A special event such as a Friday Night Lights, an in-house throwdown, a bring-a-friend day, or a multi-week competition works differently from your regular programming. Athletes sign up for it individually; it usually sits outside their normal membership, and you often want members and non-members to pay different amounts, or nothing at all. Kilo GMS handles every version of this with the same four pieces: the event itself, a package that acts as the registration, one or more billing plans, and your Sales Portal settings.
What you can do with special events
Run a free event, a paid event, or one that is free for members and paid for everyone else
Sell registration to the public through the Sales Portal
Keep a member-only price hidden from your public page
Include the event in your existing membership packages so members attend at no extra charge
Set a capacity limit and a reservation window, the same as any class
Register non-members without changing their athlete status
Collect a headcount before the day so you can plan heats and staffing
Four ways to handle access and pricing
Decide this before you build anything. Everything after this point follows from it.
What you want | How to set it up | What athletes see |
|---|---|---|
Free for everyone | One package with a single billing plan priced at $0, visible in both the Kilo app and the public Sales Portal | Members and non-members both register at no charge |
Paid, same price for everyone | One package with a single billing plan at your price, visible in both places | Everyone pays the same amount |
Free or discounted for members, full price for the public | One package with two billing plans: a member plan visible only in the Kilo app, and a public plan visible on the Sales Portal | Logged-in members see the member price; the public page shows only the public price |
Included in membership, paid for the public | Add the event to your membership packages so members attend on their normal credits, and build a separate registration package for the public | Members reserve the event like any class; non-members buy the registration package |
Create the event and add it to your Schedule
Go to Events → Classes.
Click + Class Type.
Enter the event name, for example, Friday Night Lights.
Choose the location.
Set the capacity limit.
Set the duration.
Open Additional Settings and set the reservation window for this event.
Save the class type.
Go to Schedule and select the date of the event.
Add the class you created, then confirm the time, the coach, and the capacity.
Save.
The reservation window matters more here than on a regular class, because registration usually opens on an announcement rather than rolling forward each week.
Create the registration package and billing plans
Athletes sign up by acquiring a package, so the event needs one. The package is the registration record; the billing plans on it are how you charge, or do not charge, each audience.
Go to Products → Packages.
Add a time-based package.
Name the package, for example, Friday Night Lights Entry.
Set the athlete status to make no status change or Visitor.
Set the validity dates so the package only covers the event period.
Set the usage limit to the number of visits the event includes.
Set the attendance rules so the package covers the event class type you created.
Add your billing plans.
Save the package.
Setting the athlete status to no change or Visitor keeps the event separate from membership. Someone who registers does not become an active member, and an existing member's status is untouched.
A free event
Add one billing plan and set the price to $0. Registration then works exactly as it does for a paid package, without charging anybody.
A paid event
Add one billing plan and set your registration price. Everyone who registers pays the same amount.
Different prices for members and the public
Add two billing plans to the same package, one for each audience. Name them so the difference is obvious on sight, for example, Member Entry and Guest Entry. You control which audience sees which plan in the Sales Portal settings covered below, so the member price never appears on your public page.
Include the event in an existing package instead
If you would rather give members access through the membership they already pay for, you can add the event to their existing packages and skip the member registration package entirely.
Go to Products → Packages.
Open the membership package you want to cover the event.
Edit the Attendance Rules.
Add the event class type to the events the package covers.
Save.
Members can then reserve the event from the Kilo app the same way they reserve any class. Non-members still need the public registration package, so build that one as well if you want to sell entries to the public.
Confirm how you want the event counted before you announce it. On an unlimited time-based membership, the event costs the member nothing extra, but on a credit-based package, the reservation draws from the credits they were planning to use on regular classes. In the example above, registering for the Open House Workout would deduct one of the 12 available credits for the month.
Set Sales Portal visibility and share the right link
Visibility is what separates your member audience from your public audience. Until you set it, nobody can find the registration.
Go to Products → Packages and open the event package.
Click the blue action button and select Sales Portal Options.
Turn on Athlete App Visibility for the plans logged-in athletes should see.
Turn on Sales Portal Visibility for the plans that belong on your public page.
Enable each billing plan you want available.
Save your changes.
For the member and public split, enable the member plan in the Kilo app only and the public plan on the Sales Portal only. Members reach their price by logging in; the public page never shows it.
Then send each audience where it belongs:
Members: point them to Explore Packages in the Kilo app, or to the athlete portal at app.usekilo.com.
Non-members: share your public Sales Portal link in your emails, social posts, and ads.
Tell everyone what happens after they pay. Registering buys the package; it does not put them in the event. Your confirmation and follow-up messages should say to download the Kilo app, log in with the email address they registered with, and reserve their spot on the Schedule.
Capture leads first with a Gym Lead Machine registration page
If you want the contact details of everyone who shows interest, and not only the people who complete a purchase, put a Gym Lead Machine landing page in front of the Sales Portal.
Build a registration landing page in Gym Lead Machine describing the event.
Add an opt-in form collecting name, email, and phone number.
Set the form to redirect to your public Sales Portal link on submission.
Build a follow-up workflow for everyone who submits the form.
Anyone who opts in is now a contact in Gym Lead Machine, so you can follow up with the people who filled out the form and never paid, and add the rest to your newsletter after the event. Payment and registration still happen in Kilo GMS.
Write the follow-up messages so they carry the same instruction as your confirmation: download the Kilo app, log in, and reserve a spot in the event. People who pay and never reserve are the most common gap in this flow, and a reminder closes it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set up a Friday Night Lights or Open event?
Create the event as a class type, put it on your Schedule, create a package with a billing plan for each audience you want to charge differently, then set the Sales Portal visibility on those plans. The same setup covers the Open, in-house throwdowns, charity workouts, bring-a-friend days, and any other one-off event athletes sign up for individually.
Can I charge members and non-members different prices for the same event?
Yes. Put two billing plans on the same registration package and control who sees each one with the Sales Portal visibility settings. Enable the member plan in the Kilo app only, so it requires a login to reach, and enable the public plan on the Sales Portal only. You can use the same approach for a free member entry alongside a paid guest entry.
Do I have to charge for the event?
No. A billing plan priced at $0 lets athletes register without being charged. The package is acting as a registration record rather than a sale, so the signup, the headcount, and the reservation all work the same way they would for a paid event.
Can non-members register for an event?
Yes, as long as a billing plan is enabled on your public Sales Portal page. This is the usual reason to run an event on its own package rather than through membership credits, since people who have never been to your gym can find it and pay without an existing membership.
Can I let members attend for free using the membership they already have?
Yes. Add the event class type to the attendance rules on their membership package, and they can reserve it like any other class. Build a separate paid registration package if you also want to sell entries to the public.
Will registering for an event change an athlete's status?
No, as long as you set the registration package to make no status change. A non-member who registers does not become active, and an existing member's status stays as it is.
How many visits should the registration package allow?
As many as the event includes. A single-day event needs one, and a three-week competition where athletes come back each Friday needs three.
Why can't my athletes see the event to register?
Check the Sales Portal options on the package first. The relevant visibility toggle and the billing plan both need to be enabled, and the event will not appear until they are. If members can see it but the public cannot, the plan is likely enabled for the Kilo app only.
Someone paid but is not on the roster. What happened?
Paying for the registration package and reserving a spot in the event are two separate actions. Registration gives the athlete access; they still need to open the Kilo app and reserve the event on the Schedule. Send a reminder with the reservation instructions to anyone who has the package but no reservation.
How do I stop the event package from cluttering my Sales Portal all year?
Set the package validity dates to the event period. You can also turn the visibility toggles off after registration closes, which leaves the package intact for you to copy the next time you run the event.
Helpful tips
Decide your pricing approach before you build anything, since it determines how many billing plans you need
Name the class and the package consistently, so the registration is recognizable to the people you send it to
Name your billing plans by audience, for example, Member Entry and Guest Entry, so the right one is obvious in the Sales Portal settings
Set capacity on the class rather than relying on the package to limit numbers
Set the package validity dates to the event period, so it does not sit in your Sales Portal all year
Test the athlete flow yourself before you announce, ideally from a test athlete account, and confirm the public link works in a logged-out browser window
Check that the event appears on the Schedule on the correct date before registration opens
Put the app download and reservation instructions in every confirmation and reminder message
Reuse the setup next season by copying the previous package rather than rebuilding it
When this setup is most helpful
Running a Friday Night Lights, throwdown, or in-house competition
Opening a competition to athletes from other gyms
Hosting a bring-a-friend day where members attend free and guests pay
Selling seats to a weekend seminar, workshop, or specialty clinic
Running a charity workout with a set entry donation
Getting a headcount before you plan heats, equipment, and staffing
Using an event as a lead source for memberships
If you have questions about setting up special events in Kilo GMS, our Support team is happy to help. Reach us at hello@usekilo.com.