hug a puppy” day, a Facebook event is the ideal way to do so. People that respond to the event invitation are shown as attending. They can post links, pictures, and videos, as well as share the event and invite others. When people join an event, they’re notified any time someone posts something in the group. A Facebook event can be a way to bring people together, even if they’re not actually physically close together.
The Facebook events feature enables you to do a lot more than just send out invitations. You can
The Events section is below the Favorites category, in the left sidebar of your news feed. Click Events and you’ll see the current events to which you've been invited (as well as the birthdays of your friends). You can view events in a list view or a calendar view. You can also join the event (RSVP), decline the event, or send a Maybe response from here. Click any event to go directly to that event's home page, where you can see specific information.
As shown in Figure 7-2, a Facebook event has a concise layout that enables you to see all the basic details of the event and interact with those invited to the event.
An event's home page displays the following details:
You can plan, promote, and host an unlimited variety of gatherings by using Facebook events. Events fall into two categories:
Later in the chapter, we explain how to create these sorts of events and establish event permissions as public or private.
If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, Facebook events might be the place to go. Maybe you’re searching for concerts in your area or something fun for the kids. Perhaps you just want to see how your friends are planning their day or weekend. You can use the Event search function for all these reasons.
To find an event you’ve been invited to, start on your main news feed page. If you've recently been invited to any events, you see these in the Favorites section on the left side of your home page, as shown in Figure 7-4. You can see upcoming events also in the upper-right corner of the news feed page, just below the top navigation, as shown in Figure 7-5.
Below your profile picture on your home page is an Events link. This link takes you to the page where you can view all events that are in your event list, including invitations and events to which you have sent an RSVP.
When you click the Events link, you see an additional option, Friends’ Events. This option enables you to see all upcoming public events created by your friends, organized into three groups:
These events include events that your friends are going to, even if you are not friends with the event creator. Click the title of any event to find out details and RSVP to the event.
When you're invited to an event, you receive a notification indicating that your friend has invited you. That event invitation also appears in your events list.
You can respond to an event in three simple ways. On your home screen, click the Events link below your profile picture to go to the events page. You see any events to which you've been invited. Then do one of the following:
Face it, the cool factor is important for most people. Who wants to go to a party if no one awesome is going to be there? To better plan your appearances, you can see who has already stated that they’re attending an event. The left sidebar of an event's home page lists the people who have submitted their RSVP to the event, as shown in Figure 7-7.
As long as the guest list has been made public, you can see who responded as Going, Maybe, and Invited. If the administrator has chosen to not show the guest list on the event's home page, you can’t see who is attending.
The event wall enables you to connect with others on the guest list before and even after the event. You can write on the event wall after you accept the invite (join the event). If you don’t accept the invite, you can only comment on updates from other people, as shown in Figure 7-8.
If you’re like us, you’ve grown to depend on the mobile calendar on your smartphone or the iCal, Microsoft Outlook, or Google Calendar that you access on your computer. If you’re going to take your Facebook events and birthdays seriously, synchronizing your calendar is a must.
You can synchronize events and birthdays with your calendars in three ways:
If you prefer to be more selective with what goes on your calendar, you may feel that a single appointment here and there is all you'll need to transfer. You can do this easily, too.
To synchronize all your events on Facebook with your other calendars, follow these steps:
If you’re using iCal or Microsoft Outlook, clicking the link opens that calendar tool, displays a URL link, and asks you to confirm that you’re subscribing to the calendar. If you're using an online calendar, such as Google Calendar, you need to copy the URL link and enter it in your calendar.
To synchronize a single event to your calendar, do the following:
The Export Event dialog box appears.
You can select from any of the e-mail addresses you have associated with your Facebook account.
You can also choose to Subscribe to all upcoming events on your calendar by clicking the link at the bottom of the Export Event dialog box.
To create your own event, you need to provide basic information about the event. In just a few minutes, you can tell all your friends the what, where, and when of the event.
To create an event and fill in the details, follow these steps:
The Create New Event dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-11.
You might tell your guests what to wear (casual or black tie, for example), what to expect, or what to bring (a dish if you’re hosting a potluck, for example). You can type anything you want in the Details text box.
Typing in this text box starts a search for places with that name. You can type the name of a place (such as Meadowbrook Country Club), or you can type the address of the venue.
The Invite Friends dialog box appears.
Facebook sends the selected friends a notification that you have invited them to the event.
You see the event's home page again.
An event picture is not required, but it sure helps, especially if you want to get people excited about your event. A good picture can help describe the event (see Figure 7-12).
To upload a picture for your event, navigate to your event's home page and follow these steps:
The Add Event Photo dialog box appears.
You can choose another photo, reposition the photo, and remove it.
When you invite friends, you can send them a basic invitation or you can send them a personal message explaining what the event is and why you want them to come. You can invite friends when creating the event or after the event is created. Guests can also invite friends if you allow them to do so.
To invite friends to an event, follow these steps:
Note: If you’re inviting guests to an event after it has been created, whether you’re the event creator or just on the guest list, click the Invite Friends button at the top right of the event’s home page.
The Invite Friends dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-13.
Use the Search by Name drop-down list to search for friends. As you type, the list of friends narrows to match the name you’re typing.
You can use the list also to invite entire lists, groups, and attendees of other event pages.
Your invitations have been sent!
If you would like to turn off the display of the guest list for a public or a private event, click the Edit button (below the event Photo) and deselect the Show Guest List check box. You might deselect this option when you don’t want the guest list to be public information prior to the event. Or you might deselect this option for an event in which you don’t want people to decide whether to go based on the guest list.
Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the event's home page to display the following settings:
The features described in this chapter are designed to make it easier to promote events. With as many event invitations that people send out, it can be easy to miss or gloss over events that don’t catch your attention. Here are some simple best practices that can help you make a Facebook event more successful: