We’re pleased to announce the launch of a major overhaul of our guest list system. The new changes provide a significant improvement in the management of guest lists, including the introduction of an approval system, the allocation of different tickets types, guest email and mass-mailing functionality, plus much more. We have also beefed up the reporting systems for both festival and performer guests to ensure that you have just the right information at your fingertips when it’s needed.

Get in touch and we can show you through the demo…

We’ve just completed some changes to the production/technical forms that can be generated by the system and then sent to performers (or their management) to provide the information. This upgrade also has some knock-on affects elsewhere in the system. The changes are as follows:

• when you create the production forms, there are now four pre-prepared options that you can include. These are: performer names; crew names; performer biography; and rider. If you turn these options on, then the production form will contain the required fields for gathering this information and feeding it directly into the appropriate pages in the system (people, press and contract).
• artists will be able to edit/amend/delete any unapproved performer/crew member, but if a member of staff has checked and approved these names, then artists will have to contact you to amend them. This ensures that when the festival is approaching, you’re not having things you’ve already checked being changed without your knowledge.
• if they supply a name and include a mobile phone number, then that name will also be added to the artist’s address book/contact page
• riders (in the contract page) now have an approval system that locks down the contents of this field and adds a time stamp with the name of the person who approved it. However, performers will will be able to edit/amend any unapproved rider request, but once ‘locked’, they’ll have to get in touch with you to approve any changes.
• on the press page, if an artist provides a biog, that will appear above the festival’s “edited” biog. This allows you to take the artist’s press release and format it for your own purpose. (remember that the recent addition of the publishing function will enable you to approve this for publishing elsewhere).

Up until now, the system used the name of the performer to identify who was performing, which kinda makes sense… up to the point when you start programming spoken word elements (like lectures, discussions and workshops). It’s all very well knowing that Dolly Parton is going to be singing on the main stage, but if she’s also doing a lecture on the history of Country Music, perhaps you’d like to spell that out.

So, today we’ve upgraded the system so that each performance can have an (optional) title. These titles can be supplied in any of the areas of the site that you can enter a new performance (the overview page, the artists’ stage page, or the Scheduler). It’s also meant that the Scheduler has to reflect the titles for these elements of programming, rather than the name of the person presenting, so in the configuration page you can set the Scheduler to automatically display performance titles if they exist and, if not, to default to the artist’s name.

All xml feed content also contains this information, so that if you’re using that part of the system to update your own website (and, therefore, avoiding having to enter the same information twice), the title of each performance will also be sent.

Hopefully this will mean that it’s easier to view and understand your program.

We’ve just completed some changes to the press biogs/artist photos and xml feed system. Basically, these add a level of flexibility when you are using our system to serve content to your website or iphone app (such as artist biographies and photos, performance times, stage details and so forth). The details are as follows:

• you can now switch on/off the xml feed content and set default image sizes for any uploaded artist photograph.
• the default image settings mean that when a photo is uploaded, the system saves the original uploaded image for you to download from the press page and use in print/promotional content. Then it  automatically re-sizes the photo for use on the web at the dimensions you require. If you provide either height or width, it’ll scale the picture to that figure (leaving the other in proportion). If you provide both, it’ll scale to the most appropriate size, then trim (crop) any excess so that it fits with your website’s design.
• on the press page there is now a small gold star to indicate the artist’s default picture. If you have more than one image for a performer, clicking the small grey star will make that image the default.
• the xml feed can either supply just the default photo, or a list of all images for the artist, depending on what is required.
• all images are saved to amazon’s web servers, enabling you to access them directly from your website.
• if you’re using the xml feeds (i.e. turned this on in the config page), then there will be a publish/unpublish button next to each biog. No artist/performance details will appear in the xml feed without being published. This enables you to oversee exactly what appears on your site and when.

We’ve just completed the final upgrade (for this year, at least!) of the Scheduler. The changes are as follows:

• the display options (where you select which days and/or stages you’re viewing) are now in a popup box, so those events with a large number of venues/stages no longer have a clutter of checkboxes at the top of the Scheduler page. To change what the Scheduler is displaying, click the “display options” at the top of the page.
• as well as days/stages, there is now the ability to view specific hours. Again, using the “display options” link, you choose your from-to times (which can span midnight, e.g. 19:00 to 03:00) and click set. If there are artists scheduled that begin before your start hour but who’s times encroach into your display (or start before your end hour, but continue after) then these are displayed in grey & can not be moved – however they provide the essential reminder that there’s something booked for those times.
• the display options you’ve selected are now shown at the top of the main scheduler, with a simple reset button alongside.

This should mean that those festivals with a large number of venues &/or stages can manage the Scheduler more easily. We’ve still got one or two improvements in mind to add some extra cleverness, but that’s going to have to wait for 2010.

Happy New Year!

Another day, another fairly substantial set of improvements to the Scheduler. Here’s what we’ve achieved today…

• instead of the time grid being fixed to begin at 9am, it will match the “next day hour” as set in the configuration for each festival. The “next day hour” allows you to set the time for when one festival day ends and the next begins – which, of course, will differ depending on the type of event you are. Up until now, this was only relevant for generating reports (so that, for instance, a performer who was scheduled for a 2am performance on the Sunday could be grouped with Saturday’s artists). The Scheduler now reflects how this so that there’s no confusion when booking/scheduling artists.
• the grid has been also altered to enable you to schedule performances that are 30 minutes in length (the previous limit was 60 minutes). To achieve this we’ve had to restrict the length of name displayed for each performer so that it doesn’t stretch past a single line. You can view the entire name by putting your mouse over the text.
• the Scheduler now allows you to set times in five minute increments – both starting times, and performance lengths. This means you can now set a performance that starts at 14:10 and finishes at 15:55. [The previous restriction was in 15 minute increments.]
• when you move a time block around the screen, or alter the length of a performance, the system will instantly show you the new times (although you still need to save your changes as before).
• we have also made some changes to the structure and delivery of The Scheduler code, which will improve the page loading time – and should be particularly noticeable for those users behind corporate firewalls.

Huzzah! We have just launched the first release of our new Volunteer System.

The software enables you to:

• easily create a number of different application forms, with both pre-set form elements and free-choice questions
• set different roles for each form (for instance, you might have a form for stewarding, with roles of: steward, steward (first aider), team leader…)
• view, edit and approve applicants (either individually or en masse)
• search for applicants by name
• instantly and simply mass-email applicants

We are also working on phase two of the software, which will introduce reporting functionality and, hopefully, the ability to schedule all of your volunteers’ shifts. Phase two should be complete early in the new year.

There’s a lot still to be done, but this should give clients enough to get started with and we’ll work with you to make sure that it matches your requirements.

Oh, and this is a standard part of the system package – i.e. there will be no additional fees or payments required to use it.

Well, it’s been long overdue, but we’ve finally rebuilt the entire site navigation.

When the system started, way back when, it only dealt with Artist Liaison. So the navigation comprised a single row of links at the top of the page (contracts, stage, addresses, press, etc.). As the site grew organically we added additional layers – admin, staff, accommodation and, soon to be launched, volunteers. To keep the navigation strip manageable, we subdivided it by role and put the new links in the corner beneath the main navigation. And it worked  fine when there were just a couple of options (artists and admin), but eventually it began to cause problems.

New users were getting lost, prospective clients didn’t see the breadth of the system (thinking that it was simply managing the artist relationships) and eventually we had to bite the bullet and change everything around.

Should have done it ages ago…