"There used to be a hold on this date, but now it's gone!" This is a call we often get -- an event has gone missing and must be found. There's a few strategies to help you find the event that is lost. Usually, the event's status was changed to cancelled, but in a few cases the event was deleted.
Cancelled Events
Most likely, the event/hold was cancelled. Most calendar view profiles are set up to hide cancelled events, so if an event's status is changed it will immediately disappear. There are several strategies you can use to find your event again.
- If you know the name of your event, search by name in the universal search. If your event was cancelled (and not deleted) it will still be in the system and it will be searchable. Once you find the event, you will be able to see when the event's status was changed and who changed it in the History tab on the event details page.
- You can create a separate calendar view profile for your cancelled events and holds. With this option, you can easily toggle back and forth between your regular calendar view, and one with just cancelled events.
Deleted Events
Deleted events are harder to find, as when an event is deleted it is actually removed from your account.
If you know the approximate time frame when the event could have been deleted, a history report will confirm whether the event was deleted, as well as who deleted it and when it was deleted. To build and run a deleted event history report, please see this article.
Cancelled & Deleted Event Alerts
You are also able to receive an email alert when an event/hold is cancelled or deleted. You may set your alert to dispatch immediately or on a set schedule, such as daily, weekly, or monthly. See this article for instructions.
History presets, on which these reports and alerts are based, can be tricky to build. If you have any questions or your alerts/reports don't seem to be working quite right, please contact us. We'll be happy to help you out!
Cancelling vs. Deleting Events
Why would I cancel an event instead of deleting it? Here at EB, we do not recommend deleting events unless they were entered in error, for example if an event was created twice. By cancelling the event, you retain the history of the transaction. With holds, some of our venues prefer to use a "released hold" and/or a "denied hold" status. This helps to refine their reporting. If you would like to add one or both of these statuses to your account, just let us know!