Which form should I use?

Sessionboard has several kinds of forms, and each one is a different product with its own module, settings, and reporting. They are not interchangeable: a submission form cannot track a per-applicant decision, and an application form cannot collect a session abstract. Choose by answering three questions — what are you collecting, from whom, and for what decision?

Training video · 4:41Applications: a form about the person, a queue per decisionWhat an application is and when it beats a submission form, a portal form or Awards (request-to-speak without a call for papers, sponsor and exhibitor applications, scholarships, volunteers and committees, mentor programs). The form editor's three pages (Welcome Screen, Applicant Information with Add Field and Required, Form Settings with the close date, match by email, default status, notifications and the confirmation email), the public form as an applicant sees it, then the submissions page: status queue tabs, the Status cell, the row's contact profile, Send Emails from selected rows, and export.

1. 0:02Applications
2. 0:31Which form
3. 1:13Welcome Screen
4. 1:37Applicant Information
5. 2:02Form Settings
6. 2:35What applicants see
7. 2:55Status queues
8. 3:31Decide
9. 4:12Next steps

Quick answer

You want to…	Use	Where
Collect session proposals, abstracts, or posters for review	Submission form	Program > Forms
Take applications from people or companies and track each one to a decision	Application form	Program > Applications
Bring a new or returning sponsor or exhibitor company into your event	Intake form	CRM > Sponsors / CRM > Exhibitors
Collect details from participants who are already in the event	Portal form	Program > Portals
Source speakers year-round, outside any one event	Interest form	CRM > Interest Forms (organization level)
Accept entries or nominations for an awards program	Awards submission form	Program > Programs > Awards
Score submissions or rate sessions	Evaluation or Survey	Program > Evaluation / Surveys

Submission forms

A submission form is your call for papers. It collects a speaker and the content they propose — a session, an abstract, a poster — in one flow. Submissions land in Program > Submissions, go through Evaluation, and the accepted ones become sessions on your agenda.

Use a submission form when the thing you are deciding on is content. It is the only form type that captures session information, and it is the one Sessionboard’s submission pipeline, evaluation plans, and agenda are built around.

An event can run several submission forms at once — for example one for general sessions and one for posters, each with its own open and close dates.

Session submission forms covers building one.

Application forms

An application form collects a request to take part and gives you a status per applicant — pending, accepted, declined, or a custom status you define. Applications are attached to the person (or company), not to a session, so the form has no session or abstract fields.

Use an application form when the decision is a yes or no about a person or company: exhibitor applications, scholarship or travel-grant requests, volunteer sign-ups, invited-speaker confirmations. It is not a substitute for a call for papers — if you need to review proposed content, use a submission form.

Create applications walks through setting one up.

Intake forms

Intake forms belong to the sponsors and exhibitors modules (CRM > Sponsors and CRM > Exhibitors). You send one to a sponsor or exhibitor company to bring the group and its primary contact into your database. Once the group exists, you keep collecting what you need from it through its group portal — tasks, file requests, and portal forms.

Use an intake form when the goal is to get a company into the event. Everything after that (booth details, logos, marketing copy) is portal work.

Sponsor intake form

Exhibitor intake form

Portal forms

A portal form is a set of structured questions you assign as a task to contacts or groups who are already in the event. They complete it inside their portal, and the answers are stored on their record. Typical uses: headshot and bio collection, AV requirements, dietary needs, booth details, session logistics.

Use a portal form when you are collecting from people you already have, not recruiting new ones. Because it is a task, you can set a due date, see who has and has not completed it, and send reminders.

Create & assign portal forms has the steps.

Interest forms

Interest forms live at the organization level in Speaker CRM, outside any single event. Every submission lands in your Speaker CRM Pipeline, where you can qualify people and add them to an event later.

Use an interest form when you want a year-round “speak with us” page — a standing intake that keeps sourcing speakers between events. Interest forms are part of Speaker CRM; if your organization does not have it, contact support@sessionboard.com.

Speaker CRM: interest forms explains how the routing works.

Awards submission forms

The Awards module has its own submission form for entries and nominations. It carries the pieces an awards program needs and a session call for papers does not: categories, pricing and payment, and judging rounds with winner tags.

Use an awards submission form when you are running an awards program. Do not try to run awards through a session submission form — you would lose categories, pricing, and the judging workflow.

Building your awards submission form covers configuration.

Evaluations and surveys

Evaluations and surveys collect feedback, not intake. Evaluation plans let reviewers score submissions before the event; surveys let attendees rate sessions during and after it. Neither creates a new contact or a new session.

If you are trying to decide whether something is “a form” in Sessionboard, ask whether it brings a new record in. Evaluations and surveys do not — they attach opinions to records that already exist.

Note

The names above are the ones you will see in the product. If a colleague says “the CFP” they mean a submission form; “the speaker form” on a portal is a portal form.

Choosing between two that seem close

Submission form vs. application form. Do you need to review what they propose, or just decide whether they take part? Content → submission form. Person or company → application form. A speaker who submits an abstract uses a submission form; an exhibitor who wants a booth uses an application or an intake form.

Application form vs. intake form. Intake forms exist to create a sponsor or exhibitor group and its portal. Application forms track a decision and do not create a group. If the answer to “will they exhibit?” is already yes, use an intake form; if you are still deciding, use an application form.

Portal form vs. any of the above. Portal forms only reach people who are already in the event. If the person is not yet a contact, you need a submission, application, intake, or interest form first.

Tip

Many events use several of these together: a submission form for proposals, an application form for exhibitor requests, an intake form once a sponsor signs, and portal forms to collect headshots and AV needs from everyone who is accepted.

Every one of these forms, except evaluations and surveys, can be downloaded as a blank PDF or Word copy for review or offline drafting. See Download a blank copy of a form.