To configure attendance in Sociana, create one activity per thing you need counted, such as day-one entry, gala dinner and return bus. Give each a time window, eligible groups and a repeat-scan limit, then decide whether a completed scan awards leaderboard points. Every attempt, scanner and time is recorded.
Who this guide is for
You are the event manager, HR lead or admin owner for a corporate annual meet, strategy meet or sales kickoff. The sponsor wants to know, by the end of the evening, who attended which part of the programme, and wants a reason for people to turn up on time. You are not running a ticketed show; you are running a roster of people you already know.
Why “attendance” is not one number
A single headcount at the registration desk answers one question and invites four more. Who stayed for the evening session? Who took the bus back? Who came to the dinner but not the morning, and does the dinner count as attendance for the meet? Without a model, every answer comes from a different sheet.
Sociana separates the thing counted, an activity, from the rules that govern it. An activity may have sub-activities, for instance Day 1 entry with a gala dinner and a return bus beneath it. Rules decide when the activity is open, which groups may be checked in, whether a ticket is required, whether repeat scans are allowed and whether steps must be completed in order.
The activity plan, drawn first
Fill this table on paper before touching the panel. It becomes your configuration.
| Activity | Parent | Open window | Eligible groups | Repeat scans | Points on completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 entry | none | 08:00 to 11:00 | All employees | One | Yes |
| Morning plenary | Day 1 | 09:30 to 10:15 | All employees | One | Yes |
| Breakout A | Day 1 | 11:30 to 12:15 | Sales zone West | One | No |
| Gala dinner | Day 1 | 19:30 to 21:30 | Employees and guests | One | No |
| Return bus | Day 1 | 22:30 to 23:30 | Employees | Many, one per leg | No |
The values above are an example of the shape, not recommended numbers. Use your own run-of-show times.
Step by step
Step 1: List what you will actually report
Start from the report, not the feature list. If the sponsor will ask for entry and dinner attendance by zone, you need those two activities and a zone field on the member profile. Anything you will not report does not need an activity. The attendance activity plan template walks through this.
Step 2: Capture the fields that cut the report
If you want attendance by zone, city or employee code, capture them at registration or import them. At Unstoppable NAMI 2026 the registration form asked for employee code, city and zone, which made group-scoped notifications and attendance readouts possible. See member imports and profiles.
Step 3: Create activities and sub-activities
Create the parent activities first, then sub-activities beneath them. Name them as attendees and managers will see them: “Gala dinner, lawn 2”, not “Activity 4”.
Do it in Sociana: QR attendance and activities, with the Attendance switch on.
Step 4: Set time windows and eligibility
A scan outside the window is rejected and logged. That is a feature: a late scan at the dinner is visible in the log, not silently accepted. Give guests and employees separate groups where the activity differs. See attendance rules.
Step 5: Set repeat limits deliberately
One scan per person is the default for entry. A return bus may legitimately scan more than once if there are multiple legs. Use the repeat scan limit to cap it. Where steps must happen in order, for example dinner before the after-party, use step order.
Step 6: Decide where points come from
Completion of an activity can award leaderboard points, with automatic reversal if the scan is undone. Reward the actions you want: on-time entry, the morning plenary, the feedback form. Do not award points for everything; the leaderboard stops meaning anything. Plan the points scheme in the leaderboard points scheme or the points and rewards economy sheet. Keep wallet points separate from leaderboard points; see wallet points vs leaderboard points.
Step 7: Brief the scanners and run a rehearsal
Owners and Managers see Take Attendance on their Profile. Put two or three managers on each entry, give them the activity names, and rehearse with real phones. In Unstoppable NAMI the Take Attendance screen also showed document status on scan, so the desk could chase missing IDs at the counter.
A worked configuration
Take a one-day corporate meet with a morning plenary, two parallel breakouts, a lunch, a dinner and a late coach. Create one parent activity called Day 1. Beneath it add entry, plenary, breakout A, breakout B, dinner and return coach as sub-activities. Give entry a window that opens before the doors and closes after the last expected arrival. Give each breakout a window around its session and a group restriction to the zone it is meant for. Give the dinner and the coach a single-scan limit.
Now decide points. Entry earns a small number of points because it rewards punctuality. The plenary earns points because it is the session you most want full. Breakouts earn none, so people choose by interest, not by points. Dinner and coach earn none; they are logistics. Write this down in a one-page rules sheet and show it to the sponsor before the event, so nobody is surprised when the leaderboard moves.
Pitfalls
- Too many activities. Ten activities for a one-day meet means ten places to make mistakes.
- A window that is too tight. A bus that leaves late invalidates a window that ends on time. Keep a margin or adjust live.
- Points for presence alone. People scan and leave. Pair points with a session-level activity.
- No manual route. Guests arrive with dead phones; see the self check-in without staff guide and keep a manual add path.
India and SAARC notes
Corporate meets in India usually reset with the financial year, so plan for April sales kickoffs and mid-year strategy meets. Employee codes are the natural key, and attendance data tends to be asked for by HR and by finance, who want it matched against the invited list. Gallup finds that only 23% of Indian employees were engaged in 2025 (Gallup, 2026), which is the usual argument for tying points to attendance and feedback rather than to attendance alone. For meets at resorts outside metros, test scanning on the venue’s actual lighting and mobile signal, not in the office.
How Sociana handles this
Attendance is modelled as activities with sub-activities, rules and an audit trail: attempts, the scanner and the time are recorded. Organisers scan the participant’s QR with the organiser app or add the person manually, and attendees can self check-in where allowed. One identity holds several QR contexts: entry pass, personal contact card, exhibitor scan, reward redemption and activity QR. The headline metric is unique accepted attendance per activity.
Unstoppable NAMI 2026, the NAM India annual strategy meet at Aamby Valley, is the worked example. Try the QR attendance scanner demo, and see the longer overview in how to track attendance at a corporate event.
FAQ
Can the same person be scanned twice into one activity?
Only if you allow it. A repeat limit caps the number of scans per person per activity; extra attempts are rejected and logged.
Do points reverse if we undo an attendance scan?
Yes. Points awarded on completion reverse automatically if the scan is reversed, so the leaderboard stays consistent with the attendance record.
Can we limit an activity to one group?
Yes. Group eligibility means only the listed groups can be checked in, for example one zone for a breakout.
What does the attendance report contain?
Unique accepted attendance per activity, the scan attempts log and the points awarded and reversed. Exports are available from the reports module.
Related reading
Glossary: attendance activity, sub-activity, self check-in, participation points. Occasion hubs: corporate annual meets, sales kickoffs, incentive travel.