This article explores the Table Management tab for Bloomerang Fundraising events. For information on table and seating management for Auctions, check out this article.

Table Management is great for events where you want to assign attendees to specific tables and/or seats, such as galas, concerts, speaker events, and more!

Click below for a video walkthrough of the Table Management tab and assigning seats.

To get started, locate your event, click Edit, and then navigate to the Table Management tab.

The default Table Management option is None.

Select Manual if you’d like to create and assign tables for your attendees. Manual is the best option if you don’t need to assign each guest a specific seat and don’t want to design a layout for your event space.

Select Visual Seating Charts to design an event layout and assign event attendees to seats with an interactive tool.

When you’ve made your selection, click Save Settings to see additional options.

With the Manual Table Management option, you can create named tables and determine how many seats are open at each one.

To create a table, click Add New Table.

In the Table Label field, give your table a name.

If you want, you can also assign a Group Name. This is useful if you have several tables designated for a larger group, such as VIPs.

Use the arrows to adjust the Number of Seats at the table or type the number of seats in the text box.

Click Add New Table to save your new table’s settings.

You can add as many tables as you like in this area.

You can also print a list of attendees and their seat assignments by clicking Print Seating Chart on this screen.

When you’re ready to assign attendees to tables, jump to Assigning Seats.

With Visual Seating Charts, you can create a layout of your event space, including tables and rows of seats.

You’ll start with a blank seating chart named “Untitled chart.” You can configure this chart by clicking Edit Chart. To create a new visual seating chart, click Add New Chart.

Either option will open the Seating Chart Editor. With the tools available here, you can create all kinds of event space layouts!

First, give your seating chart a Name.

Your main tools are along the left side of the screen. The first three options are selection tools, which we’ll return to a bit later. For creating your layout, you’ll primarily use the Row tool and the Table tool.

With the Row tool, you can create rows of seats, which is great for a performance or speaking event.

When you click the Row tool icon, you’ll see three additional options:

With a tool selected, click and drag on the screen to create your row.

With the Table tool, you can create tables with seats. Your two options here are the Round Table tool and the Rectangular Table tool.

With one of those tools selected, click to place a new table.

To select an element (or elements) in your seating chart, use one of the three selection tools.

Use the basic Selection tool to select a single row or table. Or click and drag with the Selection tool to select multiple rows and/or tables that are next to each other.

With the Selection brush tool, you can select multiple elements in a non-linear path.

For example, if you want to select certain rows in a multiple row layout, the Selection brush is perfect for that.

The Select same type tool will select all elements of the same type as the one you click in your layout.

For example, if you want to adjust the settings for all of your rectangular tables, use the Select same type tool.

With an element (or elements) selected, you can further customize your rows and tables using the menu on the right side of the screen.

Select a row or rows to further customize their settings using the menu on the right side of the screen.

From here, you can adjust the Number of seats in the row, the Curve of the row, and the Seat spacing between each seat in the row. If you used the Multiple rows tool, you can also adjust the Row spacing between each row.

Next, decide if you want to configure labels for your rows. With the Enabled box checked, you’ll see options for types of Labels, the letter or number you want the labels to Start at, the Direction of the labels, the Position of the labels, and the Displayed type. You can uncheck the Enabled box if you don’t want or need row labels.

Finally, configure your seat labels so your attendees know where they’re sitting. The Labels drop-down offers a variety of label styles, and Displayed type displays each seat as Seat, Chair, Stool, or Bench.

Select a table or tables to customize their settings using the menu on the right side of the screen.

For a Rectangular table, you can adjust the number of seats on each side of the table, as well as the Width, Height, and Rotation of the table.

For a Round table, you can adjust the number of Chairs and Open spaces around the table. The Automatic radius box is checked by default, but you can uncheck it if you want to manually control the size of the table. You can also adjust the table’s Rotation.

In the Table labeling and Seat labeling areas, decide how each table and seat is displayed. You will assign attendees to tables and seats using these labels.

Your table labels can be any text string you want. Your seat labels can be numbers or letters, chosen from the Labels drop-down.

Along the top of the editor window, there are a few other tools you can use to finalize your layout.

Use the Undo and Redo arrows to undo or redo changes.

Use the tag icon to Always show labels for your tables and rows. If you find your labels distracting, you can turn this off.

With a table or row selected, you can use the Flip horizontally and Flip vertically tools to reorient the element. And use the Duplicate, Copy, and Paste tools to copy an element. Use the trash can to Delete an element.

Finally, the question mark in the top right corner lets you Play a tutorial and access a list of Keyboard shortcuts.

Before exiting, make sure there are no errors on the chart. You can review the chart’s properties on the right side of the screen when no objects are selected. Errors appear in red.

When your chart is ready, click Publish to save your changes. If you close without publishing, any changes you’ve made will be discarded.

The chart you have selected will display with a green check mark on the Table Management tab.

You can modify a seating chart by clicking Edit Chart, and you can print the chart, along with attendees’ seat assignments by clicking Print Chart.

If you need to remove all of the seat assignments from a chart, click the down arrow next to the chart’s name and then click Remove Assigned Seats.

You’ll need to type the word “Remove” into the confirmation box to finalize the removal.

If you’ve created multiple charts, you’ll see the option to Select a Different Chart, which will display all available charts. Click Select to choose a different chart.

Every chart you create carries over between events on the form and between forms! So if you have a certain chart you love, you can use it over and over again.

If you need to Delete a chart, you can do so from the Select a Different Chart screen. Keep in mind that you can’t delete a chart if it’s in use by any event. You’ll need to remove any seat assignments from the chart first.

To assign attendees to seats at your tables, head over to the Attendees tab.

With Table Management enabled, you’ll see a column in the Attendees list labeled Table (for Manual Table Management) or Seat (for Visual Seating Charts).

Click Assign Table/Seat for each attendee to assign them to a table and/or seat.

If you chose Manual Table Management, you’ll see a drop-down list of the available tables and the number of seats open at each one. Choose the table you want and click Assign.

If you chose Visual Seating Charts, clicking Assign Seat will open the chart. From here, you can select the specific table and seat you’d like to assign the attendee to. Then click Assign to [seat number].

Once you’ve assigned a seat, the assignment will appear in the Table/Seat column. You can edit or unassign seats at any time by clicking the pencil icon.

You can pull a detailed list of your attendees with their table and seat assignments by downloading the Registrations Report.

You can also print a copy of your seating chart with attendees’ seat assignments by clicking the printer icon in the column header.