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.
-
- 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
Follow
us on Twitter - @teamrunireland
