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Nowadays, it seems like the most normal thing in the world: handling your event registration online. But in 2008, the world looked very different. No comprehensive (online) event management software, but software you installed from a CD-ROM.
Recently, we celebrated the 100,000th created event! In this blog, we talk with one of our founders, Jelle Roozenburg, and look back on our journey: from the first event in Delft to 5.8 million registrations.
Recently, we celebrated the 100,000th created event! In this blog, we talk with one of our founders, Jelle Roozenburg, and look back on our journey: from the first event in Delft to 5.8 million registrations.
‘That should be automated’
The foundation for aanmelder.nl was not laid in the lecture halls, but in the workplace of TU Delft. The founders saw how professors and organizers struggled with the logistics of conferences. Separate systems, manual Excel lists, and endless emailing were the norm.
"We felt that time could be better spent," Jelle recalls. "The idea was simple: organizational tasks surrounding an event should be automated as much as possible." The faculty gave them a small office with a glass conference table and allowed them to host their first server at the university. The very first event via the platform was therefore a conference for the university.
From digital invitation letter to all-in-one platform
The product from back then is hardly comparable to our comprehensive software of today. At the time, it was a pure registration tool: you could create a form and send a digital invitation letter. Email styling options were limited, and ticketing or check-in were not yet available. Visitors could, however, sign up, and the organizer could download an overview of all registrations. New features that customers needed were added daily."Back then, there were few online tools, and people still bought software packages that you installed locally. That meant you couldn't access your data if you were on a different computer. We had the ambition to do business on a ‘grand and compelling’ scale and to build a much better solution that was scalable." By now, the tool has grown into an all-in-one platform where everything, from Website Builder to (e-)invoicing and on-site badge printing, works together seamlessly.
The magic of 5.8 million registrations
The counter now stands at more than 100,000 created events and 5.8 million registrations. We are proud of the diversity of our users; from event agencies and SMBs to governments and universities, and from small-scale workshops to large events.
"If you had told me then that we would hit 100,000, I would have raised a glass. It’s still magical to realize that at any time of the day, including weekends or evenings, people are using your product to make their own event a success. Being able to play a role in that is exactly what we do it for."
Curious about the software behind these events? Discover aanmelder.nl and start a 30-day free trial.
"If you had told me then that we would hit 100,000, I would have raised a glass. It’s still magical to realize that at any time of the day, including weekends or evenings, people are using your product to make their own event a success. Being able to play a role in that is exactly what we do it for."
Curious about the software behind these events? Discover aanmelder.nl and start a 30-day free trial.