To set up Delegate ID + PIN login for a government workshop, the secretariat issues each delegate a Delegate ID and an Access PIN of up to six digits, and Sociana’s Enter screen accepts them in place of a phone number or email. OTP and Request an Account stay available beside it, so no delegate is locked out.
Who this guide is for
You are the nodal officer, the secretariat or the PCO supporting an invitation-only workshop: delegates from several agencies and countries, protocol-sensitive, many of whom would rather not hand a personal mobile number to an event vendor. You want an app on delegates’ phones that you control from your delegate list, and that still works when the venue restricts connectivity.
Why phone-number login does not suit this audience
OTP login assumes a personal number or email that the delegate is happy to share, can receive messages on and holds in India. For a multinational workshop hosted by a uniformed service, several of those assumptions fail. Delegates may carry official phones that do not receive SMS abroad. Some do not use a personal email for official events. The secretariat also wants to know exactly who has a credential, and to be the party that decides who enters.
Credential-based login moves identity to the delegate list. The organiser already has that list: names, designations, countries, delegation leads. Issuing an ID and a PIN from it is an administrative step, not a technology project.
Login options compared
| Login model | What the delegate needs | Who controls entry | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone or email OTP | A personal number or inbox | The guest list | Members have personal numbers and use them |
| Occasion code or attendee code | A code shared by the organiser | The code holder | Open or semi-open events |
| Delegate ID + PIN | Credentials from the secretariat | The secretariat | Invitation-only workshops, boards, delegations |
| Request an Account | Nothing in advance | An approver | Late additions, walk-ins to the list |
Most workshops use the third row as the main door and keep the other two as safety nets.
Step by step
Step 1: Prepare the delegate list
One row per delegate: name, designation or rank, country or agency, delegation, and the group they belong to. Remove duplicates before you issue anything; two IDs for one delegate is the commonest source of help-desk calls.
Step 2: Generate and issue credentials
Each delegate receives a Delegate ID and an Access PIN. The secretariat chooses how to send them: printed in the delegate kit, handed over by the delegation lead or sent through a channel the delegate already trusts. Send the ID and the PIN by different routes where protocol allows, for example the ID in the joining instructions and the PIN by the delegation lead.
Do it in Sociana: Delegate ID + PIN login. The delegate list in the panel shows credential status per delegate.
Step 3: Turn on the fallbacks
Enable OTP alongside ID and PIN for events where some delegates will want it, and enable Request an Account for anyone without a credential. A request goes to an approver and shows the requester a “request received” message, so a delegate who was missed in the list is not left staring at an error. See guest lists and approvals.
Step 4: Put terms and community guidelines on the way in
At sign-in the delegate ticks agreement to the Terms of Use and Community Guidelines before the Sign In button becomes active. Write both in plain language, because they are the first thing a visiting delegation reads.
Step 5: Collect the minimum profile after first sign-in
After the first sign-in the app asks for designation and country. Keep it to that. Anything the secretariat already holds in the list does not need asking again.
Step 6: Decide how a forgotten PIN is handled
A forgotten PIN goes to the help desk, not to a self-service reset. This is deliberate: the secretariat stays in control. Put a desk number on the Enter screen and staff it from the first morning, because the first hour of arrival is when PINs are misplaced.
Step 7: Load the delegate’s practical day
Credentials are the front door; what delegates open next is hospitality and help. Publish cab, liaison officer and hotel details so they appear on Home, with tap-to-call. Add an SOS route, a phrasebook for international delegates and the protocol guide.
Pitfalls
- Sending the ID and PIN in one message to a shared inbox. If the inbox is shared by a staff officer, the credentials are too.
- PINs that are guessable. Do not derive a PIN from the ID or the delegate’s birth year.
- Treating cached content as live content. The phrasebook and protocol guide read offline after first opening on that phone; tell delegates to open them once on arrival while they have connectivity.
- No answer for the late delegate. A name added the night before needs a credential or a request-access route; decide who approves and how fast.
India and SAARC notes
Government and defence buyers ask where data sits and who can see it. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, assented on 11 August 2023, is commencing in stages through to 13 May 2027 (Wikipedia summary, 2025), so expect questions about what an app stores for each delegate and for how long. Credential login helps by keeping personal phone numbers out of the flow; the trust centre lists what is stored and how deletion works. Procurement often runs through tender or a PCO, so state in the proposal that login is by secretariat-issued credentials and what the fallbacks are.
For SAARC delegations, the same pattern suits workshops with officials from several member states: one credential format, country captured at first sign-in, a phrasebook for the languages in the room. Sociana supports login by OTP, employee code, delegate PIN or company email domain; it does not offer SAML single sign-on or SCIM.
How Sociana handles this
The SAREX-26 app for the Indian Coast Guard’s national maritime search-and-rescue (SAR) workshop and board meeting in Bhubaneswar used exactly this stack: Delegate ID and Access PIN as the main sign-in, OTP and request-access as alternatives, cab, liaison officer and hotel on Home, one-tap SOS, and a phrasebook and protocol guide that read from the phone’s cache. Read the SAREX-26 case study for the workflow, which deliberately contains no delegate, rank or hotel detail. For the surrounding hospitality loop, see hospitality requests and My Stay and help desk, SOS and phrasebook.
FAQ
How long can an Access PIN be?
The PIN box accepts up to six digits, with an eye icon to reveal what has been typed. Choose the length your protocol team is comfortable with and apply it to every delegate.
Can delegates still use OTP?
Yes, if you keep the “OTP alongside ID + PIN” switch on. The Enter screen then offers both routes. If you want one clean path on day one, leave it off and enable it for stragglers later.
What happens to a delegate who has no ID?
They tap Request an Account. The request waits for organiser approval, and the requester sees a message that it has been received. Approved delegates are then issued a credential or admitted by the route you choose.
Does the app work inside a venue with restricted connectivity?
Some screens do. The phrasebook and protocol guide are saved on the phone after first opening and then read offline. Chat, polls and live updates need a network. Say plainly which is which in your delegate brief.
Related reading
Glossary: delegate ID and PIN, liaison officer, whitelist, approval-based registration. Occasion hubs: government workshops, conferences, association events. Template: government workshop protocol checklist.