On an event, there are two different types of Individuals: Event Contacts and Event Attendees. Each of these is easy enough to add, but what do they mean, and when should you use each one?
Event Contacts
Event Contacts are the people who are helping to put on an event. These may be staff, volunteers, or points of contact at the venue. They will be listed on the main page for the event, with a link to their Contact record for easy access to contact details. For planning purposes, these Individuals are not part of your attendee head count. For this reason, adding an Individual as an Event Contact will not display any data on the events tab of their Contact record.
Event Attendees
Event Attendees are generally better thought of as "Invitees." These are Individuals who you plan to invite to your event, have already been invited to your event, or have registered to attend or actually attended your event. There are a number of ways to add Individuals as Event Attendees. Once an Individual has been added as an Event Attendee, it's possible to track their RSVP status, attendance, and even table assignments or meal preferences. If necessary, additional values can be tracked by adding Event Attendee custom fields.
When an Individual is added as an Event Attendee, the event information will be displayed on the events tab of their Contact record.
In some cases, it may be necessary to add a particular Individual as BOTH an Event Contact and an Event Attendee. This will add the event to their Contact record and ensure that Individual is included in the total attendee headcount for your event.