Will admin be able to add classmates to the event registration as before? Will attendee reports be forth coming?

Yes. Anyone currently planning a reunion should stay on the old planner through completion. As we phase out the old we'll be linking the new planner to the nametags and reporting etc.

By the way a help video just went out in an email announcement. The video is here: http://youtu.be/HpoCzczed4w

Brad Switzer wrote:

Brad...we're planning to begin registration within the next week or so. I was going to begin setup today.

Which should we use...reunion planner or event planner? We will need to print nametags and do reporting. Also, we would like to show who's actually attending. I believe we can do that with the reunion planner...is this true with the event planner also.

We'll be hooking up the reporting and nametag feature next. What is the date of your event? The advanced reports will be available well ahead of most events, unless you're planning an immediate event.

Brad Switzer wrote:

Our reunion is not until July. We would like to begin registration as soon as possible. Sounds like we could register now and that the nametags and reporting will be available before we need them, right? Two more questions...1) 3x4 nametags? and 2) will registrations on the event planner show up on the classmate profile like the reunion planner does?

Thanks!

Dave

Correct. Reports will be in place long before you need them. Note all transactions are logged in there now and full capabilities are in place, such as issuing refunds. The more advanced reports certainly are handy, and on the way shortly.

Same nametag options as we have now will be in there. The nametag system really needs some work, and Flash is slowly dying off. It all works if you're on a regular desktop browser. iPads, tablets and phones, no go. We'll be looking for a new solution here later this year.

Yes registrations trigger the "attending reunion" icon.

Brad, iPads work fine with current NameTag system. It is NOT Flash based. So should be very easy to add to the new Planner as a separate choice just like it is now. I suspect the driver section requires few changes (except for the 3x4 format which is a MUST DO). Just retrieving the possibly new location of registered guests.

Brad Switzer wrote:

I guess I've lumped it into the grouping of things I know need an overhaul. Nametags, Gallery Creator, MP3 player, IM, Live Chat.

There's more issues with nametags than meets the eye. It works great in a lot of cases. And not so great in others.

Thanks, Brad. Looking forward to using this new feature!

Brad,
I think the event planner will work out great for our club. We run about 20 events per year. My concern is about sorting out monies from each event. Some of the events we might collect payments for up to 3-4 months before the event. I assume we can run separate reports for each event similar to what the Reunion Planner had. My concerns are keeping things separate since PayPal transfers in a lump sum. Also is there separate receipts sent to us when someone makes a purchase as was in the Reunion Planner? I also am looking to see if we can use this for Dues Payments, Dock Fees, Newsletter Advertising and more.

Yes. Each event will have accounting and totals.

Yes, receipts are sent.

This new Event Planner does a much better job of tracking separate events (if there are any). We're making some adjustments on the reports right now and will be adding those shortly.

Interesting ... dues fees, dock fees, and adverting? Tell me please, what else do you need, and where, to accommodate these goals? For instance, dues, what would you desire to collect does, track membership, deal with auto rebilling and so forth. I'm sure a lot of this is rather straight forward, I'd just like to get your specific input on what you'd like to see in there so we can accommodate this. I think this is a highly worthwhile goal that will benefit many Admins.

Thanks Robert.

I'd love to have a way to collect & track dues but not in Events. And we have 3 separate association membership dues categories: USA, Foreign ($10 more for postage) and Life (never expires). I'd gladly enter manually our current membership status. Some are paid through 2020 or later.

We also have a lot of paid association members who have not joined the website and probably never will so if this module were to reflect their status accurately, it would have to be admin report data not dependent on joining or declining the website. But that's a dream way out there, probably not related to your current goals with Event functionality.

Auto-billing - that's where a not-joined override on website emailing would be useful, for our association members who aren't on the website.

P.S. Another category: alumni couples share membership at the singles rate, both considered members. I'm not asking much, am I ?!

5040 alumni have joined website
1212 of those have paid membership
924 paid members haven't joined website

All the other 3800 who have joined the website are not paid members of the alumni association but at least through CC we're connecting with them. These are more likely to be reunion attendees because they're still engaged with other alumni on some level.

Brad,
This is where we are headed. We have 350 members that still use a Labyrinth (LOL) I sat down with the Treasurer last night and we figured we may be able to do more than just collect donations for our Youth Fund. We are looking at selling Hats, Shirts & other sporting equipment. Ticket sales to all our events (20) per year and some of them would run concurrently. Our club dues is collected annually as is with 60 Docks. We do outside advertising in our Monthly Newsletter. I am looking into one of those iPhone readers also to collect at the door.
I never gave auto re-billing a thought but we would have to have a way to tag those members. Right now we just print out invoices made up in MS Word.
I remember the individual notices I received when someone registered or bought something which is OK because I can save them in a folder for each member. But reporting would be better if we had a way to go back to a specific date for "Monthly" reports. That would be HUGE for each specific Event Report like collecting January, February and March for our St Patty's day Party and reporting each specific month's collections and from who.
Right now we only accept checks and many people don't show because they don't want to make the trip to the club just to pay (Club only open 2 evenings and 2 days a week.

As I think of things I can let you know. but sorting the funds is probably most important now.

All Right. Excellent feedback.

I've made a quick list from what I've heard so far:

1) Different Dues types. Thus some type of Dues Creator. Pre-programmed dues types of monthly, 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, 10 year, and life. Ability to turn on any of these options or add your own Dues Type.

2) Option for recurring billing. User can toggle on or off recurring billing.

3) Ability to enter dues on behalf of non site members (Admins can enter in credit card numbers on behalf of members, or log paper checks or cash payments).

4) An online payment form where dues can be paid even if the site isn't joined.

5) A report showing all dues statuses, including typical toggles such as showing totals by month.

6) Ability to limit site feature access based on billing status (including blanket option to remove access to all features).

7) Couples dues: Both share membership at an Admin-defined joint rate or the standard single rate.

Anything I should change or expand on above? Anything else I need to add to this list?

Just to clarify a monthly report that does show who paid what for previous month. Example a Report for January 1-27 another for January 28 - February 28, etc. The ability to make reports of payments that were in the PayPal Exchange for that period of time. This way all is accounted for.

Brad, I believe we're going to have another reunion in Sept.. Two events are being paid for by the registration fee. But the sit down dinner is paid separately. I'll bet the new event planner will be better for that, right?
Barbara
P.S. Just now I tentatively filled out the Event Planner (still many blanks). Am I on the right track?

Wow, Brad. You nailed it!

Brad, I always figured we would need new admin-only data fields to keep track of things like membership type & status. I'd want that on the download. Would we have the ability to enter current information manually through this new dues payment function? Will this status show up like the Admin Notes on the individual Contact info pages? Editable from there?

We didn't do a very good job, frankly, of accommodating this type of scenario in the new Event Planner. Fortunately this limitation surfaced quickly and we're moving to address it briskly.

Basically, you need a "blanket ticket" option to cover two distinct events, and another ticket option to cover the sit down dinner. This ability is forthcoming.

If you need to proceed right now, I suggest making the two inclusive events, one event on the Event Planner with a distinct price. Then add your dinner as a second event.

The only thing you lose by doing this is the ability for us to report to the classmate Profiles page which of the two (or both) inclusive events the classmate is attending. All we will know is they're coming to at least one of them (or presumably they wouldn't have purchased this option at all).

Yes you're on the right track. Should I assume you've watched the Event Planner video? Other than your blanket ticketing desire you should be able to follow along with the video and plan everything accordingly.

Barbara* Ecker wrote:

Yes we'd have some standard admin areas and functions at launch. I suspect several additional admin abilities will be requested after launch, which is typical.

Yes, you would have the ability to enter current information manually. I'm not sure yet if it will be "notes" fashion or more of a standard part of the new dues system for this type of dedicated information.

I will meet with the team to discuss the criteria and we'll work out a plan to accommodate what the users are asking for.

On this type of thing rather than trying to hit a home run we'll swing for a single. i.e. I'd like to release a basic product that minimally addresses all of the above. Once we do that, the product will evolve and become more robust based on user requests. My gut feeling says there's going to be a whole lot more needed on this one.

Mary Smith - SPHSAA President & Alumni Records wrote:

Thanks, Brad. I still have plenty of time. And I will not be reporting every little thing to the classmate profiles because I started a 'core' group of 10 (the first 10 who donated extra funds after our last reunion) to whom I answer regularly around the first week of every month. I made them limited administrators (They love titles.) That way I don't have to keep close track of much. They do it all. Thanks again. I think this will work out extremely well.
Barbara

Brad Switzer wrote:

Brad,

I need to add some registrations manually to the event planner now. Not sure how to go about this. If I use the link to the event planner, I think it will show that I registered again. I want to register for someone else. How do I go about that?

Thanks,

Dave

Manual additions are not in there yet. But this will be coming soon. It is on the programmer's plate as we speak.

Scott Mastenbrook wrote:

Thanks, Scott. They're starting to 'pile up'.

dave