Set up & send announcements

In this article we cover:

• Things to remember when using announcements
• How to set up & send your first announcement
• How to set up multiple announcements

When sending announcements remember the following:

1. The announcements are messages sent from the hosts to the Q&A message board and have a character limit of 600.
2. Only one announcement can be active/published at a time and will be pinned to the top of the Q&A board.
3. When your Q&A board is empty, as the host/presenter you will be prompted to kick start the conversation with your own message or use one of our suggested 'conversation starters'. If you do not send out an announcement, participants will be greeted with "Please submit your questions and 'Like' those sent by others" on the Q&A board. 
4. Announcements can be set up in the announcement list prior to the start of the session and can be published individually as and when needed. Participants will view them as soon as they are published on the Q&A board. 
5. Announcements can be edited, published or unpublished from the announcement lists.
6. Use links (& emojis) in announcements as participants will be able to open them from within the participant app.  
7. Announcements can be set up anytime and published from any message list whether moderation is ON or OFF as it will always be accessible in the Vevox dashboard at the top of your Q&A board.
8. Use announcements to inform the audience of the next topic or use it to convey logistics, start conversations, elicit ideas, get the discussion back on track.
9. All announcements sent by the host will also appear in the data report and will be timestamped. 

To set up & send your first announcement to the Q&A board 

To send an announcement there are two steps: 

STEP 1: You must type in the announcement and add it to your announcement list.

STEP 2: You must publish the announcement so participants can see it. 

To send an announcement follow these steps. 

 When you are logged in, select Q&A from the navigation menu. 

Click on the '+Create an announcement' button or click on the 'Manage Announcements' button.  A pop-up will appear where you can either choose from the pre-set up conversation starter options by clicking on them or type in your own original announcement. 

 Press the ‘plus icon’.  Your message will now go to the announcement list waiting to be published. (Note it is not yet visible to participants.) 

Now publish the announcement to the Q&A board by clicking on the 'publish icon'. Your message will immediately be sent to participants devices and appear in Present view on a different color background.

Set up multiple announcements

Announcements can also be set up in the announcement list prior to the start of the session and can be published individually as and when needed during your session. Participants will view them as soon as they are published on the Q&A board. 

Alternatively, announcements can be set up and published on the fly.

To set up multiple announcements repeat step 1-3 with different announcement messages. When it is time, publish each announcement individually by selecting the publish icon from the announcement list.

The announcement that is highlighted on a background in the dashboard, it the one that is currently visible in Present view and on the participant app.