One of the many tools Shiftboard offers to members of our many customer sites is the ability to upload a photo (an “avatar” in the SaaS/social networking parlance).  That’s right – just like Facebook or LinkedIn.  Ho hum, roll eyes now if you are looking for “real business value”.  Sometimes, however, I love a concrete example that can change perceptions immediately.

World Equestrian Games (WEG) the largest horse show in the world ran from September 25th-October 10th in Kentucky.  WEG had some big requirements – an integrated online volunteer registration system, real-time communication, and of course event scheduling for an estimated 12,000 volunteers.  They looked around a long time, as I don’t think there is another system out there that handles their scale (research for yourself, however, I’m a sales guy).  Buried in all those requirements was an item they only mentioned as an afterthought:  the ability to export photos and contact information from Shiftboard to their security badge system.

Our system exported a file every week  of new volunteers pictures and associated contact information.  The security badge system requires a high resolution photo (ie not the Facebook/Twitter variety), but our avatar file system supports the beefed up requirements.  Where does the rubber hit the road, you ask?  In 2 weeks, WEG’s Shiftboard site  exported files of over 100 MB holding high res photos and associated contact/security information for more than 5,000 volunteers.

Talk about business value and ROI from a distributed online system.  All those 5,000+ folks uploaded their own photos from their own web browsers at all hours of the day and night (after also applying online in the same fashion, of course).  Most event managers try to coordinate that effort – managing times when volunteers can come in to get their photos taken and badges made.  Or they need to bring a passport photo (which 25% forget to bring along).  Try to imagine the number of managers, length of lines, volunteer frustration, and massive costs if WEG had done things the old fashioned way.  Instead, they have thousands of volunteers uploading pictures to the Shiftboard cloud service. Wow!  Any operations manager will tell you, it’s not just for social networking anymore.

Mark Gadia and Julie Zhan are Volunteer Co-Coordinators at the San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) and have been active Shiftboard users for 2 years.  As Volunteer Coordinators, Mark and Julie are responsible for all-things-volunteer including: volunteer recruitment, engagement, training, scheduling and communication.  They also contribute to the SDAFF Blog.  I recently sat down with Mark and Julie to learn more about the festival, gain insight into the volunteer experience and hear how Shiftboard has simplified their lives.

Shiftboard: Tell us about the San Diego Asian Film Festival…

SDAFF: The San Diego Asian Film Festival is an annual event with an emphasis on Asian American cinema, but we also showcase international films, shorts, documentaries and animation.  Along with films, patrons will be able to meet and speak with filmmakers and actors, enjoy meaningful discussions, hear live music, and enjoy nightly parties.  The 11^th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival takes place October 21-28, 2010 in San Diego, CA.  For more information about the festival, to volunteer or purchase tickets, please visit SDAFF.org.

Shiftboard: Give us the stats…How many volunteers do you need to recruit?  How many shifts are you looking to fill?

SDAFF: We have recruited over 800 volunteers.  We need at least 300 volunteers to fill over 1,000 shifts over an 8 day festival.

Shiftboard: Wow, only 2 volunteer coordinators manage 800 volunteers, nicely done!  What recruitment strategies have you found to work best for your organization?

SDAFF: The best strategy that we’ve had is word of mouth actually!  Our volunteers love volunteering for the festival so much that they can’t help but tell everybody about their experiences.  Also, we have a dedicated Street Team that heads out into the community and does grass roots marketing and volunteer recruitment in organizations, schools, and businesses.

Shiftboard: What advice can you give to other Volunteer Coordinators to help simplify their lives?

SDAFF:  Scheduling over a thousand shifts for an eight day film festival and keeping track of over 800 volunteers can be a daunting task.  Using Shiftboard has streamlined the process both from the administrative and volunteer side. Creating shifts, organizing and communicating with volunteers has never been easier.  Edward Shaffer, whose Shiftboard handle is “Sparkles Chocopie” and is also our Facilities Coordinator, says that “In the past, for other festivals, I have used other online scheduling systems and I prefer to work with Shiftboard!”

Shiftboard: Your team has created Shiftboard ‘handles’ sort of like a social media alias? Awesome!  Do you have any other fun aliases or stories you can share about the volunteer experience?

SDAFF: Edward’s handle is actually a combination of two things.  ”Sparkles” comes from the fact that he shares the first name of a character in a popular vampire movie/book series where the vampires sparkle when in daylight.  ”Chocopie” comes from his extreme addiction to choco pies which is a chocolate cookie snack with marshmallow filling.

Shiftboard: Is there any other ‘behind the scenes’ info you would like to share with our readers?

SDAFF:  We believe we are one of the best organized film festivals in the country.  Hopefully when patrons attend the 11th San Diego Asian Film Festival, they will see this.

Shiftboard: Thanks Mark and Julie for chatting with us. We wish you all the best for a successful festival.

Do you want to win free tickets to the San Diego Asian American Film Festival?  Be the first person to email Stephanie@shiftboard.com and we’ll send you 2 free tickets!

2006 FIFA Fan Fest in Munich

In less than 24 hours one of the worlds most anticipated sporting events will kick off in Johannesburg, South Africa- the 2010 World Cup.  While the U.S. has been notoriously lacking in the international soccer (futbol anyone?) spirit,  the increased popularity of MLS teams around the country is sure to trickle down into this year’s World Cup hype.  Regardless of the turnout here in the U.S. one thing is for sure: the rest of the world is ready to party.  For the 2006 World Cup games the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA- actually a french acronym hence the the difference) began to host official public viewing venues.  The venues were in 12 different cities around Germany, and the turnout was huge-18 million people showed up to the events over the course of the games, six times as many people that watched the games from inside the 12 stadiums.  For the 2010 games FIFA is doing it even bigger with the International FIFA Fan Fest-events will take place in six major cities around the world: Berlin, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, Mexico City, Rome, and Sydney-where Fan Fest coordinators used Shiftboard to schedule over 1,000 volunteers.

Attendance is expected to be even higher than in 2006.  Fan Fest is now a way for people to travel to the spirit of the games, especially since it is often near impossible to snag a coveted ticket to a World Cup match, and often priced well out of many people’s means to even travel to the host  city.   This years FIFA Fan Fest in Sydney will have the capacity to hold 30,000 people, and is expected to reach capacity on all match days.

-Nahid

With the official start of summer just a few weeks away, the unofficial summer kickoff has arrived with Memorial Day around the corner and the start of festival season.  Here at Shiftboard we are lucky to work with some of the best festivals around the world to schedule thousands of volunteers.  The 36^th annual Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) got under way on May 20^th, with a spectacular opening night and Seattle’s best and brightest in attendance.  Almost 5,000 volunteers have signed up to work on SIFF’s Shiftboard website, and the pay off will be well worth it as the festival continues to grow successfully from year to year.  As far as scheduling software goes, Shiftboard has proven to be as diverse in its uses as its users.  From the San Francisco International Jewish Film Festival, to the Devon County Fair in Pennsylvania,   to the FIFA International Fan Fest in Sydney, Australia.  We have a lot going on here at Shiftboard, and I look forward to posting more events as they happen!

-Nahid

One of the biggest challenges to any new, innovative product development team is which user group to target for your first product versions.  Since early users can make your product or break it, so this is no trivial decision.  There are generally two schools of thought on this subject.  One is to target a less demanding user group in hopes of learning slowly and iterating before they thrash your product to death.  The other theory is to put your product in front of the most demanding user group first, take your lumps, and if the product can hold its own, all the other user groups can be mopped up quickly.

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

We have made some changes and updates to the Shiftboard news page.  This is the first page any user sees when they login.  It’s similar to a reader board in that it quickly grabs the viewer’s attention.  All managers, coordinators and end users land on this page first.   The news page is completely customizable by managers.  You can include links to the Internet and insert documents like a PDF waiver or training packet.  The news page holds all necessary info and can be designed to be bright and colorful or plain and simple. Updating the page is a cinch and all edits are available to users in real-time.

Volunteer scheduling managers use the news page to thank members for their efforts and highlight shifts they are desperate to fill.  Nurse scheduling managers post reminders about proof of immunization requirements and CPR re-certification classes.  Lately, healthcare staffing managers have been using the news page to post current reports about swine flu.  Amongst all market segments it seems there is always something new to message.  Our news page offers a user-friendly approach that is easy to update 24/7.

For Shiftboard users, checking the news page quickly becomes routine, just as routine as a morning cup of coffee.

At Shiftboard, we listen to our customers.  If one customer has a particular need somebody else is likely to have a similar request.

A few weeks ago I started hearing quite a bit of feedback from our call center customers.  They were requesting the ability to view calendars in an hourly view in addition to the current day view. Call center scheduling is unique because shifts often are assigned in very small increments of time.  This type of scheduling is nothing like your typical 8-hour shift.

Shiftboard understood the request and recognized the value an hourly view would provide.  The hourly view was developed quickly.  This view slices data into clear and concise information.  Managers see color-coded assigned and unassigned shifts for each hour by team and employee.  The hour view allows managers to ensure adequate employee coverage amongst a highly variable schedule of inconsistent demands.  The option to see who, when, and how many employees are working during a specific time period saves time and money.

Other types of customers have started using the hourly view as well.  This view is perfect for event management companies scheduling employees & volunteers or office managers scheduling nurses & doctors.

One Minute Animation Explaining: What Is Shiftboard?

Distilling an idea into words is sometimes easy. Using images, audio, or video is often better.

We felt that one of the best ways would be one mixed with fun and enthusiasm: Animation.

You can go direct to our “Online Scheduling” channel at YouTube. (it is the same video):

Online Scheduling by Shiftboard on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/onlinescheduling

In case you don’t prefer YouTube, we also have the Online Scheduling video hosted at Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/onlinescheduling

Kudos to Lilipip Studios for bringing it all together and making it shine.