Monthly Archives: May 2012

The world is not flat – and neither is your organization!

AllPlayers group below

AllPlayers.com Groups Below or subgroups

One of the very distinct advantages of AllPlayers.com is the ability to build an organization hierarchy of groups. Called “groups below” in AllPlayers.com, subgroups help extend your organization options and give you better management over your entire organization.

Here are a few examples of how to manage multi-level organizations:

  •  SPORTS LEAGUES can build subgroups for seasons, divisions, tournaments and teams
  • SCHOOLS can create subgroups for classes, grades, extracurricular activities and clubs
  • CAMPS can build subgroups for individual camp sessions, activities and age groups
  • EVENTS can build subgroups for attendees, volunteers, committees, and participants
  • NON-PROFITS can build subgroups for events, programs, board members, donors/supporters

By using “groups below” or sub groups, managing calendars and schedules, registration and communication across all levels of participants is incredibly simple. The group administrator sees all subgroup calendars in an aggregated view for easy schedule management, and communicate and broadcasts can be sent to specific groups or all groups below.

By utilizing the organizational feature of “groups below” leagues, tournaments, clinics, camps, charities,  special events, schools, PTO’s, and even families have a micro-view and control of all participant levels.

Who Uses AllPlayers.com – Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School KidsAllPlayers.com prides itself on the diversity of solutions we provide.  One trend we’re seeing this year is more churches and faith-based youth programs using AllPlayers.com for managing this summer’s vacation bible school.  They’re finding our features the perfect match for enrollment, management, communication and outreach, feedback, and general administrative chores.

A great example of this is Preston Meadow Lutheran Church in the suburbs near Dallas.  They are utilizing AllPlayers.com to register for Vacation Bible School this summer for all age groups, different campuses and locations, and for several weeks at a time. They are accepting online payments for registration and are enjoying real-time enrollment statistics so they can confidently plan the entire summer from a resources standpoint.

In addition to registration, the leaders of VBS know they can reach out to all guardians with quick reminders, weekly notifications or schedule changes in a flash. The calendar feature not only allows them to convey the schedule consistently but allows updates and changes to be communicated to everyone involved.

We’re excited about the possibilities of AllPlayers.com and how they’ll help us with our ministry.  It’s hard to communicate with multiple groups and get all the necessary forms taken care of for our trips and retreats.  AllPlayers.com promises to eliminate many of the time-consuming tasks and make ministry more enjoyable! ~ Pr. Paul Mussachio

Parents love this as well. They can enroll their kids easily, pay online and know that their kids are confirmed to take part in fun, safe and educational summer activities.

How do YOU use AllPlayers.com? Let us know, we’ll feature you here!

The importance of remarketing

Remarketing listOne of the most underrated benefits of AllPlayers.com is the re-marketing potential for events, teams, leagues and clubs. Using the information gathered and stored from each previous event, you can contact your past participants easily to remind them of upcoming events, tournaments, fundraisers or more.

Having a stored and secured database of your previous participants allows you to contact those that you know are interested in your group or event. Best of all, you can be confident that the information is up-to-date, accurate and managed by the user.

Why is this important to me?

Not only does this information give you the means to contact past participants, who are going to be the most likely to be current participants, but you can also follow up with merchandise sales, photography sales, promotions or other incentives to keep them engaged throughout the year. Remember, out of site is out of mind, so keeping in contact keeps you fresh in their activities calendar.

Who Uses AllPlayers.com: Event Managers

AllPlayers.com is not simply for sports teams to manage their leagues or team administration.  Event managers can utilize the full suite of free group management services to manage all aspects of their event. From marathons, charity fun runs, golf tournaments or fundraising dinners, AllPlayers.com has the features needed to manage full-scale events.

How do we do this?

By utilizing the custom group features, event managers can easily create the event, communicate to all participants, distribute necessary forms and files, manage schedules for all involved and easily juggle all aspects of highly detailed events.

Let’s pretend we’re going to manage a 5K fun run.  For our event, we have an event manager, several volunteers, a database of emails of those who participated in our fundraiser last year, sponsors, vendors, and we assume we will have spectators along the way.

Create the Page(s)

Create GroupFirst the event manager creates the custom group page to initially set up the overall information about the event. This can be basic information about the event: add the logo, add information about the beneficiary, and any relevant details. This will be the “group above” for the event.

(in AllPlayers.com “group above” is synonymous with “parent group” and “group below” means “sub group”)

 This is where AllPlayers.com comes in really handy: next you can create a “group below” for each of your sub-groups within the event. This can be a separate group page for your volunteers, participants, vendors, etc.  Each of these groups has different information that needs to be distributed throughout, and AllPlayers.com makes it easier than ever to target your communications to only the necessary recipients.

(other ideas for groups below: age groups for participants, separate by gender, separate by grade level, etc…)

We need to accept credit card payments for registration and sponsorships, so we fill out the necessary paperwork to open and manage our merchant account. (this is all done with AllPlayers.com)

Add Content

Add Content, file downloadBefore we open registration, we need to make sure all of our information is in order for all participants.  Create a “New Page” and name it Participant Packet. From that page, we’ll upload the zip file that contains all of the relevant information that our racers will need for the day. This can include .pdf versions of maps, vendor coupons, or any other information we want to make available to our runners.

Next let’s display the route to our racers. We have this available in a .png file format. Create a new page, add a content box through the admin dashboard and add this image to the box. This will display the map image.

We are lucky enough to have many companies sponsor our event. Create a new page called “Sponsors” and add a content box where you can add each sponsors’ logo and other relevant information (we can also create new boxes to be included on the default page of each group/group below for sponsor logos too!).

Registration

AllPlayers.com registration is the absolute easiest process available, for both managers and participants.  The amount of control you have over your registration options will make managing this fun run incredibly easy.  Simply define what date registration opens, when it will close, define min/max ages (if applicable), gender requirements (if applicable), you can limit the amount of people who can register for the given groups, define what information you need to collect from each participant, and presto, you’re done setting up registration!

Next, using the list of participants from previous fundraisers, we’ll use the “invite” feature and generate an official invitation to your event. AllPlayers.com will generate an email that you can send right away or copy and paste into your own email client to be sent.  You can also share your invite on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  Included in the generated email invitation is a link that will take your participant directly to the registration page for your event!

Participants can register for several roles, all which are defined and managed by the group administrator. For our fun run, we’ll have players (runners), volunteers, and fans.

All participants and sponsors can pay their fees, donations and other committed monies online through our online payment processing features.

Create Calendars

CalendarWe know on which date the run will take place and from there we’ve established other important dates such as registration open and close dates, volunteer training, vendor ordering deadlines, etc.

For each of these groups below, you can also create specific calendars. For instance, your volunteers will need to know when training is, when certain deadlines for paperwork or other meetings and participants will need to know registration deadlines and other important dates. All calendars in our groups below will be aggregated in the main calendar to make sure all important dates are displayed for the relevant users.

Communicate

BroadcastOnce you have participants register, communication is a must. Whether you need to reach out to your volunteer list at the last minute to see if anyone can go pick up a box of t-shirts or need to announce to everyone a change in the schedule, AllPlayers.com communication services fit your needs.

Upon registration, each participant indicates if he/she wants to be notified by email or SMS text message, so you know your message is being distributed accordingly.

Services and Gear

Gear and ServicesAllPlayers.com has a diverse marketplace that discounts every type of equipment, gear, uniform and service we’ll need for our event.  AllPlayers.com provides:

  • Event t-shirts for runners, volunteers, managers
  • Water bottles to hand out in gift bags
  • Gift bags
  • Event insurance
  • Volunteer background checks
  • Printing for sponsor banners, race flyers, brochures, signs, and race bibs
  • Custom tents for race day management and sponsors

Free Zip Code Search

Find GroupDon’t forget about the free zip code search! For those AllPlayers.com users looking for something to do in their area, your fun run will be displayed when someone searches for an event/activity within their specified zip code. We can extend our reach for fundraiser within the AllPlayers.com community!

AllPlayers.com featured in Dallas Morning News

Photo from Dallas Morning News Eve Edelheit/Staff Photographer

Guess what!? The Dallas Morning News did an article about AllPlayers.com today! We are so proud to see our years of hard work be featured in such a great publication.

Go to DallasNews.com and check it out!

Keepin’ it Cool with these HOT Prices

If you’re anything like us, you’re in for a really hot summer. It’s already skyrocketed into the 90′s here in Texas and it’s not looking to let up until December when the Maya come to take back their sun.

Don’t sweat it…AllPlayers.com has sprung into action and found some great deals on pop up tents to keep teams, spectators, vendors and event staff cool in the shade.

These 10 foot deluxe commercial-grade tents (shown) have a sewn in vent on each of the canopy peaks to minimize the impact of windy conditions and a deluxe sturdy frame to hold it secure. They come in most standard colors and you can get your logo printed on it in one or more places.

Other levels of price points (prices are without the logos imprinted):

  • 10ft Standard Event Tent starting at $254.99 (low grade/recreational)
  •  10ft Deluxe Event Tent starting at $375 (medium grade/commercial)
  •  10ft Deluxe Event Tent with Vented Canopy starting at $415 (medium grade/commercial w/ vented canopy)
  • 10ft Premium Event Tent starting at $430 high grade/premium)
  • Logos can be imprinted in 1 to 8 places (prices vary)

Keep yourself and those around you from sweating like a politician under oath – these tents will provide the shelter you need to enjoy the upcoming swelter of summer, and protect you from the dreaded forehead sunburn.

Request a quote today and get yours ordered before the heat creeps in.


Who Uses AllPlayers.com: Sports Teams

One of the most common types of groups that use AllPlayers.com are sports teams. Ranging from city-sponsored leagues, to select teams, to individual D-league softball teams, AllPlayers.com provides the registration, communication and overall management of teams.

How do we do this?

AllPlayers.com makes it incredibly easy to manage any number or size of sports teams.  From creating the team, setting up registration, getting uniform information, sharing calendars and schedules, and communicating any all changes or updates, a team manager needs only site: AllPlayers.com.

Create the Page

First, the manager creates a group page, setting up the team.  Through the easy-to-follow settings on the features page, the manager establishes the roles and the registration requirements for each role (player, coach, fan, parent).  If the team requires payment, AllPlayers.com handles that process easily as well, and walks the team manager through the entire process.

Registration can be open to anyone, limited by size, limited to certain age groups or open for only a specified time. All these features are customizable for the team’s needs. Once registration setup is complete, the team manager can either invite certain people via email or simply leave a registration button on the team page to allow open registration from there.

Add Content

Content such as calendar events, photos, files to be distributed and announcements can be done at any time, on an ongoing basis. Many group page administrators choose to add their initial content immediately after setting up the group page. All of this is easily done through the administrator dashboard.

Invite Participants

To invite your team members to join, simply click on Invite. This will create an email that you can copy/paste to send to your participants or their guardians. For teams that have children under 13 years of age, their guardians must create an account first, then create an account for their children. This is compliance with child protection laws.

Collect Information

Collect team information such as uniform number selection and sizes, emergency contact or other important data that you need to keep on behalf of your team.

Communicate

With AllPlayers.com it is extremely convenient to communicate with your participants. By sending a broadcast message, you can immediately reach your entire team through email or text message (they decide how they get your updates when they create their own account). This is extremely beneficial for rain outs, fields changes and other last minute announcements. You can also create basic announcements to be displayed on your group page that may not be as time sensitive.

Have fun!

All members can communicate and share photos in the social format of AllPlayers.com. Leave messages for teammates and coaches, tell them what a great job they did or share thoughts about anything at all!

 

Wanna get out of town? We know somebody…

Thanks to our partner Yapa Now Travel for the arranging the voucher for the getaway drawing we’ve been running this month.

The term “Yapa” means a little something extra, and that’s what you can expect when you use one of the many travel agents from Yapa Now Travel for either business trips or your personal getaway vacation.

Check them out at Yapa Now Travel