PROBLEM
With offices in Edmonton and Calgary, The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) and its 86 affiliated groups are made up of 54 local chapters, 22 specialist councils and 10 convention associations. Each year, these groups host several events, some of which feature multiple breakout sessions and attract up to 7,000 attendees. Yet, without a centrally hosted event registration system, ATA subgroups have to outsource event planning or rely on manual processes to register participants, develop itineraries and alert attendees to last minute changes. In addition to being potentially error-prone and time consuming, the manual process created anxiety among event chairs and required regular re-training to perform this function.

“By sharing our vision, Allstream is helping us accelerate development, simplify maintenance
and reduce costs.”

– Terry Bruchal, Director,
Information and Technology Services,
The Alberta Teachers’ Association.

SOLUTION
The ATA is currently engaged in a five-year initiative to implement a network for teachers, called TNET (Teacher Network), to facilitate communication, collaboration, and information exchange for its members. An integral part of the plan is a migration to a Microsoft technology platform. Given this focus, the ATA thought it was desirable to base its event registration system on a Microsoft SharePoint template. So it went in search of a business partner with extensive Microsoft expertise. “It quickly became clear that Allstream was the right partner,” notes Terry Bruchal, Director for the ATA. In addition to being certified in all Microsoft technologies, Allstream shared ATA’s vision on how to configure the SharePoint template to accelerate development time, simplify maintenance and reduce costs. By not building from the ground up, the ATA is receiving a scalable, easy to maintain and user friendly solution.

RESULTS
Working with Allstream, the ATA has built a Web accessible event registration solution that is being piloted by several ATA groups, enabling the ATA to:

• Develop a prototype and go to pilot 20% faster than building from the ground up
• Reduce development costs by accelerating implementation
• Have a centrally hosted solution
• Allow its members to register for events online
  and select their own itinerary
• Automatically alert attendees to last minute changes
  and event updates
• Simplify annual event planning and streamline training by retaining all relevant documentation within the system
  

“We truly appreciate Allstream’s shared philosophy, core competencies and commitment to customer service,” says Bruchal. Thanks to the success of this initiative, the ATA is working with Allstream on several new Microsoft Office SharePoint Server projects.