Master Form V4 Manages Complex Conference Registration
Ken Hablow of KH Graphics often uses Master Series CGI software to serve his clients. Master Form V4 made perfect sense for this project.
Boston Print Buyers holds bi-monthly dinner meetings with all registration done online. With a maximum of 60 attendees this is easy to manage with a simple online form.
When the company decided to hold a day long conference with an expected 300 attendees, a lot of information needed to be collected.
A full day opening session before the conference
A keynote breakfast each of the two conference days and a wrap-up session the last day.
Two days of breakout sessions with a total of 20 different workshop choices over 5 time slots, plus a set of Roundtable Discussions each day. People are asked to make initial choices. This information is all stored in a CSV file on the website.
A form where exhibitors can sign up for a booth.
A form where exhibitors can select a time slot for a 30 Minute Learning lab. These are presented throughout each of the two days of the conference.
A new website was developed specifically for the conference, www.printbuyersconference.com.
Master Form V4 was chosen to keep track of all this information in individual CSV databases. MF4 allows various emails to be sent from custom templates. One goes to an administrative person with all the fields in each of the forms. A second email is sent to the person filling in the respective form with the information they need including the sessions selected. These emails also contain links back to relevant pages on the website.
After the conference an email is sent to each attendee with a link to a feedback form, again storing the information in a CSV file as well as sending the respective emails.
Database Capable
A CSV file on the website was updated with all the information in individual fields each time the form was used. Since we did not want blank fields, each of the workshop selections has a hidden field with a value of "none." In this manner each cell of the CSV file has a value even if the registrant does not pick a workshop. This provides the administrative office a complete record with all cells in the CSV file filled.
This will help when the final file is imported into Access for query processing. After the CSV file is imported into Access, all the necessary lists and name badges needed for the conference can be exported.
Add-ons
Will's "CheckRequiredFields" JavaScript is used on all forms to validate the required fields in the form.
A custom written program by Will is used to calculate the total amount owed depending on radio button selections. This same program allows a discount based on certain codes that are entered in a code box on the form. A box displays the total amount owed just above the submit button. A feature of MF4 allows this same field to be displayed on the response page which has a link to PayPal.
A custom written program by Will is used to place the data in the CSV into an email template to send individual emails to each registered attendee reminding them of the session they selected.
This same process is used to manage registration for a one day event held in various parts of the country and produced by the parent company, Print Buyers International. (www.bostonprintbuyers.com/bootcamp)
Using Multiple Emails
Master Form V4 can send different emails to any number of people by using different templates. Each email can be customized with "Placeholders" recognized by the software. We put this feature to good use.
For example-
One of the email templates sends the registrant a "thank you" email. This email reminds them how they chose to pay, credit card or check, and gives them the link back to the PayPal page and the address if they want to mail a check. More importantly, the email contains a list of each of the workshop sessions they signed up for.
Another email template sends all the registration information to the company administrator. Since one of the required fields asks whether the person wants to pay by credit card or check, this alerts the administrator to either look for the transaction email from PayPal or to await a check.
With Master Form V4 gathering the information through the administrators and participants have easy access to all the registration information each requires.
To see how this all works, go to www.printbuyersconference.com/registrationmf4.html. This is a special form that will only send the customer email back to you and not add to the conference CSV file.
A website as complex as www.printbuyersconference.com could not be managed without Master Form V4. I would never consider any other solution.
I don't leave home without my American Express card and I don't build websites without Master Form V4.
Ken Hablow
©2006,2008 Bontrager Connection LLC
Ken Hablow brings 15 years experience in strategic marketing planning to his Web site development and graphic design services. He has extensive experience in business-to-business, and business-to-consumer marketing.