If you’re running webinars, workshops, or any event that needs to wrangle a group of people onto one calendar slot, you’ve probably wondered if you can skip the endless email chains. You can—but only if you set it up right. This guide is for anyone tired of playing calendar Tetris, especially trainers, coaches, and anyone running group sessions online.
Let’s walk through setting up group events in Calendly, cover some gotchas Calendly doesn’t always mention, and keep things as painless as possible.
What Are Group Events in Calendly, Really?
Calendly’s “Group Event” feature lets multiple people sign up for the same event slot. Instead of one person per booking, you specify a max group size, and Calendly handles the rest. It’s ideal for:
- Webinars and workshops with open registration
- Training sessions (live or virtual)
- Office hours, Q&As, or group demos
But know this: Calendly is not a full-fledged event management platform. It won’t handle ticketing, breakouts, or fancy reminders. It’s about getting people on your calendar, not running the whole show.
Before You Start: What to Have Ready
You’ll save time (and headaches) if you prep a few things first:
- Your event details: Title, description, date(s), and length.
- Max number of attendees: How many can join at once? Calendly will cut off sign-ups automatically when you hit your limit.
- Your video conference link (if needed): Calendly can generate Zoom/Google Meet links, but you’ll want your accounts connected first.
- Notification preferences: Know if you want reminders sent (and how often).
- Any custom questions: Stuff you want to ask when people register, like “What do you want to learn?” or “Company name?”
Calendly works best if you keep the details simple. If you need to collect payments, use integrations, but don’t expect a slick ticketing experience.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up a Calendly Group Event
1. Create a New Event Type
- From your Calendly dashboard, hit “+ New Event Type.”
- Choose “Group.”
- Give it a clear, honest name—e.g., “Intro to Python Workshop (Max 20 people).”
Pro tip: Put the attendee limit in the title. It sets expectations and reduces questions.
2. Set Your Availability
- Pick either a one-off date/time or create a recurring schedule (e.g., “every Thursday at 1pm”).
- You can set buffer times before/after the event. Use this if you know you’ll need breaks.
What works: Recurring times save a lot of setup if you run events regularly. What doesn’t: Don’t try to hack around with multiple time zones—Calendly shows times in your invitee’s local time, but it can still confuse people. Always clarify the time zone somewhere in the confirmation.
3. Limit the Number of Attendees
- Enter the maximum number of people who can register.
- Calendly closes sign-ups automatically when you hit this cap.
Heads up: There’s no waitlist feature. If you need one, you’ll have to DIY it or use another tool.
4. Add Location Details
- Choose “Zoom,” “Google Meet,” or another integration if you want Calendly to auto-generate a link. Make sure your calendar/video accounts are connected first.
- For in-person events, you can enter an address.
- For webinars hosted elsewhere (like Crowdcast or Teams), paste the link manually.
Don’t overthink it: If you’re using Zoom or Google Meet, connect your account once and let Calendly handle it. Otherwise, just copy-paste your link.
5. Customize Invitee Questions
- Calendly lets you add custom questions to the booking form. Use this for stuff you’ll actually use (don’t ask for company name unless you need it).
- Keep it short—nobody loves a 10-question form.
What works: One or two meaningful questions. More than that, and sign-ups drop off.
6. Set Up Notifications and Reminders
- Calendly sends confirmation emails by default. You can add additional reminders (email or SMS).
- Set reminders for 24 hours and 1 hour before the event—those are the sweet spots.
- You can also send follow-up emails, but they’re pretty basic.
What to ignore: Don’t rely on Calendly for fancy automated workflows or personalized reminders. It’s not built for that.
7. Review and Publish
- Double-check your settings—especially attendee limit, date/time, and location/link.
- Hit “Publish.”
- Grab the event link and share it wherever you need—email, Slack, event pages, etc.
What Happens When People Sign Up?
When someone books:
- They pick from your available dates/times.
- They enter their info and any custom questions you’ve set.
- They get a confirmation email with the event details and link.
- You get a notification (and so does your calendar).
- The event shows up on your Calendly dashboard with a running attendee count.
When the limit’s reached, Calendly closes registration. There’s no waitlist, and no “overflow” option. If you want to let more people in, you’ll have to manually raise the cap.
Managing Your Group Event
Some practical realities:
- You can export your attendee list. There’s a basic CSV export. No fancy analytics, but it works.
- Editing events after people sign up is possible, but... If you change the time or link, attendees get notified, but expect some confusion. People don’t always read update emails.
- No built-in attendance tracking. Calendly doesn’t know who actually shows up. You’ll need to check your webinar platform or do a manual roll call.
Pro tip: After the event, export your registrants and follow up however you want—just don’t expect Calendly to do it for you.
Honest Pros and Cons
What Works Well
- Easy setup: For basic group events, it’s fast.
- Simple attendee cap: No more worrying about overbooking.
- Integrates with your calendar: Keeps your life less chaotic.
What Doesn’t Work So Well
- No waitlist: You can’t easily capture overflow interest.
- Limited customization: You can’t design branded pages or custom workflows.
- Not for paid events: You can connect to Stripe/PayPal with integrations, but it’s clunky.
What to Ignore
- If your event needs tickets, breakouts, or advanced attendee management, Calendly isn’t the right tool. Use it for what it’s good at: simple scheduling.
Pro Tips for Smoother Events
- Test your setup: Book a test spot (with a personal email) to see exactly what attendees see.
- Add the attendee cap in the description and title. People miss fine print.
- Clarify the time zone. Calendly should convert it, but confusion still happens.
- Keep reminders simple. Too many emails = more unsubscribes.
- Have a backup plan. If your webinar link fails, have another way to reach attendees (like an email draft ready to go).
Wrapping Up: Don’t Overcomplicate It
Calendly group events are great for getting people into a session without chasing RSVPs yourself. They’re not an all-in-one event platform, and that’s fine. Keep your setup simple, use the attendee cap, and don’t try to force features that aren’t there. If you need more, look elsewhere—but for most webinars and workshops, this gets the job done.
Start small, see what works, and tweak as you go. Less stress, more teaching (or demoing, or coaching), and a lot fewer emails.