Electronic attendance tracking
 

My FVP told me that exec wants to purchase a QR code reader for a monthly cost of $20 per month. When I asked what for, she said:

"We want it as a way to keep track of attendance for Chapter as well as Mixers and all Mandatory events. We think it's the best way to confirm everyone was at the meeting by not missing any faces in the crowds and preventing people's friends from signing them in"

So.... GC - do any of you have any free (or less expensive) alternatives to this? Paper sign in sheets don't work when your buddy signs you in when you weren't actually there. We need a way to ensure that only people who actually attend are accounted for.


Thank you!

How many members are you trying to keep track of attendance for?

There are quite a few devices as well as software programs that do this. You might check with your regional collegiate officer or your national HQ for information on the ones your GLO approves for use.

About 100.

My son did something like this in a big class he was in. The professor would put a several digit number on the white board and you had to text it to a certain number to be counted as attending the class. Of course, kids would just text absent friends the number and they would still get counted.

Instead of QR codes, why not a facial recognition system? Seems that'd be harder to fool. I know many companies are starting to use facial recognition systems for clocking in/out, so why not sorority attendance?

What about a visitor registration system. There are several on the market that let you take a photo of the person when "signing in" Here is just one example, http://visitu.co/

So... back to the original question about QR scanner systems to track attendance....

OPA is considering a system like this on the national level for our convention. Our policy states that official voting delegates (who are being reimbursed for part of their convention expenses) must attend a certain percentage of scheduled convention activities. When we were smaller, this was easier to track. But now that our convention is growing and getting more complex in structure, we are considering getting a technical system to track who attends each convention session.

Obviously, our needs are different than a big chapter who is tracking attendance at a big weekly meeting. We would need multiple scanners (to cover convention events that happen in parallel) but only for a week every two years. And obviously we would need software to generate unique codes to print on our convention nametags. Can you please share the companies you have worked with for your scanning system so I can see if they have a short-term option that might work for us?

Two options to consider:

1) There are several iPhone apps that will read QR codes. You'd likely need to cobble together the database on the backend but that would let you put together a low cost solution. (We use it for delegate voting for YMCA Youth & Government with multiple locations so I know that part can be managed.)

2) For a convention, the hotel should have a contracted trade show/exhibit services company (Freeman is one of the biggies) who you'll already be coordinating other items through. These companies have scanner software and multiple guns that can be leased. I attend several conferences that use them either to read badges for admission or to track visitors to individual vendor booths. This will likely be a more expensive option but will come with the backend already built out.