Case Studies

Customer Success Stories
RA Performance Group - BMW MINI
Event Management Company solves need to print confirmations onsite for BMW / MINI promotion
Challenge Implement a solution for printing receipts onsite & processing credit cards Solution Acteva Plus – the most comprehensive solution available Results Successful promotion with custom bar-coded receipts & secure credit card processing
Background
For 22 years, RA Performance Group has operated as a privately-owned, full service meetings and event management company. Headquartered in San Francisco, and with a satellite office in London, they have a proven track record of helping corporate clients of all sizes handle the logistics of delivering successful meetings, events, incentive programs, entertainment-based solutions or other special promotions. Business Challenge
Two specific requirements
When BMW / MINI approached RA Performance Group to organize and plan a series of national promotions — “MINI Takes to the States” — it was another opportunity to help a well-known corporate client. In this case, four regional events were held in Boston, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles over the course of a summer weekend. The target audience was MINI enthusiasts and prospective buyers. However, two specific challenges remained — how to incorporate a bar-coded functionality for attendees to print receipts for easy, onsite confirmation and offer credit card payment processing online.
“For this particular program, we needed a system that included a functionality that would enable people to register, order online, print out their bar-coded receipt and be easily checked in onsite by barcode scanners,” says Michael Benedetti, Web Designer, RA Performance Group. “It’s something we couldn’t handle on our own. We don’t do online credit card processing and MINI wanted attendees to be able to print out order confirmations after they registered for the events. Bar codes were an essential element.”
Acteva Solution
Secure credit card processing & printed confi rmations with bar codes
Benedetti was pleased to learn that Acteva offers both a bar-coded receipt option as well as secure online processing of credit cards. “We originally heard about Acteva through basic online research and we were immediately impressed at the options,” says Benedetti. “It seemed like most companies offered one or the other – but not both solutions we required.”
After contacting Acteva and reviewing options with team members, he learned how Acteva essentially handles all the hard work on his behalf — there’s no need to stock inventory or worry about delivery of the tickets. “We chose to go with Acteva because of the strong service and attention we received while exploring different online registration services, and because of Acteva’s very competitive rates.”
Benedetti learned that Acteva can also provide bar code equipment – helping organizers use wireless ticket scanners to speed and simplify admission control at multiple venue entry points. “It was a bonus to be able to create great looking confirmations that included the specific venue, date and start time for each of the MINI promotions.”
Acteva also developed a customized event registration page for the MINI events that mirrored the look and feel of their own website. In fact, visitors to the site felt as though they’d landed on the MINI website — although it was actually hosted on the Acteva site. “Just visiting the site seemed like it was a cool event to attend,” he adds. “The logo, fonts and colors were all very well done.”
When registering online, attendees could also use Acteva to view a drop-down menu with specific questions — saving time onsite and helping to ensure a smooth registration process. “MINI loved the ability to add specific, targeted questions to help get an idea of what attendees were looking to get out of the event.”
Results
Streamlined registration — and a satisfied client
“Doing festivals such as this was new to us and the Acteva team was very helpful in guiding us along throughout the process,” he says. “They even helped us acquire bar-code scanners for each of the four sites.”
The “MINI Takes to the States” festivals all experienced an increase in attendance and helped solidify RA Performance Group’s status as a leading professional solution for events and promotions. A lot goes into planning these events and Benedetti was more than pleased with Acteva’s role in the process.
“In the end we were very satisfied with Acteva. The folks at Acteva provided great customer service and technical support, and the application worked as a great solution for printing registration confirmations with onsite barcode scanners as a way of securely checking in attendees.”
Experience that counts
Acteva is the trusted leader in online event registration, ticketing and payment management services. Since 1998, over 14,000 customers have used Acteva to manage more than 260,000 events and process more than 4.6 million registrations. Acteva’s customers include Bausch & Lomb, Pfizer, SAP, Girl Scouts of America, Whole Foods, Craigslist Foundation, BMW/MINI, NASA, VMware, Apple, DHL, PG&E and thousands of small to large-sized businesses and organizations.