Tag: application
Startup Monday: Last minute hotels with Hotel Tonight
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on, or have worked with in the past & would like to share with friends and followers of ABCey Events! Today, we want to highlight Hotel Tonight, a useful app that helps you to book hotels last minute!
Event planning can get hectic and with your busy schedule, you might forget to book a hotel for you or your attendees. Don’t be forced to pay these outrageous prices that can rise up to 300%. At ABCey, we have an app to solve this problem: Hotel Tonight! This app was awarded the best-on-demand service at the 8th annual tech Crunchie Awards and definitely deserved it! Of course you should always try to book hotels in advance. But if you are stuck in a bind, Hotel Tonight is a great app that gives you the best prices for last minute hotel reservations.
Booking last minute hotels with Hotel Tonight:
After downloading the app on your mobile phone, you’ll have a great variety of available rooms! Also, we love this app because it includes the mood of the hotel. From hip to charming, you can experience hotels like never before! By comparing major travel sites, Hotel Tonight gives you the best hotel options and the biggest bang for your buck. Additionally, if you introduce this app to someone, both you and your friend get $25 off their first stay. But there’s more! They have amazing 24/7 customer support to ensure your last minute hotel reservation is perfect. So if you’re in a bind for a hotel, try out Hotel Tonight to get your last minute room for the best price and the best experience!
Have you used Hotel Tonight before or are you thinking of using this app? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and on Twitter!
#TechTuesday: 5 ways to use drones for events
#TechTuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming technologies for their innovative ideas and impact on the event world. ABCey has compiled 5 innovative ways event planners are utilizing drones!
Although they were first used for military purposes, drones are becoming extremely useful tools for the event planning industry. Drones are not only used to capture stunning aerial images, but also in previously unimaginable ways that go beyond just pictures and videos. Here are 5 great ways to use drones for your next event!
1. Aerial Event Photos and Videos
Drones are now a popular tool for event planners, because they can capture amazing aerial footage from an infinite number of angles. They are also extremely versatile and can be used at conferences, trade shows, galas, festivals, and sporting events! This tech allows for extraordinary 360 degree views of all attendees, as well as close ups of speakers and performances.
2. Choosing the Perfect Venue/Site Selection
Drones can also be used for pre-event prep to collect venue images. Photos and videos make it so easy for clients and planners to choose the perfect site for an event! From images of massive event properties to inside meeting rooms, there is almost no place a drone can’t fly!
3. Entertainment Drones to Wow Your Guests
Companies have outdone themselves by using drones as a new form of entertainment for their guests! Intel is one company that impressed their guests and set the world record by having 100 drones create a unique light show! Others, like Amsterdam Drone Entertainment, have programmed their drones to dance for crowds which has truly set a new standard for event entertainment!
4. The Best Delivery Service
Some other ways to use a drone? How about deliver food, drinks and invitations! This interactive way of distributing items to people is mostly used by restaurants to give food to their customers. But, this kind of delivery service can just as easily be adapted to fit the event industry’s needs. Using a drone to deliver items to guests is extremely innovative, interactive, and a great way to make your event stand out!
5. Extra $ From Advertising and Sponsors
Drones can also be lucrative for your business! If you are hosting an event, sponsors may offer to pay you if you use drones to promote their business. Attendees are often drawn to drone tech which is seen as a great opportunity for companies to advertise. Because drones can drop off samples/products, hold up company posters, and display a brand logo, they are becoming the newest advertising trend!
Apps are also being made and adapted to incorporate drone technology. Facebook recently announced they have updated their live video stream application, Facebook Live. This update allows users to stream videos live from a drone. Twitter‘s similar live video streaming application, Periscope, also announced this feature.
By capturing stunning footage, helping venue selection, entertaining and serving their guests, delivering items, and increasing revenue and an event’s wow factor, drones are the new must-have gadget for anyone in the event industry!
Know any other ways drones are used? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and on Twitter!
Startup Monday: Zenefits
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past & would like to share with friends and followers of ABCey Events!
In light of a lot of recent difficult press, ABCey still has high hopes that Zenefits can overcome these growing pains! Zenefits is working to bring attention to what has made their products so appealing in the first place: Shopping for health insurance is really frustrating!! As a business owner, what do you use to organize your employees health insurance, payroll, FSA, 401k, and other HR tasks? Are you spending lots of money in your HR department or doing these tedious tasks yourself? Look no further, Zenefits can help solve your problem.
How it works:
Although Zenefits mostly focuses on health insurance, this software is used by more than 20,000 businesses to streamline HR systems. Instead of using multiple different programs for tracking employees health insurance, payroll, 401k, FSA, contractors, etc., this startup helps small businesses by bundling all of these systems into one easy to use software.
With this platform, you are able to track:
- Benefits/Insurance
- HR Management
- ACA Compliance
- Payroll
- Time & Attendance
- PTO
- and more!
Why we love it:
Zenefits has great benefits! It is an all in one platform that makes managing administrative tasks a breeze. The program is easy to set up, eliminates tedious paperwork and the costs of hiring HR employees! We also love the changes that Zenefits is making including a new CEO, who is determined to change the company in a drastic way. Like Zappos, they have recently scaled down their employees to ensure that everyone is 100% invested in the company. With the new direction their company is taking, Zenefits has a bright future!
Planning on using this amazing platform for your team? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
Tech Tuesday: EventMobi, Create, Customize, and Launch Your Event App
Tech Tuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming technologies for their innovative ideas and impact on the event world!
“Create, customize, and launch your event app!”
This week, we are encouraging you to check out EventMobi. This application enables event planners and marketers to create their own event app for their individual needs. Millions of event planners, marketers, and attendees from more than 40 countries use this app, which is easily accessible from a smartphone, tablet, or any other online device.
How it works: You have full control over the creation of your personalized event app. Whether you want to include registration features, post-event reporting, or attendee activities, EventMobi helps you to set up the features you need. If you’re in doubt, you can contact the EventMobi support team, who will help you design your app according to your needs.
Why we love it: EventMobi is easy to use and cost-efficient! You can customize your personal event app exclusively with features you really need, without any clutter. Using EventMobi also reduces the need for paper, which helps your event simultaneously go green and stay organized!
No matter what kind of app you create, EventMobi keeps it secure and confidential! You can create pre-event, on-site, and post-event features, with individual branding for your company. Organizations like Disney, IBM, and SalesForce are just some of EventMobi’s popular clients.
Startup Monday: Prismatic
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past that we would like to share with the friends and followers of ABCey Events.
Are you ready to see what your ideal newsfeed looks like? Get ready to discover Prismatic!
Prismatic is a web service, and now an iPhone app, that sources data from multiple sources such as Facebook and Google Reader to deliver your favorite news straight to you. Prismatic software is called a social network aggregation that uses an algorithm to filter content that aligns with the interests of that specific reader. Based on what you view and what you “like,” Prismatic personalizes your homepage with the news you enjoy most!
Prismatic’s design is ultra sleek and really based on user comfortability and experience. Best of all, Prismatic is socially adept! For each article the recommend for you, popular tweets from readers all over the web are shown. Articles read or suggested by your social networking connections are usually recommended for you to encourage interaction and sharing amongst contacts. Prismatic brings news, especially tech news, back to our attention.
Have you used Prismatic? What do you think of it? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section or on Facebook and Twitter!
The 5 Innovative Ways to use Apps in Event Planning
When it comes to event planning, technology can either help you or set you back a few paces. ABCey has hand-selected the apps we find most useful when we’re putting on your flawless event. These apps are great for any occasion but have found their long-lost calling in the event planning world!
1. Get Together Remotely | Whether you’re across town or across the country, it’s near impossible to get everyone in the same place at the same time. Get through the planning process with ease by downloading a conference call app like UberConference! This app is free, customizable, and lets you send files from Evernote and Box through the call. That’s what we call multitasking!
2. Be a Task Master | To-do lists are great, but having a communal to-do list is even better! Skip the Post-it note and create a list that’s on your computer, your phone, and all your colleagues’ devices. We suggest Wunderlist because you can invite others to collaborate on tasks and check the group’s progress in the activity center.
3. Track it Down | Sometimes, an emergency coffee run is just necessary. Keep track of all the little out-of-pocket expenses piling up with XpenseTracker. This app holds photos of receipts and describes each expense in detail. After the event, the app uploads the expenses to your computer in Excel format.
4. Be the Bouncer | The guest list is one of the most integral parts of event planning and production- you have to keep your guests happy! The Attendium app makes sure you never skip a beat from downloading guest lists from Excel and e-mail to making sure staff, VIPs, and attendees feel welcome and taken care of.
5. Stay in Command | While a walkie-talkie app may sound unnecessary (and dated,) Voxer is worth a download before your event begins. With the ability to send and save voice messages as well as texts, it’s the only live push-to-talk app where you’ll never miss a message. Your coworkers will thank you in advance!
Which app would be most helpful to you? Tell us in a comment or on Facebook and Twitter!
Startup Monday: Wedding Party
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past that we would like to share with the friends and followers of ABCey Events.
The days of leaving a disposable camera in the table centerpiece are over! The perfect app for your wedding is Wedding Party, which allows guests to share the photos of your big day in one easy location. Let the party begin!
This app is a must-have for any wedding! Wedding Party helps you create your wedding’s very own website displaying wedding information, gift registry, and (of course!) your pictures. Whomever downloads the app and uploads photos will find them shown on the website in realtime! The app makes one cohesive wedding album to share with friends, family, and guests filled with a unique blend of professional and candid shots that tell your complete wedding story. The pics can be used to create a timeline of events, like saying the vows and cutting the cake, and to create Facebook albums.
Photosharing is just the tip of the iceberg. Use Wedding App to make place cards, keep a guest book, and interact with your guests. You’ll be able to see every single moment from the happiest day of your life through the eyes of your loved ones. This app will be the best (free!) gift you can get.
What do you think of Wedding Party? Is it a good fit for your wedding? Let us know your thoughts in a comment or on Twitter and Facebook!