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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived) / Tracking tradeshow att...
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

Tracking tradeshow attendance

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Posted on by tf_whitney 10

We're trying to solve a problem about the way we've been tracking our tradeshow attendance.

When we first started using Dynamics, we added custom fields to the Account for "Tradeshow" and "Year." Unfortunately we created these fields separately, and as companies began attending multiple tradeshows, would just add "Tradeshow 2" and "Year 2" as separate fields on the Account...and now we're up to 8. You can see why this has ultimately become a mess for us.

As we're researching new ways to track tradeshow data, I'm wondering

A) If there's a way to export our old data and reimport it to a new field, so we don't lose the past 5+ years we've tracked

B) How we should start tracking data from here on out

I'd like to be able to import a list that we get from the tradeshow, and have old accounts or contacts updated with the name and year of the tradeshow, and new accounts or contacts be imported as leads.

Curious as to what other companies are doing to track tradeshow attendance.

*This post is locked for comments

  • Suggested answer
    Adrian Begovich Profile Picture
    Adrian Begovich 21,009 Super User 2024 Season 2 on at
    RE: Tracking tradeshow attendance

    Hi tf_whitney,

    I am glad to hear that this approach worked well for you. If you need help with anything else let me know.

  • tf_whitney Profile Picture
    tf_whitney 10 on at
    RE: Tracking tradeshow attendance

    I did end up figuring that out, glad to have it reaffirmed.

    Thanks again, Adrian. I was able to get this working and all the tradeshow accounts updated successfully. A years long problem finally solved.

    Whitney

  • Suggested answer
    Adrian Begovich Profile Picture
    Adrian Begovich 21,009 Super User 2024 Season 2 on at
    RE: Tracking tradeshow attendance

    Hi tf_whitney,

    You can enter as many Tradeshow and Year values as you want by creating a new Tradeshow record and providing values on the "Tradeshow Name" and "Year" fields. It will also be helpful to place a lookup field on the Tradeshow form so that you can easily navigate to the parent Account record.

    Hope this helps.

  • tf_whitney Profile Picture
    tf_whitney 10 on at
    RE: Tracking tradeshow attendance

    Hi Adrian,

    Seems to be working perfectly, thank you!

    Final question: if we need to enter a tradeshow and year manually, is that still an option?

    Whitney

  • Suggested answer
    Adrian Begovich Profile Picture
    Adrian Begovich 21,009 Super User 2024 Season 2 on at
    RE: Tracking tradeshow attendance

    Hi tf_whitney,

    I normally use SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) for migrating data, but the OOTB Import Tool will also work. You will need to export the "Tradeshow", "Year.", "Tradeshow 2", "Year 2" etc. fields along with the Account ID. You will also need to download an Import Template for the Tradeshow entity. The next step is to transfer the Account data into the Import Template for the Tradeshow entity. When the template is looking good, import it into Dynamics 365, map everything together, and check that the data looks as expected.

  • tf_whitney Profile Picture
    tf_whitney 10 on at
    RE: Tracking tradeshow attendance

    Hi Adrian,

    I did as suggested and now have a tradeshow entity on my Account page under a sub-grid. It's the last sentence that I'm lost on - do I just use the Import tool to import the tradeshow data, and if so, where will that data populate? I've never created an entity, only fields, so hopefully I'm keeping up!

  • Verified answer
    Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member Microsoft Employee on at
    RE: Tracking tradeshow attendance

    Hi tf_whitney,

    The approach suggested by @ Adrian Begovich is a good solution. You can export the trade show data and import into the newly created entity easily  by using out of the box data import. You need to format the excel data so that it fits in to the new entity. Make sure you have at least one unique field in the account entity (Such as account name) so that when importing, new entity-account mapping would be proper.

  • Suggested answer
    Adrian Begovich Profile Picture
    Adrian Begovich 21,009 Super User 2024 Season 2 on at
    RE: Tracking tradeshow attendance

    Hi tf_whitney,

    I recommend redesigning how you track tradeshow attendance. Below I have described a robust and scalable approach to solving this problem.

    Create a Tradeshow entity with a "Tradeshow Name" and a "Year" field on it. Then create an entity relationship between the Tradeshow entity and the Account entity with the Account entity as the parent. You will then need to create a Sub-Grid on your Account form to display the records in your Tradeshow entity. Finally, you will need to export your old Tradeshow data and import it into Tradeshow records attached to their respective Account record with a data migration tool such as SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS).

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