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I recently reviewed 8 great online registration tools. Each has different strengths, so I was excited to try them out to create a registration form for an art workshop I am organizing .
Every company claims to have the “simplest, easiest and best” online registration system but they can’t all be right! Or can they? One of the core beliefs behind this website is that there are lots of great software solutions out there and the question is not ‘which is best’ but ‘which is best for my event’. The requirements of my art workshop are different to, say, the requirements for conference, or a fundraiser.
When choosing your online registration system one of the first things to do is to identify your core requirements. In this instance, my goal is to create a visually appealing and professional webpage to register people for the workshop. My main requirements are: -
1) Early bird deadlines: To encourage registration I have special rates for people who register early. The system must include early-bird deadlines.
2) Paypal integration: I need revenue to book my room and buy supplies – I can’t wait until after the event to get paid. Therefore the system must integrate with my Paypal account.
3) Reasonable pricing: I’m organizing a workshop for artists, who typically don’t have a lot of money. My goal is to keep my overheads low and I certainly don’t want to pay more than $10 a head for website, payment processing and registration fees (my ticket price ranges from $150-$225).
4) Visual appeal: This is an artist website so it must be appealing to the eye, allowing me to highly customize the look with my own images.
Setting aside visual appeal for a moment, as that is a somewhat subjective, the table below shows how each of the 8 systems (A la Reg, Eventbrite, Event Elephant, EventMethod, Picatic, Planana, Regonline, Ticketleap) measured up to my criteria.
Only three of the eight platforms meet all three criteria, which quickly narrowed down my short-list to Eventbrite, Event Elephant and Ticketleap. The next step is to set-up a registration form on each system and see which I like best.
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Eventbrite
Eventbrite produces the cleanest look for my page. The section where people by tickets is simple, clear and friendly. There is a nice map and social media sharing and comments areas. However, the customization options are limited. I was able to add a small image but that was all. The website looks professional but doesn’t have the personality I was hoping for.
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Event Elephant
I had high hopes for Event Elephant who provide tools to highly customize the colors, fonts and graphics of you registration page. However, while many of the elements are customizable, there is something about the basic foundational components that I personally do not find attractive. The buttons, tables and boxes that hold the site together are blocky and don’t have that friendly face that we’ve come to associate with modern Web 2.0 websites.
I was able to upload a banner image but after that I gave up on the site as I realized that whatever I did wasn’t going to give me the look I was after.
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Ticketleap
Ticketleap was the big surprise. The Ticketleap platform provides the ability to add a background image as well as multiple smaller pictures allowing me to not only create a very unique site, but also to showcase my artwork. The overall look of the site is clean and friendly and at the same time my personality (or more accurately my artwork) has the opportunity to shine.
My Tickleap page also includes a google map, social media sharing, a wall to post comments and an easy way to invite friends through Facebook.
All of this was very easy to put together. I spent some time exploring the other two platforms to see if they had anything to match Ticketleap by way of graphics ability but in the end I gave up. Either they don’t have it, or it was too well hidden for me to find it.
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And the Winner Is …
The hands-down winner for my artworkshop is Ticketleap. It is quick and easy to use and the result is beautiful.
Remember, this result is determined by my first identifying my four key criteria. Different events will have different core requirements. If you have an event you would like to use as a case study please get in touch.