If I were you, I would make a primary key out of event_id and user_id. That will make this extremely easy with ON DUPLICATE
.
create table attendance (
event_id int,
user_id int,
status varchar(100),
primary key(event_id, user_id)
);
Then with ease:
insert into attendance (event_id, user_id, status) values(some_event_number, some_user_id, some_status)
on duplicate key
update status = values(status);