Gathering Our Voices
The Gathering Our Voices (GOV) Indigenous Youth Leadership Training, hosted by the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) and its Provincial Aboriginal Youth Council (PAYC), is held annually in March during the education break. This event has brought Indigenous youth from all over BC and beyond to connect, learn, share knowledge, grow, and have fun since 1999.
The GOV team came to us and wanted two things: a new website, and a registration system. They were getting a new logo and wanted a fresh look to match. The registration system was envisioned to help the GOV team manage the event. Components included youth registration, leaders managing their youth teams, facilitators and workshops, exhibitors for the career fair, as well as volunteer coordination and a talent show event. Previously, each member of the GOV team was managing separate Excel sheets, databases and lists. We knew that creating a unified system could reduce duplications, omissions, and overall workload.
The system was built around the attendees. They were able to pre-register, confirm themselves in groups or individually, and select workshops and other events to form an individualized event itinerary, which the system could automatically update. We also built in a number of tools for the GOV team to manage attendees and logistics for the events through the same system. Attendee check-ins, allergies, medical concerns, location updates, and transportation schedules could all be incorporated in the system.
The GOV system has been a great success, and has undergone a number of updates, from workshop waitlists to expanded reporting. The 2020 event set a record for the smoothest registration process in the event’s history.