Posts Tagged: discount

Often viewed as the envy of the rest of the world, the UK’s National Health Service celebrates its 70th birthday today!

The NHS (National Health Service) is the publicly funded healthcare system in the United Kingdom.

It was founded in 1948 and provides a wide range of medical services, including general practitioner (GP) services, hospital care, dental care, mental health services, and more.

The NHS is funded through general taxation and provides free healthcare at the point of use to all UK residents, regardless of their ability to pay.

The system is based on the principle of comprehensive, universal coverage, and is widely regarded as a model for publicly funded healthcare systems around the world.

To celebrate this 70 year milestone, throughout July we’re offering NHS staff £70 OFF our MIDAS Room Booking & Resource Scheduling Software!

..and best of all, this discount can be used to purchase MIDAS on behalf of ANY business or community organization!

NHS staff can claim this special discount right now at [THIS DISCOUNT HAS NOW ENDED]

So if you know someone who works within the NHS, please feel free share this very special limited time offer with them.

But what if you don’t work (or know anyone who works) for the NHS?

Well, make sure you follow us on Social Media as we run special offers and discounts through our social media channels from time to time (in fact, we ran an offer just last month!)

NHS Discount


Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary!

Celebrating our 10th AnniversaryToday, marks the 10th Anniversary of MIDAS!

Back on 10th December 2005, the original concept for MIDAS was born. At that time, Mark Harrington, the creator of MIDAS, was working in a brand new purpose-built £17m ($26m) Performing Arts College – one of the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. This new school for students aged 11-16 boasted impressive state-of-the-art facilities, including a sports hall, gymnasium, all weather pitch, atrium, conservatory, a 300-seat community theatre, outdoor stage, recording studios and rehearsal space.

All these spaces were for internal use by the school during the daytime, and were them to be made available and hired out to external and community groups during evenings and weekends. Soon after the new school opened, the school appointed a Community Facilities Manager, Miriam, in November 2005. Her role was to oversee the booking and smooth running of the new facilities which were in very high demand by community groups and external hirers.

It soon became apparent that the software the school had been previously using for handling their room bookings was not up to scratch and wasn’t meeting the increasing demands on the new facilities. The software (which shall not be named here!), was slow, cumbersome, buggy, and not very user-friendly! Consequently, Miriam and Mark both spent considerable time researching what other alternatives were available.

After much discussion, frustration, and plenty of “wouldn’t it be great if we had software that could do X…?” type ideas, they soon realized that there was no off-the-shelf alternatives available that would do exactly what was required out of a room scheduling program.

Mark, coming from a strong programming background, was convinced he could write something that would accommodate everything a Community Facilities Manager would need in a software package to manage facilities, clients and bookings. So Mark sat down with Miriam to “brainstormed” how they wanted their ideal scheduling software to work. Dozens of sheets of paper later, covered with all kinds of scribbled notes, arrows, and flow charts, Mark had something to go away and work on! A few days later, a very basic “proof-of-concept” prototype – version 0.01 – was born.

Mark named the software “MIDAS”, an acronym, although to this day he remains somewhat elusive as to whether that actually stood for “Mark’s Infrastructure Daily Allocation System“, or “Miriam’s Infrastructure Daily Allocation System“(!)

Over the Christmas holidays of 2005, Mark worked diligently to develop MIDAS so that it could be “rolled out” in the new year, even spending New Year’s Eve in front of his computer at the stroke of midnight in full flow programming away!

Within the first few weeks of 2006 (and numerous revisions of the software later!), MIDAS went “live” for the first time, and transformed the way staff and external clients booked rooms! For the first time all staff could actually check room availability themselves from their web browser, and the booking process was simpler, efficient, and streamlined!

The number of bookings and revenue substantially increased during the year, and double-bookings (which has previously been a real problem) were finally thing of the past!

Realizing the potential of MIDAS to help other schools and organizations with similar booking and scheduling needs, just three months after the first prototypes, MIDAS v1.00 was released commercially!

MIDAS scheduling software in 2005 MIDAS scheduling software in 2010 MIDAS scheduling software in 2015
How MIDAS looked in 2005 (above left), 2010 (above center) and 2015 (above right)

Ten years later, MIDAS remains in active development (with v4.11 just around the corner!) and continues to go from strength to strength! Our software is trusted worldwide by schools, universities, churches, hotels, conference centers, entertainment venues, sports complexes, libraries, recording studios, regional and national governments – the list is near endless and continues to grow!

If you’re already a MIDAS customer, we’re truly grateful for choosing us! To celebrate and to say a big “thank you!”, there’s 10% off all Addons & Upgrades for the next 10 days*! You can upgrade your MIDAS system here.

…and if you’re not currently a MIDAS customer, but are unhappy with your current room/facility scheduling software and looking for something that actually works for you, then why not check us out!? Our longevity, continuous active development, and unrivaled customer support make us a logical choice and we’d love to make a difference to your organization!

To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, we’re offering 10% off all new purchases for the next 10 days*! Simply enter promo code “MIDAS10” when purchasing online through our secure site.

We have lots of exciting developments in the pipeline for 2016 and beyond, so here’s to the next 10 years!

* Offers valid until 20th December 2015


Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge Now Available

Windows 10 with Microsoft Edge

Today, Microsoft have launched their latest operating system, Windows 10, and with it a brand new web browser called “Edge“. Edge is designed to be the successor to their long running Internet Explorer web browser.

If you’ve been following our blog, then you’ll already know a bit about Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge…

Windows 10 is a FREE update for all current users of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. It is being slowly rolling out in the coming weeks. But if you can’t wait that long Microsoft have provided tools to download Windows 10 now)

Our world-class web based room booking and resource scheduling software, MIDAS, is already fully compatible. So if you’re considering making the jump to Windows 10 but are worried about compatibility issues with your existing apps and software, rest assured MIDAS will work on Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge!

MIDAS Room Booking System in Microsoft Edge
MIDAS running in Microsoft’s new Edge web browser

Love MIDAS? – Spread the love this Valentines Day!

MIDAS Web Based Room and Resource Booking Software

Love is in the air! Yes, it’s nearly that time of year again – Valentines Day! *

…and whether you’re currently considering MIDAS for your organization’s room and resource scheduling needs, or you’re an existing customer, we want to share the love with you!

That’s why for a limited time we’re offering 20% off new purchases of MIDAS, and for our existing customers; 20% off your next Annual Support Subscription renewal!

To take advantage of this limited offer, simply do the following this Valentines weekend:

  1. Follow us on Twitter @mid_as
  2. Tweet the world and tell them why you love MIDAS using the hashtag #loveMIDAS
  3. We’ll then send you a Direct Message through Twitter containing a special code you can use to get 20% off your purchase or next renewal!

Why not also check out some of the love our existing customers have for MIDAS here

So, tell us, do you #loveMIDAS this Valentines Day too!?