Word on the Streets

The Allston Village Main Streets program, one of 19 such programs in Boston, helps local businesses become more successful in an urban setting. It helps ensure historic neighborhoods in a city like Boston remain viable and relevant by keeping the commercial sector active, which in turn keeps the community as a whole active, explains Katie Reed, executive director of Allston Village Main Streets.

As part of its mission to enhance the vitality of urban business, the Allston Village Main Streets organization hosts smaller local business networking events on a regular basis, as well as two larger events: the Washington Allston Birthday Breakfast takes place each fall and the Taste of Allston event is held in June. For the smaller networking gatherings, there is typically a $10 fee charged to cover the costs of the events. The big Birthday Breakfast and Taste of Allston events are priced higher.

Challenge: Figuring out who is coming

Since she is the only full-time staff member, Katie says it's a challenge to track who is registered and to get a proper head count to the restaurant or conference center that is hosting the event. Having to overestimate a head count could mean needlessly paying for meals that are not needed.

Previously, the registration process for the organization's smaller events involved the attendees calling Katie's office or emailing their intention to come. Tracking was done manually on a spreadsheet. PayPal was used as a payment option for the larger events, which offered a little help with tracking, but typically it was up to Katie to handle the registrations. "It was very word of mouth on who was coming," Katie says of her previous tracking and registration efforts.

Solution: Online registration for more efficient tracking

Through a partnership with the parent Boston Main Streets program, Katie was already using Constant Contact for her email marketing, including promoting the various Allston Village Main Streets events, and linking to PayPal for payment where applicable. Needless to say, adding Constant Contact Events Marketing to the mix was a no-brainer.

Anything we can automate or take a step out of makes a huge, huge difference to us. Now, she directs attendees to the registration page generated by Event Marketing, collects the all the information she needs, and offers multiple payment methods. For those who do still call the office, Katie can register them herself through the system, which helps save time.

While the smaller networking events do not have PayPal as a payment option, Katie loves that she has the ability to offer pay-at-the-door or mail-a-check options on the registration page.

Results: Automation makes a huge difference

For a one-person organization like Allston Village Main Streets, which relies heavily on technology and volunteers, the obvious benefit to switching to an online registration system is time savings. "Anything we can automate or take a step out of makes a huge, huge difference to us," Katie says.

Money is also saved since the Allston Village Main Streets can provide its event hosts with more accurate headcounts, saving on the cost of unneeded meals for phantom attendees. "It takes the guessing out," Katie reports.

As an added bonus, using Event Marketing makes it easier to print out name tags for attendees prior to the event. "I love the 'What do you want on your badge' option," Katie says of the available registration field offered in Event Marketing. "Previously, I used the names PayPal provided, which weren't always correct - it could be a spouse's account being used to pay."

There's also the psychological edge to getting attendees to show up. By registering in advance, Katie reports that attendees are more likely to make the effort to show up. "We're talking about a micro-scale event for these smaller networking breakfasts, so getting one or two more people to come makes a big difference," she says.