Staff with the right permission can send an ad-hoc email or SMS about a specific activity session to participants, guardians, and/or instructors. Messages use your organisation’s configured email and SMS providers and respect member consent and channel preferences.
Where to find it
Section titled “Where to find it”Open Message participants from:
- an activity’s detail page (more menu),
- the activities list (row overflow menu), or
- the calendar session dialog (footer more menu).
Each entry point targets one session (occurrence). The dialog defaults to the session that contains the current time in your organisation or location timezone. If there is no session today, it selects the next upcoming session. If there are no sessions, you cannot send until a schedule exists.
Before you send
Section titled “Before you send”- Configure providers - Email and/or SMS must be set up under Communications settings. Cadence blocks send when a selected channel has no provider configured.
- Choose a session - Confirm the occurrence in the dialog matches the session you mean to message (especially when opening from the calendar).
- Review the preview - The live preview shows how many email and SMS deliveries will be queued. Send is disabled when the count is zero.
When the preview shows 20 or more recipients, Cadence asks you to confirm before queuing delivery.
Each create request requires an Idempotency-Key header so retries do not queue duplicate campaigns. Cadence also enforces rate limits (10 creates per minute and 100 per day per staff member) and caps each campaign at 1000 recipients and 50 activity targets.
Compose the message
Section titled “Compose the message”| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Channels | Email and/or SMS. Email requires a subject line. |
| Body | Rich text for email; a shorter SMS editor when SMS only is selected. |
| Purpose | Transactional (default) or Marketing. Marketing messages honour opt-in rules; transactional messages are sent unless the member has opted out of that message type or channel. |
| Reply-to | Optional override. If left blank, Cadence uses the activity location email, then your tenant email defaults. |
After you send, Cadence queues delivery asynchronously. You will see Message delivery queued and the dialog closes. Large sends may take a few minutes to finish; see Delivery history to review outcomes.
Audience options
Section titled “Audience options”Use the Audience section to control who receives the message.
Who to include
Section titled “Who to include”- Participants - Enrolled members expected at the session (active and casual enrolments). Direct delivery to participants uses a minimum age; see below.
- Guardians - Adults linked to the participant’s household(s).
- Instructors - Staff assigned to the session, including cover and away staff when substitutes are enabled.
Toggles let you narrow the list:
| Option | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Waitlist | Off | Include waitlisted enrolments when on. |
| Include absent | On | Include participants not expected at this session when on. Turn off to message only those expected to attend. |
| Include substitutes | On | Include covering and away instructors when on. |
| Send copy to me | Off | Queue an extra copy to your staff contact on the selected channels. |
Participant minimum age
Section titled “Participant minimum age”When Participants is on, you can set a minimum age for direct delivery to participants (not guardians). The default is your organisation’s legal age setting. Age is calculated as of today (the date you send), not the session date.
Members without a date of birth on file are excluded from direct participant delivery. The preview counts them in warnings; guardians and other eligible recipients can still receive the message.
Guardian households
Section titled “Guardian households”| Setting | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Enrolment household (default) | One message per guardian contact in the household tied to the enrolment. |
| All student households | Messages every household where the participant is a student. Use when siblings or split households need the same notice. |
Delivery mode
Section titled “Delivery mode”| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Once overall (default) | One delivery per email address or phone number across the audience. Use for general announcements. |
| Once per student | Separate deliveries per student when merge fields differ by child. Use when the body refers to a specific participant. |
If the same person appears in more than one role (for example instructor and parent), Cadence still sends once per channel per address unless the addresses differ.
Permissions
Section titled “Permissions”The Message participants permission lives under Activities in role settings. It is separate from cancelling sessions.
| Built-in role | Default |
|---|---|
| Owner, Administrator, Manager | Granted (full catalogue) |
| Front Desk | Granted explicitly |
| Coach / Instructor | Not granted by default |
| View Only | Not granted |
Administrators can grant Message participants to coaches or other roles when those staff should message sessions they run.
Consent and preferences
Section titled “Consent and preferences”Message participants uses the activity staff message communication type. Member consent and channel preferences apply:
- Channel opt-out (email, SMS) always blocks that channel.
- Transactional purpose: sent unless the member opted out of this message type.
- Marketing purpose: sent only when the member opted in.
The preview shows skipped counts for missing contact details, consent, and age or date-of-birth rules. It does not list individual names.
Related topics
Section titled “Related topics”- Email setup
- SMS setup
- Delivery history
- Template placeholders - for system templates; staff messages use free-form body text in the dialog.