diff --git a/src/models/entities/Participant.ts b/src/models/entities/Participant.ts
index ccf7656..b279e64 100644
--- a/src/models/entities/Participant.ts
+++ b/src/models/entities/Participant.ts
@@ -75,6 +75,14 @@ export abstract class Participant {
   @IsEmail()
   email?: string;
 
+  /**
+   * how the participant got into the system
+   */
+  @Column({ nullable: true })
+  @IsOptional()
+  @IsEmail()
+  created_via?: string;
+
   /**
    * Turns this entity into it's response class.
    */