Representing one of the largest trade associations in the state, our primary event attendance is comprised of licensed professionals. Similar to many other associations our licensees are required to complete continuing education classes each year. The tracking of this process was rather tedious. Take for example our largest event of the year The Convention. With an average of 1,200 attendees and approximately 35 classes over three days, the paperwork that went into tracking all those credits was overwhelming, to say the least. Every attendee would have to complete a form during each class with their identifying information and a signature which they turned in to the moderator at the end of the class. Think of the distraction they faced to complete this before rushing off to their next class when they should be learning from the instructor.
"Don't even get me started on the environmental impact the use of all that paper had!"
At the conclusion of the event, our staff would have to compile all the information on the forms and manually input it into our database to submit to the state. As you can imagine, this process took significant time to complete…
Enter, Connect Space. We began having Connect Space print our attendee badges onsite in 2016 and haven't looked back. Their process is so efficient, and their staff is professional and outgoing. Honestly, I think most of our attendees think their onsite team is part of our internal staff. The onsite badge printing allows for updates in real-time and we never have to worry about an attendee forgetting to bring a preprinted badge with them. The badge customization has provided us an abundance of options. By working with the Connect Space team we have been able to create a variety of styles to utilize at our variety of events. The best part…they can add a barcode or QR code to the badge which contains the attendee's unique information. This is monumental in tracking attendee behavior. More importantly to us, tracking attendance.
When scanning the barcode in the Connect Space app via your device's camera or a paired scanner you can record a detailed list of everyone in attendance. We have a staff member stationed outside of each class to scan attendees in and out. This provides us with a timestamp reflecting how long each attendee was in the class to ensure they met the requirements of the state. The scanning process is so smooth, a single person with minimal training could scan 100 attendees in or out in a matter of minutes. Each class is linked back to your agenda, so no need to worry if multiple classes are occurring at the same time. Once the event is complete and we are back to work at the office we simply login to our Connect Space Planner Ecosystem and export the timesheet which contains the information for each class offered. We worked with Connect Space to condense the information down to the specific criteria required to upload to Michigan's statewide real estate CE tracking platform, CE Marketplace. This includes the attendee’s name, email, license number, NRDS number, check-in/check-out time and duration. While we do not need to submit their actual check-in/check-out time and duration, this allows us to easily verify they have met the requirement and submit the list to CE Marketplace.
"The use of timesheets and ease of tracking attendee information has evolved our processes and saved us hours upon hours of staff time."
Not to mention, this is only a portion of how we utilize Connect Space to increase our productivity and provide a diverse user-friendly product to our attendees.
