Scheduling time slots for visitors to cultural institution
May 2, 2020 6:59 AM Subscribe
It appears that my workplace (in the US) may institute timed admission at some point in the next months. I’m looking for a relatively simple and relatively cheap way to do this. What apps would you recommend?
Variables: Office is Apple-centric but person checking people in may be using any kind of phone.
I would prefer a system that doesn’t require people to set up accounts.
If the app in question has discounts for non-profits or is free, it gets bonus points. Our usual sources of income are pretty much gone due to COVID19.
It needs to be easily accessible to the person doing check in so if someone signs up for something last minute, the check in person will have that info.
Amounts of time, if relevant: three days a week and six hours each day, likely broken up into 30 minute chunks.
If anyone has further suggestions about setting something like this up, please let me know.
Thank you.
Variables: Office is Apple-centric but person checking people in may be using any kind of phone.
I would prefer a system that doesn’t require people to set up accounts.
If the app in question has discounts for non-profits or is free, it gets bonus points. Our usual sources of income are pretty much gone due to COVID19.
It needs to be easily accessible to the person doing check in so if someone signs up for something last minute, the check in person will have that info.
Amounts of time, if relevant: three days a week and six hours each day, likely broken up into 30 minute chunks.
If anyone has further suggestions about setting something like this up, please let me know.
Thank you.
This is a problem already solved by restaurant reservation systems like OpenTable (which is probably overkill). That would be an area to research if there are free, simpler reservation tools like that.
And it wouldn't hurt to just email OpenTable with your question above and ask if they can help, maybe they'll cut you a break or offer some alternatives.
posted by jpeacock at 7:42 AM on May 2, 2020
And it wouldn't hurt to just email OpenTable with your question above and ask if they can help, maybe they'll cut you a break or offer some alternatives.
posted by jpeacock at 7:42 AM on May 2, 2020
Free admission will mean a lot of cancellations. Particularly if you try to go with frictionless no-account reservations.
I'd suggest that a simple account system would be a good way to weed out at least some of the likely no-shows by raising the commitment bar. It'll also probably give you the ability to do email reminders.
What you are looking for is an Online Booking System or an Online Reservation System. Stick with web rather than apps (that way theoretically anyone can access them on any device).
posted by srboisvert at 7:51 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'd suggest that a simple account system would be a good way to weed out at least some of the likely no-shows by raising the commitment bar. It'll also probably give you the ability to do email reminders.
What you are looking for is an Online Booking System or an Online Reservation System. Stick with web rather than apps (that way theoretically anyone can access them on any device).
posted by srboisvert at 7:51 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: We are a public park.
Admission is not a negotiable part of this equation.
There's already a lot of local feelings involved in this that would make using an account-based system complicated. I'd rather have cancellations than have required accounts; fewer people are just fine and dandy given the situation.
posted by sciencegeek at 8:10 AM on May 2, 2020
Admission is not a negotiable part of this equation.
There's already a lot of local feelings involved in this that would make using an account-based system complicated. I'd rather have cancellations than have required accounts; fewer people are just fine and dandy given the situation.
posted by sciencegeek at 8:10 AM on May 2, 2020
I think the free version of YouCanBookMe will work, assuming you can set up a shared Google Calender for your staff. Here's a link.
posted by damayanti at 8:22 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by damayanti at 8:22 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'd rather have cancellations than have required accounts;
I'm in a cultural field too and get this. The way people who take public program reservations for free programs handle this is to just track the attrition rate over time and start building in a buffer. Let's say over time 30% of people who make a reservation don't show - eventually you just oversell to 130% of the capacity It's good that your capacity is probably actually flexible to within a dozen people or so, so a little variance either way won't mess you up badly. Over time patterns become clear - like, attrition will be less on nice days than days that turn out to be cloudy and cold. You just have to jump and start with a conservative oversell, then track as you go and adjust.
posted by Miko at 10:24 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm in a cultural field too and get this. The way people who take public program reservations for free programs handle this is to just track the attrition rate over time and start building in a buffer. Let's say over time 30% of people who make a reservation don't show - eventually you just oversell to 130% of the capacity It's good that your capacity is probably actually flexible to within a dozen people or so, so a little variance either way won't mess you up badly. Over time patterns become clear - like, attrition will be less on nice days than days that turn out to be cloudy and cold. You just have to jump and start with a conservative oversell, then track as you go and adjust.
posted by Miko at 10:24 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Calendly would be a great tool for this. Easy to administer, no account needed on client end, free if you only use one event type. It’s also nice looking. I use it professionally.
posted by MonsieurBon at 10:56 AM on May 2, 2020
posted by MonsieurBon at 10:56 AM on May 2, 2020
My family is using Sign Up Genius to let people reserve shopping slots at their farm stand. It's meant for getting volunteers, but it lets you set up numbers of slots, time periods, and lets people sign up without an account and cancel themselves (if they click cancel it sends them an email that lets them click through to cancel, so still no account). I think what they're doing is just what you want; PM me and I'll send you a link to how they're using it so you can compare.
posted by gideonfrog at 11:30 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by gideonfrog at 11:30 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: We ended up using Eventbrite after looking into YouCanBookMe - the issue with YCBM was that it required people to reserve slots one at a time - not the greatest system when the majority of people are visiting with family/friends/etc.
With Eventbrite, people did have to set up accounts, but the set up was minimal.
The cost to us was $0 because we aren't charging for admission.
It has an app that is reasonable - not great - but it lets our volunteers check people in with a minimum of fuss.
posted by sciencegeek at 10:53 AM on July 15, 2020
With Eventbrite, people did have to set up accounts, but the set up was minimal.
The cost to us was $0 because we aren't charging for admission.
It has an app that is reasonable - not great - but it lets our volunteers check people in with a minimum of fuss.
posted by sciencegeek at 10:53 AM on July 15, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sciencegeek at 7:10 AM on May 2, 2020