Ad Hoc Attendees: When to Use It, and What to Watch For

When ad hoc helps

• It captures attendees who did not record their own attendance, so no one misses credit.
• It covers you when the Event Code process does not work for someone (they could not scan, arrived late, or did not have their phone).
• It keeps your attendance record complete for your own reporting.

What to watch for

• Ad hoc attendees are not linked to a CEU Events account, so their certificate will show "sign-in required." They cannot download it until they sign in or create an account and you send them the Certificate Notice.
• A large share of attendees added ad hoc already have an existing account. When they sign in, the ad hoc data you entered is overwritten with what is on their profile.
• It takes more of your time, since you enter each person by hand.
• Manual entry increases the risk of errors like misspelled names or a wrong email, which can misdirect a certificate or keep credit from attaching. You also do not always know an attendee's legal name.
• You and the Provider do not have consent to reach out to attendees added this way. This is an important legal step that self-registration handles for you.
• Certificate issuance is intentionally delayed for ad hoc attendees, because self-confirmation is what verifies the right person actually attended. When attendees confirm their own information, it protects the integrity of the credit and keeps you compliant. Manual entry bypasses that safeguard.
• Ad hoc attendees are omitted from reporting when you export data by "CEU Events Accounts."
• During an audit, ad hoc entries create more work and can slow the process, since the editor or reviewer will want to see proof of attendance for anyone added manually.

The bottom line

The cleanest path is to have attendees record their own attendance using the pre-registration link, the Attendance Recording Guide, or the Event Code. These link the attendee to their account automatically and make certificates available right away. Use ad hoc entry to catch the few people who slipped through, not as your primary method.

Recommendation: How to introduce attendance to your audience

A little framing at the start and end of your presentation makes self-recording go smoothly and cuts down on ad hoc entries later. A few things that work well:

• Lead with the benefit. Let attendees know the sign-in or registration takes about 15 seconds, gives them their certificate instantly, and their applicable credits are reported by the end of the next business day. That is the payoff that makes self-recording worth their moment.
• Mention it up front. At the start, let attendees know that if they did not pre-register, they will record their own attendance at the end to receive their certificate and credit, so they are expecting it.
• Give them the code clearly at the end. Display the Event Code (or the Paperless Attendance Slide) and leave it up long enough for everyone to record. Read the code aloud and confirm the site, www.ceuevents.com/attendance. Note: with full pre-registration, or a smaller group where you can simply mark everyone as attended, you can skip this step altogether.
• Allow a few minutes. Build in two to three minutes at the close for attendees to enter the code and confirm, rather than rushing it as people are leaving.
• Explain why it matters. Let them know that confirming their own attendance is what ties the credit to their account correctly and gets their certificate to them right away.
• Point out the account step. Remind them they will sign in or create a quick CEU Events account as part of confirming, so it is not a surprise.
• Reassure them on privacy. CEU Events was built privacy first. Attendees never receive unsolicited or promotional emails from CEU Events, so creating an account is about their credit and certificate.
• Offer help in the moment. Ask anyone who has trouble to raise a hand before they leave, so you can help them then rather than adding them manually afterward.