To run a partner meet with separate content for partners and employees, map every registered number to a group before launch, then scope each module (feed, polls, notifications, quizzes) to that group and test it as both audiences. One app serves both, so you run one build instead of two.
Why one app with two audiences beats two apps
A partner meet has an awkward guest list. Distributors, dealers or suppliers travel in; your own sales, finance and operations staff host them. Both groups sit in the same ballroom, but they should not read the same things. Partners need travel details, award criteria and the dinner plan. Employees need the run-of-show for staff, internal reminders and perhaps a few questions for their own leaders.
The usual workaround is a WhatsApp group for partners and another for staff, then a third when somebody is added to the wrong one. WhatsApp reached 3 billion monthly active users globally in May 2025 (Wikipedia, 2025), which is why every organiser reaches for it. The trouble is not reach; it is scope. A group chat cannot show a different agenda to different people, and it cannot tell you who has not opened a message.
Group-scoped content moves that decision into the app. The glossary calls it group-scoped content: content, polls, chat and notifications that a defined cohort can see and others cannot.
Step 1: write the group definition before anyone is imported
Decide what the groups are, in writing, before you touch a spreadsheet. For a partner meet the minimum is two: Partners and Employees. Add more only if the content will genuinely differ. Typical extras are Leadership, Awardees and International partners.
For each group, answer three questions:
- What may this group read that no one else may? (For example, award shortlists for staff only.)
- What must every group see? (Venue, safety notes, the meeting point for the group photo.)
- Who answers the group’s questions on the day?
If you cannot name a piece of content that is different between two groups, they are one group.
Step 2: build the registered list with a group column
Your registration sheet is the source of truth. Give it one row per person with a mobile number or email, a name and a group value. Import it as the member list. Because login is by OTP against that list, the number a person types decides which group they land in, so the data has to be right.
Two rules from practice:
- Every number gets a group. A member with no group sees only Home and Profile until someone maps them, which is the correct fail-safe but looks like a bug to a partner standing at the registration desk.
- Use the number the person answers on. International partners may need an email instead of a mobile number, so keep an email column and decide the login method per occasion.
Step 3: scope each module separately
Scoping is set per module. A feed that is scoped does not automatically scope the polls, and a scoped quiz does not scope notifications. Work through the modules in this order and tick each one off:
| Module | Where you choose the group | Test as |
|---|---|---|
| Feed and announcements on Home | Group picker on each post | Partner, then Employee |
| Scheduled notifications | Send To All or Select Group | Partner phone, Employee phone |
| Live polls | Group picker when the poll is created | Both, plus an unmapped number |
| Quiz questions | Group setting on the quiz | Both |
| Travel and stay cards | Per-person data, not group-wide | A partner who is flying in |
The last row is a reminder that scoping is for content aimed at cohorts. Flights and room numbers are per person and published back individually.
Step 4: stage the sequence, not just the audience
Scoping gets more useful when it follows the programme. A simple three-day pattern for notifications looks like this:
- Day 0 evening, partners only: arrival reminders, pickup point, what to carry.
- Day 1 morning, everyone: the day’s agenda is live, and where the photo wall is.
- Day 1 afternoon, employees only: a staff briefing note before the partner dinner.
- Day 2, partners only: the award announcement window and the dress code for the evening.
Schedule these in advance with a date and time, so the desk is not typing on a phone while a partner asks where their cab is.
Step 5: test every module as each audience
On the day before launch, put two test phones in front of you, one mapped as a Partner and one as an Employee. Send a notification to Employees only and confirm the Partner phone stays silent. Create a poll for Partners and confirm the Employee phone does not show it. Then try a third phone with a number that is not in the list and confirm it sees only Home and Profile. This ten-minute rehearsal is the single most effective protection against a partner seeing a staff-only note.
Mistakes we see
Scoping the feed but not the notifications. The post is hidden, the push alert still shows the title on every phone. Set the audience on each.
Editing groups on the morning of the event. Moving a person from Employees to Partners after they have logged in is fine, but do it from the list, not from memory, and refresh your test phones.
Over-segmenting. Seven groups for an eighty-person meet means seven things to keep correct. Start with two.
How Sociana handles this
Sociana’s groups and cohorts feature takes group membership from an import, from a rule such as a zone or category, or, where you allow it, from self-join. Notifications use Send To All or Select Group through scheduled announcements, and live polls can be restricted to one or more groups with results reported per group. Login uses OTP against the registered list.
HCCB Partners Meet 2026 in Goa mapped every registered number to Partners or Employees before launch; each group saw its own content and travel details, and an unmapped number saw only Home and Profile. International partners used email OTP in place of a mobile number. Read the HCCB Partners Meet case study for the full scope. The lesson the team recorded: scoping by group is cheaper than running two apps.
Frequently asked questions
Can one person belong to both groups?
Design it so they do not. If a regional sales head needs to see both partner and staff content, give them a Leadership group and publish the relevant items to it, rather than doubling their membership and doubling the places an error can hide.
What does an unmapped number see?
Only Home and Profile. That is deliberate: until the organiser maps the number to a group, nothing scoped appears. Keep a desk process for walk-in partners so they can be mapped within minutes.
Do polls and quizzes need separate scoping from the feed?
Yes. Each module takes its own group setting and should be configured and tested on its own. Treat the table above as your launch checklist.
Can partners see employees’ chat or results?
Only if you scope it that way. Poll results can be reported per group, and chat can be limited to a team. Decide in advance what leaves each group, and test it with real handsets before you invite anyone.
Related reading
Glossary: group, group-scoped content, whitelist. Occasion hubs: dealer and partner meets and corporate annual meets. Browse templates and checklists for a group-mapping sheet.