Dentevents registration engine adds more new features, increases versatility

Dentevents.com has added several new features that make it even easier for event organisers to use the site to accept registrations and payments for dental events.

"Dentevents.com has been accepting registrations on behalf of several leading event organisers for 12 months now since we added this option to the site and so far, it has worked perfectly," said Joseph Allbeury, publisher of Dentevents.com as well as Australasian Dental Practice, Auxiliary and eLABORATE magazines.

"Now, in response to event organisers using the site, we have completed the first major coding upgrade since we launched the Registration Engine.

"Each time a user requests a change, we consider the value of it carefully and if it is deemed suitable, we implement the changes to the site which allows everyone to take advantage of it.

"The solid group of dental event organisers using the site have been pressured for continual feedback as to usability and any additional requirements they have.

"The goal of the Dentevents.com registration engine is to make registering for a dental event or education program as easy as possible and to give event organisers the tools to manage and communicate with registrants easily.

"We build this site ourselves using our own inhouse programmers and so far we have invested thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars into an event management solution just for dentistry.

"And, not only does it work exceptionally well, it is cheap to use! We want people using the site - we will profit from large numbers of people registering through the site so it is very affordable."

Dentevents.com new features

The most significant new feature that has been added to the Dentevents.com registration engine is the ability to manage limited attendance programs.

"When we created the registration engine, we steered away from giving delegates a time limit to complete their registration. We know that dentists get interrupted, so we wanted to allow people to come back and continue with their registration at any time," Mr Allbeury said.

"However, we overlooked the fact that many dental events only have limited places available, which is often the case with hands-on workshops for example.

"As a result, we have added the ability to 'sell tickets' for limited attendance programs which necessitates allowing a user-defined time limit to complete and pay for your registration in these cases.

"This actually involved a significant coding upgrade because of the capacity of the site to host a full dental congress. Whereas the congress itself may be open-ended in terms of delegate numbers, we needed to be able to offer delegates the choice of participating in limited attendance 'options' as part of the overall registration process."

Promo codes now available

Mr Allbeury said that another new feature now available for event organisers is the ability to use Promo Codes to offer discounts.

"Promo Codes have been on our to-do list for some time, but when an event organiser needed them in a hurry, we expedited the upgrade for this feature.

"Now, you can use any number of Promo Codes to offer varying levels of discount to particular groups.

"We already accommodate other forms of discounts, like early bird rates based on a specific date, discounts for members of associations (provided the list is set-up in www.dentalcommunity.com.au) and discounts for subscribers to our magazines."

Mr Allbeury said that the final new feature added lets organisers optionally allow delegates to add "Special Requests" while registering. The site already requests special meal preferences (if appropriate).

PayPal payments

Dentevents.com accepts registrations and payments for events on behalf of event organisers and will shortly release PayPal functionality.

"Dentevents.com offers event organisers a variety of ways to accept payment for their events," Mr Allbeury said. "Ideally, the credit card payment for the event is completed through the merchant account of the event organiser so the organiser is paid immediately. We then invoice you for the small ticketing fee, which is generally $4-5 per registration. We can also process the payment on your behalf through our merchant account, however, this adds a layer of cost and complexity to the transaction as we then take on the chargeback liability.

"To further facilitate event organisers being paid directly and immediately, we will launch a PayPal option next. This will allow any event organiser with a PayPal account to accept payments directly. PayPal accounts are easier to set-up than an online merchant account with a traditional bank, so we believe this new feature will further assist organisers to use the site as an integrated solution for event management."

A seamless tool

Dentevents and its registration engine is designed to make it simple and cost-effective for anyone organising an event or education program to accept registrations and payments online.

"We actively develop the site and continually add new functions that are largely driven by users of the site," Mr Allbeury said. "Dentevents.com will help you promote your event to the dental profession, accept registrations and payments and then gives you a complete suite of tools for managing delegates, payments and CPD requirements."