An Online Registration Solution is a key part of your event website. In fact, launching an event website without an online registration solution is similar to buying a boat to going fishing at a lake without bothering to buy bait – your there, the potential delegates are there but there is no way to reel them in. So, if you choose not to add an Online Registration Solution to your event website, you limit its potential to an information distribution centre instead of enabling it to be a registration and payment collection tool.

By adding an Online Registration Solution to your event website, you can accept registrations instantly online, offer delegate's instant confirmations and receive payments.

24 x 7 registration facility: By offering online registration, interested parties can visit your website at their convenience and can register anytime, day or night. This is especially important when dealing with people from different time zones. Information is available online and registrants can still make payment and get their confirmation email when your office is closed.

Automatic registration confirmation: Manually processing registrations, checking availability, creating a confirmation email or mail and then sending fax and mail-in registration confirmation is a long and drawn out process. When a registrant submits their information through the online registration form, the system generates a confirmation email that is sent to the registrant confirming their registration. This confirmation email can also include any other information you need to inform the registrants about or even a printable bar coded badge to gain entry to the event.

Close sales instantly: Most Online Registration Solutions come with an online payment facility. This means you can not accept and confirm registrations instantly but also secure the delegates presence at your event with a real time payment. When you use real-time online credit card processing, you get more of a commitment from the registrants. Within a few seconds they know if the transaction has been approved and you have the security of knowing you have the fees. Otherwise you may be waiting for a cheque and, in the meantime, you may have to put other registrants on a wait list until you know for sure that a registrant is attending.

These are just 3 benefits of an Online Registration Solution. It can also help you eliminate data entry, reduce errors, decrease printing costs and more. In the next EventAvenue issues, we will elaborate on some of the more obscure uses of an Online Registration Solution.