-Nahid

I wish I could take credit for being a part of that decision here at Shiftboard, but I can’t.  It happened a number of years before I was even associated with the company.  The product was initially built for healthcare staffing in 2002-2004, but that product team decided the core scheduling application could be simplified to address many more markets in a simpler, more streamlined way with a very intuitive product.

Stripping a product down to its essence

So it was that in mid 2004 and early 2005 they descended on the product like Richard Petty’s pit crew – Snap On tools, pneumatic drills, the works.  The chassis was lowered, suspension tightened, a new engine tied in that made the old one look like a flywheel with a mouse.  Everything was designed around ease and speed of online scheduling.  Anything that interfered with the design principle, a protrusion or sharp angle – anything that added wind resistance, was stripped away quicker than corrosion on an F-18’s wing.  When the overhaul was completed in spring 2005, there sat a machine idling on the track with a singular purpose.  Why on earth was so thorough of an overhaul required?  To keep up, of course, but with whom?

When I first came to Shiftboard to take the sales team to the next level, I reviewed the customer list.  At first I overlooked all the non-profits, until the sheer numbers starting grabbing my attention.  There must have been 20 film festivals alone at the time, not including music concerts and other events.  “What’s with all these festivals and events?”   The response I received was quite simple – a number of the referrals we received were from the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), the largest film festival in the country by some measures.  “When did SIFF come aboard?”  I should have guessed the answer but was still surprised . . . spring 2005.  As a novice to online scheduling, I was asking myself why the volunteer scheduling market was chosen as the proving ground.

Raw speed

How many of y’all saw Carl Lewis run in his prime?  The man seemed to float down the track during those 100s and 200s he ran.  Ever looked closely at a volunteer?  They come in all shapes and sizes of course.  It’s hard to pick them out of a crowd.  Some are wearing t-shirts and sporting 3 days of beard growth, others skirts and heels.

But if you look closely at the bag they carry or what protrudes from their collective backpacks, you might catch a glimpse of trail running shoes, a dry-fit garment, or sprinter’s cleats.  You see, one thing ties together all volunteers: they offer up their own time to their cause, rather than someone paying them to give it.  That one little attribute puts volunteers in a class with Carl in terms of software usage.  They can’t be bought by an employer.  If they are confused or frustrated for even a minute, they run like the wind.  Because no one, no organization, can make them stay.

Back in the spring of 2005, the most demanding use case around was Seattle International Film Festival’s volunteer scheduling.  Those folks came once per year, wanted to confirm their shifts quickly, volunteer their time, and be done.  No training could be required.  If Shiftboard couldn’t be figured out immediately, they were gone.  Second chances don’t happen often in life, even less with a new user in software-as-a-service.  Luckily for me, and more importantly for our customers, that stripped down machine built in 2005 was sleek enough to chase down even the fastest and most demanding volunteers users. SIFF has been a customer for 5 years now.  This past year there were more than 4,500 event scheduling shifts confirmed by nearly a thousand volunteers during the 3 week festival.

Bona fides in volunteer scheduling software

Among many other segments, we count volunteer scheduling as a core competency.  We like working with non-profits, and it is a part of our mission to do so.  We have humane societies, hospitals, mentoring groups, convention & visitors bureaus, churches, private schools, volunteer groups staffing concessions at pro sporting events, you name it.  Thanks to the good folks at Tampa Theatre, our system was talked up as great volunteer scheduling software last week at a meting of the League of Historic American Theatres.  Today there are tens of thousands of volunteers who are registered Shiftboard users in North America.  I have come to learn that it’s not luck, but rather a lot of product development focus.

It all comes back to one thing.  The key players here early on, and especially the founder Bryan, decided that ease-of-use had to trump all other requirements.  And to test out the product design, the most demanding user group around was put in front of their favorite browser without any training, just to be very sure they could pick up shifts and print their schedules.  Those users made cheetahs look slow in terms of how quickly they were on to the next website or text message if their user experience was frustrating or complex.  They are still the ultimate test today.  Online scheduling, simplified.

– Rob E

How do Referrals work?

Shiftboard users can send a referral and personal message via email to anybody who may be interested in your organization. The potential candidate receives an email invitation and personal message from their inside contact.  Using Shiftboard, an interested recipient can click on the link provided to register and/or apply.  A huge bonus for managers is the ability to track and view all past and current referrals.  Managers can see which employees and volunteers are advocates for their organization and also track which referrals have been “redeemed” or have produced actual registrations.

Who uses Referrals?

•  Employee attrition at call centers is often high.  Many of our customers utilize Shiftboard not only for call center scheduling but also for the constant ability to network, attract, and grow workforces 24/7.

•  Event scheduling often requires hundreds and even thousands of workers.  Tracking the number of referrals submitted allows managers to provide incentives and reward employees accordingly.

•  Volunteer scheduling ranks top among market segments using Shiftboard’s referral tools.  The power of volunteers mass messaging and inviting their friends and family members to volunteer with them is significant.  Managers are able to sit back, relax, and watch their most enthusiastic volunteers advocate, recruit and build their organization’s volunteer database.

Get Started!

If you’re a current Shiftboard customer and have not been using Referrals it’s time to start! The process is very simple and already built into your current site.  Contact your account representative today with any questions.

-Alison J.

The rule “no texting at work” doesn’t apply to Shiftboard users.  Managers can easily message their employees via text through Shiftboard’s system.

Imagine you are an event management scheduler and just had to reschedule the start time of 15 shifts from 5:00 pm to 4:30 pm.  The text feature allows you to instantly reach and message all affected workers.  Most people don’t have continuous access to the Internet, but most everybody does keep their cell phone with them 24/7.

Texts are received quicker and are much more likely to be read then emails.  A nurse-scheduling manager can text all qualified RN’s who aren’t currently working to try and fill a last minute shift.  After a manager posts a new schedule they can text their employees to let them know it is ready.

Your employees will love you for letting them have immediate access to their schedules and you will feel confident knowing your workers can be messaged in a method that is rapidly becoming the most preferred method of communication.

Our family had attended a few University of Washington soccer games a year for years.  But over the past two years, Lesle and Amy, the head coach and assistant head coach of the University of Washington women’s soccer team respectively, have become good friends of ours.  Amy and her husband have two boys the same age as my two boys, and they play on some teams together.  Lesle’s high school-age son watches our kids sometimes, and keeps them busy running around more often.  Those two coaches probably think of it more as a cruel twist of fate that they know us, because I now and then after a game I step into my “armchair mid-fielder” role (I know virtually nothing about soccer, which must make it unbearable).  Regardless, our family has become boosters and close followers of the team.

The way to really know event scheduling?  Working with customers of course.

As I have followed the women Huskies this season, Shiftboard has been pulled ever deeper into event management in terms of meeting customer needs.  Our customer base began to not only include a multitude of festivals, but also professional event management companies.  The first was OneReel, a local Seattle firm that runs many events including a nationally known music festival, Bumbershoot.  Then came Film Independent, which runs the Los Angeles Film Festival.  Soon we had event management companies coming from across the country, including Linder & Associates in the Washington DC area organizing federal government-sponsored events.  They recently ran a Department of Energy event, Solar Decathlon, with scheduling software provided by Shiftboard.

In parallel, sports event management firms have been knocking on our door.  Cal-Berkeley Events & Ceremonies referred us internally to Cal-Berkeley Athletics, where the ticket office schedules their personnel with our software.  The CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge came in on extremely short notice from a referral this fall.  We set them up to coordinate their 100+ carts and shuttles volunteers.  We have soccer league customers and we’re breaking into hockey. I won’t bore you with a long list, but lets just say our account managers have event management on the brain.

We are pretty darn good at supporting the requirements of this business in terms of real-time scheduling and communication.  As dates, times and locations change on very short notice in the event scheduling world, every worker has real-time visibility into the calendar status.  Our system is exceptionally intuitive for hourly workers or volunteers with little technology patience.  And our software handles events with as few as 50-100 workers and very large annual gatherings with thousands of workers or volunteers. We have earned our knowledge in terms of an all-up-round software solution through direct customer interaction across all these types of events.

It’s hard not to care

As this fall progressed into November, the personal and professional aspects of event management were running in parallel for me. I sat with my family in the bleachers last Sunday, and my blood was up.  After a great season, a UW Women’s Soccer NCAA Tournament spot rested on their final game against a highly ranked USC team.  At the beginning of the 2nd half, the Huskies were down 2-1 despite playing far better in the first half.  I was trying to forget Lesle’s words after a well-played loss earlier in the season, “I hate moral victories.”

Given past history and some “coaching” from my wife after a few Michigan football losses earlier in our relationship, I generally try not to care much about sports these days.  That outlook helps keep me from getting too competitive.  But I have come to know most of the players and certainly the coaching staff of this team.  Needless to say, my 3 year old daughter was complaining about me cheering on a cold November afternoon, “Too LOUD in my ear, Daddy!”

The team battled back with a beautiful assist and goal between two fleet-footed strikers midway through the half, combined with a lock-down defense.  The same pair almost scored a 2nd goal that half on a breakaway among other solid scoring opportunities, but a 2-2 draw was enough.  When the tournament pairings came out earlier this week, the Lady Huskies were matched against the University of Mississippi for their first game.  Looks like in terms of both event management here at Shiftboard and more importantly the Husky Women’s Soccer tournament bid . . . IT’S ON!

-Rob E

Stefan Deering writes at the BNET Intercom blog about a comment made by Seth Godin, famous marketing guru (who I also follow and enjoy).  But Godin made some comment about how nonprofits are blowing it and don’t get social media. Godin couldn’t be more wrong.

We have a fair number of nonprofits, event management types, who are all over the Twitter-sphere and Blogosphere and Facebook-sphere (okay, that last one is a goofy stretch word-wise).  Point is, they do get it. They are leveraging the tools as well or better than some of the, scratch that, than many of the corporate and media types I know.

I’m voting with Stefan. Seth Godin Is Wrong about Nonprofits and the Web

-TJ M

We follow SIFF at Twitter, of course.

Plus we also are members of their active Facebook Group with almost 1,200 members. It is always fun to connect up with friends you didn’t know were also involved or interested in the Seattle International Film Festival.

SIFF is savvy about their online time. They have a great website, naturally. They have Twitter going for them. Their Facebook setup has me intrigued though as they have both a Group and a Fan page. I think that’s smart. Some people will just want to identify with the brand and stand up as a fan. Others will want to engage in discussions at a different level, much like the volunteers at SIFF who use Shiftboard to manage their schedules online. Groups allow that interactivity.

Oh, and just to prove they are a fun-loving bunch, SIFF has a great Flickr page, too.

-TJ M