The reference for anyone on the events team who runs networking at a Topco event: switching it on, getting delegates signed in, setting up meetings and sponsors, checking people in at the venue, and reading the results afterwards.
Start here
What is this
Topco Matchmaking helps delegates meet the right people at our events. Each delegate picks their company's sector and the sectors they want to meet, gets a list of their best matches, sends connection requests, chats once a request is accepted and books a meeting at the event.
Events and their delegates come from the CRM automatically, every 5 minutes. Anyone can also join free without a ticket, for the year-round Topco Community or for one event's networking. Delegates don't need the Topco Events app.
Where things live
Delegates: https://matchmaking.topco.co.za
Staff admin: https://matchmaking.topco.co.za/admin
Who sees what (public): https://matchmaking.topco.co.za/privacy
Start here
Signing in & the admin
Sign in at matchmaking.topco.co.za with your Topco email and tap the link we email you (it works once, for 30 minutes). Your first sign-in starts with a short welcome step: check your details and tap Continue. Then click Admin at the top.
Headline numbers, daily charts for the last 30 days, current events, waiting join requests and the staff activity log.
Every event with delegates, sign-ins, connections and messages, and the switch that turns networking on.
Search anyone, open their page, or add a person to an event or the Community.
Who can open the admin. Add or remove colleagues.
Inside an event
Click an event's name. Its header has the networking switch and the Without a ticket setting, and five tabs:
| Tab | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Report | How delegates are using it (a funnel from delegates to messages), the sector list, the connecting dates and the feedback results. |
| Delegates | The list with search and filters, join requests to approve, check-in, and + Add a walk-in. |
| Meetings | Meeting times, tables and the meeting schedule. |
| Sponsors | Sponsors, their reps and each sponsor's report. |
| Passes & QR | Personal sign-in passes, WhatsApp sending, printing, the event poster and the check-in poster. |
Start here
Staff access
Only people on the staff list can open the admin. Anyone already on it can add colleagues.
- Open Admin → Staff
The list shows everyone with access and when they last signed in.
- Add their email
Type a colleague's @topco.co.za address and click Add staff. Other email domains are refused.
- They sign in as normal
At matchmaking.topco.co.za with that email; Admin appears at the top.
Remove takes access away at once and signs them out. You can't remove yourself, and Vernon's access is fixed on the server.
Coming next
Staff will sign in to the admin with their Topco Google account ("Topco staff: sign in with Google" on the sign-in page) instead of an email link.
Before the event
Setting up an event
An event appears by itself once it's in the CRM. Networking starts switched off, so delegates don't see it until you turn it on.
- Switch networking on
Admin → Events, then click Closed next to the event so it reads Open.
- Pick the sector list
On the Report tab: Industries for HR and public-sector events like FOHR, Technology & business for tech events, or Everything (all 30).
- Decide who can join without a ticket
In the event's header (see the table below).
- Check the connecting dates
On the Report tab. They follow the timeline below; When delegates can connect changes them.
The networking timeline
Until a week before
Before networking opens
Delegates can sign in, see the event and add their sectors, but can't connect yet.
FOHR: until 6 Oct
A week before → last day
Connecting open
Everyone gets a "Networking is open" email. Connect, chat and book meetings.
FOHR: 7–15 Oct
The week after
A week to connect
"A week left" email, then "closes in 2 days". People are nudged to share WhatsApp.
FOHR: 16–22 Oct
After that
Closed
Chats stay readable; connections carry on over WhatsApp. The feedback survey goes out.
FOHR: from 23 Oct
The emails go out by themselves, once each, only for events that are switched on.
Joining without a ticket
| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Staff approve each one (default) | They tap Ask to join and see nothing until staff approve. Requests appear at the top of the Delegates tab, with a yellow banner on the Overview. Approved people get a "You're in" email; a declined person can't ask again for that event. |
| Anyone can join | They join straight away. |
| Ticket holders only | Nobody without a registration can join; the event isn't offered to them. |
People who join without a ticket show as networking only. Delegates with a ticket never need approving.
Before the event
How delegates get in
Which way a delegate needs depends on whether we have their email.
| Way in | Who it's for | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Email link | Delegates whose registration has an email | They enter their email and tap the link we send. |
| Personal pass | Everyone; the only way in for delegates without an email | A one-time link, sent on WhatsApp or printed as a QR code. They open it and tap Sign in. |
| Event poster QR | Anyone at the venue | Opens the event's networking; people sign in with their email or join free. |
| Join free | People without a ticket | A free account, then they ask to join an event (see the setting above). |
Everyone's first sign-in: the welcome step
Before anything else, people check the name, job title and company others will see, read who sees what, and choose whether to appear in delegate lists. People who untick Show me in delegate lists can still connect, and anyone they're in touch with sees them. Pass users are also asked to add their email afterwards; once confirmed, they can sign in on other devices and they go into the CRM.
Before the event
Passes & posters
Everything on the event's Passes & QR tab.
| Button | Does |
|---|---|
| Send on WhatsApp | Opens WhatsApp on your phone or WhatsApp Web with the delegate's number and their personal link already written. You press send. Use a Topco phone. |
| Show QR | Shows their pass on screen so they can scan it there and then. |
| New pass | Replaces a lost or misused pass. The old one stops working and anyone signed in with it is signed out. |
| Print passes — no email | One A4 page per delegate who can only use a pass. Used passes are left out. |
| Print all passes | The same for everyone. |
| QR images (.zip) | Every unused pass as an image, plus a list of who's who, for a badge printer. |
| Print poster / Download PNG | The event QR for walls and screen slides. |
| Print check-in poster | The venue check-in QR (see Check-in). |
Passes are keys
A pass signs in whoever holds it, once. Keep printed passes at the desk, never on a public table, and treat the zip the same way. Printing passes and downloading the zip are recorded in the activity log.
Before the event
Meetings
Connected delegates book short meetings at the event, at times and tables you set.
- Add meeting times
Meetings tab → Meeting times: pick the day, a start and end time (a break, for example) and the length of each meeting, then Add slots. Repeat for each break.
- Add tables
Type how many tables you have (or their names, one per line) and click Add tables. With no tables, people agree where to meet themselves.
- Delegates book
In their chat, one picks a time they're both free and taps Propose this time. When the other accepts, they get the first free table and both get an email.
Nobody can be double-booked, and a full time slot isn't offered. The tab shows the schedule by time and table; Print schedule gives a copy for the meeting area. A slot with bookings in it can't be removed.
Before the event
Sponsors
Sponsors' people get a head start with the delegates they're after, and each sponsor gets a report.
- Add the sponsor
Sponsors tab → + Add a sponsor: name, package and the sectors they want to meet.
- Link their reps
Pick each rep from the delegates at the event and click Add.
Reps get a Sponsor · name badge, a "Delegates in your sectors" list, and their requests show first. Delegates still choose whether to accept. Each sponsor's report shows requests sent, connections, meetings booked and the leads its reps marked hot, warm or cold; Print sponsor report gives a copy to send them.
On the day
The registration desk
Have a laptop and a staff phone signed in to the admin, the printed passes, and the meeting schedule.
| Who's in front of you | What to do |
|---|---|
| A delegate with a printed pass | Hand it over, or let them scan it now. |
| A lost or already-used pass | Find them on Delegates or People, click New pass, then Show QR for them to scan. |
| A walk-in | Delegates tab → + Add a walk-in: name, company and mobile (email if they have one) → Add and show pass. They scan it and they're in. Register them in the CRM as usual if they're attending. |
| Someone who wants to network but isn't attending | Point them to the poster QR to join free, then approve their request on the Delegates tab. |
| Anyone arriving | Check them in (next section). |
On the day
Check-in
From the day before the event, every delegate's event page shows My check-in code. Either way below marks them as attended in the CRM.
At the desk
Scan the delegate's check-in code with your own phone, signed in to the admin. It checks them in on the spot and shows their name. Or find them on the Delegates tab and click Check in.
Self check-in
Put up the check-in poster (Passes & QR → Print check-in poster). Delegates scan it and tap I'm here.
The Delegates tab has Checked in and Not checked in filters, shows the time and whether it was the desk or self, and Undo fixes a mistake.
After the event
Week to connect & WhatsApp
For a week after the event, delegates can still connect and chat. Then networking closes and conversations move to WhatsApp.
- On their profile, delegates can tick Share my WhatsApp number with people I've connected with. Only accepted connections then see a WhatsApp button.
- Someone who hasn't shared can be sent an Ask for their WhatsApp nudge by email.
- When networking closes, chats go read-only and the button becomes Continue on WhatsApp.
After the event
Reports & feedback
The event's Report tab answers "did it work?" in one view.
- Funnel: delegates → checked in → signed in → gave sectors → sent or got a request → connected → messaged → sharing WhatsApp.
- Sectors: which sectors are in demand but under-represented, useful for invitations and sponsors.
- Feedback: when networking closes, delegates get a two-question survey (did they meet someone useful; how useful was it, 1–5). Results and comments appear here.
- Sponsor reports: on the Sponsors tab.
Admin → Overview has totals across everything and day-by-day charts for first sign-ins, connection requests and messages.
Reference
People & the Topco team
Admin → People lists everyone, with filters such as Never signed in, No email and Sharing WhatsApp.
On a person's page
| Action | Does |
|---|---|
| New pass / Show QR / Send on WhatsApp | Their personal pass. |
| Sign out everywhere | Ends all their sessions; they sign in again with email or a new pass. |
| Remove from networking / Put back | Takes them out of one event's networking. It sticks even though the CRM still has them registered. |
| Turn off emails | Stops connection and message emails to them. |
| Open in CRM | Their CRM contact. |
+ Add a person (top of People) adds someone to any current event or the Community, with a pass ready.
The Topco team
Anyone with an @topco.co.za email appears to delegates in a separate Meet the Topco team section. They're left out of delegate lists, match suggestions, the stats and delegate emails, so they don't skew the numbers; delegates can still connect with them.
Reference
How WhatsApp works
Today, nothing is sent from a Topco WhatsApp account automatically. WhatsApp opens on the person's own phone with the message ready.
| Use | How |
|---|---|
| Sending passes | Staff click Send on WhatsApp and press send from a Topco phone. A normal message, free. |
| Delegates keeping in touch | Opt-in number sharing; connections get a WhatsApp button with a greeting already written. |
| Shared links | Links pasted into WhatsApp show a preview card. Opened inside WhatsApp, the page asks people to switch to their normal browser. |
| Automatic reminders off | Built but switched off. Needs a Meta WhatsApp Business account, a dedicated number and one approved message template. Delegates would then opt in on their profile. |
Reference
What reaches the CRM
| In matchmaking | In the CRM |
|---|---|
| Someone signs up or edits their details | Their contact is created or updated. |
| Someone joins an event without a ticket (approved) | A networking-only registration, left out of delegate counts and budgets. |
| Two people connect | An activity on both contacts and the event, with any sponsor lead note. |
| A meeting is confirmed | A meeting activity on both contacts and the event. |
| Someone is checked in | Their registration is marked attended. |
Delegates registered in the CRM appear in matchmaking within 5 minutes. Anything the CRM can't receive at the time is retried automatically.
Reference
Privacy & security rules
- Message contents are private between the two people. The admin never shows them; don't ask delegates to share them.
- A delegate's mobile is shown only to people they've connected with, and only if they chose to share it. Don't share it for them.
- Passes and the QR zip are keys. Keep them at the desk.
- Everything staff do in the admin is recorded in the activity log.
- Delegates can hide from lists, turn emails off or leave on their profile, or email support@topco.co.za to have their account deleted.
Reference
Hosting & backups
Runs on Topco's own server (AWS Cape Town, af-south-1) next to the CRM, with its own database. Every night both databases and uploaded files are backed up on the server (14 days) and copied to encrypted off-server storage (90 days). The server can add backups there but can't delete them.
Changes are deployed by the developer; the runbook with deploy and restore steps is kept internally.
Reference
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Check this first |
|---|---|
| "We couldn't find an account for that email" | They're not in the CRM under that email. Check the spelling, give them a pass, or add them as a walk-in. |
| "Pass already used" | Someone signed in with it. If it wasn't them, New pass on their page. |
| The sign-in email never arrived | Check spam, then use a pass. |
| Stuck after opening a link inside WhatsApp | The page shows how to open it in their normal browser: Open in browser on Android, Safari steps on iPhone. |
| "Request sent" but they can't see anyone | Their join request is waiting. Approve it on the Delegates tab. |
| Can't find a delegate they know is there | That delegate may have hidden from lists. Once either sends a request, they see each other. |
| No "Book a meeting" in their chat | No meeting times set yet (Meetings tab), or they aren't connected yet. |
| "Every table is taken at that time" | Add tables, or they pick another time. |
| No check-in code on their event page | It appears from the day before the event. Check them in from the Delegates tab. |
| No matches | They haven't picked sectors. Ask them to fill in My profile. |
| A new registration isn't listed | The CRM sync runs every 5 minutes; Sync with CRM now on the Overview pulls immediately. |
| A colleague can't see Admin | Add their @topco.co.za email on Admin → Staff. |
Reference
Support
This manual covers running networking for an event. For anything platform-level (a new feature, a sync problem, a WhatsApp Business setup, or infrastructure), contact Vernon Cheung, vernon.cheung@topco.co.za.