Kamloops moves to new recreation registration program

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Today marks the end for a longtime member of the City of Kamloops.

Old, sick, slow and no longer serviced, the city is retiring the ezReg system, launching a superior recreation program registry called PerfectMind on March 6. 

"It is heads and tails above what we had. The interfacing with the customer is easier, it's more user-friendly," says Linda Stride, recreation, health and wellness supervisor for the City of Kamloops.

"It has a really great filter system. Currently, let's say you're looking for programs for your five-year-old, there's no way to look for that on ezReg, so you just have to scroll through the early years section. This way, you can filter by age, date, sport; it's really advanced in that sense. It should save the clients a lot of time as far as searching for various courses."

Kamloops was notified that ezReg would stop servicing the system two years ago, so they joined a consortium with over 20 other B.C. municipalities, including Metro Vancouver, Whistler, Prince George, Kootenay and Vernon. Together, they put out a request for proposal for a registration system and PerfectMind won the bid. 

PerfectMind cost the city $109,383 to implement as well as a $37,239 subscription cost. 

"We all need the same thing, so if we are in it together, then chances are we would probably get a better system put together," says Stride.

Along with a more user-friendly interface, PerfectMind will have personalized accounts that will allow you to track your activity history as well as a family account feature that can keep track of an entire family's activities and schedules in one place.

If you've registered for a program, booked a facility, or held a membership with the city in the past two years, your information will be transferred over to the new PerfectMind system, but you will need to log on to verify that info. Anyone who has made a transaction in recent years will get an email in advance of March 6 with their login information.

"We're going to need the public to be patient with our staff because it is a new system. Although we've trained everybody, they're learning, so it may take a little more time in a face-to-face situation. But for those who are using the online platform, it is going to be very slick," says Stride.

As the city transitions from ezReg to PerfectMind, it won't be able to accept any registrations between March 1 and 5. People are encouraged to try the system out or set up their new account before spring/summer program registration begins on March 13.