BEST Skopje Hub: Integrated Membership, Activities and Event Management System

Project responsible:

Tomi Bogoeski 236024

Short description:

BEST Skopje Hub is a web-based information system for managing the internal work, membership development and event organisation of BEST Skopje. The database will contain information about students, members and their membership-history records, including observer, young member, full member and alumni status, while Board membership and other responsibilities will be recorded as time-limited organisational roles.

The system will manage regular meetings, Board and full-member meetings, assemblies, working groups, training sessions, fundraising call sessions, recruitment activities, motivational weekends and larger events such as Job Fair, BEST Course in Summer and hackathons. It will support event editions and sessions, organising teams, available functions in teams, applications with motivation letters, RSVP responses, mandatory-attendance rules, actual attendance and announced absences.

Special workflows will include applications for organising-team functions, BOMBA (BEST Observer Meets BEST Angel) applications for becoming young members and mentors, mentor assignments, membership progression and activity tracking. Authorised users will be able to manage events, approve applications, assign responsibilities and generate reports about attendance, member development, team involvement and organisational activity.

Detailed description of the project

Who is the database and project intended for, i.e. who, according to your idea, will be responsible for owning the database and the application and providing them as a service - is it a company/institution/organization or an individual and a brief description of their needs

The database and application are intended for BEST Skopje, a student organisation that organises educational, career-oriented, social and internal activities for students and its members. BEST Skopje would be responsible for owning, maintaining and using the system as an internal organisational service.

The system would store information about students, members, events, activities, companies and participation. A student could exist in the system only as an external participant in an event, such as a hackathon, training session, recruitment activity, Job Fair activity or BEST Course activity. If the same student later becomes involved in the organisation, the system would also store their membership history, such as observer, young member, full member or alumni status.

What problems in the company or organization will you solve with your creation?

BEST Skopje organises many events and activities, but information about them is often spread across cloud storage, forms, spreadsheets, calendars, emails, communication channels and documents. This makes it difficult to keep a clear history of who participated, who organised, which companies were involved and how members developed through the organisation.

The project would solve this by creating one structured database where students, members, events, companies, applications, attendance and responsibilities are connected. It would help the organisation track member progression, event teams, working-group participation, company cooperation, fundraising call sessions, RSVP responses, mandatory attendance, actual attendance and announced absences.

The system would also make it easier to generate reports, such as which members contributed to a certain event, which companies supported different events, which students participated without being members and which members were active in meetings or working groups.

What types of users will have access to the database and the project - in terms of types of employees in the company/institution or clients?

The system would have different types of users with different permissions.

Board members would have access to organisation-level information, reports, member development and event overview. The specific functions and coordinators in the board would manage information related to their responsibilities. Main Organisers and Core Team members would manage their own event editions, organising teams, applications, meetings and attendance records.

Regular members would be able to view relevant activities, submit RSVP responses, apply for functions, announce absences and follow information connected to their membership status. Alumni could have limited access to alumni-related activities and information. External students could have limited access only for public or semi-public processes, such as applying for a hackathon, attending a training session or registering for an event.

If there are other similar ideas in the same company or in the environment, or there are already ready-made solutions in the world, how is your proposal different?

There are many general tools for event management, membership management, project management and company relations. However, this proposal is different because it is designed specifically around the way BEST Skopje works.

A generic event system may store event dates and participants, but it would not model the connection between students, observers, young members, full members, alumni, Board members, mentors, Core Team members event participants etc. A generic company database may store company contacts, but it would not connect companies to specific BEST Skopje events as sponsors, partners, challenge providers, Job Fair participants or company-visit hosts.

The value of this project is that it combines membership development, event organisation, attendance, applications, working groups, mentorships and company cooperation in one database designed for the local processes of BEST Skopje.

Is it a web, mobile and/or desktop application?

The project would be developed as a web application connected to a relational database. A web application is the most suitable option because Board members, organisers, members and other authorised users could access it from different devices without installing a separate desktop program.