August 2025
Editor's Note
Time to load up on school supplies! August used to be the highest grossing month for back to school shopping, but with schools changing to an August start, July is now emerging as the month to stock up.
As you gear up for the new school year, don’t overlook the ultimate school tool for seamless event planning: zFairs!
Our team has worked tirelessly to create a versatile platform tailored to a wide range of school competitions, including debate, robotics, and literary arts. Additionally, zFairs offers robust features for theater productions, streamlining auditions, crew management, ticket sales, and merchandise purchases—all through an intuitive online interface that makes transactions effortless.
Spread the word among your school community! Let them know about zFairs, the software designed to lighten the load of event and competition planning. With zFairs, organizing unforgettable school experiences has never been easier.
Team Notes:
We have learned that there are a lot of clients who feel that there are too many reports and that some reports don’t have cohesive information. We also heard feedback on how the reports are great for the current year, but aren’t too great for tracking across years.
We are working on building a more robust report viewer, but we would like your feedback.
- What are some functions you would like to get out of your report viewer and data reports?
- What other kinds of data would you like collected?
Reach out to us with your input at Support@zFairs.com
New and Improved
FORMS MANAGER HAS BEEN LAUNCHED!!
You can find Forms Manager under the Staff tab on your site.
Forms manager allows you to upload fillable custom forms and makes them available for participants to fill out without uploading.
You can customize fields to be signed electronically.
The 2026 ISEF forms have been uploaded, and can also be found in Forms Manager.
Students can request electronic signatures and fill out forms online.
Find a quick overview of Forms Manager on our YouTube site, and stay tuned for a more detailed version to help you get started.
Farewell To Some Great Directors
zFairs would like to extend a heartfelt farewell to our retiring event directors who have dedicated many years to serving their communities. We are deeply grateful for the time we’ve had to know you and for your invaluable contributions to developing our software. Your commitment and passion have left a lasting impact, and we wish you all the best in your next chapter.
As a retired science teacher, Patti Crothers helped establish the Alameda County Science Fair in CA, and has served as its director for 15 years. She has loved serving as the SRC chairman as it has given her the opportunity to advise students on their projects.
Karen Kinsman served as director of the Central New Mexico Research Challenge for 23 years.
Karen is the brains behind changing the name of the fair to Research Challenge to encourage participation from all types of science related fields. She has also dedicated many years as a volunteer for ISEF and Society for Science.
Tim Fino served for 25 years as a director of the Science and Engineering Fair of Metro Detroit.
Being a pilot, Tim has also dedicated his time flying for the Wings for Michigan organization, serving local families in need of transportation to medical facilities.
zFairs Tip: Flex Flows
Flex flow is exactly what it sounds like. Its is a flexible option with how your site flows. It is commonly used for registration, but it can function for collecting surveys for your event as well.
Don’t have participants, or do Adults handle a student registration? No problem. Setting up a Flex Flow allows for all types of custom users to register into your site, including vendors and attendees.
Setting up a Flex Flow is easy, but we assist in ensuring that it operates correctly for your site. If you are needing to set up a custom registration type, or want to set up a survey, reach out to us at Support@zFairs.com to get started.
August 2025 zFairs.com | 800.252.0903 | Support@zFairs.com