Email: the guest list, campaigns and birthday club

What replaced Talkbox. Every email is checked against the rules before it goes; you can't accidentally email someone who hasn't said yes.

The rules (why it works the way it does)

• Only people who said yes get email. Someone who signs up on a form gets a "confirm" email first. Until they tap it they're Pending and get nothing.
• Every email has an unsubscribe link, our business address and a privacy line. They're added automatically; a template can't leave them out.
• Unsubscribes are instant. One click and they're off, even halfway through a campaign that's still sending.
• Bounces and spam complaints block the address for good. Staff can't lift those. The guest has to sign up again.
• Every yes and no is kept as a record. The contact's Consent history shows when, how and from where. That's our evidence if anyone ever asks.
• Nobody under 18 is emailed. Every form asks for a date of birth. Under-18s can't sign up, and anyone whose birthday makes them under 18 is skipped automatically.
• Managers see and email their own venue's list. Owners see every venue.

Contacts

One row per person, even if they're on the Pocket and Stitch lists (they show two venue tags). A struck-through tag means they unsubscribed from that venue; an italic tag means they haven't confirmed yet.

Open a contact to fix their name, mobile or birthday, set a favourite venue (their birthday email comes from there), or record an unsubscribe they asked for in person or by phone. Add a note saying who asked.

Erase (owners)

For a privacy request ("delete my details"). Their details go for good, but their address stays blocked as a scrambled code, so they're never emailed again and can't be re-imported. If they later sign up again themselves and tap the confirm link, they come back as a new contact.

Import (the Talkbox list)

1. Export the contacts from Talkbox as CSV, including the sign-up source, the sign-up date and date of birth.
2. Choose the file. Check each column is matched to the right field. Email, consent source and consent date are required.
3. Press Check. Nothing is saved; you'll see how many rows will import and which can't.
4. Press Import. Download any rejected rows, fix them and import them again.

An import never re-subscribes someone who has unsubscribed since, and it never overwrites details already on file.

Campaigns (newsletters)

1. New campaign. Pick who it's from. A venue's campaign goes to that venue's list only. Owners can send as House of Pocket to several venues' lists.
2. Write the subject, the preview text (the grey line after the subject in most inboxes) and the body, or start from a template. The preview on the right is exactly what guests will get.
3. Send me a test, check it on your phone, then Count recipients.
4. Send now or Schedule. Big lists send in batches; you can close the page and it keeps going.

Pilot tip: under Narrow the audience, paste a few staff addresses (people who are already on the list) to send to just them first.

The daily send cap in Settings stops the new sending domain from blasting thousands on day one (inboxes distrust a brand-new sender that sends a lot). A big campaign pauses at the cap and finishes the next day.

Templates

Reusable bodies for campaigns and automations. Write them in simple HTML; the toolbar inserts headings, buttons, images and merge tags like {{first_name|there}} ("there" is used when we don't know their name).

Automations

• Birthday Club: one email, 14 days before their birthday, with a unique voucher code. If they're on two venues' lists they get one email, from their favourite venue (or the one they joined first).
• Milestone birthday: 21, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100, about 10 weeks ahead, with the party offer, so there's time to book a function. The 18th goes on the birthday or just after, never before: we don't market to anyone under 18.
• Welcome: to people who signed up on a form, after they confirm. (Not to imported contacts.)
• Win-back: waits for the booking-system feed, so it finds nobody yet.

They're all off until you turn them on. Who's due? shows who'd get one today without sending anything. They run by themselves every morning.

Vouchers

Type the code from the guest's email and press Redeem. A code works once. If it's past its date, the screen says so; honouring it is your call.

Sign-up forms

• Hosted page and QR code: for table talkers, menus, Instagram bio. Download the QR as SVG for print.
• Embedded form: paste the code where the form should appear on the website.
• Popup button: paste the code; the button opens the form over the page.

All three are the same form: name, email, date of birth, a consent box (never pre-ticked), the collection notice and the confirm email.

When a guest asks to be taken off

Open their contact → Unsubscribe from [venue] or Unsubscribe from everything, with a note. It takes effect immediately. If they reply "stop" to an email, do the same.

Settings (owners)

The business address must be filled in before anything can send. Each venue's Reply-to is the inbox replies go to (the venue's own info@). Ready to send? shows what's still missing.