Answers.Body: <p>I've tried a bunch of approaches, and price sets are definitely the best approach here.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Create a "Select" price set for each group of concurrent sessions (e.g. "Workshop Session 1", "Workshop Session 2", etc.).</li>
  <li>This also allows you to charge different amounts for different sessions, if some incur an additional cost.</li>
  <li>The price set options selected will be stored on the participant record as "Fee Level", and can be easily searched/displayed.</li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-04-01T03:00:59.770Z
Answers.Text: Perfect, that does exactly what I need. I was not aware of how to fully utilize Price set fields. Light bulbs turned on when I realized that you can set `Amount` to "0" and then choose to hide the amount from display.
Answers.UserDisplayName: LunkRat
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-04-01T00:23:46.187Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-04-01T00:23:46.187Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
Body: <p>A common need in event registration systems is the ability to allow participants to select from a list of concurrent "breakout" sessions that will occur in various time slots during the course of the event. </p>
  
  <p>I know this <em>could</em> be achieved using custom fields in a profile inserted into the event Online Registration form. I don't like this because (1) it's "<a href="http://forum.civicrm.org/index.php?topic=10082.0" rel="nofollow">clumsy</a>" as Dave Greenberg admits (and the average user will not enjoy the process of creating a custom field group, custom fields/options, and including them in a profile—no way!), and (2) Some of the fields/options will only be used one time and would clutter up the permanent list of custom fields in the system. </p>
  
  <p>Ideas on alternatives are welcome!</p>
  
Tags: <civievent>
Title: Custom options on CiviEvent registration forms to handle breakout session choices
ThreadText: # Custom options on CiviEvent registration forms to handle breakout session choices
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-31)
  
  A common need in event registration systems is the ability to allow participants to select from a list of concurrent "breakout" sessions that will occur in various time slots during the course of the event.
  
  I know this *could* be achieved using custom fields in a profile inserted into the event Online Registration form. I don't like this because (1) it's "[clumsy](http://forum.civicrm.org/index.php?topic=10082.0)" as Dave Greenberg admits (and the average user will not enjoy the process of creating a custom field group, custom fields/options, and including them in a profile—no way!), and (2) Some of the fields/options will only be used one time and would clutter up the permanent list of custom fields in the system.
  
  Ideas on alternatives are welcome!
  
  **Tags:** civievent
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2015-04-01. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  I've tried a bunch of approaches, and price sets are definitely the best approach here.
  
  * Create a "Select" price set for each group of concurrent sessions (e.g. "Workshop Session 1", "Workshop Session 2", etc.).
  * This also allows you to charge different amounts for different sessions, if some incur an additional cost.
  * The price set options selected will be stored on the participant record as "Fee Level", and can be easily searched/displayed.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Perfect, that does exactly what I need. I was not aware of how to fully utilize Price set fields. Light bulbs turned on when I realized that you can set `Amount` to "0" and then choose to hide the amount from display.  
  
  ---
  
  