Your first event
Eight steps from an empty account to a room running on the clock. Budget twenty minutes the first time; after that it is about three.
- Make an account
Sign up at nextset.ca/signup. You will be asked what kind of room you run — gym, wedding, live music, conference, church, karaoke — and that answer sets your defaults for everything after this.
- Set up your venue
A venue is your building: name, address, and the web address people will see. This becomes your public page, so use the name on the door rather than the name on the incorporation papers.
- Create the event
Pick the event type. The type decides your default item length, changeover length and which controls appear — a class defaults to five-minute rounds, a concert to forty-five-minute sets. You can change any of it.
- Build the running order
Add the items in order and give each one a length. Do not try to make it perfect: the whole point is that you can drag it on the day. Building the running order covers this properly.
- Add the people
Performers, speakers, teams or classes go on the running order. Members and guests come in through the door — see Check people in.
- Open the screen in the room
On whatever machine drives your TV or projector, open the big screen view and put the browser full screen. It needs no keyboard and no operator after this — it just follows the clock.
- Open the director view
On your own laptop or phone, open the director view for the event. This is the only surface with buttons that change anything. One person holds it.
- Press start
The clock starts, the screen updates, and from here you are running the room rather than reconstructing it. Run the clock is the page to read before your first live one.
What to do before your first real one
Run a fake one. Make an event dated today, put three two-minute items on it, open the big screen on your phone and the director on your laptop, and drive it start to finish. It takes six minutes and it is the difference between confidence and a live rehearsal.
What each screen is for
| Surface | Who opens it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Director | One person, on a laptop or phone | The only place with controls. Start, pause, add time, advance, broadcast a message. |
| Big screen | The TV or projector in the room | What the room sees: what is on now, what is next, and the clock. No controls at all. |
| Up-next screen | A second display where people wait, if your room has one | Who is on, who is next, and how long is left — so nobody has to be told twice. |
| Kiosk | A tablet at the door | Members and guests check themselves in. Locked to that one job. |