GatherPoint: Faith Conference & Retreat Registration Suite

Problem and target customer

Why this exists

Customer problem

Church operations teams coordinate multi-day conferences across spreadsheets and generic tools, leading to manual lodging assignment errors, blind capacity on breakout sessions, and slow on-site check-in lines.

Who pays

Church operations teams running 50–500 attendee conferences, retreats, or youth camps who need a production-ready registration workflow without building custom software.

Business model

Monthly subscription for event operators plus a per-transaction fee on ticket sales.

Editorial note

GatherPoint targets a workflow that generic ticketing platforms handle poorly: multi-day faith events where a family registers together, picks lodging and breakout tracks, and checks in on-site with a scannable badge. The MVP keeps scope tight around five concrete steps—event setup, group registration, confirmation and badge delivery, lodging assignment, and on-site check-in.

The source success criteria translate directly into acceptance tests: a family of four completes registration in under four minutes, admins see live capacity per track and lodging unit, and a volunteer scans a badge and confirms attendance in under five seconds. Features like waitlist auto-promotion, dynamic date-based pricing, and discount codes are excluded from the first version to ship faster.

Although the source lists an LLM API and SMS provider among integrations, no LLM-driven feature appears in the core workflow and SMS reminders are excluded from MVP scope. Both can be added after beta usage is measured and a paying customer requests them.

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Evaluate the operating tradeoffs quickly, or inspect how to build the MVP.

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Compare the three operating paths at the default workload before opening the full calculator.

See cost preview Build this ideaInspect the build blueprint

Review MVP scope, workflow, states, data rules, architecture, and acceptance criteria.

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Evaluation preview

What would it take to run?

Directional infrastructure estimates for the current 1,500 relationship records assumption. Open the full calculator when you are ready to change it.

Open full cost and deployment

ManagedSelected

$30-$160/ month

Managed app hosting, database, backups, and basic observability for the crm workflow.

Lowest operating effort

Lean self-hosted

$13-$123/ month

One small VPS running the app, database, media volume, and backup job.

Lowest baseline cost

More control

$50-$220/ month

Separate app, data, storage, and worker capacity for cleaner operations.

Most separation and control

Build blueprint

Build the first paid use case

Product goal

Who it serves and what it must change

Target user: Church operations teams running 50–500 attendee multi-day conferences, retreats, and youth camps.
Problem: Registration, lodging assignment, and on-site check-in are split across spreadsheets and generic ticketing tools, causing capacity blind spots and slow check-in lines.
Measurable outcome: A family of four registers with lodging and track selections in under 4 minutes; admins see live capacity per track and lodging unit; a volunteer scans a badge and confirms attendance in under 5 seconds per person.

MVP scope

What ships now and what waits

Included

Event landing page with schedule, speaker bios, and pricing tiers
Group registration with dependents, add-ons, and track selection in one transaction
Confirmation portal with QR-code badge download and dietary/accessibility editing
Admin event builder for dates, pricing tiers, capacity caps, and lodging inventory
Roster and lodging manager with auto-assignment and capacity conflict flags
On-site QR-badge check-in screen for volunteers

Excluded

Waitlist auto-promotion
Dynamic date-based pricing
Scholarship and discount code engine
SMS reminder sequences
LLM-generated content

UX and user flow

Screens, actions, and states

Event Landing Page

Display dates, location, schedule, speakers, and pricing tiers to drive registration.

View pricing tiersStart registrationShare event link

Group Registration Flow

Let one registrant sign up themselves and dependents, select add-ons and tracks, and pay in one transaction.

Add registrant and dependentsSelect lodging typeChoose breakout tracks per time slotAdd meals or merchandiseEnter payment

My Registration Portal

Let attendees view schedule, download QR badge, and edit dietary or accessibility needs before cutoff.

Download QR badgeView session scheduleEdit dietary needsEdit accessibility needs

Admin Dashboard

Configure events, manage rosters, assign lodging, and monitor capacity conflicts.

Create event with tiers and capsView roster by track or cabinAuto-assign lodgingManually override room assignmentsExport rosters

On-Site Check-In

Let volunteers scan QR badges and log attendance quickly.

Scan QR badgeConfirm check-inView checked-in countFlag missing attendees

Primary flow

Admin creates event with dates, pricing tiers, track capacity caps, and lodging inventory
Attendee opens landing page and starts group registration
Attendee adds self and dependents, selects lodging type, add-ons, and breakout tracks per time slot
Attendee pays and receives confirmation email with QR badge
Admin reviews roster, auto-assigns or manually adjusts lodging, and resolves capacity conflicts
Volunteer scans QR badge at event entry to confirm attendance

Loading, empty, and error states

Event: draft → published → registration_open → registration_closed → in_progress → completed
Registrant: pending_payment → confirmed → checked_in → no_show
Lodging Unit: available → partially_assigned → full
Session/Track: open → filling → full

Core entity outline

Entities and business rules

Event

Top-level conference or retreat with dates, location, and pricing tiers.

Fields: id, workspace_id, title, start_date, end_date, location, status
Relations: has many Sessions/Tracks, has many Lodging Units, has many Registrants

Registrant

An individual attendee linked to a group registration and payment.

Fields: id, event_id, group_registration_id, name, email, dietary_needs, accessibility_needs, status
Relations: belongs to Event, belongs to Group Registration, has many Session Selections, assigned to one Lodging Unit

Session/Track

A breakout session or track with a time slot and capacity cap.

Fields: id, event_id, title, time_slot, capacity, enrolled_count
Relations: belongs to Event, has many Registrant selections

Lodging Unit

A room or cabin with a type and bed capacity.

Fields: id, event_id, label, lodging_type, capacity, assigned_count
Relations: belongs to Event, has many Registrant assignments

Check-In Log

Record of on-site attendance confirmation by badge scan.

Fields: id, registrant_id, event_id, checked_in_at, volunteer_id
Relations: belongs to Registrant, belongs to Event

Business rules

A registrant cannot select a session track that has reached its capacity cap
Lodging auto-assignment must not exceed the bed capacity of any lodging unit
Dietary and accessibility needs can only be edited before the event cutoff date
A group registration is not confirmed until payment succeeds
Check-in requires a valid QR badge matching a confirmed registrant for the current event

Architecture and data flow

Components, integrations, and controls

Registration API

Handles group registration creation, dependent adds, track selection validation, and payment initiation.

Capacity Service

Enforces per-track and per-lodging-unit capacity limits during registration and assignment.

Lodging Assignment Engine

Auto-assigns registrants to lodging units based on type preference and capacity, with manual override support.

Check-In Service

Validates QR badge tokens and writes check-in log entries.

Admin Dashboard Backend

Serves event builder, roster, lodging manager, and capacity conflict data to admin UI.

Integrations

Stripe for payment processing with webhook confirmation on registration
Resend for transactional confirmation emails and QR badge delivery
Make for connecting Stripe payment webhooks to Resend email triggers

Data flow

Attendee submits registration form → Registration API validates track and lodging capacity → Stripe processes payment → webhook confirms payment → Registrant status moves to confirmed → Resend sends confirmation email with QR badge → Admin views registrant in roster → Lodging Assignment Engine assigns unit → Volunteer scans badge at event → Check-In Service logs attendance

Failure handling

If Stripe webhook is delayed, registration stays in pending_payment and admin can manually confirm
If a track reaches capacity mid-selection, UI blocks the choice and shows alternatives
If lodging auto-assignment cannot place all registrants, admin receives a conflict flag for manual resolution
If QR scan fails, volunteer can search by name and manually check in

Security

Admin pages require workspace-scoped authentication
Payment processing handled entirely through Stripe with no card data stored locally
QR badge tokens are signed and expire after event completion

Rate limits

Registration API limited to 50 concurrent submissions per event to protect capacity checks
Check-In API limited to 120 scans per minute per event to handle peak entry surges

Deliverables and acceptance

Definition of done for the MVP

Deliverables

Deployed event landing page with pricing tiers and schedule display
Multi-step group registration flow with dependent, add-on, and track selection
Confirmation portal with downloadable QR badge and editable dietary/accessibility fields
Admin event builder with capacity caps and lodging inventory configuration
Roster and lodging manager with auto-assignment and conflict flags
On-site check-in screen with QR scanner and attendance logging

Acceptance criteria

A family of four completes registration with lodging and track selections in under 4 minutes on a mobile device
Admin dashboard shows live enrolled count and remaining capacity for every track and lodging unit
Lodging auto-assignment places all confirmed registrants without exceeding any unit's bed capacity, and flags unresolvable conflicts for manual review
A volunteer scans a confirmed registrant's QR badge and logs check-in in under 5 seconds per person
Registrant can download a QR badge and edit dietary or accessibility needs only before the event cutoff date

Recommended stack

Enough technology for the first version

Frontend

Lovable

Rapid visual builder for photo-forward landing pages and mobile-optimized registration forms with multi-step group flows.

Database

Railway Postgres

Relational store for events, registrants, sessions, lodging units, and check-in logs with capacity constraints and foreign-key integrity.

Backend API

Railway Node.js

Hosts registration logic, capacity validation, lodging assignment algorithms, and check-in endpoints.

Payments

Stripe

Handles ticket transactions, group registration payments, and refund flows with webhook confirmation.

Transactional Email

Resend

Sends registration confirmations, QR-badge delivery, and pre-event reminder emails.

Why this is sufficient

Lovable accelerates the mobile-first registration UI that source evidence prioritizes. Railway Postgres plus Node.js provides durable relational records and server-side capacity logic that spreadsheets cannot enforce. Stripe and Resend cover the two external dependencies the workflow depends on for payments and confirmations.

Not required for the MVP

LLM APISMS providerObject storageHigher AI allowance

Next stepTurn the blueprint into an execution plan

Copy the build prompt, model the operating cost, and choose where to deploy.

Build and ship

Execution

Build, price, and deploy the MVP

Once the blueprint is clear, use the prompt, cost model, and deployment options to start building.

Build prompt

Copy this into a builder

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Open the prompt pack whenever you are ready to take this blueprint into your builder.

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Cost calculator

Model the MVP operating cost

A technical run-cost estimate for the first production version. Team, acquisition, payment fees, and business COGS are excluded.

Estimated monthly total$30-$160

$15-$80 per 750 relationship records

Relationship records updated / month1,500 relationship records

Selected pathEasiest

Pricing checkedAug 2, 2026

Cost breakdown

$30-$160 per month

Low and high values allow for usage variance and plan headroom.

Managed infrastructure

Managed app hosting, database, backups, and basic observability for the crm workflow.

50K relationship records included, then $8-$20 per 100K relationship records

$25-$65

Transactional email

Transactional email is implied by the source workflow or feature list.

3K relationship records included

SMS provider

SMS provider is implied by the source workflow or feature list.

1K included, then $5-$25 per 1K relationship records

$5-$25

Payment processor

Payment processor is implied by the source workflow or feature list.

100 included, then $0-$5 per 100 relationship records

$0-$70

Included

Application hosting
Relational database
Basic backups
appointments, availability, and intake details state
Transactional email
SMS provider
Payment processor

Not included

Paid acquisition
Founder or team time
Tax or legal review
Custom enterprise procurement

Pricing basis

The estimate combines the selected infrastructure path, required operating modules, selected optional modules, and usage above included monthly allowances. Taxes and regional uplifts are excluded.

Managed app baseline Resend pricing Twilio SMS pricing Stripe pricing

Deployment options

Pick the operational tradeoff

Choose based on operating preference, not only the headline price.

EasiestRecommended

Railway

Fast Docker deployment for the app, database, worker, and preview workflow without managing a VPS.

$15-90/month before usage-heavy add-ons

Good fit

Fast setup
Low starting cost
Good preview workflow

Limitation

Usage billing needs active monitoring as traffic and jobs grow.

Open Railway

Cheapest

Vultr

Run the app, worker, and database on one small Vultr VPS with Docker Compose and explicit backups.

$8-60/month before managed add-ons

Good fit

Predictable baseline
Portable setup
Room for workers

Limitation

You own patching, backups, monitoring, and incident response.

Deploy on Vultr View the lean VPS guide

More control

DigitalOcean

Separate application, worker, data, storage, and backup responsibilities as the workload grows.

$10-120/month before managed add-ons

Good fit

Cloud VPS control
Global regions
Room for workers

Limitation

You own server setup, patching, backups, and operational monitoring.

Explore DigitalOcean View the separated cloud guide

Start building

Prototype, automate, then deploy

Recommended route

01Vibe-coding builderRegistration UI and Admin Pages

Build the event landing page, multi-step group registration flow, confirmation portal, admin event builder, roster and lodging manager, and check-in scanner screen in Lovable with a bold accent color on a clean white base optimized for mobile sign-ups.

Open Lovable 02AutomationWebhook and Notification Glue

Use Make to connect Stripe payment webhooks to registration confirmation emails via Resend and trigger badge QR generation when a payment succeeds, keeping this layer as optional glue rather than core logic.

Open Make 03DeployAPI and Postgres Deployment

Deploy the Node.js API and Postgres database on Railway to handle registration writes, capacity validation per track and lodging unit, lodging assignment logic, and check-in log entries.

Open Railway

GatherPoint: Faith Conference & Retreat Registration Suite

Is this worth validating?

Build this if

Avoid this if

Validate first

Why this exists

Customer problem

Who pays

Business model

What do you need next?

What would it take to run?

Build the first paid use case

Who it serves and what it must change

What ships now and what waits

Included

Excluded

Screens, actions, and states

Primary flow

Loading, empty, and error states

Entities and business rules

Business rules

Components, integrations, and controls

Integrations

Data flow

Failure handling

Security

Rate limits

Definition of done for the MVP

Deliverables

Acceptance criteria

Enough technology for the first version

Lovable

Railway Postgres

Railway Node.js

Stripe

Resend

Why this is sufficient

Not required for the MVP

Build, price, and deploy the MVP

Copy this into a builder

Your build prompt is ready

Model the MVP operating cost

Usage assumptions

$30-$160 per month

Included

Not included

Pricing basis

Pick the operational tradeoff

Railway

Good fit

Limitation

Vultr

Good fit

Limitation

DigitalOcean

Good fit

Limitation

Prototype, automate, then deploy

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