mamamusings: February 15, 2006

conference registration software?

Does anyone know of a good, free, lightweight, event registration software system that I could install on a unix-based web server?

I’m running an event that will have ~90 people at it, and I want an easy way for them to be able to register for the event, and submit basic bios (and photos, ideally, but I can live without that). No money collection, no complex program management. And it would be nice to be able to have basic functionality built in to generate a list of participants, and even nametags.

Yes, I know this is buildable, probably with relatively little effort. But I have zero free time and zero dev resources to devote to this, so would much rather avoid reinventing the wheel if the wheel already exists.

staying the course

A couple of people have asked “offline” whether things are still on track with the dietary and activity changes. The answer is definitely yes. Still doing cardio 3x/week and weights 3x/week, and the changes in food intake continue. Gerald and I pushed our “cheat day” from last Sunday to Tuesday, so we could have a decadent valentine’s dinner. It was wonderful, but I found I didn’t really want to eat all of the carbs that came with it, so I ended up eating much less than I might have. (I even stopped halfway through the creme brulee, which is quite unusual for me.) Despite that, I felt unpleasantly full for the rest of the evening—a sign that my body has definitely adapted to the new eating habits.

Some discoveries of good replacement snack foods along the way…

• Luna bars, which I think are hands-down the best tasting of the various high-protein snack bars out there (so far I’ve tried, and liked, the S’Mores, Lemon Zest, Chai Tea, and Cookies ‘n’ Cream flavors).
• Soy Crisps, which satisfy my chip cravings
• Terra Chips, also good for chip cravings

Weight loss is slow but steady. Well-being increases are faster and also steady. It’s all good.