Childrens Ministry Online

Using the iPad for check-in

Posted on 23. Aug, 2010 by Kenny.

I’ll be the first to admit. Using the iPad for check-in was beyond cool. It’s funny how many of you commented and messaged me for more information about using the iPad for check in. A few weeks ago when I first wrote about the idea of using the iPad for check-in, that post got more hits than anything I’ve written in a long time. I think I know what it is. You really want and iPad, don’t you?

Ha! Well, here is what I posted a few weeks ago along with links and video. This is where it all started.

I wasn’t overly creative. I simply copied what they did. I downloaded WinAdmin on my iPad. From there, I ran into problems. When it comes to tech, gadgets and applications, I’m pretty knowledgeable. However, when it comes to networking and connectivity, I’m not your man. I was having network issues, so I had our IT guy get me hooked up. Because our wireless in our Kids lobby is a different network than the actual check-in machines, he had to set up the iPad for VPN. It gave him some trouble at first, but within a few minutes, that was working. He put all the server information in WinAdmin and within minutes, it was working perfectly. I really like the VPN feature which gives me a lot more options.

So this Sunday, we were looking for new 1st graders. We were doing something special for their promotion, so I was checking in families that had a first grader. We had a huge crowd on Sunday and having me on the iPad seemed to help with flow (even though one machine was down becasue that’s the computer I was logged into with the iPad). I was pretty busy, but it was fun and personal. I felt like I had a better connection with both the kids and the parents… I totally liked it. Initially I couldn’t tell overall if it was helpful or not, but the volunteers at check-in said that it helped them tremendously. Big win!

So, my thoughts…

This isn’t an iPad app. It’s more of a hack. You’re using an app to remote desktop into a windows machine and essentially using that machine to check-in kids. As soon as they check-in, the parents can pick up their tags from a volunteer standing by that printer. The downsides are that you have to have a computer that you’re essentially taking control of for check-in. Also, it’s slightly sluggish. Not enough for me to not use it, but not as fast if I was standing at that computer. You see, we’re still using assisted check-in with Fellowship One. Because of our set-up, this was a really nice touch. If we were fully integrated with self check-in, I’m not sure we’d need or want to do the iPad check in. However, it’s certainly worth playing with. I highly recommend you get your hands on an iPad and experiment. Then you’ll know if it’s worth getting one for your ministry.

Although we used this for F1, I don’t see why you can’t use it for other systems as well. Remember, the iPad doesn’t really print, so you’ll essentially have to use a remote desktop app like WinAdmin to take over a computer with a printer. Definitely worth checking out though.

What I’m hoping for? That someone would develop and iPad app that integrates with F1 check-in where this is a feature and not a hack… but for now, this will work.

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Installing a Zebra Printer for Fellowship One

Posted on 04. Aug, 2010 by Kenny.

Since Easter, I’ve had three check in computers die on me. Since then, we’ve had to reinstall printers on the new computers. When it comes to check-in, I know more than anyone else at our church, so it’s usually much faster for me to make sure the printer works for check-in. If you use Fellowship One and have worked with Zebra, printers, you will know that installing a Zebra Printer to work with F1 is about as easy as meeting the president. Let’s just say it’s not the most intuitive process. Since I’ve had to do this three times in the last few months, I finally made notes. This blog post is a result of these notes. Hopefully this post helps someone else in Zebra printer hell, but this blog post is a reference for me for when I have to install another printer on a new computer.

I have a feeling that someone is going to read this post and say, “Hey, you’re totally going about this the wrong way.” Please, if you know of an easier way, leave a comment with your instructions.

First of all, figure out what Zebra printer you have. We have a mixture of LP 2844′s and LP 2844-Z’s. I think that at one point, I might have even had a few TLP-2844′s that I got off Ebay for a good price. First of all, you’ve got to download your drivers. You can get them all from the Zebra website drivers page. On the left-hand side, just select the model of the printer you have and it will take you to a page where you can download the appropriate drivers. I’ve just been downloading the recommended driver for my model which is usually some from of the “Zebra Designer Driver.” Download the driver and install it.

Once I’ve installed the driver, my computer usually recognizes the printer at this point, connecting the driver to the new printer. I usually go to “printers” under the start menu and install a new printer. Because I’ve installed the drivers and the Zebra is connected to the computer, it adds the Zebra as the new printer. Now the goal is to get the printer to print a test page.

From the printer control panel, I right click on the Zebra printer and click on properties. On the general tab, I might go ahead and click, “print test page” to see if it’s working. Usually I’ve got to make sure some other things are right before it will work. On the sharing tab, I usually select “share this printer.” I think I remember some documentation telling me that I’m supposed to share, but I can’t remember. Honestly, I think some of my machines have sharing turned on and others have it turned off. On the ports tab, I make sure the computer is talking to the port the printer is plugged into. That would be USB virtual printer port for a USB connected Zebra or the LTP port if it’s connected by the old printer port. Last of all, I’d check the advanced tab just to make sure the right driver is connected, although I don’t think I’ve ever had to make any adjustments on this page. After checking all these things, I go back to the general tab to print a test page. Remember, if you can’t print a test page from here, you won’t be able to do it from F1 check-in. If you get stuck, get any computer geek to get it working. It may take them a bit, but they’ll figure it out. Honestly, this part has been the most frustrating in the past.

Now that the printer is working, do the rest of the setup in F1. Log in to check-in and type in an active activity code. Go to the menu and click the button, “Print Test Tag.” If it prints here, you’re in business. If nothing happens, you need to set up the default printer. Click on the button, “Set default printer.” From here, just select the Zebra you have installed. I find that is shows all the printers you have access to, including old installations you might not use anymore. When you clean these out of your printer control panel, they should go away from the list in F1. Once you select the zebra as your default, try to print another test page. If it prints, you’re in business. Be sure to test it though with a few families just to make sure everything is working.

If it’s still not working, have someone better at this stuff than you work on it. Don’t call or email me becasue all I’ll do it tell you to do what I just wrote. I really love Fellowship One for check-in and the Zebra printers are the most durable thermal printers I’ve ever used, but setting them up has been a beast. I hope this helps. If you have any suggestions, comment below!

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Secrets for successful check-in

Posted on 03. Aug, 2010 by Kenny.

Two weeks ago, Fellowship Technologies held a webinar about check-in. It was for any church using any check-in system; however, it was very heavy on the Fellowship One. If you’re curious about Fellowship One and think your church might look into it as a check-in solution, you need to watch this video. However, there were several nuggets that I took away that had nothing to do with F1 specifically. So, even if you don’t use Fellowship One, it might be worth your time to watch this webinar.

It is an hour in length and I don’t expect everyone to watch it, so in the next day or so, I’ll also post some of the things I really got out of it. I’m really excited about some of the things I learned.

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Why Fellowship One rules

Posted on 03. Aug, 2010 by Kenny.

If you read this blog regularly, you’ll know that we use Fellowship One at Gateway Church here in Austin. You’ll also know that I’m a big fan. This week I have a handful of posts about F1, specifically about check-in. However, I thought I’d begin this little series of posts explaining why I’m such a big fan.

1. Fellowship One was not the first church management system I’ve used, but it was the first check-in system I’ve used. The church I was at decided to switch to another system, which we used for 18 months before switching to another system. Two years later they switched yet again. I’ll just say that the two years after leaving F1 were not very fun when it came to check-in. Not only have I used other systems, but I’ve researched, tested and explored countless other systems. No other system matches F1. No one. You may find another system that does fast check-in, but it may not tie into event registration or other family involvement as seamlessly. This is why I’m a fan.
2. Flexibility. F1 is the most flexible check-in systems available. If I want all kids to be pre-assigned to classes before they arrive on Sunday, I can do that. If I don’t want kids to ever be assigned to any classrooms and allow them to check in to any classroom, I can do that. Even kids with assignments can switch to a different classroom without requiring an act of Congress. It’s all automated and 95% of the time, check-in attendants can just follow what F1 is directing them to do, and they’ll be right. The system is flexible enough that we can even come up with out of the box ideas of how to assign kids to special events, classes or groups and it just works. Nothing is as fast and flexible. This is why I’m a fan.
3. Control. With F1, I have control. It sounds bad when I say that, but really, it’s a good thing. At Gateway we experience near-capacity attendance in the Fall and Winter months. Literally, 80% of my Early Childhood rooms will reach maximum capacity. Non-intuitive check-in systems cause you to sometimes have 4 kids in one classroom with 25 in the one next door. With F1, I can load balance rooms so that they fill up evenly. I can close rooms when they get too full allowing kids to overflow into other rooms with more space. Through assignments, I can make sure certain kids always check into the same classroom. Last of all, I can shut down ministry areas to protect ratios or prevent over-crowding (unsafe ministry environments).

There are lots of other cool things about F1 and check-in, but you’ll just have to find out what those are for yourself.

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Using an iPad for check-in

Posted on 21. Jul, 2010 by Kenny.

I have to admit, this is one of the coolest things I’ve seen relating to check-in. This has me interested enough that I’m about to run out and get an iPad to try this out for myself. I’ve actually already asked to borrow someone’s iPad so I can play with it. Check it out.

Now this is Fellowship One check-in, but because they’re using remote desktop to accomplish this, they could really use this with almost any check-in system. You can read all about how they did this on the Fellowship One developer’s blog.

In some ways, I see this being a really cool way to offer an assisted check-in that is cool and personable. We currently don’t do any self check-in, but this would allow us to still do assisted check-in without it feeling like the volunteer is on the other side of the counter. I’d be curious if anyone else has seen or tried something like this.

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Secrets of successful check-in

Posted on 20. Jul, 2010 by Kenny.

Does that entice you to read  below? I’m really late in getting this post out, but Fellowship One is hosting a free webinar (only one hour long) about having a successful check-in process. Anyone is invited to attend the webinar, even if you don’t use Fellowship One. I really don’t know if it’s going to be a big pitch for Fellowship One, but even if you don’t use F1, I’d plan to participate. I’m sure you’ll learn some good stuff.

Here’s what I do know. Fellowship One REALLY knows check-in. Trust me, I’ve seen and used many of the other leading check-in solutions and I’ve not experienced any that come very close to Fellowship One. Seriously, I love Fellowship One. Even if you’re not using F1 and it’s unlikely that you will switch, I’m sure there’s something you can learn from the guys who do it best.

So, here are the details:

Free webinar on the Secrets of Check-in For Children, Events and Rapid Follow-Up.

Fellowship Technologies will host its next webinar on July 21, 2010 at 1:00 PM (CDT) about the Secrets of Successful Check-In. This helpful and informative online session will reveal how to use Check-In for children’s ministry, activities and events with rapid follow-up!

The webinar is free, but registration is required. To register visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/675236104. This hour-long webinar includes insight from the staff of Fellowship Technologies on helping your church take check-in to a whole new level! One registered webinar attendee will win a FREE Godex DT-4 label printer, courtesy of POS Computer Corporation.

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New family registration form: Redux

Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 by Kenny.

Okay, you’re going to start thinking that I like to re-design registration cards for fun. Actually, it is kind of fun. So back in October, we redesigned the registration card we were using. Functionally speaking, it was just about perfect. However, as soon as it was done and after I posted it here, I realized something I was missing. The Children’s Ministry at Gateway has had somewhat of an “old world” feel thing going on. It looks great, but we’re wanting to move the look and feel in a different direction. Something more vibrant, fun and colorful. So I don’t know what I was thinking by redesigning our registration card to look “old world.” So, I sent this back to our graphic artist and she changed the feel. It’s a two sided card (doesn’t cost hardly anything to print on the other side) so we had our logo (the one we’re using now until re totally re-brand) splashed on the back. Let me know what you think.

BTW, on the last post, someone asked about what we do if a friend brings someone and how we handle that. Next week I’m working on a supplement to handle that as well as keep our records accurate.

To see my beautiful and growing collection of registration cards, click here.

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Flu Followup

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Kenny.

Several weeks ago I wrote this post asking if others have taken a bigger than normal attendance hit in October. The overwhelming response was “YES!” Of the dozen of people I heard from, all but one or two saw a decrease. Several indicated that October was not usually a down month and for those who usually saw a decrease in October, this year’s decrease was significant.

So, we’ve hit our problem head on. People get sick and there isn’t usually a lot you can do about it. They’ll get better and they’ll come back. However, at Gateway we’re reaching a demographic of people who might easily get into a habit of not coming due to sickness and have trouble getting back into that rhythm of coming once all is well again. It’s just the people we’re targeting. So here’s what we’ve done.

1. Phone call and email blitz. In Fellowship One, I ran this report. It essentially told me who my regular kids were and which ones were missing in October. It told me what the last service/room/date they attended. I had Fellowship One modify the form to give me cell numbers and email addresses of both moms and dads. We then sent this information on to our small group leaders and room leaders to call all the families that have been missing. The good news is that their absences has been for reason we expected… sickness.

2. Create some holiday momentum. Our Children’s Ministry has always been a selling point for our families. Generally the kids really love Kids Quest. We felt we just needed to remind the families and kids and do something a little special to get them interested in coming back soon. So we announced something we’re calling “Crazy Countdown to Christmas.” Essentially it’s some crazy Christmas fun wrapped around some fun Christmas styled games, five weeks of “crazy sock contests” and a great angle tree-like outreach to families in need in our community.

3. Promotion. Now that we have identified who is missing and why they’re missing and something new and fun to promote, we’re exhausting all our avenues of communication to get the word out. Kids don’t want to miss Kids Quest this holiday season. First we designed this postcard. I’ve got about 2000 cards to distribute to every child who attends the next few weeks. In addition, I’ve mailed this postcard to any child who has attended Gateway two or more times in the past 6 months. I really would have liked to sent this to every kid, but I didn’t have the budget for that. In addition, we have an email blitz this week, sending an email to the parents of every child who’s attended Gateway this last year letting them know about our Crazy Christmas Countdown.

So, we’ll see what happens. This campaign really isn’t very outward focused. it’s more of an effort to reconnect with those who have disconnected due to the flu. Again, there isn’t much we can do about the flu. If families are sick, we really don’t want them back (yet). However, this might help us recapture those who’ve gotten out of the habit.

The question I’m asking myself is, “how do we measure success?” We know that in October we were down 6% from last year where normally we are up 12-15%. Again, so many people are still battling the flu, we may not know the degree of success. Our attendance could go back up on it’s own even without these efforts. However, we’ll take a look at the numbers and see if we can determine anything that stands out.

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Great Fellowship One missing in action report

Posted on 06. Nov, 2009 by Kenny.

Last week I mentioned that we’ve taken a pretty big attendance hit in October. Our plan was to call regular kids who’ve been missing. In Fellowship One, report M1035E is pretty dang amazing.

M1035E allows you to select a date range to determine a desired attendance pattern. For my case, I wanted to isolate all the kids who have attended 3 or more times only during September and August. The great thing about this report is that you can select multiple activities. In my case, our services are set on 4 different activities, so this report was accurate even if the kids attended different services.

Then M1035E allows you to select the number of days from the end of the original range (in my case it was since September 27th) that the child hasn’t attended at all. So my MIA list was to find kids who have attended 3 or more times in August and September who have not attended in October. This was my hit list. When I first ran M1035E it only gave me parents names, home phone numbers, a household email and the last date they attended. I submitted a request to modify the report and it now displays the emails and cell phones of both parents as well as the activity and RLC the child attended on their last visit.

So, I’ve run the report and we’re distributing the data to small group leaders and room leaders of the activity/RLCs listed in this report. In the next few days our volunteers should have connected with all these kids just to check up on them and let them know they have been missed.

So, if you’re looking for a great MIA report, look no further. If you know of another, leave a comment!

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Fellowship One iPhone/iTouch app

Posted on 26. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.

Did you hear the news? Several months ago Fellowship Technologies announced that they would release an app for the iPhone. Yesterday I downloaded it for myself. Beautiful.

I imagine it’s just a start. Currently you can just look people up and see family, address and contact information (99% of what I need to do when trying to navigate F1 on my iPhone). It will be interesting to see if they further develop this app to view live check-in’s, manipulate ministry details, and even view submissions on weblink.

Regardless, it’s a great app. It’s free and you can download it now from the iTunes app store.

Click here to read their press release.

Does Arena do that? I don’t think so!

JC, I couldn’t resist.

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