Bend Park and Rec plans changes, offers survey in bid to avoid future program registration meltdowns

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Bend Park and Recreation District is reaching out to program participants with a survey as it weighs plans to better address a big jump in opening-day registration that caused something of a system meltdown and much frustration recently.

Here's a message and survey link that was sent out Monday and already had 1,100 responses by Tuesday morning:

Hello,

Our recent fall recreation program registration opening day did not go as well as we hoped, and we’re going to improve it for next season.

The Bend Park and Recreation District team is already working hard with improvements including:

• Staggered registration dates for the most in-demand programs
• Increased technology speed and capacity for surges like registration openings
• A virtual online waiting room functionality, similar to what is used for purchasing concert tickets

Please help us by taking a brief 2-minute survey to help inform registration day/time preferences to serve you and your household. Responses accepted through Sept. 20.

The Aug. 16 opening day of fall registration activity was 800 percent more than the same opening day in 2018. This indicates to us that we have much higher urgency to registration than in the past, while our number of offerings are pretty consistent with programs we offered pre-pandemic.

Thank you for assisting us in serving you and others at a higher level.
Best,

Julie Brown
Communications and Community Relations Manager
Bend Park & Recreation District