August 2026

Editor's Note

It's that time of year again where we stock up on school supplies, purchase new clothes, and get our hair cut. School is about to start and summer break is over.

While you are all out getting ready to look your best for those school pictures, zFairs is also primping up and getting ready for you. We have several new features that are sure to make you smile. We are excited to integrate some new practices to make the learning curve of zFairs easier to handle.

We also are breaking out AI tools to help us get better organized and help us recognize issues before they become an issue.

As always, we are very grateful for you and renewing with us. Here's to a fantastic start to the new 2026-2027 fair season!

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST CLIENT!

Science Talent Search of Victoria, Australia

New & Improved Updates

What's New:

• Bulk Mailer History: You can now see your history of emails sent through the bulk mailer! Go to the bulk mailer page and there is a new tab added to the top marked "History". In this tab, you will not only see what emails you sent out, but you can also view all the details of who received the email, and you are able to edit and resend it if needed.
• Scheduled Messages: Schedule bulk emails ahead of time. Filter by participant groups and interview times, and include unfinished Flex Flow reminders in the same send.
• Bulk Mark Ready Action: Marking the status in paperwork review just got easier with the Bulk Mark Ready action. Now you can select multiple entries and mark them Ready for Review or/and Ready for Judging.
• Delayed Paperwork Review Emails: When sending comments and status changes for Paperwork Review, emails can be delayed and sent all at once to participants instead of one at a time. Set this up in the Form Packets Manager.

Also shipped this month

We kept building after this issue went to print. Here is what is live now for the 2026-2027 season:

Registration and Flex Flow

• Flex Flow templates: Owners can publish a flow to a catalog. Other events install a snapshot and either use it as-is (structure locked; you still set local name, dates, menu, password, and notify emails) or copy it and edit everything. Convert a locked install to a copy later, or re-install to pick up template updates.
• Private registration: Run a Flex Flow that is not on the public Create Account path, with an optional password.
• Flex Flow data import: Import flow data from Staff Tools → Import.
• Unfinished Flex Flow reminders: Nudge people who started a flow and did not finish. Those flows also show in the bulk emailer.
• Team vs individual entry fees: Charge one fee per team or per person, depending on how your event works.
• Multiple mentors per entry: Turn on a setup toggle so participants can record more than one mentor.
• Bulk invite: Invite users from a CSV with an editable preview grid (paste or type rows). Find it under Staff Tools and Create Account.
• Teacher bulk register: Teachers can register their students in bulk, including school limits.
• School registration limits: Cap how many students a school can register, with an optional bonus when the school sponsors judges.
• Duplicate email checks: Choose, per role, whether a duplicate email is a warning or a block.

Paperwork, fees, and dashboards

• Form packets on paperwork: Packets now show in the participant Paperwork menu, not only in a separate manager.
• Reviewer short codes and participant replies: Insert common responses from short codes. Opt in if you want participants to reply on paperwork and packet comments.
• Media Release and Hold Harmless review: Staff review screen, plus saved unsigned sign links under Staff Tools.
• School invoices: Generate school invoices from Invoice Manager. Users can mark an invoice as not needed when that is the right call.
• Entry dashboard: Teachers, coordinators, and staff get a dashboard with paperwork status colors, icons, and missing-form abbreviations.
• Record History: Staff can see an audit log of user and entry changes, including uploaded files and custom question responses. Add or remove project tags during paperwork review.

Judging and awards night

• Smarter auto-assign: Mix by school, industry, teams, gender, and Title 1. Judges can set preferred divisions. Optional limits on how many judges pick a category as first preference. Reload any of the last 5 auto-assign runs, and read the audit when a project was not assigned.
• Live judging presence: See when a judge is on a project rubric, not only in the video room. Category captains refresh when a score is submitted.
• Awards slideshow: 16:9 layouts, winner reveals, and a recap.
• Name pronunciation clips: Attach audio per role so emcees can play the correct pronunciation.
• Showcase: Ranked top-entry picks and an editorial layout for entry details.

Sponsorships, staff, and more

• Sponsorship tiers: Sell store sponsorship packages with guest checkout (no account required). Public Sponsors page is available, and sponsor names can show on special awards.
• Custom staff roles: Define roles with page and action grants instead of one-size-fits-all staff access.
• Dashboard stats: Tables, totals, and category crosstabs on the event dashboard.
• People page: Extra filters and bulk delete when you need to clean a list.
• Uploads: WebP images, Flex Flow and special-award import, and up to 1GB video on the mobile file page.

New Configs:

• Entry Status - Hide status from participants: This will hide the status from participants in their profile.
• Participant's Student ID is their username: This allows participants to use their Student ID as their username. To add the student ID to registration, turn ON the config "Participants Profile - Student ID Number: Hide | Ask | Require".

Updates:

• Sponsors on Special Awards Page: Sponsors now show on the Special Awards Nomination page. Enter the sponsor name when creating an award in the "Assign Special Awards" page, and then turn on the config "Awards - Show Sponsors on Special Award Nomination page" to show names of sponsors.
• Circle Judging Updates: You can now see assignment details on the created group.

NEW LAST MONTH:

• Registration progress bar
• DOB field option for all users in their registration
• Archive Before Date to keep accounts created after date entered

Team Notes

Training Webinars & Office Hours: Every month we will meet virtually to go over a basic element of your event on zFairs.

Schedule: Every second Thursday at 10:00 AM EST and 5:00 PM EST.

• August 13: How to Refresh/Archive Your Event
• September 10: Setting Up Participant Registration
• October 8: Paperwork Review
• November 12: Judge Registration and Judging Setup
• December 10: Judging Assignments and Tags
• January 14: Assigning Award and Special Awards
• February 11: Promoting Within zFairs
• March 11: Reports

Email reminders will be sent out the Monday before the webinar. Please let us know if we need to add a different or additional email to our list.

OPEN OFFICE HOURS with Anna

EVERY Friday at 5:00 PM EST (starting Aug. 7)

Google Meet Video Link: meet.google.com/zmh-sgxf-kje

Dial-in: +1 484-403-0474 (PIN: 581 383 678#)

Come in and ask any question you may have, or get help setting up your site.

Tip of the Month: Answering Survey Feedback

The one problem with an anonymous survey is that we don't know who is giving feedback, so we don't know who to reply to. Luckily, we know that most of you read the newsletter, so we can answer some of the issues here!

Q: Need help learning or experiencing issues with the software?

One thing I noticed is those of you who are experiencing issues or struggling learning the software also replied that you didn't reach out to support. Please, PLEASE reach out to us! We are here to help!

Q: "I find it hard to find specific information in the reports (e.g., total number of projects/students in each division)..."

You want to look at the "Stats" report. This is a relatively new report, and the dashboard stats page now has tables, totals, and category crosstabs. We are happy to add more stats to it—we just need to know what is needed on it, so reach out to support and let us know!

Q: "Is it possible to have required forms available to fill in on the page directly as a fill-in-the-blank form?"

Yes! Our interactive forms packets are available to anyone with a subscription. These are customizable and allow forms to receive e-signatures. 2027 ISEF forms have been added and are ready to use. Turn on the config "Turn on Form Packets Manager" and find the manager in the staff menu. Packets also show in the participant Paperwork menu.

Q: "After a username and age division are created, why can zFairs not auto-populate required forms and save progress?"

We can and do. No matter the registration, participants do not have to fill out any information that isn't required. Additionally, you can choose to have accounts created after the profile has been filled and fees paid by turning on the config "Participants Registration - Create account after profile tab".

zFairs Support

Website: zfairs.com | Phone: 800.252.0903 | Email: Support@zFairs.com