Hi all,
First of all, I'd like to offer my congratulations to the Events Module team for creating a very useful module for advertising and managing registration for events. I deal with several volunteer organizations (www.pmi.ns.ca and www.cipsns.ca) and they often mount events. The first is using a custom written app that has many useful features that take the pain out of managing events. The second is using the old "call me to register" approach - very manual and very error-prone.
So, what am I getting at? Glad you asked! :)
I'd like to see some of the useful features I've seen in the PMI app placed into the Events module so that I can use it effectively for the CIPS organization. The requested features appear below. If anyone has workarounds for these while we wait for them to be assessed and potentially placed into the Events module, please let us all know.
Features:
1) Multiple pricing - We have three tiers of pricing that can be used on registration- members, non-members and guests. That means when someone registers, they need to be identified as being in a group, and the pricing applied appropriately. This could be made flexible by having it depend on the role that the person logged in as (not registered, registered user, subscriber, etc.) such that there could be a price associated with each of them. Of course, many roles can be defined. This approach would allow a great deal of flexibility. At this time, the module allows for selection of a single Role and price.
The workaround I have thought of is very confusing to the user, and involves having multiple events for the same event, one for members, one for non-members and one for guests. Each one has a different price. The confusion comes in when people see multiple events in the calendar, and if they are a subscribe the Enrol link appears on each event, leaving open the possibility they will register for the wrong event, and get the wrong pricing. So - it clutters up the calendar with duplicate events, and creates an opportunity for error.
2) Registration reports - while I see that one can look to see who is registered, I couldn't find a place where a registration report could be printed. Is it there, and I just didn't see it? A workaround might be to copy and paste the registration list into a spreadsheet, but that seems labour intensive and messy for a users.
3) Name badges - The system we use at PMI produces name badges pre-formatted for three Avery labels. Just prior to the event, we produce the registration report to keep track of who showed up, and also print name badges that we put into acetate holders. We spread them out on the table in alphabetical order to make it easy for people to pick them up. It would be great if there was a name badge printing facility that would have some configurable flexibility, such as whether to show the first name in large print or not, whether to show the company name or not, whether to show a logo of the organization putting on the event or not, etc. Anyone find any workarounds for this?
4) Discount codes - Our PMI systems allows the definition of discount codes for an event which, when entered, result in a price reduction. Of course, the codes are only told to those to whom we want to provide a discount. I have thought of no workaround for this aside from once again creating another event record for the same event. Very messy.
5) Table purchases - Our PMI system allows people to purchase entire tables for 8-10 people, then to specify the names of the people who will be sitting at the table. This causes registration report entries and name badges to print. If not all names are provided, the registration report entry and the name badge would say Table#n registrant. I have thought of no workaround for this.
There are probably many other requirements I will bump up against as I try to use the module productively, but these are those I have run into so far.
Any comments will be appreciated, and if you would like to contact me for more detailed requirements, please do!
Best regards,
Mike Frenette