Wednesday 11 December 2013

Adam Asks: The New ACTIVE Works Endurance Entry System, what’s all the fuss about?



To my friends and colleagues in the ACTIVE offices, I know it’s been tough listening to me in the last 6 weeks speak about nothing except ACTIVE Works Endurance – About how it does everything a registration system should do, how it simplifies the process for both the participant & the organiser, how it’s going to make the world a better place etc etc. I’m sorry but I have been waiting for its launch in Ireland since I moved to the team and now all my hopes & dreams have come true.
The dust is settling now on this cold December morning. 10 organisers are live on the system & over 10 more are building their forms out as we speak. Every day I am showing the system to a new person & every day I am getting the same reaction: “Send me the link to set up an account & let me play around with it”. So my blog today is obviously about the new system, what makes it great? I’ve focused on 3 main aspects: User Interface, Event Set Up & Social Media Integration.
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  - User Interface:
When I send the link for an organiser to share my computer screen & see the backend of the system they will see the new main “dashboard” area. The first thing you will notice is the QR code. Every event is given a unique QR code. When placed on your advertising material such as posters, signs or leaflets, a participant can scan the code with their smart phone and be brought directly to the registration page from wherever they are. Research has shown us that 24% of registrations come through smart phones & tablets so we’ve recognised that mobile optimisation is key.
Under the QR code, you’ll see a registration trend graph & participant demographics chart. The trend graph gives you a visual overview & the spikes of registration activity showing you at a glance if online entries are speeding up, slowing down or coming in consistently at a steady pace. The demographic chart shows you what percentage of your entries are male and female, average age of your participants, oldest & youngest competitors etc. Above the QR code is a revenue overview – Here you can see how much revenue came into your event “this day”, “this week”, “this month” & “this year”.

-         - Event Set Up:
The set up section where you build your form and entry system is broken down into an easy to follow 12 step process:
1.       Event Details:
·         Self-explanatory:  Name, Location, date(s) & language are added.
2.       Event Restrictions:
·         Set a limit of registrations allowed in the event
·         A minimum age. You can add a min. to the age on the day of the event or the day the participant registers.
·         Decide if someone can enter someone else or if every individual has to enter themselves
3.       Registration Categories:
·         Here is where you add the categories ie. Different distances / different prices.
·         Add a price to the category. You can add in an early bird price change & date here.
4.       Self – Registration Team Set – Up:
·         Decide how many participants can enter as a team. Note that each team member can enter individually, you do not have to force one person to pay for the whole team.
5.       Self Edit Set Up:
·         This page is designed to save you time & let the participant make changes to their registration rather than the organiser having to make database changes.
·         You can set a last date for them to make changes so you know when you will have your final updated entry list.
·         You can allow participants to transfer to another category. Eg another date of a series or from one to distance to another.
·         You can allow a participant to transfer their entry to another participant if they cannot make it. You can again put a last date on this & even an admin fee.
6.       Form Questions:
·         Here is where you add any questions you need to the form. Click edit form to add.
·         You will see ACTIVE has some suggested questions to add on the left hand side.
·         If your question that you want to add is not there you can click custom questions.
·         The questions are “draggable” so you can re-order them in any sequence you like.
7.       Fundraising:
·         Not applicable to Ireland yet. JustGiving integration coming soon.
8.       Additional Purchases:
·         Should you have any merchandise to sell, you can sell it here.
·         This section is so advanced that you can also add images of the product creating an “in-form shop”
9.       Waivers:
·         Create a disclaimer for your event.
·         Note that this will be alongside ACTIVE’s waiver for using the technology.
10.   Confirmation Message:
·         Add customised confirmation emails which are sent to all entered participants.
·         Very advanced set up, even customising the top banner of the email for brand awareness.
11.   ACTIVE.com Listing:
·         Create your ACTIVE.com calendar listing for the calendar.
·         This also appears on the RunIreland.com website.

12.   Activation:
·         Decide when to make your form go live.

-         - Social Media Integration:
As I said before, ACTIVE Works Endurance aims to make the registration as easy as possible for both organiser & participant. The participant has a couple of log in options to enter the event, through their ACTIVE.com log in or through their Facebook page.
The idea behind the Facebook log in is to turn your participants into your promoters. We have found that the place where most people hear about an event is through “word of mouth” or referrals from a friend. AWE takes full advantage of this fact. When the registrant goes through the entry & completes their transaction they are given a pop up screen asking do they want to share that they have just registered on their page. This will show up on all their friends homepage creating a viral marketing effect around your event.

There’s lots more to AWE including reporting tools, monthly or weekly payments, customised confirmation emails so you can get in touch with me to either receive the links to set up an account & have a look or book an online meeting with me to run you through the system by sharing my screen.
Thank you as always for reading.
Adam O’Connor,
Endurance Account Manager (Ireland)
 00 44 2075540932
Mobile - 00 44 7860 595869
Have a read of my Event Organiser Blog - www.adamasks.blogspot.co.uk/
Find us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/runireland
Follow us on Twitter - @teamrunireland