Golden Heart Community Foundation Grant

Project Name Attendify: Creating an app for Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Project Start Date 03/2017 Project End Date 09/2017 Project Description Approaching the 2017 festival season it has been revealed that Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival will not be able to utilize the facilities of one of our biggest partners, University of Alaska Fairbanks, due to construction and renovation. In a typical year, FSAF uses 50 plus spaces at UAF for classes, offices and performances. Despite this challenge, we look forward to the opportunity to partner with other venues and organizations in the community. Having faced a similar issue in 2013, FSAF is able to conclude that communications proves to be one of the biggest challenges in this situation. FSAF relies on email blasts and social media to communicate with coordinators, guest artists, registrants and ticket buyers regarding classroom changes, venue locations, parking issues and general daily updates. Without all of the FSAF performances, concerts and classes being centralized in one location, there will be a great need to increase our communications methods to insure that all FSAF participants are regularly informed about the new venues being used around Fairbanks for FSAF events.

After thorough research and evaluation, FSAF has concluded that the best solution to communication complications would be to create an application that would allow us to connect directly to FSAF participants through their mobile devices. FSAF has selected the app host Attendify (https://attendify.com/) to develop the premium interfacing we are seeking for communication needs. This app will solve the communication challenges of being spread across town in different venues by acting as a much faster source of getting the word out to participants through direct messages, push notifications and more! For example, if there are traffic or parking issues near a venue being used for a performance/concert, FSAF can send a notification directly to the phones of participants well in advance so that adequate planning can take place for their travel considerations.

Attendify is reimagining the event technology space, and helping planners, sponsors, exhibitors and attendees create more meaningful connections. The app platform has been created to help people build deeper relationships at in-person events. This means using technology to create more face-to-face interactions, not replace them.

Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival registrants, tickets buyers, staff members, coordinators and guest artists would be able to download the FSAF app with our distinct branding. Participants would then be able to create their own profile, add classes and events to their schedule within the app, and it would connect them directly to our website to process all transactions. On the development side of the app, we would also have the option to pull all profiles already created on our website to pre-generate profiles for users within the app. The Iphone and Android Operating Systems are both compatible with the app platform, although offer different views to the user with various items on the menu.

The app will offer features to help FSAF boost attendee networking, keep everyone informed, gather realtime feedback, and even give sponsors measurable return on investment. Attendify’s social features help attendees build relationships with an activity stream that allows users to interact with fellow FSAF users by “liking�, posting and commenting on status updates, photos, etc. Users can also connect their app account with other social media accounts such as Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to share with friends and family on additional platforms. FSAF will be able to send push notifications to specified audiences within the app users which will be helpful in the event that a room or schedule change has occurred, or to even interact with audience members before, during, and/or after a performance/concert.

The current FSAF website would be easily integrated into the app, preventing FSAF staff from having to spend excess number of hours manually inputting information into the platform. When changes are made to the FSAF website, the information will automatically be updated on the app. This will be very beneficial in keeping participants informed of the FSAF event schedule, classes/workshops being offered, and a full line-up of the guest artists that will be taking part in the festival.

Not only will the app allow FSAF to find out what attendees love on the spot with surveys and polls, but the platform will provide analytical information that will give sponsors measurable return on investment.

The app features allow FSAF to deploy posts that blend seamlessly into the social timeline to generate leads for sponsors and pull analytics from any interactions with participants.

Below is a detailed list of all the features Attendify event apps offer: ● Activity Stream with photos, posts, comments & likes ● Attendee Profiles (can be created by users or uploaded in advance) ● Document Hosting (PDF, Excel, PPT, Word) ● Private Messaging ● Social Ads for monetizing your app ● Quick Polls ● Ratings & Reviews for speakers/sessions/presentations ● Bookmarks & Notes ● Instant Content Updates ● Push Notifications ● Agenda, personalized schedule, session reminders ● Speakers/Sponsors/Exhibitors/General Information ● Google maps integration ● Floorplans & interactive exhibit maps ● Twitter integration ● WebView feature to include your website/survey/social network page ● Gamification ● Statistics & analytics ● Password protection (optional) ● Multi-Language Support ● Ticketing Integration with Eventbrite, Cvent, RegOnline ● Salesforce integration ● Website for your event ● IPhone, Android & Web Version ● Unlimited app downloads ● Dedicated landing page & promo materials ● App live on the App Store & Google Play year-round Project Goals and Benefits What goals do you hope to achieve? Are you partnering with any other organization or entity for this project? What benefits will the community derive from the successful completion of your project?

Through creating this app, FSAF hopes to create a user friendly platform for participants of all ages and to specifically grow our younger audience by enticing them with a software created for their generation.

FSAF will create a campaign to promote the new app early in the season so that participants will be well informed of the purpose and capabilities of the new platform. With a boost in promotion regarding the app, our goal is to get nearly half of our registrants and ticket buyers (approximately 2,000 people) registered through the app and actively utilizing it throughout the duration of festival. This will allow festival to boost communication methods and generate new paths for conversation and interaction between FSAF participants and staff.

FSAF considers many members of the Fairbanks community as partners and will continue to recognize them on the app as we do on the website and other marketing collateral used prior to and during festival dates. The primary funder/supporter of the app, this year Golden Heart Community Foundation, will be recognized on the main menu of the app.

Because the app provides a live feed for all participants to share favorite moments from performances/concerts at many of our venue, FSAF partners such as Silver Gulch, Blue Loon, Raven Landing, Pioneer Park, various hotels and churches will receive an significant marketing boost. This feature acts a gateway for our venue partners to receive free advertising when they are mentioned in a photo, comment, etc.

The community will experience increased partner visibility and community ownership by being able to virtually share the expanded use of venues. Through previous evaluations, we have received feedback sharing that our ticket system has not always been the easiest. This project will not only ease ticketing for events but also create less paper waste making it more environmentally friendly. Without UAF as the central office and communications center, communications and info dissemination will increase drastically during the year helping FSAF reach a goal of making more meaningful connections with FSAF participants and supporters.

Measures of Success What outcomes will define a successful project? Who will be responsible for tracking these outcomes?

To define this project as successful, FSAF would not only like to see nearly half of our registrants and ticket buyers on the app, but also actively using the features within the app to fulfill their needs. Some of the main features FSAF will be tracking the use of are the creation of attendee profiles, the amount of activity in the live activity stream, the completion of polls and surveys within the app, the use of the interactive maps, and the click through rate of registering for classes and purchasing tickets. If activity is high in all of these aspects, this would also be an outcome showing success of the app.

The Attendify dashboard provides an easy to use platform for FSAF staff to create specific internal tracking systems for all activity that takes place within the app. The Operations and Communications Manager at FSAF will be the staff member who is directly responsible for tracking these outcomes and measuring them against the original FSAF project goals. Attendify also assigns a representative from within their organization that is available to assist FSAF with not only the development of the app if needed, but also the criteria that needs to be pulled through the analytics.

A great examination of success will be the direct feedback from FSAF participants. If evaluations reflect the anticipated ease of information and communications, this would exemplify the greatest success.

FSAF strives to create communication platforms that meet the needs of all participants and leave them fully satisfied.

Project Sustainability Is this project intended to last beyond the original grant term? If so, please describe how it will be sustained.

FSAF does intend on implementing this project beyond the original grant term. Once the app is created, participants will be able to download the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival branded app at any point during the calendar year. Each year as the new festival dates begin, Attendify will require a fee for the “new� event associated with FSAF. To keep this project sustainable, FSAF will open the doors to offer our current, and even new, sponsors the option to increase their support with the perks of being recognized as the exclusive or even shared sponsor of the app. The launch of the FSAF app this year will create a prime example of the benefits it draws, and display the new opportunities our current and future sponsors could seek in supporting FSAF and its participants.

Fairbanks summer arts festival Acknowledgment of the Golden Heart Community Foundation

Banner that was displayed at the top of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival App for the entire duration that a participant was on the app.

Website slider that was displayed on the home page of Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.

Loading Screen for the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival App.

Flyer that was used across emails, social media and print materials for the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival App. Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival will be mailing a full packet to Golden Heart Community Foundation that includes all the materials with recognition.

FAIRBANKS SUMMER ARTS FESTIVAL MOBILE APP ANALYTICS