Not all VBS events are in person; some are online. Choose which way you're planning to host your VBS and follow those steps to check in kids.
In Person
It's time to greet all those people with smiling faces! From the Registrations event, create a Checkistrations event to make checking in on each day much quicker and easier.
Create Event
From the event in Registrations, click Check-In, and then select the event that you want to create, based on the assignments you made previously.
You can also create an event in Check-Ins separately from Registrations.
Pro: Events can have show at/hide at times, use balanced check-in feature, and use the Services integration for Volunteers.
Con: Registrations information, such as balance due, assignments, and missing forms, will not be carried over.
Check People In
If you create the event based on assignments, you can switch between team lists on the Roster Station.
If you check someone in who hasn't registered for the event, they will show up as a Guest, but they will not be automatically registered for the event and will not show up on the list the next day.
If your church uses the Church Center app, people can pre-check their kids in, and then simply scan a QR code when they arrive!
You can create a custom label to print when people check in. The label can include the Registrations attendee type, add-ons, and the VBS logo!
Check Out and Start New
At the end of VBS, check out kids using their security tag with a scanner at a Manned Station. On the Admin side, add a filter for not checked out to see who you might have missed.
When you're ready to start checking kids in again the next morning, open the stations locked to the VBS event and start checking in!
Online
In order to maintain social distancing, kids can still engage and be checked in through Groups!
Set Up Groups
Create a group type for VBS with the following settings and defaults for optimal security.
Settings:
- Disable the map view, as the events will be online.
- Allow leaders to enable group messaging.
Defaults:
- Membership: do not list the meeting schedule.
- Membership: do not allow the leader to search the database.
- Membership: allow members to see the leader's name, photo, and phone number and the member's names.
- Membership: set the location as virtual.
- Events: do not list the event calendar publicly.
These groups will remain private and closed, as they will only be populated by Registrations.
Once you've created the groups, you can manually add people to groups, or you can automatically add them to groups when they're added to a specific assignment.
As kids register for VBS, you can manually add them from the members tab.
Don't forget to add the leader!
Create a list of those in a specific assignment.
Create an automation to add those people to a specific group.
Set the list to auto-refresh every night, so assigned attendees will be added to the group every day.
If your leader is included in the assignments, you will have to manually make them a leader on the groups page.
Take Attendance
For every event, the group leader will receive an email about taking attendance, or they can do it from the event itself.
If there are any new members or visitors, make sure your leader encourages the person to register for VBS!