Welcome to Startup Monday.  Our new weekly post will feature the hottest ideas from the tech and events industry.  If you have a startup that we should look into, let us know on Twitter!

What do long lines and slow check-ins have in common? Angry clients! Never fear; help is here. No more standing at the door, flipping through ten pages of names. New iPad and iPhone apps offer efficiency and professionalism for guest check-in. We’ve taken a good look at the latest options and reviewed them for you. From basic spreadsheet uploads to full-on social media integration, these apps are at the front of the line. Each of these applications caters to slightly different needs and they vary in cost, but they all look like they’re worth a try!

  1. My Guest List is the world’s first app allowing event managers to sync guestlists and function enquires from your website, Facebook, or spreadsheets to an ipad ready for hosts or door staff to use at the beginning of your event. This clever app is great for guest management- tap guests off as they arrive and track arrival times, VIPs, and walk-ins. All of the night’s data is translated to reporting and statistics- logging the total number of people who attended your event and the performance of your promoter. Finally, the most important feature, social media integration- allowing your database to have both Facebook and the iPad working in sync. This enables complete guest profiling, including how often they frequent a venue, what they like to drink and how much social influence they have.  The service starts at $25 dollars a month.

2. CheckInEasy is a great iPad/iPhone app which was recently used for the Google holiday party to check in over 2500 guests! This app is great because guests can either be looked up by name or using boarding pass style barcodes.  Also, if you want to be notified when a special guest arrives, you can choose to receive a text message or email. CheckInEasy has really emphasized their attention to data security so that customers can feel confident about protecting their guests’ information. The app is only $1.99 and the starter package, up to 500 check-ins, is $99.00.

3. Eventbrite is a leading ticketing service that has created an app called Entry Manager. This app allows you to log into your Eventbrite account and pull up guestlists from all of the events that you are planning. Attendees can be checked in by name, or by scanning invitation barcodes that guests can print out or pull up right on their iPhones.  The list automatically syncs with other devices being used to check people in.   All of your attendance data will be stored on the server and accessible in your Eventbrite account for further analysis. An Eventbrite account is necessary, and the app is free!

 4. Event Farm has a mobile guest check-in app for the iPad and iPhone. It is sleek, stylish and full of features. It allows you to customize the background of the app to promote your brand and to keep up with the real time analytics for the event.  Also, guests can leave tickets behind for the rest of their party if they happen to arrive separately.  Use it in conjunction with the fully-featured web-based Event Farm Ticketing System, or create your own list by downloading their Excel guest list template.  The cost starts at $0.50 per guest that you upload, with no extra fee for the app.

5. Venue Driver Mobile Check-In is a web based venue management system. This software is ideal for nightclubs and bars that hold events regularly which require guest check-in, VIP table reservations, or ticket distribution. The software can be used on an iPad/iPhone, and the data can be viewed online. It is a great solution for both the venue and the guests, since guests can sign up for events on their mobile devices, and managers can easily keep track of the consumer database, making it easier to plan for future events. The management system requires a subscription, but the app comes at no extra cost.

6. MyBanquet is a great iPad app for events that require seating assignments.  It was created for weddings, awards banquets, and gala dinners.  Guests can be uploaded from facebook, a text document, or manually.  Then, you can design the layout of your event, organize table assignments, and easily email reports to important people every step of the way. You can add notes to people’s table assignments if special arrangements need to be made for their dinner or accessibility.  RSVP’s can be handled manually or by connecting to facebook.   It is only $3.99 in the App Store and doesn’t require a subscription.

 7. Guest List Manager is an app developed by Hilton Worldwide, ensuring event managers have the ability to coordinate guest lists with room bookings. This app is great for managing the small details of your event through key features like viewing the current guest list and reservation status regardless of how the guest’s reservation was booked, viewing the group’s room count, and searching for attendee cancellations. This application is extremely effective and makes booking the Hilton as your next event venue so worthwhile! Guest List Manager is convienently available on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.     

Social media has clearly become a main medium for many businesses. Therefore, it is highly important to stay on track and avoid mistakes.  At ABCey Events, we are always using social media to connect with our clients and community, and to share our local knowledge. Brian Solis, tech guru and social media connoisseur, offers some great tips that we think are very helpful.  Here is a quick recap of what he shares with us.

1. Showing Up Isn’t Enough: While it is important you have a social medium and make a name for yourself, it is most important to learn how to engage with your followers.  Whether it be through Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social medium, make sure you really engage in conversation to attract potential consumers.
2. You Can’t be Everywhere, Nor Should You: With the extensive new up and comings of technology and new social mediums, you may be really excited to try everything. Don’t.  Be where your followers are and excel within that medium.
3. Authenticity and Transparency are Nothing Without a Connection: Authenticity and transparency are the two very important aspects to social media.  They act as a “guiding light” more so than an effective form of engagement.   Therefore, it is most important to make sure you add value and content to your social media, and in return, authenticity and transparency will support your content.
4. Talking to People Isn’t a Business Strategy: Make sure you have a purpose before you engage in conversation! It is important you engage in conversation and make people who don’t know about you, find out about you.  You want the people to start talking about your brand, so engage, engage, engage!
5. Keep Your Customers Tuned in: Adding one video is not going to make you go viral.  According to Solis, “Companies believe that uploading a video to Youtube is the key to anything going viral. What they don’t know is, 48 Hours of video is uploaded every minute to Youtube. The chance of your video going viral naturally is basically nil”.  So if you want to go viral and you are sure that going viral will help your company, seek out people that will help you share and make yourself known.  ”If it creates lift, leaves an imprint or if it drives action or outcomes, that’s when you’re going viral. “

What other common mistakes have you made as part of your social media strategy?

We were really excited to hear that the AC World Series, Louis Vuitton Cup America’s Cup Challenger Series and the 34th America’s Cup Finals will be sailed in our hometown, San Francisco, Calif. in 2012 and 2013! This is the oldest trophy in modern sport and continues to build upon its rich heritage of leading-edge innovation with an event that is designed to showcase the best sailors in the world on the fastest boats. This will be the first time in 18 years that this worldwide event will be held in the United States. There will be approximately 45 race days, so that means that SF will be experiencing more days of competition than any other international sporting events ever held in this city. Arriving for the first time in the summer of 2012, the sailing will start with two back to back events, the first from the 11th to 19th of August and the second beginning a week later, running from the 27th August through the 2nd September.

The upcoming America’s Cup events in Newport, Rhode Island, San Francisco and San Diego, California are predicted to create thousands of jobs and over $1 billion in economic impact over the next two years. For the first time in history, the America’s Cup will be able to be seen from shore, creating tremendous public access for spectators as well as drawing large spectator crowds to benefit the port cities hosting America’s Cup events. The City of SF estimates over 300,000 visitors on peak viewing days and no tickets are necessary.   Additionally, the America’s Cup is predicted to deliver an estimated over $1 billion economic impact to the San Francisco Bay area, with more than 8,500 jobs that will be created due to the America’s Cup.

ABCey Events is looking forward to working on some of the many events that will be surrounding the actual races. If your company is involved and is interested in some outside event planning or production help, you know who to call!

Rough America’s Cup race day numbers & dates:
AC World Series 2012-2013 Race 1 (Aug. 2012):  7 race days
AC World Series 2012-2013 Race 2 (Sept. 2012:  7 race days
AC Opening events (7/4-7/7 2013):  3 race days
Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series 2013 (7/13-9/1):  32 race days over 51 days
America’s Cup Finals (9/7-9/22 2013):  9 race days over 16 days

Virtual events and Hybrid Events have been a hot topic for a while now. If you’re unclear on what a Hybrid event is, it is simply the extension of traditional in-person events with tools such as broadcasting and social media. For some special event professionals, hybrid events are not cutting-edge but commonplace. Every event now-a-days should really be considered a hybrid from the start, unless there is a specific reason for there not to be. The more people to get involved into a brand, a product or a communication message, the better their response will be in the form of buying decisions or recommendations. Hybrid events involve people even more than classic events did in the past, and at this point you can see that virtual and social media elements offer a lot of advantages for companies planning to use them. It’s not just regular “ROI” anymore, it’s Return on Involvement as well!

International event powerhouse Vok Dams Group, headquartered in Germany, was among the first agencies to integrate the Internet into special events back in 1998. And the company’s commitment to hybrid events is clear: “The future belongs to hybrid events, which pair live with MoSoLo—the use of mobile/social/location-based technologies,” says company leader Coja Dams. For Microsoft’s partner conference in Germany last week, the Vok Dams team turned to a mix of elements, including a custom event guide app, communication via Facebook and Xing (the German version of LinkedIn), Xbox Kinect modules at the event, and scannable tag codes at networking events that helped the 1,400 guests learn more about one another.

ABCey Events loves learning about the immersion of new and innovative technology and events. Several event pros who routinely stage hybrid events stress that complex technology is not a must though. Multi-source events can also be incredibly cheap, from Skype and Twitter, to most costly, satellite and interactive texting. We do think that putting a digital spin on a live event can make the event better. Technology is changing at light speed. It is time for the us, the event marketers of the world to assess their portfolio and align new business models to their event marketing strategies!

This post was adapted from “Hybrid Special Events–So ‘Now’ or Not Yet?” by Lisa Hurley of Special Events Magazine.

We’re loving Event Espresso over here, even though we haven’t had a chance to use this events registration and management plugin for WordPress just yet. One of the most important choices you can make for your meeting, conference, or event is the website design. The onsite registration and calendar module features make this a great choice, among many other reasons! They seem to keep adding new features too such as a custom form builder, early bird registrations, Groupon integration and Facebook, Twitter, and Mailchimp addons. This is looking like exactly what we need for some of our clients & their events!

Event Espresso has all the event management tools you need, from accepting payments to reports to promotions.

• Custom descriptions
• Multiple event dates
• Multiple event times
• Multiple event prices, surcharges, member pricing
• Event location and mapping
• Custom email confirmations
• Event categories
• On-going events
• Attendee limits
• Group registrations
• Make events a blog post
• and more!

This premium plugin for WordPress allows you to turn your existing blog or website into a fully featured event management website. If your organization offers classes, workshops, events, trainings or conferences for which participants need to register in advance, Event Espresso can make you a hero. This online event registration system can save your organization countless hours of administrative time, create a “green” and paperless event registration process, reduce costs and be available to take sign-ups 24/7. Everything from custom confirmation and reminder emails to payment management, and quite a bit more is all included and automatically handled for you.

The plugin even creates registration forms so attendees can sign up right on your website. Attendee information is also stored right in the WordPress database, allowing you to have access at any time. If you don’t have a PayPal or Authorize.net account, it’s okay. Event Espresso now offers alternate methods of accepting payments. Registrants can now download a PDF invoice or pay by Cash/Ckeck/Money Order, Bank Transfer, Authorize.net, and PayPal. There is even an option to pay by bank transfer!

Thanks Event Espresso. This is a great tool and we are sure to use it here at ABCey Events soon!

Because Twitter is such a widely used marketing tool in today’s business world, there are infinite articles and blog postings on how to better use the site to make the most of your online business.  However, rarely do we see articles that stand out and suggest revolutionary ways to Tweet.  Here are some unexpected methods from Entrepreneur.com that just might blow your mind:

1. Use advanced search options to locate opportunities: By using search.twitter.com, you can insert conversational keywords to locate you or you product/service.  When you find these keywords in posts, it is great way to reach out to posters and connect with them on a professional level.

2. Tweet often to boost search-engine optimization: Tweeting often about relevant and interesting topics not only keeps you active on popular newsfeeds, it also shoots your ranking in online searches to higher levels.  Use “keyword-rich” phrases in your posts and your tweets will improve your SEO by a mile.

3. Change link headings each time you tweet them to boost traffic: A good way to get your information out there is to tweet things several times over, but change the headlines and the wording so it keeps your posts from looking spammy.  Another benefit is that you will be able to see which wording works best for which kinds of posts by checking your @mentions to see which posts garnered the most responses.

In the event planning community, it is integral to our business to stay active in social networks.  If it feels like you are getting minimal results from sites like Twitter, try these different methods of promoting your business.  What are some other tips you can offer to better your brand on Twitter or other like sites?

To get the rest of these great tips click here!

Marketing is a constant part of running a business, which is to say that marketing is happening all the time.  In addition to your larger marketing campaigns, you might try these smaller marketing moves simultaneously.  Entrepreneur.com suggests these six quick ways to get your name out there!

1. Respond to Current Events: Get the conversations flowing by paying attention to what’s going on in your industry and posting about it on Twitter or Facebook to generate a good dialogue.

2. Introduce a New Product or Service: Regularly feature different or new products and services and showcase them by tagging them with a “Did You Know…” clause.

3. Invite Customers to a Special Promotion, Demonstration, or Event: Hosting impromptu demos and promotional events are a great way to get customers hyped about your business.  Showing how your product or service is beneficial to them versus simply telling them will garner you much more business.

4. Share a New Company or Customer Video: With the aid of Youtube, or other such sites, you can post an engaging video that shows how your business works, what kind of results it has produced, or show something like a commercial.

5. Give Thanks in a Customer Appreciation Message: Make it a priority to seek out feedback from your customers and thank them for this by letting them know you have made necessary changes and appreciate their business.

6. Offer a Free Report, Tips, or Other Timely Information: A good way to do this is by providing how-to guides or giveaways and gifts!

Marketing is a very integral aspect of the event planning community, as well as maintaining relationships with our customers and clients.  Can you think of any other mini marketing campaigns to try?  How do you best market your company?

To see the full article, click here!

It can often be difficult to sum yourself and your accomplishments up in 140 characters or less, but Twitter has forced us to become more concise.  In a world where a quick scan of something is about all you can expect from your readers, it is important to represent yourself in an accurate, yet condensed format.  According to bnet.com, here are a few words you should leave out when drafting your bio on Twitter:

1. “Authority”- Instead of stating your position of power, show what you’ve done to achieve this authority.  If you have to tell people you are the authority on something, chances are you are not.

2. “Workaholic”- This word automatically triggers negativity.  It’s good to be hard-working, but showcasing yourself as someone who works 24/7 implies that you aren’t getting the most positive results.  Shoot for words like “motivated” or “driven” instead.

3. “Guru”- What does this even mean? Likewise, “ninja”, “expert”, and other monikers of this nature.

4. “Serial Entrepreneur”- Again, this implies that you are constantly trying to establish yourself as an entrepreneur with limited results.  It would be more beneficial to name a few of your entrepreneurial accomplishments or simply just drop the ‘serial’.

5. “Unique”- Each individual is unique, that’s what makes humankind so special.  The article says it best; “tell me why you are better.”

As event planners, it is integral to our work to create a personal brand that people can relate to and that also sets us apart from the masses while still maintaining accuracy.  How do you cultivate your personal brand and what types of words have you used to describe yourself in your bios?

To see the rest of these bad descriptors, click here!

It doesn’t seem as though there’d be many similarities between bloggers and construction workers, but upon closer inspection, the commonalities run deep.  Problogger has provided us with a few valuable lessons we bloggers can learn from construction workers:

1. The best way to learn is by doing: Construction workers are rarely found reading manuals on how to operate their machinery.  They are given the equipment and they figure it out from there.  As bloggers, trial and error is the most efficient method of achieving success.

2. Learn how to use your tools: Just as construction workers know which tools to use to get the job done, bloggers must learn to use their resources, or “tools”, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and WordPress.  Become the master of your (construction) sites!

3. Make sure you get it done: Simply “thinking, talking, and tweeting” are not going to get the job done.  You have to actually sit down and write posts consistently, and by practicing this, your blog will greatly improve.

4. Learn from a master craftsman: Pay attention to the leaders in the blogosphere and take note of how they formulate their posts and how they create interesting, memorable headlines.

As event planners, have you found blogging to be a successful means to getting your name out there?  What other tips can you share that have worked for you?

To get the rest of these tricks of the trade, click here!