The Charms Story
When I first taught music, in the days before computers, I kept a file box of index cards with student information. Remarkably, that system worked! When the first computers arrived, my records went on a little program called FileMaker for the Macintosh.
Through the years, as computers became more sophisticated, and my record keeping needs became more involved, it became obvious that my file box, spreadsheets, and simple programs wouldn't work as efficiently as before.
On a five hour drive home from a Texas Music Teachers conference in the summer of 2001, my wife and I were discussing her new choir program of 420 students. How would she ever keep track of all of them? Not to mention keeping track of their fundraising, her enormous music library, who paid the music fee, who turned in the permission slip, who took the metronome home for the weekend, who missed the concerts and extra rehearsals, and everything else that came up!
She did own a copy of a music management computer program, but she found it cumbersome to use, and it was only available on her computer at school. With 420 students, she hardly had time to sit down at a desk and wade through a program. And how could she get to her records when she was assisting at another school? Or working at home? She needed a program that was available whenever and wherever she wanted it. She needed her information available over the Internet - accessible from any computer, available, any time she had a spare moment to work, whether from the High School, Middle School, at a conference, or home. She needed a program that was easy to use, which gave her access to the important information with one click the minute she logged on.
She Needed Charms.
Many months later, Charms was born, and several people scratched their heads and wondered what a Web-Based Program meant. Today, most of those early Charms users are still with us, and Charms is used world-wide by school music teachers, dance/drill team coaches, athletic coaches, booster clubs, theater teams, youth choirs and orchestras, and churches. Even the US Navy Bands use Charms to manage their inventory and personnel across the globe.
So, take a few minutes and view the free demo. It's the real, fully functional program using a ficticious teacher in mythical schools. Or if you're ready, you can set up a free trial today and start using Charms tomorrow. Charms is a product of Dorian Business Systems, Inc.
Give Charms a try, and let us know how you like it!
Michael Baker, Charms Administrator