Certain Software®, a leading developer of event management technology solutions, announced that the National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America) has selected Register123™ to manage its attendee registration needs through 2012.

Register123, an online registration and attendee management technology developed by Certain Software, will handle events offered to nearly 500,000 student members of FFA throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

"We have used a number of home-grown systems for handling a variety of event registration tasks in the past," said Mark D. Cavell, information technology team leader at the National FFA Organization.

"While functional, none of them provided a consistent, efficient or quality end-user experience. Register123 will streamline the planning process for our decentralized event planning staff, revolutionizing the way we plan our events."

The National FFA Organization selected Register123 after completing a rigorous request for proposal process and examining more than a dozen other technologies. FFA solicited the help of Tech3 Partners, a meetings industry technology consultancy, to collaborate on the project from organizational diagnostics through the selection process.

"Our goal was to find the best fit based on FFA’s needs and supplier capabilities," said Rodman Marymor, a principal with Tech3 Partners. "After a comprehensive review of vendor proposals and presentations, we determined that Register123 was the closest match and the right choice for FFA."

FFA will deploy Register123 as a Dedicated Portal and integrate the attendee management technology into its Web site, allowing the organization the flexibility of a seamless Web-based application, without the need for dedicated in-house servers or IT resources.

"Managing the event planning processes from a single solution is imperative," Cavell said. "With dozens of annual events, many with unique registration processes, Register123 minimizes our need for custom development. Being able to integrate with a variety of systems—existing and new—is what truly makes Register123 stand out from the rest."

Register123 automates repetitive tasks and makes handling large numbers of registrations more efficient. The online registration technology provides a quality end-user experience for the attendee and enables organizations to manage their event management in real time, from any location.

"FFA understands the value of an attendee management solution that will allow them to confidently and efficiently centralize all of their processes and save them critical time, money and resources," said James A. Pappas, president and CEO of Certain Software.

"It is clear that FFA recognizes the need for proven registration technology to provide them with the flexibility of a robust in-house solution, without the time and resources required for custom development. We anticipate a long and successful relationship together."

The 2005 National FFA Convention, the largest event produced by FFA, will be the first to migrate to Register123 in October. The annual convention draws more than 50,000 attendees for the four-day event.