CA2744169A1 - System and method for arranging group activities - Google Patents
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- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q50/00—Systems or methods specially adapted for specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
- G06Q50/10—Services
- G06Q50/14—Travel agencies
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- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
- G06Q10/02—Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
- G06Q10/025—Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
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Abstract
This application is directed to a system and method for registering users for group activities. Registers users may provide activity identifiers to friends and acquaintances so that more users may register for the activity, lowering the cost of the activity.
Description
Attorney Docket: 2837-2 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ARRANGING GROUP ACTIVITIES
FIELD
[0001) The present system and method relate to arranging for group activities.
More particularly, the present system and method relate to coordinating activity providers one or more users of the activity.
BACKGROUND
FIELD
[0001) The present system and method relate to arranging for group activities.
More particularly, the present system and method relate to coordinating activity providers one or more users of the activity.
BACKGROUND
[0002) Group activities, such as bus travel, typically involve making arrangements between the activity provider, such as the bus coach provider, and the people who pay for and participate in the group activity, the users.
[0003) There are several traditional ways making these arrangements. The travel provider may offer the trip on a scheduled basis and interested users sign up in advance for an activity. For example, a bus company may offer trips from A to B leaving every six hours and people interested in travelling that route may buy tickets for the bus leaving at a time convenient for them, if there are still tickets available. Such a travel arrangement may be termed a line run. In this example, the bus provider accepts the risk of an insufficient number of people buying tickets. The bus provider may charge different amounts for each ticket depending on the supply and demand for tickets on a given trip. For example, if tickets for only half a bus have been sold, the bus company may reduce the price for the remaining tickets on a bus to encourage more travellers.
[0004) In another model, a group coordinator may contact a travel provider to provide a trip for the group. For example, a sports team may need to travel from A to B
and the team coordinator may contact a bus company to make those arrangements. In this example, the team coordinator manages the risk of the team not requiring the services and collecting the money to pay the bus company for its services. Such an arrangement is typically called a charter.
[00051 In each of these models, the person actually participating in the activity has little control over the timing and choice of travel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[00061 In drawings which illustrate by way of example only a preferred embodiment of the invention, [0007] Figure 1 is a representation of some of the system in an embodiment.
[0008] Figure 2 is a flowchart of steps to set up a new activity in an embodiment.
[0009] Figure 3 is a display on a user device showing a trip search interface in an embodiment.
100101 Figure 4 is a display on a user device showing a user registration interface in an embodiment.
[00111 Figure 5 is a flowchart for obtaining activity information.
[00121 Figure 6 is a display on a user device showing an example of activity information displayed on an interface in an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] In an embodiment of the system 100, there are several parts that interact as shown in Figure 1. A plurality of users 101 interact with the system through a user device 110. A
user device may be any device that can communicate with a participant interaction engine 105. Examples of a user device 110 are smart phones, tables, or web browser software operating on a personal computer. For example a user device 110 may be an Apple iPhone or the Internet Explorer web browser software.
[0014] The user device includes a means for displaying data or information to the user, such as a screen or monitor and a means for obtaining input from a user such as a keyboard, touch screen, mouse, or other similar devices.
[00151 The communication link 102 between the user device 110 and the participant interaction engine 105 may be any suitable communication means allowing bi-directional communications between the user device 110 and the participant interaction engine such as the internet, a wireless network, a local Ethernet, or a private network or a combination of network types.
[00161 The participant interaction engine 105 communicates with the user devices 110. It also communicates with other parts of the system, including the coordinating engine 115.
In one embodiment, the participant interaction engine 105 may be a web server communicating over the Internet with web browsers on the user devices 110. Web server software that can provide an interactive website may operate as part of the participant interaction engine 105 such as the Apache web server.
[00171 The participant interaction engine 105 may provide an API (application program interface) that allows interactions with the user devices 110 other than using the web. In one embodiment, the participant interaction engine 105 may include means to communication with software running on smart phone such as an `app' or application.
For example, the participant interaction engine 105 may communication with an app running on an Apple iPhone.
[00181 The participant interaction engine 105, while shown as a single entity, maybe composed of a number of components either all the same or different or in any combination. For example, the participant interaction engine 105 may include or be part of a webservice, webserver, an application server or a single server with both web server software and application server software, or multiple servers with web server software running on some servers and application server software on other of the servers. As would be known to a person skilled in the art, the number of servers required may be depend on the capacity of the servers and the expected number of users using user devices 110 to interact with the system 100.
[00191 The coordinating engine 115 tracks the trips or other activities managed by the system 100. The coordinating engine 115 maintains a list or a database of available trips or other activities. The coordinating engine 115 may be a separate computer or server from the participant interaction engine 105 or may be a separate module on the same computer as the participant interaction engine 105 or the functionality of the coordinating engine 115 may be integrated with that of the participant interaction engine 105.
[0020] The list or database of available trips or other activities maintained by the coordinating engine 115 is prepared in cooperation with the provider 102 of the trips or other activities. For example, a bus company may provide bus services within a certain geographic area. Details of the geographic area maybe contained within the coordinating engine 115. The provider, or bus company in this example, may have a network connection between their computer system and the system 100 in order to update or provide details of the trips or other activities that are available.
[0021) A pricing engine 120 communicates with the coordinating engine 115 and the participant interaction engine 105 to provide information on the price of trips or other activities. The pricing engine 120 may retain formulas or records for the available trips or other activities offered by providers 102. A provider 102 may provide a schedule of prices for its offered activities to the system which is retained by the system.
Alternatively, the provider 102 may provide a formula for calculating the price for its offered activities based on variables such as the size of the group, size of the vehicle required, the distance of the travel, duration of the trip, number of steps, time of year or other similar variables.
In a further alternative, the pricing engine 120 may communicate with the provider 102 to obtain a price for a given activity.
[0022) The pricing engine 120 may be a separate server, a separate module or integrated with other components of the system.
[00231 The participant interaction engine 105, the, coordinating engine 115 and the pricing engine 120 communicate with each other. They may be connected using a private network such as an Ethernet network, shared memory of on the same computer, or use some of means for communications known to a person skilled in the art.
[00241 As would be known to a person skilled in the art, firewalls may be placed between components of the system, or outside the system to protect the system from unauthorized access of the system. For example, a firewall may be placed between the user devices 110 and the participant interaction engine 105.
[00251 As part of setting up the system, information about each available trips or other group activities, referred to as a group activity profile, are provided to the system. For example, the coordinating engine 115 may include a database or a list of the available group activities and details about the activities such as availability, group sizes, provider and other information required by the system. This information may include the geographic location or region of available activities. For example, for bus trips, this may include the geographic coverage of the providing bus companies. This information may be updated during operation of the system, either periodically or as information changes from the providers.
[00261 To operate, the system 100 also requires pricing information to be used by the pricing engine 120. As discussed earlier, this may be formulas, pricing schedules or connection information for obtaining the pricing from a provider as needed, or some other means for the pricing engine 120 to obtain a price for the available group activities.
[00271 In operation, the system 100 receives a request from a user 101 for service. This is done through the user device 110, with the user device 110 accessing the participant interaction engine 105 over a network, such as the Internet or a wireless network. The participant interaction engine 105 will typically have the facilities to interact with multiple user devices 110 simultaneously. The following description will focus on an interaction between the system 100 and a single user device 110.
100281 With reference to Figure 2, at step 205 the system checks if the user device 110 is registered with the system. This maybe done using credentials such as a username and password, a session key, cookies or other mechanism to track user devices 110 and users.
Information about registered users and user devices may be maintained by the participant interaction engine 105 or the coordinating engine 115. The information maintained may include the user's name, address, payment information, email address, other electronic contact information such as social networking identifiers, and information about previous interactions with the system, such as previous trips or other activities they have participated in.
[0029] The user operating the user device 110 maybe required to enter a usemame and password or the user device 110 may store credentials and provide those credentials without further user input from the user 101.
[0030] If the user device 110 is not registered, as indicated at step 210, the participant interaction engine 105 provides prompts to the user device 110 to obtain user information from the user via the user device 110. Shown in Fig. 4 is an example of an interface for obtaining registration information. Various user information fields 405 may be filled in by the user using the user device 110 and, when the field are filled in, a button 410 may be used to submit the information to the participation interaction engine 105.
Using the information provided by the user, the participant interaction engine 105 registers the user.
Registering the user by the participant interaction engine 105 may involve providing the user information to the coordinating engine 115 and/or storing the information.
[0031] Once registered, the user interacts with the system to obtain information about trips or other activities, and registers for activities of interest. At step 215, the participant interaction engine 105 obtains an activity request from a user device 110.
This process may be facilitated by the participant interaction engine 105, perhaps in conjunction with the coordinating engine 115, providing a list of available trips or other activities or providing search functionality so that a user, using their user device 110, can enter search criteria for an activity of interest.
and the team coordinator may contact a bus company to make those arrangements. In this example, the team coordinator manages the risk of the team not requiring the services and collecting the money to pay the bus company for its services. Such an arrangement is typically called a charter.
[00051 In each of these models, the person actually participating in the activity has little control over the timing and choice of travel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[00061 In drawings which illustrate by way of example only a preferred embodiment of the invention, [0007] Figure 1 is a representation of some of the system in an embodiment.
[0008] Figure 2 is a flowchart of steps to set up a new activity in an embodiment.
[0009] Figure 3 is a display on a user device showing a trip search interface in an embodiment.
100101 Figure 4 is a display on a user device showing a user registration interface in an embodiment.
[00111 Figure 5 is a flowchart for obtaining activity information.
[00121 Figure 6 is a display on a user device showing an example of activity information displayed on an interface in an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] In an embodiment of the system 100, there are several parts that interact as shown in Figure 1. A plurality of users 101 interact with the system through a user device 110. A
user device may be any device that can communicate with a participant interaction engine 105. Examples of a user device 110 are smart phones, tables, or web browser software operating on a personal computer. For example a user device 110 may be an Apple iPhone or the Internet Explorer web browser software.
[0014] The user device includes a means for displaying data or information to the user, such as a screen or monitor and a means for obtaining input from a user such as a keyboard, touch screen, mouse, or other similar devices.
[00151 The communication link 102 between the user device 110 and the participant interaction engine 105 may be any suitable communication means allowing bi-directional communications between the user device 110 and the participant interaction engine such as the internet, a wireless network, a local Ethernet, or a private network or a combination of network types.
[00161 The participant interaction engine 105 communicates with the user devices 110. It also communicates with other parts of the system, including the coordinating engine 115.
In one embodiment, the participant interaction engine 105 may be a web server communicating over the Internet with web browsers on the user devices 110. Web server software that can provide an interactive website may operate as part of the participant interaction engine 105 such as the Apache web server.
[00171 The participant interaction engine 105 may provide an API (application program interface) that allows interactions with the user devices 110 other than using the web. In one embodiment, the participant interaction engine 105 may include means to communication with software running on smart phone such as an `app' or application.
For example, the participant interaction engine 105 may communication with an app running on an Apple iPhone.
[00181 The participant interaction engine 105, while shown as a single entity, maybe composed of a number of components either all the same or different or in any combination. For example, the participant interaction engine 105 may include or be part of a webservice, webserver, an application server or a single server with both web server software and application server software, or multiple servers with web server software running on some servers and application server software on other of the servers. As would be known to a person skilled in the art, the number of servers required may be depend on the capacity of the servers and the expected number of users using user devices 110 to interact with the system 100.
[00191 The coordinating engine 115 tracks the trips or other activities managed by the system 100. The coordinating engine 115 maintains a list or a database of available trips or other activities. The coordinating engine 115 may be a separate computer or server from the participant interaction engine 105 or may be a separate module on the same computer as the participant interaction engine 105 or the functionality of the coordinating engine 115 may be integrated with that of the participant interaction engine 105.
[0020] The list or database of available trips or other activities maintained by the coordinating engine 115 is prepared in cooperation with the provider 102 of the trips or other activities. For example, a bus company may provide bus services within a certain geographic area. Details of the geographic area maybe contained within the coordinating engine 115. The provider, or bus company in this example, may have a network connection between their computer system and the system 100 in order to update or provide details of the trips or other activities that are available.
[0021) A pricing engine 120 communicates with the coordinating engine 115 and the participant interaction engine 105 to provide information on the price of trips or other activities. The pricing engine 120 may retain formulas or records for the available trips or other activities offered by providers 102. A provider 102 may provide a schedule of prices for its offered activities to the system which is retained by the system.
Alternatively, the provider 102 may provide a formula for calculating the price for its offered activities based on variables such as the size of the group, size of the vehicle required, the distance of the travel, duration of the trip, number of steps, time of year or other similar variables.
In a further alternative, the pricing engine 120 may communicate with the provider 102 to obtain a price for a given activity.
[0022) The pricing engine 120 may be a separate server, a separate module or integrated with other components of the system.
[00231 The participant interaction engine 105, the, coordinating engine 115 and the pricing engine 120 communicate with each other. They may be connected using a private network such as an Ethernet network, shared memory of on the same computer, or use some of means for communications known to a person skilled in the art.
[00241 As would be known to a person skilled in the art, firewalls may be placed between components of the system, or outside the system to protect the system from unauthorized access of the system. For example, a firewall may be placed between the user devices 110 and the participant interaction engine 105.
[00251 As part of setting up the system, information about each available trips or other group activities, referred to as a group activity profile, are provided to the system. For example, the coordinating engine 115 may include a database or a list of the available group activities and details about the activities such as availability, group sizes, provider and other information required by the system. This information may include the geographic location or region of available activities. For example, for bus trips, this may include the geographic coverage of the providing bus companies. This information may be updated during operation of the system, either periodically or as information changes from the providers.
[00261 To operate, the system 100 also requires pricing information to be used by the pricing engine 120. As discussed earlier, this may be formulas, pricing schedules or connection information for obtaining the pricing from a provider as needed, or some other means for the pricing engine 120 to obtain a price for the available group activities.
[00271 In operation, the system 100 receives a request from a user 101 for service. This is done through the user device 110, with the user device 110 accessing the participant interaction engine 105 over a network, such as the Internet or a wireless network. The participant interaction engine 105 will typically have the facilities to interact with multiple user devices 110 simultaneously. The following description will focus on an interaction between the system 100 and a single user device 110.
100281 With reference to Figure 2, at step 205 the system checks if the user device 110 is registered with the system. This maybe done using credentials such as a username and password, a session key, cookies or other mechanism to track user devices 110 and users.
Information about registered users and user devices may be maintained by the participant interaction engine 105 or the coordinating engine 115. The information maintained may include the user's name, address, payment information, email address, other electronic contact information such as social networking identifiers, and information about previous interactions with the system, such as previous trips or other activities they have participated in.
[0029] The user operating the user device 110 maybe required to enter a usemame and password or the user device 110 may store credentials and provide those credentials without further user input from the user 101.
[0030] If the user device 110 is not registered, as indicated at step 210, the participant interaction engine 105 provides prompts to the user device 110 to obtain user information from the user via the user device 110. Shown in Fig. 4 is an example of an interface for obtaining registration information. Various user information fields 405 may be filled in by the user using the user device 110 and, when the field are filled in, a button 410 may be used to submit the information to the participation interaction engine 105.
Using the information provided by the user, the participant interaction engine 105 registers the user.
Registering the user by the participant interaction engine 105 may involve providing the user information to the coordinating engine 115 and/or storing the information.
[0031] Once registered, the user interacts with the system to obtain information about trips or other activities, and registers for activities of interest. At step 215, the participant interaction engine 105 obtains an activity request from a user device 110.
This process may be facilitated by the participant interaction engine 105, perhaps in conjunction with the coordinating engine 115, providing a list of available trips or other activities or providing search functionality so that a user, using their user device 110, can enter search criteria for an activity of interest.
[00321 For example, for providing travel services, a user may define a trip by identifying the starting location, the ending location, the departure time, whether it is a round trip or a one way trip, the expected number of participants. The start and end locations may be identified by allowing the user to type the name or address of the location or indicate the location on a map. The user may elect multiple pick up locations and drop off locations.
The user that defines a trip or other group activity in the manner will be termed the `captain' of the trip or activity.
[00331 In one embodiment, a map may indicate the coverage area for the trip providers.
For example, bus companies may only be licensed to pick up passengers in a certain geographic area. Depending on the type of travel selected, there may be distance restrictions based on the number of hours it will take to drive to the destination. The vehicle may not carry sufficient fuel or the driver may be restricted on how many hours they can operate the vehicle without a break. The number of pickup and drop-off locations may affect the distance limitations. By restricting the coverage area or indicating distance limitations, trips configured though the system are possible but still allow the user the flexibility to choose their own start, end and time preferences.
[00341 In another embodiment, a user may search for an existing trip by date, starting location, ending location or other attributes of the trip. In this embodiment, the participation interaction engine 105 may provide a search screen on the user device 110 allowing the user to enter a start location and an end location. This maybe done by allowing the user to type the name or address of the location or indicate the location on a map. Since the trips located by the search feature are already configured, they will be captained by another user of the system and the user can select to be a participant on the trip.
[00351 Figure 3 is a representation of a display on a user device 110 showing an embodiment of a trip searching interface. The display includes a search interface 305, a search button for initiating a search 315 and some sample search results 310.
The user that defines a trip or other group activity in the manner will be termed the `captain' of the trip or activity.
[00331 In one embodiment, a map may indicate the coverage area for the trip providers.
For example, bus companies may only be licensed to pick up passengers in a certain geographic area. Depending on the type of travel selected, there may be distance restrictions based on the number of hours it will take to drive to the destination. The vehicle may not carry sufficient fuel or the driver may be restricted on how many hours they can operate the vehicle without a break. The number of pickup and drop-off locations may affect the distance limitations. By restricting the coverage area or indicating distance limitations, trips configured though the system are possible but still allow the user the flexibility to choose their own start, end and time preferences.
[00341 In another embodiment, a user may search for an existing trip by date, starting location, ending location or other attributes of the trip. In this embodiment, the participation interaction engine 105 may provide a search screen on the user device 110 allowing the user to enter a start location and an end location. This maybe done by allowing the user to type the name or address of the location or indicate the location on a map. Since the trips located by the search feature are already configured, they will be captained by another user of the system and the user can select to be a participant on the trip.
[00351 Figure 3 is a representation of a display on a user device 110 showing an embodiment of a trip searching interface. The display includes a search interface 305, a search button for initiating a search 315 and some sample search results 310.
[0036] When the user has identified to the participant interaction engine 105, using their user device 110, a group activity they are interested in, by, for example selecting an activity from a list or searching for an available activity, the participant interaction engine 105 obtains more information about the activity, such as the group activity profile, from the coordinating engine 115 and the pricing engine 120. This further information may include the price of the activity by providing a quote as indicated at 220.
[0037] With the quote from the pricing engine, the user, via the user device 110 is prompted whether or not they would like to sign up for the activity. As indicated at 225, if the user does not accept the quote, the user may request details, including another quote, about a different group activity.
[0038] For example, in a group trip example, a captain may request details and quote for a shorter trip, or a trip using a different vehicle if the quoted price is higher than their preference for their requested trip.
[0039] If a user indicates, via their user device 110, an acceptance of the activity details and the user is the captain of the trip, then the participant interaction engine 105 may provide further activity configuration options to the user device 110 for consideration by the user as indicated at 230.
[0040] Group activity configuration options may include group options. Since a group activity has multiple participants, the group options may include a variety of ways of including other participants in the group activity. In response to the activity configuration and pricing options, the user, via the user device 110 selects their options as shown at 235.
-[0041] In one scenario, the captain may already know who will be participating in the event. For example, a sports team organizer may know that the entire team will be participating in the activity. The organizer may pay for the group activity without requiring any involvement with the team in the registration process. In this scenario, as indicated at 240, the captain, via the user device will select the payment option for the activity making full payment for the activity. In one embodiment, the user pays the entire amount for the activity and in a different embodiment, the user pays a portion of the amount, such as a deposit, with the reminder due later. The deposit may be equal to the maximum per-person amount for the trip. The deposit may be refunded or returned to the captain as participants register and pay for the activity.
[0042] In another scenario, the captain may think that their friends will participate in the event but does not know which friends will be able to attend. After configuring the trip, captain may ask their friends to each contribute to the trip. In this scenario, the user, via the user device 110 may select a payment option for the activity where each user pays a portion of the cost. The group options may include the minimum number of people that must register for the event before the event will proceed, the maximum cost of the event to each person and the deadline for registering users.
[0043] The captain of a trip or other group activity maybe required to provide a deposit for the trip 240. The deposit may be refunded if an insufficient number of people register for the trip. As indicated previously, the deposit may be returned to the captain as participants register and/or pay for the trip.
[0044] In this way, a group activity can be organized and have a user's network of friends and acquaintances participate and sharing the cost.
[0045] Continuing the trip example discussed earlier, a captain may select a trip from A
to B that costs $1000. The captain may select the option where each participant pays a portion of the costs and set the minimum number of participants at 10. In this example, the maximum cost for each participant would be $100. The captain may require that people register by a certain deadline, for example one week in advance of the trip. If 16 people register for the trip, then the cost for each participant would be only $62.50. In this way, the participants of the trip benefit if more people sign up for the trip.
The captain also benefits by having his or her portion of the trip cost be reduced.
[0037] With the quote from the pricing engine, the user, via the user device 110 is prompted whether or not they would like to sign up for the activity. As indicated at 225, if the user does not accept the quote, the user may request details, including another quote, about a different group activity.
[0038] For example, in a group trip example, a captain may request details and quote for a shorter trip, or a trip using a different vehicle if the quoted price is higher than their preference for their requested trip.
[0039] If a user indicates, via their user device 110, an acceptance of the activity details and the user is the captain of the trip, then the participant interaction engine 105 may provide further activity configuration options to the user device 110 for consideration by the user as indicated at 230.
[0040] Group activity configuration options may include group options. Since a group activity has multiple participants, the group options may include a variety of ways of including other participants in the group activity. In response to the activity configuration and pricing options, the user, via the user device 110 selects their options as shown at 235.
-[0041] In one scenario, the captain may already know who will be participating in the event. For example, a sports team organizer may know that the entire team will be participating in the activity. The organizer may pay for the group activity without requiring any involvement with the team in the registration process. In this scenario, as indicated at 240, the captain, via the user device will select the payment option for the activity making full payment for the activity. In one embodiment, the user pays the entire amount for the activity and in a different embodiment, the user pays a portion of the amount, such as a deposit, with the reminder due later. The deposit may be equal to the maximum per-person amount for the trip. The deposit may be refunded or returned to the captain as participants register and pay for the activity.
[0042] In another scenario, the captain may think that their friends will participate in the event but does not know which friends will be able to attend. After configuring the trip, captain may ask their friends to each contribute to the trip. In this scenario, the user, via the user device 110 may select a payment option for the activity where each user pays a portion of the cost. The group options may include the minimum number of people that must register for the event before the event will proceed, the maximum cost of the event to each person and the deadline for registering users.
[0043] The captain of a trip or other group activity maybe required to provide a deposit for the trip 240. The deposit may be refunded if an insufficient number of people register for the trip. As indicated previously, the deposit may be returned to the captain as participants register and/or pay for the trip.
[0044] In this way, a group activity can be organized and have a user's network of friends and acquaintances participate and sharing the cost.
[0045] Continuing the trip example discussed earlier, a captain may select a trip from A
to B that costs $1000. The captain may select the option where each participant pays a portion of the costs and set the minimum number of participants at 10. In this example, the maximum cost for each participant would be $100. The captain may require that people register by a certain deadline, for example one week in advance of the trip. If 16 people register for the trip, then the cost for each participant would be only $62.50. In this way, the participants of the trip benefit if more people sign up for the trip.
The captain also benefits by having his or her portion of the trip cost be reduced.
[0046] In this example, the captain may be required to pay a deposit such as $100, the maximum amount per person, or $1000, the total amount, or some other amount.
The captain's deposit will be returned in an amount so that the captain pays the same amount as the other passengers, in this example, $62.50.
[0047] Payment details may be provided to the participant interaction engine 105 by the user via the user device 110. In one embodiment, the payment details are processed by a payment processor such as PayPal. The payment processor may process credit card or other transactions on behalf of the system 100 and deposit funds from the user into bank accounts associated with the system provider. Suitable receipts and/or confirmations would be provided to the user and maintained by the system. In other embodiments, the participant may be prompted to enter their enter banking or credit card by the participant interaction engine 105 via the user device 110 which is used by the system to obtain payment for the trip or other activity.
[0048] As indicated at 245, once the activity has been configured, a confirmation number may be provided to the user. This may be used by the user to trace the activity registration and to identify the activity.
[0049] The participant interaction engine 105 may also provide sharing options. The sharing options may allow the user 105 to provide details of the activity or registration options to their friends and acquaintances. In the sports team example mentioned above, the organizer may send details of the activity to the team members so they know when and where to meet for the trip. In another example, the trip organizer may forward an invitation to his or her friends asking them to join in the trip and share the cost. The trip or other activity details may be shared further to by those friends to their friends - ie friends of the friends of the captain - or even further.
[0050] The sharing of activity information may be done through a variety of mechanisms so that friends and acquaintances can obtain information about the activity.
For example, the activity details and registration information may be sent by email to people in the user's contact list. Such an email may include a link, directing the recipients to the participant interaction engine 105, such as by providing a URL, so that email recipients may obtain details of the activity from the participant interaction engine 105 and register for the activity. Similarly, the activity details may be sent by text message, instant message or other messaging services.
[0051] The activity details may be shared by the user using social networking websites with which he or she has an account, such as Facebooktm, Twitter or Linkedln .
Activity information may be posted to these websites and made accessible to the user's friends, acquaintances and connections. The participant interaction engine 105 or coordinating engine 115 may maintain credentials for these websites to allow posting of activity information easier for the user.
[0052] The system may provide incentives to the user to encourage others to register for the activity. This would encourage the user to spread information about their activities, and likely increase the number of people using the system to organize and register their activities. Such incentives may include financial rewards such as refunds and discounts for participating in an activity. The incentives may be non-financial such as points which may be applied to future activities.
[0053] As mentioned previously, since the cost for the trip or other activity is divided between the participants, all the existing participants have an incentive to invite other people to join the trip and reducing their costs.
[0054] When a user confirms a new group activity, the coordinating engine 115 notifies or alerts the group activity provider. This may be done by any suitable electronic means such as email.
[0055] For example, if a user confirms a bus trip from A to B, the bus company providing the bus, may be notified of the trip so that they can arrange to have the bus ready for the trip at the specified time. The coordinating engine 115 may limit the activities that can be registered so that sufficient time is provided to the activity provider to arrange for the activity, such as a trip. For example, the coordinating engine 115 may not allow trips to be booked less than 48 hours in advance of the departure time.
[0056] Once an activity has been confirmed by a user, the captain may check on the status of the trip. In one embodiment, this process is shown in Figure 5. A
previously registered user using a user device 110 communicates with the participant interaction engine 105 to log in as described earlier, perhaps by providing the username and password, as shown at 505. Users who are not registered may be asked to register before accessing the system as described earlier, step 510.
[00571 At 515, the coordinating engine 115 and the participant interaction engine 105 retrieve trips or other activities associated with the registered user. The list of associated activities may be displayed on the user device 110 and the user may interact with the device to select a particular activity. Alternatively, the user may enter or provide, via the user device 110, an activity confirmation number provided during the registration, at 245.
[00581 At 520, once an activity has been identified, details about the activity are communicated to the user device 110 by the participant interaction engine 105.
Details about the activity may include the time and location of the trip, the number of other users registered for the activity, the cancellation policy, the cost of the activity and the cost per participant. Captains may obtain further information about the activity such as the names and contact information of the users participating in the activity. Depending on the implementation and regulations, names and contact information may be kept secure by the coordinating engine to preserve the privacy of the users.
[00591 Figure 6 is a representation of one embodiment showing activity details for a trip 605, including a list of registered users 620. Other trips 610 associated with the user may also be displayed for ease of reference. The number of other users participating 615, in this case passengers on a bus trip, may be displayed. Other users may be invited by the user to participate in the trip, such as by clicking on the `invite' button 625.
The captain's deposit will be returned in an amount so that the captain pays the same amount as the other passengers, in this example, $62.50.
[0047] Payment details may be provided to the participant interaction engine 105 by the user via the user device 110. In one embodiment, the payment details are processed by a payment processor such as PayPal. The payment processor may process credit card or other transactions on behalf of the system 100 and deposit funds from the user into bank accounts associated with the system provider. Suitable receipts and/or confirmations would be provided to the user and maintained by the system. In other embodiments, the participant may be prompted to enter their enter banking or credit card by the participant interaction engine 105 via the user device 110 which is used by the system to obtain payment for the trip or other activity.
[0048] As indicated at 245, once the activity has been configured, a confirmation number may be provided to the user. This may be used by the user to trace the activity registration and to identify the activity.
[0049] The participant interaction engine 105 may also provide sharing options. The sharing options may allow the user 105 to provide details of the activity or registration options to their friends and acquaintances. In the sports team example mentioned above, the organizer may send details of the activity to the team members so they know when and where to meet for the trip. In another example, the trip organizer may forward an invitation to his or her friends asking them to join in the trip and share the cost. The trip or other activity details may be shared further to by those friends to their friends - ie friends of the friends of the captain - or even further.
[0050] The sharing of activity information may be done through a variety of mechanisms so that friends and acquaintances can obtain information about the activity.
For example, the activity details and registration information may be sent by email to people in the user's contact list. Such an email may include a link, directing the recipients to the participant interaction engine 105, such as by providing a URL, so that email recipients may obtain details of the activity from the participant interaction engine 105 and register for the activity. Similarly, the activity details may be sent by text message, instant message or other messaging services.
[0051] The activity details may be shared by the user using social networking websites with which he or she has an account, such as Facebooktm, Twitter or Linkedln .
Activity information may be posted to these websites and made accessible to the user's friends, acquaintances and connections. The participant interaction engine 105 or coordinating engine 115 may maintain credentials for these websites to allow posting of activity information easier for the user.
[0052] The system may provide incentives to the user to encourage others to register for the activity. This would encourage the user to spread information about their activities, and likely increase the number of people using the system to organize and register their activities. Such incentives may include financial rewards such as refunds and discounts for participating in an activity. The incentives may be non-financial such as points which may be applied to future activities.
[0053] As mentioned previously, since the cost for the trip or other activity is divided between the participants, all the existing participants have an incentive to invite other people to join the trip and reducing their costs.
[0054] When a user confirms a new group activity, the coordinating engine 115 notifies or alerts the group activity provider. This may be done by any suitable electronic means such as email.
[0055] For example, if a user confirms a bus trip from A to B, the bus company providing the bus, may be notified of the trip so that they can arrange to have the bus ready for the trip at the specified time. The coordinating engine 115 may limit the activities that can be registered so that sufficient time is provided to the activity provider to arrange for the activity, such as a trip. For example, the coordinating engine 115 may not allow trips to be booked less than 48 hours in advance of the departure time.
[0056] Once an activity has been confirmed by a user, the captain may check on the status of the trip. In one embodiment, this process is shown in Figure 5. A
previously registered user using a user device 110 communicates with the participant interaction engine 105 to log in as described earlier, perhaps by providing the username and password, as shown at 505. Users who are not registered may be asked to register before accessing the system as described earlier, step 510.
[00571 At 515, the coordinating engine 115 and the participant interaction engine 105 retrieve trips or other activities associated with the registered user. The list of associated activities may be displayed on the user device 110 and the user may interact with the device to select a particular activity. Alternatively, the user may enter or provide, via the user device 110, an activity confirmation number provided during the registration, at 245.
[00581 At 520, once an activity has been identified, details about the activity are communicated to the user device 110 by the participant interaction engine 105.
Details about the activity may include the time and location of the trip, the number of other users registered for the activity, the cancellation policy, the cost of the activity and the cost per participant. Captains may obtain further information about the activity such as the names and contact information of the users participating in the activity. Depending on the implementation and regulations, names and contact information may be kept secure by the coordinating engine to preserve the privacy of the users.
[00591 Figure 6 is a representation of one embodiment showing activity details for a trip 605, including a list of registered users 620. Other trips 610 associated with the user may also be displayed for ease of reference. The number of other users participating 615, in this case passengers on a bus trip, may be displayed. Other users may be invited by the user to participate in the trip, such as by clicking on the `invite' button 625.
[0060] By inviting other users to participating in an activity, the per-use cost of the activity may decrease providing benefits of lower cost to the captain and to the other participants. The group activity provider may also benefit from increase business from more people being able to organize group activities.
[0061] Other incentives may be provided to users of the system. Businesses at the destination for trips may offer benefits to group participants on those trips.
A business may subsidize some or all of the costs associated with the trip if the trip ends at their location. For example, an amusement park may subsidize all trips that end at the park by 50%. A trip that is configured by a captain to end at the park may cost less to the participants than a similar trip that does not end at the park. In this way, participants are encouraged to arrange group trips to the amusement park. This type of discount may be calculated by the pricing engine 120.
[0062] A business may buy advertising that appears or is offered to group participants or group captains if a trip end in geographic locations. For example, a restaurant may offer a discount on dinner to group participants that finish a bus trip on the same block as the restaurant. The system 100 may be able to obtain advertising money from the business buying such advertising because the advertising would be directed to users in the same geographic area as the business.
[0063] If insufficient people sign up for an activity, the captain for the activity may cancel the activity. Money paid by the captain and/or registered users may be refunded by the activity provider if the trip is cancelled.
[0064] Various embodiments of the present invention having been thus described in detail by way of example, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the invention. The invention includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.
[0061] Other incentives may be provided to users of the system. Businesses at the destination for trips may offer benefits to group participants on those trips.
A business may subsidize some or all of the costs associated with the trip if the trip ends at their location. For example, an amusement park may subsidize all trips that end at the park by 50%. A trip that is configured by a captain to end at the park may cost less to the participants than a similar trip that does not end at the park. In this way, participants are encouraged to arrange group trips to the amusement park. This type of discount may be calculated by the pricing engine 120.
[0062] A business may buy advertising that appears or is offered to group participants or group captains if a trip end in geographic locations. For example, a restaurant may offer a discount on dinner to group participants that finish a bus trip on the same block as the restaurant. The system 100 may be able to obtain advertising money from the business buying such advertising because the advertising would be directed to users in the same geographic area as the business.
[0063] If insufficient people sign up for an activity, the captain for the activity may cancel the activity. Money paid by the captain and/or registered users may be refunded by the activity provider if the trip is cancelled.
[0064] Various embodiments of the present invention having been thus described in detail by way of example, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the invention. The invention includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims (4)
1. A method for registering a two or more users in a group activity comprising:
a) obtaining one or more group activity profiles from one or more group activity providers;
b) storing the one or more group activity profiles in a database;
c) in response to a request from a first user, providing a group activity profile from the one or more group activity profiles in the database, a total price being associated with the group activity profile;
d) registering the first user in association with the group activity profile;
e) providing a group activity profile identifier, which identifies a group activity profile, to the first user;
f) in response to a request from one or more additional users with the group activity profile identifier from the first user, registering the one or more additional users in association with the group activity profile, a price for each of the first user and one or more additional users is determined by dividing the total price by the number of one or more additional users and the first user.
a) obtaining one or more group activity profiles from one or more group activity providers;
b) storing the one or more group activity profiles in a database;
c) in response to a request from a first user, providing a group activity profile from the one or more group activity profiles in the database, a total price being associated with the group activity profile;
d) registering the first user in association with the group activity profile;
e) providing a group activity profile identifier, which identifies a group activity profile, to the first user;
f) in response to a request from one or more additional users with the group activity profile identifier from the first user, registering the one or more additional users in association with the group activity profile, a price for each of the first user and one or more additional users is determined by dividing the total price by the number of one or more additional users and the first user.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the group activity comprising travel.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the one or more group activity profiles includes geographic coverage information for one or more travel providers.
4. A system for registering a two or more users in a group activity, each user having a user communication device comprising:
a) a participation engine capable of communicating with the user communication devices that receives a request from a first user for a group activity and a number of expected participants;
b) a coordinating engine in communication with the participation engine, the coordinating engine having a database for maintaining a list of group activities and a list of registered users;
c) a pricing engine in communication with the participation engine and the coordinating engine utilizing a processor for calculating a total price of a group activity;
wherein the participation engine obtains the total price for a group activity from the pricing engine and provides a per-person price to the first user in response to the request calculated by dividing the total price by the number of expected participants, the participation engine provides a reduce price to a further user in response to a further request from the further user for the group activity, the reduced price being determined by dividing the total price of the group activity by a number of actual participants.
a) a participation engine capable of communicating with the user communication devices that receives a request from a first user for a group activity and a number of expected participants;
b) a coordinating engine in communication with the participation engine, the coordinating engine having a database for maintaining a list of group activities and a list of registered users;
c) a pricing engine in communication with the participation engine and the coordinating engine utilizing a processor for calculating a total price of a group activity;
wherein the participation engine obtains the total price for a group activity from the pricing engine and provides a per-person price to the first user in response to the request calculated by dividing the total price by the number of expected participants, the participation engine provides a reduce price to a further user in response to a further request from the further user for the group activity, the reduced price being determined by dividing the total price of the group activity by a number of actual participants.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2744169 CA2744169A1 (en) | 2011-06-23 | 2011-06-23 | System and method for arranging group activities |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2744169 CA2744169A1 (en) | 2011-06-23 | 2011-06-23 | System and method for arranging group activities |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2744169A1 true CA2744169A1 (en) | 2012-12-23 |
Family
ID=47392160
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2744169 Abandoned CA2744169A1 (en) | 2011-06-23 | 2011-06-23 | System and method for arranging group activities |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2744169A1 (en) |
-
2011
- 2011-06-23 CA CA 2744169 patent/CA2744169A1/en not_active Abandoned
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