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| <!DOCTYPE html> | |
| <html> | |
| <head> | |
| <meta charset="utf-8"> | |
| <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> | |
| <title>Welcome file</title> | |
| <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://stackedit.io/style.css" /> | |
| </head> | |
| <body class="stackedit"> | |
| <div class="stackedit__html"><h1 id="the-velvet-hour-complete-user--admin-guide">The Velvet Hour: Complete User & Admin Guide</h1> | |
| <h2 id="what-is-the-velvet-hour">What is The Velvet Hour?</h2> | |
| <p>The Velvet Hour is an interactive real-time matching system that transforms traditional networking into structured, meaningful connections. Think of it as speed dating, but for professional and social networking - where technology meets intention to create genuine relationships.</p> | |
| <h2 id="the-experience-a-users-journey">The Experience: A User’s Journey</h2> | |
| <h3 id="meet-sarah-a-first-time-attendee">Meet Sarah: A First-Time Attendee</h3> | |
| <p><em>Sarah, a 28-year-old marketing professional, arrives at the Velvet Hour event excited but nervous. She’s attended networking events before, but they always felt awkward and superficial. Tonight feels different.</em></p> | |
| <p><strong>7:00 PM - Arrival & Check-in</strong></p> | |
| <p>Sarah checks in at the event and receives her welcome drink. She notices other attendees mingling, but there’s an air of anticipation - everyone knows something special is about to happen.</p> | |
| <p><strong>7:15 PM - The Velvet Hour Begins</strong></p> | |
| <p>The host announces: “Welcome to The Velvet Hour! Please take out your phones and open the event app.”</p> | |
| <p>Sarah opens her phone, navigates to the event website, and sees her dashboard. Among the usual options (Survey, Cocktail Selection), she notices a new button: <strong>“The Velvet Hour”</strong> - and it says <strong>“Enter”</strong>.</p> | |
| <p><strong>7:20 PM - Joining the Session</strong></p> | |
| <p>Sarah taps “Enter” and is greeted with a sleek interface:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 🎭 Welcome to The Velvet Hour | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| ✨ You're about to embark on a journey of | |
| meaningful connections | |
| 👥 12 participants have joined | |
| ⏱️ Waiting for session to begin... | |
| 💡 Tonight you'll meet 4 different people | |
| through structured 10-minute conversations | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p>The anticipation builds as she watches more participants join.</p> | |
| <p><strong>7:25 PM - Round 1 Begins</strong></p> | |
| <p>The screen updates:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 🎯 Round 1 of 4 | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| 👋 You're matched with: RAJESH | |
| 📍 Table 3 - Purple Match | |
| Find your table and introduce yourself! | |
| ⏱️ 10:00 minutes remaining | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p>Sarah looks around and spots Table 3 with a small purple indicator. She walks over to find Rajesh, a software engineer who’s been looking to pivot into product management.</p> | |
| <p><strong>The Magic Happens</strong></p> | |
| <p>For the next 10 minutes, Sarah and Rajesh have a focused conversation. No awkward interruptions, no wondering if they should move on - the app manages the timing. They discover shared interests in sustainable tech and even exchange LinkedIn contacts.</p> | |
| <p><strong>7:35 PM - Feedback & Break</strong></p> | |
| <p>The app chimes gently:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 📝 How was your conversation? | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| Rate your connection with Rajesh: | |
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | |
| Would you like to stay in touch? | |
| ☐ Yes, we exchanged contacts | |
| ☑ Yes, would like to connect | |
| ☐ Maybe in the future | |
| ☐ Just a nice conversation | |
| 💭 Any feedback for organizers? (optional) | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p>After submitting her feedback, Sarah gets a 5-minute break:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| ☕ Break Time! | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| Great conversation! | |
| ⏱️ Next round starts in 4:32 | |
| 🍸 Grab a drink, use the restroom, | |
| or mingle freely | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p><strong>The Night Continues</strong></p> | |
| <p>This pattern repeats for 4 rounds total. Sarah meets:</p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Round 2</strong>: Priya, a startup founder working on sustainable fashion</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Round 3</strong>: Marcus, a chef planning to open a South Asian fusion restaurant</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Round 4</strong>: Anita, a financial advisor who shares Sarah’s love of travel</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>9:00 PM - Completion</strong></p> | |
| <p>After the final round, Sarah sees:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 🎉 Velvet Hour Complete! | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| You've connected with 4 amazing people tonight! | |
| 📊 Your Evening: | |
| • 4 meaningful conversations ✅ | |
| • 3 people interested in staying connected | |
| • 2 LinkedIn connections made | |
| • 1 potential collaboration opportunity | |
| Thank you for being part of The Velvet Hour. | |
| Continue enjoying the evening! 🥂 | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p>Sarah leaves the event with genuine connections, specific follow-up plans, and the confidence that comes from meaningful interactions.</p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <h2 id="the-admin-experience-behind-the-scenes">The Admin Experience: Behind the Scenes</h2> | |
| <h3 id="meet-david-event-organizer">Meet David: Event Organizer</h3> | |
| <p><em>David is organizing his first Velvet Hour event. He’s got 25 RSVPs and wants to create the perfect experience for his attendees.</em></p> | |
| <h3 id="pre-event-setup-1-week-before">Pre-Event Setup (1 Week Before)</h3> | |
| <p><strong>Step 1: Event Configuration</strong></p> | |
| <p>David logs into the admin panel at <code>https://velvethour.ca/admin</code> and navigates to his event settings. He sees the Velvet Hour configuration section:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 🎭 Velvet Hour Configuration | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| ☐ The Hour Feature | |
| Shows/hides the Velvet Hour button on user dashboard | |
| ☐ Make Available to Users | |
| Controls if users see "Enter" or "Coming Soon" | |
| ⚙️ Session Settings: | |
| Round Duration: [10] minutes | |
| Break Duration: [5] minutes | |
| Total Rounds: [4] rounds | |
| Min Participants: [8] people | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p><strong>The Three-Tier Control System Explained:</strong></p> | |
| <ol> | |
| <li><strong>"The Hour Feature"</strong> (Currently OFF)</li> | |
| </ol> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>When disabled: Velvet Hour button is completely hidden from users</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>When enabled: Button appears but may show “Coming Soon”</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <ol start="2"> | |
| <li><strong>"Make Available to Users"</strong> (Currently OFF)</li> | |
| </ol> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>When disabled: Button shows “Coming Soon” (even if The Hour Feature is enabled)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>When enabled: Button shows “Enter” and becomes clickable</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <ol start="3"> | |
| <li><strong>"Start Velvet Hour"</strong> (Action Button)</li> | |
| </ol> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Only appears when both above toggles are ON</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Actually creates and launches the session</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>Step 2: Initial Setup</strong></p> | |
| <p>David enables “The Hour Feature” first. Now users will see the Velvet Hour button, but it shows “Coming Soon” because he hasn’t made it available yet.</p> | |
| <p>He configures his session settings:</p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>10-minute rounds</strong> (perfect for meaningful conversation without dragging)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>5-minute breaks</strong> (enough time for restroom/drink breaks)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>4 rounds</strong> (attendees will meet 4 different people)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>8 minimum participants</strong> (ensures everyone gets 4 unique matches)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <h3 id="event-day-day-of">Event Day (Day Of)</h3> | |
| <p><strong>6:30 PM - Pre-Event</strong></p> | |
| <p>David arrives early to set up. He checks his admin dashboard and sees the current status:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 🎭 Velvet Hour Control Panel | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| 📅 Active Event: "Velvet Hour Mixer" | |
| 📍 Saturday, September 17th • 6:30 PM | |
| 🏢 Mademoiselle Bar + Grill | |
| 📊 Current Status: | |
| • The Hour Feature: ✅ ENABLED | |
| • Available to Users: ❌ DISABLED | |
| • Session Status: Not Started | |
| 👥 Event Attendance: | |
| • 18 total attendees checked in | |
| • 15 marked as attending | |
| • 0 joined Velvet Hour session | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p><strong>7:00 PM - Attendees Arrive</strong></p> | |
| <p>As people check in, David monitors the dashboard. He sees attendees logging into the app, but the Velvet Hour shows “Coming Soon” - exactly as planned.</p> | |
| <p><strong>7:15 PM - Making It Available</strong></p> | |
| <p>David decides it’s time. He toggles “Make Available to Users” to ON. Immediately, all attendees see their Velvet Hour button change from “Coming Soon” to “Enter”.</p> | |
| <p>His phone starts buzzing with notifications as people begin joining:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 📱 Live Updates: | |
| • 7:16 PM - Sarah joined the session | |
| • 7:16 PM - Rajesh joined the session | |
| • 7:17 PM - Priya joined the session | |
| • 7:17 PM - Marcus joined the session | |
| ... | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p><strong>7:20 PM - Critical Decision Point</strong></p> | |
| <p>David watches his dashboard:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 👥 Session Participants: 12 joined | |
| ⚠️ Minimum Required: 8 participants | |
| ✅ Ready to start! | |
| Unique Pairings Available: | |
| Round 1: 6 matches (12 people) | |
| Round 2: 6 matches (all unique pairs) | |
| Round 3: 6 matches (all unique pairs) | |
| Round 4: 6 matches (all unique pairs) | |
| [🚀 START VELVET HOUR] | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p>The system has automatically validated that with 12 participants, it can create 4 complete rounds where nobody meets the same person twice.</p> | |
| <p><strong>7:25 PM - Launching the Session</strong></p> | |
| <p>David clicks “START VELVET HOUR”. The system springs into action:</p> | |
| <ol> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Automatic Pairing Generation</strong>: The backend algorithm creates unique pairings for all 4 rounds</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Round 1 Distribution</strong>: Each participant receives their match assignment</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Table Assignments</strong>: The system assigns colored matches to physical tables</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ol> | |
| <p>David’s control panel updates:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 🎯 VELVET HOUR IN PROGRESS | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| 📊 Round 1 of 4 - IN PROGRESS | |
| ⏱️ 8:42 remaining | |
| 👥 Active Matches: | |
| 🟣 Table 1: Sarah ↔ Rajesh | |
| 🔵 Table 2: Priya ↔ Marcus | |
| 🟢 Table 3: Anita ↔ Kevin | |
| 🟡 Table 4: Lisa ↔ David | |
| 🔴 Table 5: Rohan ↔ Maya | |
| 🟠 Table 6: James ↔ Tara | |
| [⏹️ END ROUND] [⚙️ MANUAL OVERRIDE] | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p><strong>7:35 PM - Round Transition</strong></p> | |
| <p>As the timer reaches zero, David clicks “END ROUND”. Automatically:</p> | |
| <ol> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>All participants get the feedback form</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>5-minute break timer starts</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Round 2 pairings are revealed</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ol> | |
| <p>David can see real-time feedback coming in:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 📝 Round 1 Feedback Summary: | |
| • Average rating: 4.3/5 stars | |
| • 83% want to stay in touch | |
| • 67% exchanged contacts directly | |
| • 2 potential business collaborations noted | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p><strong>Manual Matchmaking Override</strong></p> | |
| <p>Halfway through the event, David notices that two attendees, Alex and Sam, both mentioned in their pre-event survey that they’re interested in starting a sustainable tech company. Using the drag-and-drop interface, David manually pairs them for Round 4:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 🎨 Manual Matchmaking | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| Drag participants to create custom matches: | |
| [Alex] ────────➤ [Sam] | |
| [Priya] ───────➤ [Marcus] | |
| [Sarah] ───────➤ [Anita] | |
| ... | |
| 💡 Tip: Manual matches override algorithmic pairing | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <p><strong>9:00 PM - Session Complete</strong></p> | |
| <p>After 4 successful rounds, David sees the completion summary:</p> | |
| <pre><code> | |
| 🎉 VELVET HOUR COMPLETE! | |
| ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ | |
| 📊 Final Statistics: | |
| • 12 participants completed all rounds | |
| • 48 total conversations (12 × 4) | |
| • Average rating: 4.2/5 stars | |
| • 89% satisfaction rate | |
| • 34 LinkedIn connections made | |
| • 8 potential collaborations identified | |
| • 2 follow-up events requested | |
| 🏆 Most Connected: Sarah (5 people want to stay in touch) | |
| ⭐ Highest Rated Conversation: Alex & Sam (both gave 5 stars) | |
| [📊 EXPORT DATA] [🔄 RESET SESSION] | |
| </code></pre> | |
| <h3 id="post-event-management">Post-Event Management</h3> | |
| <p><strong>Option 1: Export Data</strong></p> | |
| <p>David can export all the feedback and connection data to follow up with attendees and improve future events.</p> | |
| <p><strong>Option 2: Reset for Next Event</strong></p> | |
| <p>If David wants to run another Velvet Hour at the same event later, he can use “RESET SESSION” to completely clear all data and start fresh.</p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <h2 id="how-to-enable-velvet-hour-admin-step-by-step">How to Enable Velvet Hour: Admin Step-by-Step</h2> | |
| <h3 id="for-new-events">For New Events</h3> | |
| <ol> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Create Your Event</strong> in the admin panel with all basic details</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Navigate to Event Settings</strong> and scroll to “Velvet Hour Configuration”</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p><strong>Configure Session Parameters</strong>:</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ol> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Round Duration: 8-12 minutes (10 recommended)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Break Duration: 3-5 minutes (5 recommended)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Total Rounds: 3-5 rounds (4 recommended)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Min Participants: 6-10 people (8 recommended)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <h3 id="three-phase-launch-process">Three-Phase Launch Process</h3> | |
| <p><strong>Phase 1: Feature Setup (Do This Early)</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Enable “The Hour Feature” ✅</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Leave “Make Available to Users” disabled ❌</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Result: Users see “Coming Soon” button</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>Phase 2: Go Live (Do This When Ready)</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Keep “The Hour Feature” enabled ✅</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Enable “Make Available to Users” ✅</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Result: Users see “Enter” button and can join</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>Phase 3: Launch Session (Do This When Enough People Join)</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Click “START VELVET HOUR” button</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Result: Active matching begins immediately</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <h3 id="best-practices-for-admins">Best Practices for Admins</h3> | |
| <p><strong>Before the Event:</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Test the system with a small group first</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Prepare table numbers/colored indicators for match identification</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Brief your staff on how the system works</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Set clear expectations with attendees</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>During the Event:</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Monitor participant count (need minimum 6-8 people)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Watch for technical issues and have backup plans</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Use manual matchmaking for strategic connections</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Keep energy high during transitions</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>Timing Recommendations:</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Allow 15-20 minutes for people to join after making available</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Start when you have 8+ confirmed participants</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Don’t wait too long - maintain momentum</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>After the Event:</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Export feedback data for follow-up</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Use insights to improve future events</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Follow up with highly-rated connections</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Consider running multiple sessions for large events</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <hr> | |
| <h2 id="technical-details">Technical Details</h2> | |
| <h3 id="system-requirements">System Requirements</h3> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Minimum 8 attendees for 4-round system</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Stable internet connection for all participants</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Modern smartphones (iOS 12+, Android 8+)</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Web browser with JavaScript enabled</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <h3 id="data-privacy">Data Privacy</h3> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>No personal data stored beyond the event</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Feedback is anonymous and aggregated</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>LinkedIn connections happen outside the system</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>All data can be exported or deleted by admins</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <h3 id="troubleshooting-for-admins">Troubleshooting for Admins</h3> | |
| <p><strong>"Not enough participants" error:</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Need minimum 2x rounds × minimum group size</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>For 4 rounds, need at least 8 people</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Check who’s marked as “attending” the event</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>Users can’t see Velvet Hour button:</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Verify “The Hour Feature” is enabled</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Check if users have refreshed their browsers</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Confirm they’re logged into the correct event</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>Button shows “Coming Soon” instead of “Enter”:</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Enable “Make Available to Users” toggle</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Users may need to refresh their browsers</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| <p><strong>Pairing algorithm fails:</strong></p> | |
| <ul> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Reduce number of rounds or increase participants</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Use manual matchmaking as backup</p> | |
| </li> | |
| <li> | |
| <p>Reset session and try again with different parameters</p> | |
| </li> | |
| </ul> | |
| </body> | |
| </html> |
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