Weston-Based FamilyID: Simplifying Life for Busy Families

Weston resident Ellen Livingston is a mother of two, who, like many parents, has registered her kids for programs many times. It's a process that traditionally involves logging on to multiple websites or filling out numerous forms with the same information, and can sometimes take hours.

In a word, said Livingston, that process is "cumbersome."

Recently, though, Livingston has been using what she called "an amazing product" to streamline her life — an online program registration site, launched by another resident, specifically with people like Livingston in mind.

Last March, Weston parent and entrepreneur Rochelle Nemrow launched FamilyID, a “marketplace of programs and events” that allows users, after a free, one-time registration process, to access and register for "all kinds of programs — athletics, religious schools, dance programs” in one online place, Nemrow said.

Nemrow conceptualized FamilyID following her own years of experience trying to register her kids for programs, which often left her feeling frustrated at the amount of time and effort it took.

“I’d sit there with this pile of registration forms feeling so frustrated, wondering why I was filling something out for the thousandth time,” Nemrow said. “I thought, ‘This is crazy. Why do I have to go to all these places to fill out the kids’ information?’”

FamilyID is free for families and individuals and once a person is registered, he or she can sign up for any program within the site with a simple point-and-click.

What’s more, said Nemrow, if information such as an address or credit card number changes, users need only make such changes once on FamilyID, versus the traditional process of trying to keep track of which sites have your current information.

Participating organizations pay two percent of the cost of each registration with a cap of $10 and “only when they generate revenue.”

So far, said Nemrow, local organizations — some in Weston, some in other areas of the state — have shown “a lot of interest” in the program and seem to appreciate being part of an online community, versus "on an island" as users search would through their many options.

“It’s truly a win-win,” Nemrow said. “I’ve always felt there was no reason why there can’t be wonderful solutions to serve both organizations and consumers.”

Douglas Cook, education director at Land's Sake Farm in Weston, said Land's Sake started using FamilyID last summer and that his organization has found the service really great and much more efficient than their previous registration processes, which did not allow for online payment for programs.

And with many other organizations' programs located on the same site, said Cook, "It's really like one-stop shopping" for consumers.

"It's such a logically great idea," said Cook. "It's one of those things where you wonder why it wasn't done before."