Assigning Speakers to Sessions

To fully promote all your event’s speakers, you'll need to assign them to the sessions they're appearing at! This ensures that all speakers appear correctly across your website and event programme.

🧩 Step 1 – Import Your Speakers

Before you can link speakers to sessions, make sure you’ve already added your speaker data to the CMS.

If you haven’t done this yet, follow the guide: “Adding Speakers Manually and in Bulk.”

• Ensure that each speaker has a unique speaker code (e.g. SP001, SP002). This is crucial for linking them correctly to sessions.

• Once your speaker data is in the CMS, you’re ready to move on to the seminar import file.

📋 Step 2 – Prepare Your Seminar Import File

Next, create or update your seminar import CSV file to include your speakers and chairpersons.

Follow the “How do I import my seminar programme?” guide for detailed CSV setup instructions.

• In your CSV template, locate the Speakers and Chairperson columns.

• Instead of typing full names (e.g. Joe Bloggs), use the speaker’s unique Speaker Code from the CMS to prevent duplication errors.

• If a session includes multiple speakers, separate the codes with commas — e.g. SP001, SP002, SP003.

• Do the same for Chairperson codes if applicable, then save your CSV.

🗂️ Step 3 – Import the File into the CMS

1. Go to Modules > Seminars > [Your Programme].

2. At the top, click More → Import Sessions.

3. Select your CSV file and hit Submit.

🧭 Step 4 – Map Your Import Fields

On the next screen, you’ll reach the mapping screen. This is where you tell the system which columns in your CSV correspond to which fields in Showoff.

Before mapping, choose your Import Method:

If you’re only importing speakers (and not updating any other session data), you only need to map the following fields:

• Session Code
• Title
• Speakers

If you’re only importing speakers (and not updating any other session data), you only need to map the following fields:

• Session Code

• Title

• Speakers

🧩 Step 5 – Map Speaker Codes

After setting your import method, you’ll be prompted to map your speaker and chairperson codes to the corresponding speaker records already in the CMS.

If the speaker record exists, the CMS will automatically match it to their name. If not, double-check your CSV codes and re-import.

✅ Step 6 – Review and Import

You’ll then see a preview screen showing all your data before import.

• Review carefully — this is your final chance to make sure each speaker is linked to the correct session.

• If anything looks off, click Cancel to go back and adjust your mappings.

• When ready, hit Submit to complete the import.

💡 Top Tips

• Always use unique speaker codes to avoid conflicts during import.

• Save your import templates — they make future updates faster.

• Run imports in small batches first to test your mappings before importing all data.