Is there any functionality being planned for tracking attendance on a nightly basis?

That is a feature we have discussed, but we have not implemented it and it is unlikely that it will be available this first year. You can print out rosters for tracking attendance on paper, but there is no attendance tracking built into the software.

More information from you or anyone else interested in this type of feature would help in our planning. Any thoughts about what you'd like to see and how it should work would be helpful.

Below are some of our thoughts and questions.

Would this be just attendance tracking, or a full check-in system? (A full check-in system with claim tickets, bar codes, etc would obviously be a major endeavor.) We assume most churches already have some form of check-in system for their children's ministry, so we're unsure that a separate VBS system would be that useful.

Also, many churches use some type of Church Management Software for record keeping. Would it make sense for us to be able to integrate Director with a church's CMS to upload data? If we do integrate with a CMS, would we track attendance in Director, or would we just sync up the student data so it can be tracked in the CMS? (What CMS software is common, and is any sort of integration even possible?)

We can envision a system where VBS workers--either at a check-in station or individual team leaders--could use any internet connected device to mark who is present. Obviously any time we're providing access to any student data security is a major concern. So careful thought will be required to ensure only authorized people have access, and only to the data they need.

As you think about developing this I would like to see something "simple". Maybe you could search by name, or pull up the "team" and check a box by their name then have this transfer to the "Team Roster". Something where someone with something like an iPad could check people in as they come in the door. Maybe they could just access the name and group they are in.

I would also like you to consider as you are designing that actually a majority of churches (half of churches in America) are less than 75 people. I realize as you are designing something like this that poses a huge challenge to design something with such diverse needs and different challenges.

Thank you again for all your work you are putting into the design and accepting our input! Keep up the good work!!

Our VBS roster since we started with AIG has grown from 30+ to 70+ in four years. We're hoping to be blessed with 100 children soon! I've also had experience with much larger rosters (100-200+). I've found the provided website as such to be a great enhancement to our pre-VBS and during VBS planning activities, especially for registration. To our staff, it is simple to use and very productive.

Every day before VBS, I have my administrator download the excel roster to whichever tool she wants to use (laptop, Ipad, phone) in order for her to keep attendance as children arrive. Then, we uploaded it back in to the roster and we had an up-to-date roster every morning, which she then uses to give the rest of my coordinators (games, snacks, crafts, teachers, etc.) to make sure they are aware of how many (or which) children they each will have the next day. This allows for pre-prep for the next day.

We have also made it a part of registration, especially after the first day, to ask the parents if their child(ren) will be coming back. We tell them this way they will have their spot all ready for the next day. Or, otherwise, we know if the child will miss the next day (for whatever reason) or will be coming back. When we ask the parent this, they usually tell us how their child feels about VBS (excited, fun, etc.). We often get told of the disappointment of their child that they're not making it the next day (or a day during the week) due to dr. appointment, planned day out, etc.

All this to say, our church very much appreciates that we do have not only great VBS materials to use, but also we're given the opportunity to use this VBS Manager/Director application for administering the VBS. We're very thankful that we do not have to do it on our own or "re-invent the wheel" every year.

Please pass this on to AIG ~~ Thank you again!

Would love a barcode option. We've been using that to check kids into our ACS system, which allows us to take attendance with the system we already have in place. We run just under 200 kids. They can check themselves in when they arrive.

A simple daily attendance tracking system would be most helpful for our church with 60-70 children attending. We also track our volunteers/teachers each day for SBC reporting so including them in the daily attendance would be helpful as well.

Please consider adding a simple registration form for the teen & adult classes as well - name, address, and contact information would be helpful.