Rostrum notifies people in two ways: email, and a to-do list waiting for them when they sign in. Understanding which messages you control and which send themselves is most of what you need.
Three kinds of email
Customizing the wording
Rostrum ships sensible default wording for every automatic email. On the Communications tab, the Automated list shows all of them, grouped by who receives them — speaker, poster author, abstracts, reviewer, manager — and lets you customize any of them for this event, or set an organization-wide default that every future event inherits. Each one can be reverted, and a test copy sent to yourself.
Merge fields put the person's name, the event, the deadline and the relevant link into the text.
The Automated list controls wording, not whether messages send. The on/off switches and schedules live in each product's settings: upload reminders under Internet Uploads, review reminders under Review & Approval, and all three abstract reminders under Call for Abstracts.
Composing your own
The Send email wizard targets an audience — speakers, poster authors — and sends either a free-form message or one of the templates that makes sense to send by hand, such as a file request or a review reminder. Abstract invitations have their own dedicated panel because they do more than send mail: they confer eligibility.
The to-do list
Email is unreliable; a to-do list is not. Every participant's hub carries a list of what they owe, assembled fresh each time they look:
| Who | What appears |
|---|---|
| Abstract submitter | Finish author disclosures · submit before the deadline · confirm your acceptance |
| Speaker or co-presenter | Upload your file · upload a revised version after a review outcome |
| Poster author | Upload your poster · revise it · answer delegate questions |
| Reviewer | Individual reviews due, and a single roll-up when many are outstanding |
| Everyone | What is coming up next for them on the agenda |
Each item carries its deadline in venue time and is marked overdue or due-soon. Clicking it goes straight to the thing that needs doing.
What people can see of their own mail
Participants get a notifications panel listing what has been sent to them — subject and date only. Staff have an inbox on the event overview showing messages addressed to them, with unread counts, and a preferences dialog for switching reminder categories off.
Knowing whether mail landed
Every message's send status is recorded per recipient. When the email provider's delivery webhook is configured, Rostrum also learns whether each message was delivered, opened or clicked, and those outcomes feed the Email panel in analytics (Chapter 23) — campaigns, invitations, decisions and automated mail each on their own line. Without the webhook, sending works exactly the same; you just see sent rather than read.