Great Neck Park District implements new registration software

Janelle Clausen
The Great Neck Park District has implemented new registration software this month, a move aimed to ease the sign-up process. (Photo courtesy of the Great Neck Park District)
The Great Neck Park District has implemented new registration software this month, a move aimed to ease the sign-up process. (Photo courtesy of the Great Neck Park District)

For anyone looking to sign up for classes or attend events in the Great Neck Park District, officials say it will be smooth sailing from here on out with a new system that has already boosted registrations.

The Great Neck Park District’s new registration system officially went online April 1 in a move park officials say will make enrolling in classes easier and more accessible.

“It’s much more user friendly,” Park Commissioner Robert Lincoln said last Friday. “The old system worked, but it was old and becoming obsolete, so we realized we either had to upgrade the old system or put in a new system.”

Superintendent of Parks Jason Marra said upgrading the website and its registration software was first discussed around three years ago when he first joined the district. The process officially started in late August, involving a lengthy evaluation period and test sites.

“The vendor we worked with informed us that a typical implementation process would take between 12 to 14 months,” Marra said. “The GNPD staff was able to create and launch our system in five months’ time. The vendor informed us that this was their fastest install and launch ever.”

The cost amounted to $59,500, Marra said, with $17,000 for the initial implementation and a $42,500 annual fee to maintain the system.

“Our main focus during that point was to just make it easy as possible for the residents and also improve our internal operations,” Marra said.

But the district has recovered that cost multiple times over in just 12 days, according to Marra. Since going online April 1, the district has registered more than 3,000 users, reaped about $226,000 in revenue and dramatically increased online activity.

“We are at 60 percent online registration and in our old system we never got above 28 percent,” Marra said. “So in the first couple of days, we have already doubled the usage online.”

Once someone signs up, he or she will have access to a host of new features in the system like a comprehensive dashboard and calendar of events and programs they are registered for. It also allows users to review their finances, previous transactions, set up auto payments, login via social media and sync their calendar using Google.

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