Venue block
In-person location details for an event: a venue name, an address, an optional photo, and a "Get Directions" button that opens the location in Google Maps. It's the in-person counterpart to the Meeting link block — same slot in an event email, but for a physical place instead of a join URL.
How it works
Venue is pure content, like Image or Text: there's nothing to answer, so unlike Meeting link or RSVP it never needs a kinetic tier, a live-view branch, or a capability entry, and it never appears in the responses dashboard or CSV export. The one interactive element is the Get Directions link, which opts into the same generic click-tracking slot every plain link-bearing block (buttons, linked images, social icons) shares — so it still shows up in the block-level click heatmap, just not as its own response type.
Get Directions opens maps.google.com with no API key and no map-thumbnail embed — the block just builds a link, resolved from whichever of three sources is most precise:
- Google Maps link, if set — share a place from Google Maps on your phone or desktop and paste that URL directly. Short links (
maps.app.goo.gl/...) work too, since it's used as-is rather than parsed. - Latitude/longitude, if set and both are non-zero and in range — pins the exact point via a
maps.google.com/?q=lat,lnglink. - Plain address text, as the last resort — geocoded by Google Maps' own query resolution rather than anything MailInApp does server-side, which can drift for a new or ambiguous address.
If none of the three are set, no directions link renders at all — the block just shows whatever venue name and photo you did fill in, rather than a link that goes nowhere. Leaving the address blank but the maps link or coordinates set still produces a working directions link with no address text shown.
The photo, if set, renders as a full-width image above the name and address — the same plain <img> shape as the Image block, so it displays identically everywhere Outlook included; there's no special media handling here the way Video/Audio need.
Configurable fields:
- Venue name — bold text, shown first.
- Address — free text, rendered multi-line if it contains line breaks.
- Google Maps link (optional, most accurate) — takes priority over coordinates and address for the directions link.
- Latitude / Longitude (optional) — used only if the Maps link is blank.
- Photo URL (optional).
- Directions button label — defaults to "Get Directions."
- Background color, padding, border and border radius on the card.
- Venue name and address color/size, and Directions button color/background overrides.
Examples
Subject
See you there: our fall meetup
An in-person conference invite pairs Venue with Add to calendar so the attendee gets both "where" and "when it's on my calendar" in one email — the "Event" project purpose starts a new project with this combination already in place; see Events & webinars. A sports club sends match-day emails with Venue set to the home ground's address, reused unchanged week over week alongside a fresh Standings table — see Sports teams & clubs. For a hybrid event, drop Venue in next to a Meeting link block so in-person and remote attendees each see the control relevant to them, rather than sending two different emails.
What the static fallback looks like
<div style="margin:12px 0;background-color:transparent">
<img src="https://cdn.example.com/venue-photo.jpg" alt="Riverside Hall"
style="width:100%;max-width:100%;border-radius:6px;display:block;margin-bottom:10px" />
<p style="margin:0 0 4px;font-weight:600;font-size:16px;color:#111827">Riverside Hall</p>
<p style="margin:0 0 10px;font-size:14px;color:#4b5563">400 Harbor Way, Portland, OR</p>
<a href="https://maps.google.com/?q=400%20Harbor%20Way%2C%20Portland%2C%20OR"
style="display:inline-block;padding:10px 20px;background-color:#4f46e5;color:#ffffff;
border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-size:14px;font-weight:600">
Get Directions
</a>
</div>
This is the block's entire render — there's no separate fallback tier, since a photo, name, address, and a plain link already display identically in every email client.