Event Resources

Gary Stephenson

An event planning checklist is extremely important when it comes to organizing a baby shower. If you are in charge of hosting, there are many details so an event planning checklist is definitely the way to go.

About six weeks before the baby shower, start planning the event and details so you the last minute is not a rush situation. On your even planning checklist for the shower, you can:

1. Find a suitable location for the baby shower

2. Choose a date for this special event

3. Make up a guest list so you know how many people are invited and you do not miss anyone

4. Select the baby shower invitations

5. Plan the menu so you can prepare the food ahead of time

6. Select a baby shower theme such as teddy bears

7. Games should be decided upon

About two or three weeks before the shower, you should put on your event planning checklist the following:

- Mail out the baby shower invitations

- Make your final choices and test your food menu

- Purchase the materials for decorating

- If you are making a baby shower cake, find a great recipe or if not, order your cake

- If you are having party favors, make them now

You are on event planning checklist countdown now at one week before the baby shower. If the shower is held in a hall, or somewhere else, double-check the reservations. Make sure you not only have the final guest list but also have enough seating for all the guests. Buy and wrap gifts you are giving for the shower.

The day before the shower set up any table and seating needed, decorate, purchase the beverages and set out any supplies. Finally, on the day of the shower, your even planning checklist should have: pick up any food or cakes ordered, put out food, set out a notebook for listing gifts and enjoy the party.

An event planning checklist is extremely important for special events, and should be given top priority before getting started with any occasion.

Yvon Douran

Allow time for set-up and rehearsal and allow time between sessions to re-set meeting rooms. Book all meeting rooms in 24 hour time blocks. Verify when presenters will arrive and if they need rehearsal time before their scheduled start time.

1. Seating Plan. Are the tables and chairs arranged in the correct manner for the meeting format? Is the size of the room adequate for the number of people who will be in attendance? Are there removable walls and is the room sound proof from adjacent rooms and the foyer? Movable walls are not usually soundproof. A soundproof solution is to run two parallel air walls to create a narrow corridor between them

2. Location of additional chairs. Check that extra chairs are available and easily accessible.

3. Room Temperature Locate the room climate controls (air conditioning/heating). Start with the room cooler than usual, the room will warm-up with more people in the space and once the doors are closed.

4. Teleprompter, translation equipment and Audio-Visual Make sure that all of the equipment needed for the meeting is on-site and ready to go.( Hand-held microphone with stand, lavaliere microphones, white board with markers or projector and screen with laser pointer)

Check power capability and power outlets. Are electrical outlets available for plugging in laptop computers? Is there telephone connectivity and is it needed? Internet connectivity? Wireless facility?

5. Podium with light and riser. Check to make sure that these items are available if requested by the speaker or facilitator.

6. Presentation table with water pitcher, drinking glasses, pencils and note pads.

7. Decorations that reinforce the meeting theme and color scheme. Check that all decorations conform to fire regulations.

8. Floral arrangements and plants.

9. Signage Check the location of signage – is it clear and visible?

10. Tape recorder if an audio recording is being made and operator. Depending at the length of the presentation make sure there are adequate supplies/audio tapes to accommodate.

11. Lighting e.g., over head, obscured, variable beam, spotlights, strobe lights, special effects, lights with dimmer switches

12. Position of light switches

13. Is there closed circuit TV ? Is the security adequate?

14. Radio and TV broadcasting, Videotaping?

15. Wheelchair access and space allotment on aisle

Careful planning makes for flawless execution and a chance for attendees to get the most out of the sessions they attend.

Kelly Hunter

For that big day, you will need some effective management. Whether you are tying the knot or planning another important event, or are a professional and do this every day for other people, you will probably want to take advantage of an online package to help you. There are so many to choose from , you will want to choose the one with the best features for your event. the following checklist of essential features should help you decide.

Remember, the software should save you time, so you do not want something overcomplicated. It should be user friendly and have excellent online support. It should only take a few minutes to publish the event and mass-mailing should be possible at the click of a button. A to do list is a must – and reminders should be included. The size of the event will be a determining factor – many packages offer planning for up to 50,000 participants, which is well in excess of most individual needs but will be of interest to the professionals in this field. Online forms should be customisable, to be compatible with your own system. Reports should be vary varied and easy to compile.

Attendance should be optimized by the feature of automatic reminder e-mails. Credit card payments should be integrated real.time, to ensure safe and prompt processing. Accounting should be facilitated with easy tracking. The ability to easily set up a personal webpage should be included, with features for personalized ticket creation, which will maximise ticket sales from the word go. The graphics and pop-ups will be of great importance to you – will they help capture your target participants, or put them off?

In February of this year, Event Payment Services, launched the ePSPay(SM) SmartCard application. Designed for use by both profit and non-profit event planners, it streamlines registration, purchasing, and post-event financial processes. Registration lines are minimized by credit card swipe technology. A swipe at a portable terminal allows donors to be assigned a bidder number. Until they check out of the event, they can then make purchases freely. At a 2006 Rotary Club event in Washington State, volunteers spent over eight hours just entering credit card numbers. With ePSPay(SM), this can be done at pre-registration in just a few seconds,” said McConville. “Our technology allows volunteers to be more involved in the event, rather than having to focus on registration and coordinating donor information.” You can visit http://www.event-planning-software-guide.com for more information on event planning tools.

Event planning software really can make a difference to costs as well as sign-ups. Spindustry, for example, helped The Iowa Credit Union League to cut costs. A major overhaul was achieved in a matter of months. When choosing your software, it makes sense to go with an established firm, because the online support is more likely to be well established and past the teething stages. Most firms provide a free simulation, which will give you a very clear idea of whether the application meets your specifications.

Happy planning!

Bette Daoust PhD

If you have ever put on an event, you know that registration can be very tiring and cumbersome. If it is a large event, you will have a computer system that takes care of the registrations. The Web can also be used for registration just as it can be used to have people register for your newsletter. Event registration on the Web enables you to drive people to your site and then navigate to the registration page. This way they get a taste of who you are and what you do at the same time that they are registering. Unfortunately, not everyone will register from the Web site and you will still need to enter some names by hand. This is not a big task if your anticipated audience is fairly small, but for a larger event you will need to deal with the process differently. Services such as Aceteva.com make the process very simple.

When I was setting up the executive breakfast for my Power Marketing seminar, I had people go to the Power Marketing Web site to register. It was the only option they had. I found that a number of people wanted to register but were not computer savvy enough to navigate the process. I contacted them by e-mail and asked for their information and entered it into the registration form on their behalf. Only a handful of people did not want to do this for themselves.

In the long run, you can also have people pay for events on the Web at the same time. If you do not have the ability to take credit cards over the Web, you can use a payment service such as PayPal. It will take the orders and process the credit cards and even deposit the monies into your bank account.

Lisa Stone

All the leading edge websites which have taken the plunge into online event services probably realize now that online event is not just an event planning option. It has more of the viral effect on the community. With all the information at mouse click away and in a paperless hassle free way, users find no reason to remorse to create events online.

How do some in the online event industry stand out from rest? Blame it on tenure in business? Better functionalities? Well, there has been never been any secret to the success, but just to present the features in way different from others and in best usable method.

Let’s begin with what the users require when they use online event registration services. They want to create event page, provides event details, send invitations, manage their sales and have an automated user friendly reporting system, is that all they want? Not really, but these are just a few to mention on common priority preference! While designing your event page it is advisable to keep in mind the quantity and quality time you expect your user to spend creating the event. Today everyone is “easy work “hungry though in too much hurry. All you need to do is to present your content within your online event creator website that can exploit this assumption.

What Information you should ideally present on your service, obviously it would also depend on what you would prefer to focus and the target audience and the service thereof -

• 1. Event Page:

The easier solution is getting someone you know, to create a sample event online on your website, you would instantly get the hook of loopholes, some of them within your range of improvement, some for future scope. Both would be beneficial. Try and have minimum page rolling.

• 2. Features:

Enlist the entire available features either in your free service or the paid service, a comparison would be ideal way to promote your paid service.

• 3. Announcements:

Include recent updated and new features or even features which you get most queries about on your service that impacts your users.

• 4. Blog :

It is best recommended to submit articles on blog’s also create your own blog. Assumingly the most persuasive medium to introduction to your service, as it also features the people already using the services. It also most valuable tool as it allows instant measuring of our services.

• 5. Email:

Know is the fact that email is the easiest and the fastest mode of communication and information. This would not only help in building new relationship but also strengthening the existing one. This can be used to send introduction information as well as new features or update information.

• 6. Payment :

Always choose to provide the safest mode of payment. It could range anything from offline to online as per your convenience. In offline payment ensure to collect the payments in advance of the event. Provide to instantly track the payments and sales online for the users.

Although the list to perfection may go on, however it is only with constant perseverance to know the customer preferences and interests that we can achieve to alert and educate ourselves to provide services that most fit their use. At no time try and over feed the customer on your services rather slowly start introduction to your features in a rather ascending way. This way it will not only highlight your prime features but also allow them to soak . New user is important but to retain existing is the best way to grow ! Quality service will certainly make the dependence intense also will nurture the relationship.

Hoping the best of success in the online event management!

Alison Cole

Event Management software has been developed to automate and manage various business events efficiently. This software facilitates scheduling and event calendaring for business organizations. Event management software makes event management possible at a reduced cost, and it maximizes resource utilization and streamlines communications.

Event Management software is useful for all organizations irrespective of size, scope and industry. It manages various tasks such as conferences, galas, day camps, summer camps, leagues, teams, business events, classes, meetings, universities and sporting events.

The application of the software is imperative when one has to manage several events that are time consuming and resource intensive. Investing in event management allows for improved productivity as well as easy event coordination. It helps to reduce manual labor and aids in effective internal communications.

Event management software is a reliable and affordable solution for marketing and managing conferences, conventions, exhibitions, expositions, seminars and trade shows. It saves precious time on organizing, cataloguing, and otherwise keeping track of all details involved in putting together any kind of event you can imagine. This will free up more time for devoting to the more creative brainstorming aspects of putting an event together. It also allows companies to continue to focus on the day-to-day duties of the company, rather than taking away from it to plan an event.

Several event management software packages are available on the market. It requires careful study to choose one that suits the event management requirements of your firm. Before choosing particular event management software, ask to run a trial version.