Recently, we have been getting some emails regarding Guest Count not showing correctly on the reports. It seems that there's some confusion around Guest Count and Guest Attendance Count, which are two different metrics. In this article, I will try to explain the difference between two and how to correctly update both numbers.

Guest Count

When ChamberForge was first built, we had only Guest Count. This was to track how many guests a member has invited to his or her group. For an example, if you invited Michelle and Garcia to your group on June 1, 2023, and they both came to a meeting, you'd add them to ChamberForge as guests and set the "Invited by" field to your name. When you do so and run the Activity Report for the month of June, you will see that you have 2 for the Guest Count metric.

Guest Count is for groups who credit members who bring guests to the group initially but do not credit members on subsequent visits by the same guests. If Michelle comes to your second meeting on June 15, 2023, the Guest Count will still show 2 for you on the Activity Report.

Guest Attendance Count

Guest Attendance Count is a slightly different metric. This metrics credits members for subsequent visits by the guests that a member invites.

For example, if you invite Michelle and Garcia to your group on June 1, 2023, and they both come back to your second meeting on June 15, 2023, the Guest Attendance Count will show 4. This metrics represents a guest's attendance to a meeting. Going back to the example, if John (another member of your group) invited Michelle to your 3rd meeting on June 28, 2023, then your Guest Attendance Count will be 4 and John's Guest Attendance Count will be 1. Your Gueset Count will be 2 and John's Guest Count will be 0 since it was you who initially brought Michelle and Garcia to your group.

To update the Guest Attendance Count, go to Update Attenance screen for the guest and select a meeting they attended. Then also select who invited the guest to that specific meeting. Once this "invited by" field is set, then that person will receive credit for the guest attendance.

So what do I use?

Which metrics you use depends on the rules and policies set forth by your group. Does your group credit members for subsequent visits by guests who've already been to your meeting before? If so, use Guest Attendance Count. If not, use Guest Count.

Guest Count is shown by default on the Activity Report. However, if you want to see the Guest Attendance Count, you have to use the Guest Report which will show both Guest Count and Guest Attendance Count.

Still confusing? Please post your questions below .

Seong