Introduction to the Ramblers booking system

This set of website programmes is designed to make it easier to manage Group bookings. It can deal with all sorts of events - coach rambles, meals, holidays, training sessions, etc

• It starts with creating the Event itself, defining the total number of places, and specifying any special information that is required. These may be, for example:
  • Type of room required
  • Coach pickup point
  • Meal options
  • Length of walk.
• Next, an email is sent from MailMan with details of the Event. Included in the message will be a personalised link allowing the recipient to book.
• Any members wishing to book will simply click on this link and will be taken to the website. Since the link is personalised, no contact details are required, just the data fields that have been specified. Details of the payment method will be shown.
• Once the form has been completed, a Provisional booking is recorded, and the Event organiser is sent an email.
• When the payment is received, the Treasurer is responsible for updating the website and changing the status of the booking to Confirmed.
• At any time, the Event organiser can log in to the website to see the status of bookings. A simple report shows the bookings to date, and whether the payment is still outstanding. Various reports are available, for example an analysis by each of the specific data items.
• At any time the Event organiser can use the system to send an email to everyone that is booked onto the Event.
• Financial reconciliation is made much simpler, since the website always holds the definitive list of attendees.
• If members from another group are to attend, (or even non-members), they can be accommodated by manually creating "User" records for them. Once this has been done, they will automatically be included in the email distribution list. Furthermore, they could even be included in mailshots for future Events.

Shrewsbury Ramblers have pioneered the use of the software, and helped mould it to their requirements. They are unequivocal in recommending it to other groups. An example of the report from one of their Events is shown below - for Coach rambles they have adopted the convention that walk leaders do not pay, and so their bookings are left as Provisional.