How the Geological Association of Canada Revolutionized Their Events Using Fourwaves

Managing large geoscience events used to feel like an uphill battle – disconnected systems, security breaches, and inefficiencies made every task harder than it needed to be. But with Fourwaves, the Geological Association of Canada streamlined every step, making abstract submissions, registration, and payments secure, effortless and stress-free.

Every experience with Fourwaves has been fantastic. The system is intuitive, secure, and has been a lifesaver for our volunteer-based organization.

Dr. Deanne van Rooyen

Associate Professor, Acadia University

Planning academic events before Fourwaves 

Dr. Deanne van Rooyen balances many roles. She’s an Associate Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences, the Assistant Department Head at Acadia University, and a member of the Geological Association of Canada (GAC). With so many responsibilities, her time is always in high demand.

She also oversees major events like the Atlantic Geoscience Meeting and the Geological Association of Canada’s annual conference. These gatherings attract 700 to 800 participants each year and handle up to 500 abstract submissions.

They are prestigious events attended by some of the most innovative and influential names in the industry, yet the system used to manage them was cumbersome, inefficient, and difficult to learn.

Abstracts were being manually managed, causing great frustration for both volunteers and applicants. On top of this, high volunteer turnover meant a new team had to learn the system from scratch every year. 

Then, their previous registration platform was hacked, exposing sensitive information and leaving the system unusable, which forced the team to search for a secure alternative on short notice. 

It was clear they needed a reliable, streamlined, user-friendly platform that could adapt to the ever-changing team dynamics.

Why use Fourwaves for event management?

After evaluating the options available, Fourwaves became the clear winner for its security, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use.

Better security

As anyone who has experienced a data hack will tell you – security is a top priority. With Fourwaves, volunteers no longer had to handle credit card data, and payments were deposited directly to the event bank account through a PCI compliant solution, significantly enhancing security and reducing risk.

Lower costs

Cost is always a concern in academia, and many of the platforms under review were far more expensive while offering fewer features. Some didn’t even include basic abstract management solutions.

User-friendliness

With new volunteers coming on board each year, the need for a simple system was paramount. Fourwaves’ user-friendly design truly stood out against its competitors. Even volunteers with minimal technical experience found it intuitive and were able to use it with ease.

How the GAC Leveraged Fourwaves

Using Fourwaves completely transformed how the Geological Association of Canada managed their events.

The platform tackled their biggest challenges while improving efficiency and creating a better experience for both volunteers and attendees.

Here are the benefits their team values most:

Streamlined abstract submission and registrations 

Fourwaves seamlessly integrated into the workflows currently being used. For example, processes like abstract submission and registration were automated and simplified, significantly reducing the workload for organizers.

Once the system is set up, which can be done rapidly, everything is on auto-pilot.

Also, categorizing accepted abstracts and generating a journal-compatible abstract booklet was a breeze.

Secure payment processing 

With Fourwaves, there was no longer a need for volunteers to handle sensitive financial data. Payments were processed securely and deposited directly to their bank account.

Quick website creation

Using Fourwaves, Dr. Van Rooyan’s team could now build event websites in under 30 minutes.

When asked what she would do without Fourwaves, Dr. Van Rooyan made it clear that using another system wasn’t an option:

Going back to our old system would be disastrous – I just couldn’t do it. Our participants are now used to this simple, intuitive platform and if we switched, I know we’d face user drop-offs and increased workloads.

Dr. Deanne van Rooyen

Associate Professor, Acadia University

Future plans 

The Geological Association of Canada will continue to choose Fourwaves because it’s easy to use and reliable, which is essential for their volunteer-based team. 

The platform makes it simple for new volunteers to handle key tasks like registration, abstract submissions, and payment processing without requiring much training. 

The team also values Fourwaves' excellent customer support and regular updates that improve the platform without causing disruptions. 

For Dr. Van Rooyen and her team, Fourwaves isn’t just software – it’s the tool they can rely on to help their events run smoothly, securely, and efficiently each year.

About the Geological Association of Canada

The Geological Association of Canada (GAC®) is a national multidisciplinary geoscience organization with representatives in all Canadian Territories and Provinces as well as the United States, Europe and other parts of the world. The GAC® makes significant contributions to the promotion and development of the geological sciences in Canada through publications, awards, conferences, meetings, and exhibitions.