5-Minute Read: Electronic Marching Intent Forms

Even as this year begins to wind down, we're already starting to ramp up for the coming marching season.  And part of that planning means getting your membership committed to the roster for the coming drill writing, music arranging, budgeting, travel, and more.  Many programs use an "intent to march" form for this purpose.  But there's so much information to gather from our membership, and a paper form is always a hassle to get returned to your office.  Why not try an online intent form instead?  The benefits are endless, and there is an easy and free solution in the form of Google Drive.

So Much Data!

We need to know so much about our student performers, beyond their contact info and performance medium.  The measurements for their uniforms.  Medical information like allergies and medications.  Which sandwich do they prefer: turkey, ham, or are they vegetarian? Sometimes we have to spend a whole week before a trip just gathering this information in the midst of a busy week of school and rehearsals.  Instead of dealing with this on the fly in the middle of the season, take care of it early with your intent form!  Using Google Drive's "Forms" feature, you can create a web-based form that gathers all of this data and automatically dumps it into a spreadsheet you can use to merge into any format.  Your medical forms you keep with you at all times for your performers' health, their contact information, and more.  And you won't have to deal with paper, illegible handwriting, or  retyping this information into a computer!

Easy and Customizable

You don't have to know anything about web site scripting or coding to use this tool.  Everything is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), and runs within any standard web browser.  And the customization options are excellent.  Questions can be a text box, paragraph, multiple choice, and more.  In addition, you can specify some questions as required (i.e. medical insurance) or make some questions only appear based on another response.  For example: "do you have food or environmental allergies?" If the student says "yes," then you can require further information from them with an additional question or questions.  If the student says "no," then no further questions are asked about allergies.

Better Return Rate

Using a web form also makes it easier to get a return from your students' parents or guardians because the difficult and crucial step of "getting that piece of paper home" is skipped.  An e-mail can be sent to everyone with the link to the form, and link can be placed on your band's web site.  This will lead to greater returns at a faster rate.

Perfect for Mail and Data Merge

Now you've got great data, already entered into the computer by your students and parents themselves.  It can be used as a mail or data merge in a host of ways, from mailing labels to medical forms. And here's the best part: I've already made a form for you!  Just visit this link, and from the "File" menu within the Google Drive application on your screen, select "Make a copy." Now you've got your own copy that you can tweak to use for your own band program.  Give it a try today!  And if you have questions, then feel free to contact me.