Today we launched the third major update to our event management system for alumni relations and university advancement offices. We're especially proud of this one, as it represents a huge leap forward in both functionality and usability over the previous release.

• Built in ColdFusion (Mach-ii) with a hefty dose of AJAX to make the software incredibly easy to work with
• Revamped skin, now easy on the eyes
• Event API for integration with external systems (notification on registration, payment, address change request etc.)
• Feed API for populating event calendars (used for our Flash/Flex event calendar control)
• Plug-and-play with Authorize.net and Verisign/Paypal payment services
• Tagging is used to profile each event; tag data is used by our ad engine and CRM system to market events to niche affinity organizations

EMS3 is in production use right now and has received an overwhelmingly positive reception from our clients. We'll write more on the integration features at a later date - we view them as a major advantage over other systems currently on the market. Building a proper API is a challenge unto itself and we have found that our clients are eager to simplify data exchange whenever possible. We feel we have met that need with this release.

Screenshots

Modifying a reservation is easier than ever thanks to our consolidated user interface. Generate a PDF copy of an invoice, process payments and apply discounts to reservations all from one screen.

Creating an event is significantly faster now that we've pulled all activity information forward. Set a default price for an activity and specify activity options (dropdowns) all in one screen.

Changing event information in a popup window. We've included a nice DHTML date/time picker control that renders consistently across all browsers.

Modifying activity prices.

Reports have been streamlined - pull attendance lists, extracts for outside systems and nightly transaction reports for reconciliation purposes from an easy-to-understand screen.

The NEAR group is an informal consortium of alumni relations directors from 13 small colleges in the northeast United States. To better facilitate communications among the member institutions, we've launched a suite of services for their use on their new website, http://www.nearweb.org/

ARAMP

Our Alumni Relations Assessment and Metrics Program platform was the driver for the whole project. Created for our friends in PCUAD, ARAMP is a survey and data analysis toolkit used to assess the performance of an alumni association within the context of a community of practice. In essence, comparing you to your peers (in this case NEAR) on a set of agreed-upon data points and evaluating your progress based on a scoring/weighting schema. Helpful features include the ability to send email to any peer within the system, view commentary on successful programs, run customized reports and build a custom dashboards of selected data points.

The system was implemented using a healthy combination of Flex and ColdFusion (word to the geeks: Remote Objects rock!). Performance is greatly improved over PCUAD's version of ARAMP (10x...no lie) as is the user experience. The decision to re-implement ARAMP in Flex really was a no-brainer. We have the ability to do better data validation, richer charts and graphs and build a cleaner UI using Flex than with CF/Ajax/CSS/JS. We'll be rolling this new version out to PCUAD later this spring and other communities of practice as the opportunity arises.

Farcry

No organization seems to be truly complete without a functional web presence. We implemented one for them powered by the popular, open-source Farcry CMS. They are in the process of dressing up the site content following a brief web conference/training session. Uptake has been swift, and it's hoped that the CMS will minimize the amount of time required to update the site.

Galleon Forums

Naturally, not all conversation is structured or belongs within ARAMP, so we rolled out the web forum software that Ray Camden has released for community use. We've worked with Galleon before and like it an awful lot, so thanks, Ray! Now you can count "advancing the profession of alumni relations" among your lifetime accomplishments.

One neat feature of note: Dayne devised a nice bit of code that implements a single sign-on (single session) between ARAMP and Galleon, reducing an irritating possible double login effect that could have happened in the transition from the Flex to the CF environment. The users of the system will never know it's there, which was exactly our intent!

We were able to implement a LOT of functionality using open source software, leaving most of our time to work on the Flex/ARAMP implementation. The combination is very powerful and I hope to see us use it more over time.

So if you're curious or want to know more, drop me a note on our site contact form or AIM:scrittler. I'll be happy to demo the system(s) to you!

Higher education is a unique business. Where else can you find an organization that functions like a town within a town, providing housing, financial services, education, athletics, recreation, social and career services, and entertainment? All of this functions basically as a benevolent dictatorship - student government isn't terrifically strong, faculty are notoriously strong on issues of academic freedom and guiding the ship is a president usually promoted within higher ed to lead the whole thing. One president remarked once that being president of a university is like being the captain of the ship, but the wheel is disconnected from the rudder. I believe it - much of university life is functioning on a 10 year cycle. To those on the outside it's painfully slow, but even with something changing and evolving at this pace is too fast for many.

Taking it to the next level, think of how revenue to run the place is generated: some income from current residents (varies campus to campus), some income from other outside sources, and (this is the kicker) a substantial chunk from former customers. Seriously. If you bought a Honda and then 25 years later they came back asking for a "donation" to ensure the continued creation of new excellent automobiles, you'd laugh!

But there's something about higher ed that is incredibly attractive to us. It's the passion that people feel for an institution, the strength of the bond that is created simply due to people being in the same place at the same time. Identify yourself as an alum of a school to another alum and immediately you're no longer a stranger. Shared experience, even if it wasn't simultaneous, is one very special form of community.

This is the business we've established ourselves in.

We help alumni associations build community, increase alumni engagement online and off and conduct efficient operations by providing tools for communication, management and measurement.

Next installment: challenges and opportunities