How to build a member preference order to assist Auto Book

With Band Pencil you can use our Auto Book feature to automatically ask the next member if the previous member states they're not available for an event. To accompany this feature, you can build a preference order to save you having to add each individual member to an event and setting them as the backup.

How to built a preference order

Preference orders are really simple to build and only take a minute or two.

1. Navigate to your members page and click Manage Groups in the top-right.
2. Add a new group and call it something like "Preference Order - Vocalists".
3. Once you have added a new group you will be redirected to the group page.
4. From here, click the cog icon in the top-right and click Edit Group.
5. Tick the box that says Make this group a preference order.

Once you have set your group as a preference order you can add your members by clicking Add in the top-right. Once your members have been added, you now need to drag them into the correct order. 

The member in the first row of the table (highlighted in orange) will be the member who is asked first. Every member below that member will be set to pending status.

Let's say you have three female vocalists that perform with your band: Vanessa, Emma and Holly and you want them to be asked in that order. For this to happen you need to make sure Vanessa is in the top row followed by Emma and then Holly.

Assigning a preference order to an event

You assign a preference order in the exact same way as you would assign a member. Your groups show at the bottom of the selection dropdown. When you click add to event, Band Pencil will automatically add your members and chain them together.

Things to note:

• When assigning, clicking Email musicians will not send an email to any member in the preference group.
• Each member in the preference order (who is not in position 1) will by default, not be able to view the event on the Member Portal.
• Removing a pending member from an event will break the chain and you will need to manually fix it.