Last week Apple revealed iTunes 10, which included a new logo and a new social music network called “Ping“. Ping allows you to “follow your favorite artists and friends to discover the music they are talking about, listening to and downloading.” – Apple

Ping is a combination of iTunes, Twitter and Facebook. It is a lot like Twitter where you can follow your friends or your favorite artists.

Ping allows you to:

• follow your favorite artists and become a part of their inner circle
• Read artist’s news feeds
• Find out what music an artist likes and learn songs that they recommend
• See pictures and status updates from your favorite artists (and you can join in our their conversations)
• You can also access Ping through your iPhone and iTouch
• You can also follow your friends and learn about what they are listening to who they like.
• See what artists are playing near you and who else will be in the audience too (over 17,000+ concerting listings)
• You can even buy tickets to concerts directly from Ping

I recently downloaded iTunes 10 and I am very impressed with how easy it is to use Ping! I look forward to learning more about it and to hear about what others have to say about it.

Have you tried Ping yet? Do you think Ping will be a great success?

For all you iPhone users in the event industry, here is a list of handy apps you should add to your event planning tool belt:

• AccuWeather- AccuWeather offers a GPS application to provide worldwide forecasting to “weatherproof” your event.

• Evernote- Create an electronic ideas scrapbook containing notes, photos and voice memos using Evernote, accessible at any time from your iPhone, computer, or the web.

• Foursquare- Keep tabs on your clients’ locations using the geolocation social networking site, and explore your city in new ways with the Foursquare application.

• Skype- The Skype download connects you to contacts anywhere in the world, which is perfect for destination events or long distance clients.

• LinkedIn – LinkedIn for iPhone allows users to access and share their professional profile with clients at the touch of a button, and connect with over 70 million professionals worldwide.

• Twitterific- Twitterific lets you update clients about the event planning process, and allows easy access to your business and social networks.

• Facebook- To keep track of and check in with clients and staff, Facebook quickly connects you to all of your networks.

• Alarm Clock- Though it seems simple, every event planner knows the importance of being on time, so ensure your punctuality with the Alarm Clock application.

How have these apps contributed to your event planning? Are there any other downloads every event planner should use?

Did you know that you can save money with calls to landlines and mobiles? By using the Skype application on your iPhone you are able to reach your contacts anywhere in the world at great rates when using Skype. You are able to text with “pay as you go credit” or with a subscription and receive unlimited calls to landlines and to even some mobiles in specific countries. Skype’s screens are able to sort contacts alphabetically and enables you to chat online with contacts as well. Skype-to-Skype calling on 3G is free until the end of 2010, after that there’ll be a small monthly free.

As an event planner, Skype can be especially useful for long distance meetings and interviews. It makes it much easier to keep in contact with event partners and those involved with the production of the event. Using video conferencing for meetings can not only be more cost effective than face to face meetings, but can make the brainstorming process move much quicker. This is much better than regular telephone conferencing where you can’t even see a person’s facial expressions. Video chatting makes the process much more personal.

Call and be called on Skype- wherever you go!

How amazing is it that you can make free Skype-to-Skype calls to phones abroad on Wifi or 3G? Skype for Iphone truly delivers Skype experience and now you can video chat from your phone from anywhere in the world which, makes conference calls easier too!

Top 4 Reasons to Love Skype for Iphone:

• Near CD-quality sound for Skype-to-Skype calls using wideband audio on iPhone 3GS or 2nd generation iPod touch and onwards.

• Enhanced call quality indicator, which will help customers choose the best moment to call.

• Improved start-up time

• Rapid access to the dial pad from the home screen

Have you ever used Skype for meetings? The bigger question on our minds, however, is just how big a blow FaceTime on the brand new Iphone 4G will deliver to Skype and other competing VoIP services.

Every event planner in the industry, experienced or not will benefit from the newest Apple App “Mark On Call”. It’s designed to keep all those pieces of papers and stickies with numbers, figures, sample layouts, and tailored customer requests organized into a clean (paperless) software. Now all those files and notepads can be a thing of the past!

For the bargain price of $2.99 (download at www.iTunes.com), you can have:
*All of your units of measurement questions answered
*The ability to take pictures of actual rugs, painting, floral arrangements, fabric ideas, and table linens to directly show clients
*Customized room items for use in all your floor plans
*Creation of shopping lists, or write down last minute notes for a client.

And, get this…it’s easy to use!

BONUS: The reviews for customer service are superb. You are able to send emails write to the creator and get a response back within one hour! This app was created by event planners and interior designers so it’s not too far fetched. Watch the short clip above from the creator of the app, and hear more interesting tips and ideas!

The iPhone application slogan: “there is an app for that” has rung true. Everything from MyStarbucks to BubbleWrap (Yes, you actually pop bubbles with your finger on your touchscreen) has made the iPhone capable of pretty much anything you can imagine.

Here are our most recent top ten (in no particular order):

Blog Press ($2.99)

Our blogging app of choice. use this app to write blogs, upload pics, everything you can do on a computer on the go. So next time a wave of inspiration overcomes you, or you just to to share your latest news, you don’t have to wait until you get home to do so.

Sugar Sync (Free)

SugarSync allows you to access all of the files on your home computer without having to store any of it on your iPhone! This app works in conjunction with SugarSync desktop software which you can download as well for either a mac or a PC.

Tweetie ($2.99)

Twitter is all about real-time updates…so don’t let an opportunity to share pass you by. This is the highest rated twitter app.

Share Services ($4.99 LiteVersion Free)

Twitter, Skype Chat, Facebook, Google Talk, Yahoo, MSN and AOL and many more. This app does it all. Messages are free so save on MMS and SMS (50% off in anticipation of next release)

JotNot (2.99)

Converts your iPhone into a portable scanner. Quickly copy paper, letters, notes, receipts…whatever!

Biz Cards ($3.99)

Add new business cards by snapping a photo. Also, can scan your business card and extract text so you can easily text message or email information.

Bump (Free)

Swap other contact info by “bumping” two iPhones together. Information is automatically saved to your contacts and photos to your camera roll.

Business News ($0.99)

In this industry it is so important to stay up to date on the latest news. Catch up on your favorite news provider while you wait in line with this app.

Analytics App ($5.99)

Gives you anytime access to your google analytics data. Must have a google analytics account to use this app but its free to download. Stay informed on the activity on your site all the time.

TechCrunch also gives a good list of both business and personal apps too: The 35 best iPhone Apps of the Year (So Far)

Any other great suggestions? Add your favorite app in a comment below!

Apple App Store