CivicPlus® Recreation Management Software Helps Cherokee County Aquatic Center Manage Sales and Registrations

Cherokee County, GA, is known as the community “Where Metro Meets the Mountains.” Only 45 minutes true-north of Atlanta, Cherokee County, Georgia, is enjoying a boom of population growth. With families and new residents looking for the comfort of rural and suburban neighborhoods and the convenience of easy access to the Atlanta metro area, Cherokee County, Georgia, is seemingly growing by the day. According to Kim Whatley, Cherokee County Aquatic Center Aquatics Division Director, one of the biggest challenges in engaging the public in such a large and growing community is making them aware of everything the County’s Recreation and Parks Agency has to offer. It is a challenge even for an Aquatics Division that manages three pool centers and an outdoor mini waterpark.

“You would think since our Aquatic Center regularly makes the news that people would know what we offer, but our facility is located off the beaten path,” said Whatley. “You can’t see our water park from the road during the summer months, so people don’t always think about us.”

For a recreation and parks agency with so much to offer its community, Whatley and her staff rely on the flexibility and robust functionality of the CivicPlus Recreation Management software solution for such critical aquatic center management needs as point-of-sale transactions and membership registrations.

A Long-Standing Partnership

The Cherokee County Recreation and Parks Agency has relied on CivicPlus Recreation Management Software (formerly Rec1) for many years.

“We were an early adopter of the original Rec1 solution,” recalls Whatley. “We recently transitioned to the latest version of [CivicPlus’ Recreation Management system].”

When Whatley joined the Aquatics Division in Cherokee County, she was pleased to find the existing CivicPlus Recreation Management software was easy to use.

“I have used other recreation management platforms, so for me, making the transition [to CivicPlus] was intuitive because it’s so user-friendly,” said Whatley.

Today, the Aquatics Center uses the CivicPlus Recreation Management system to meet a variety of its recreation and facility management needs.

“We use [the software] in a lot of different ways,” said Whatley. “We use the point-of-sale functionality since we conduct many admission sales during the summer. That is the number one piece of the tool that is the most useful for us. Also, its membership and activity registration features are valuable since we sell a lot of swim lessons. We also sell membership passes to citizens, both three-month passes and outdoor pool passes for the outdoor season.”

Recreation Management Software that Provides a Convenient Resident and Administrative User Experience

Whatley says that Cherokee County’s residents have shared positive feedback on the latest version of the CivicPlus Recreation Management software and the County’s new Recreation and Parks Agency website.

“All of our classes are easily found on our website with links to pages where a user can find more information about classes, and then all they have to do to register is click a button.”

For Whatley, the Recreation Management system’s ease of use and intuitive functionality sets it apart from other recreation management solutions available to local governments.

“Compared to other software systems that I’ve used, [the CivicPlus Recreation Management system] is the easiest and most intuitive system,” she said. “Most people who are switching to [CivicPlus] from another system will find it’s easier to use and will be able to make an easy transition without extensive training. In our business, you are only as good as your software. It makes a significant difference in serving the community and in managing the business, and [CivicPlus] has helped a lot.”