Patent ID: 7444305

Claim:
A method of coordinating the staffing of a product or service demonstration, comprising: creating records for a plurality of cards in a computer-readable medium in communication with a card administration module, the created card records comprising a card identifier and a validity state for each of the plurality of cards; creating a record for a demonstration event in the computer-readable medium, the created event record comprising an event identifier and a validity state for the event; receiving, using an automated device in communication with the computer-readable medium, an activation request from a candidate event operator requesting to work on the demonstration event, the activation request comprising a card identifier of a requesting card associated with the candidate event operator and an event identifier for the requested demonstration event; retrieving, based on the activation request, records associated with the card identifier and the event identifier; verifying, using the card administration module, the validity state of the requesting card and the requested event based on the retrieved card identifier and event identifier; activating the requesting card in response to verifying that the validity state of the requesting card is not invalid and that the validity state of the requested event is not invalid, and updating the event record for the requested event to associate the activated card with the requested event, wherein the updating is performed by the card administration module; and recording in the computer-readable medium time and attendance information for the event operator derived from purchasing information received from a first purchase using the activated card in a card-reading system and a later second purchase using the activated card.