There are some interesting ideas coming out and we should have plenty to discuss at the open day.
Now I've been giving one particular aspect some thought and wondered if any of the IT oriented members could help with finding a solution.
One of the jobs that Tony currently does is to organize tickets for us to attend events like the Mini World Action Day at Castle Combe. I mention that event as it is one that must give him the biggest headache.
The organizers start bookings for the event in January, when it is actually held at the end of September. Tony generally puts the announcement in the Midas Owners Club Meets and Events section of the forum straight away. The actual closing date for him to book the free entry tickets is usually a fortnight before the event, but those wanting lapping sessions should book before August 1st to get the biggest discount.
Tony will get some response from replies on the forum and one or two others will contact him direct by PM, phone, email or whatever, but basically he will be expected to collect together the list of those interested in attending over an eight month period, with the added complication that some will want one, or two, or more, lapping sessions.
So to my first question: Is there some event booking software that could be used so that anyone interested in attending an event can register their interest directly rather than by contacting Tony? Can this be done through the forum, or by a link posted on the forum? The software should give Midas owners the chance to register their interest, book extras like lapping sessions, update their booking if they want more lapping sessions, or subsequently find that they cannot attend, etc. Then when the closing date arrives, it should provide Tony (or whoever is doing the job in future) with the list of attendees so he knows how many tickets are required and who to send them to. It should also be possible for the software to send out reminders to let the attendees know that their tickets have been booked.
Thus anyone organizing, or coordinating, an event would only need to make a calendar/forum announcement and set up the software to take the bookings, until getting a complete list of attendees just in time to book the tickets. Is this possible or just a pipe dream?
An additional problem of the current system of placing the notice on the forum is that it will drop down the list of topics as other events get added. Thus an event to be held in September, that first gets announced in January, will drop right down the list of topics and possibly out of view during the intervening months. Furthermore, due to posters being inconsistent when specifying event dates, others starting second, or third topics, for the same event and others still starting random threads that shouldn’t be in the events section, it all becomes a bit of random mishmash. Is it possible to have a calendar section on the forum so that events appear in chronological order?
This is just one aspect of the club work that I think could be automated. It should be possible to allow any member to coordinate an event by simply posting up a calendar entry, setting up a simple booking form and then waiting for an email to tell them how many tickets, or parking slots are required. If there is an existing solution that could be adopted then the sooner, the better.
Statistics: Posted by ACourtney — Thu May 28, 2015 8:10 pm