I run a monthly playtest event called Playup Perth. I use Eventbrite to manage ticketing and Mailchimp to manage the mailing list. At the end of each event, I want to make sure I get any new attendees added to the Mailchimp mailing list, while making sure not to duplicate the regulars. Sounds like this would be a pretty straightforward task, right? Nope.

I called Eventbrite and emailed Mailchimp and both said this functionality was not available. But, with a bit of digging, I was able to figure out that there is indeed an easy way to do it, without using any work arounds or third party software!

So, here’s how to easily manage your your recurring event’s mailing list using Eventbrite and Mailchimp.

First you have to prepare the list on Eventbrite to be exported to Mailchimp…

1.)  Login to Eventbrite and select “My Contacts” from the top drop down menu

2.) Click “Create a New Contact List”

3.) Enter the name you want for the list (I just use the name of my last event) and select which event(s) you want to import from

Now you have a list ready to import into Mailchimp!

4.) Login to Mailchimp and click on “Lists” from the lefthand menu and then select the list you want to import the attendees to

5.) Click the “Add Subscribers” pull down menu from the top, and click “Import Subscribers”

6.) Choose which service to import from, which is Eventbrite.

7.) Now select the name of the list you wish to import from (this was the name you chose in step 3 — I chose Playup Perth #3). And, the most important bit for making sure to avoid any duplicates — check the “Auto-update my existing list” option.

8.) It will ask you to make sure the fields match up (you might have a last date emailed column that doesn’t match up, but you can just select “skip” as you don’t need this column anyway)

9.) You’re finished! Hurrah!

(This post is dedicated to the very lovely Di Farmer)