ABCey’s #TechTuesday: Top 10 Event Discovery Apps

#TechTuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. Today’s #TechTuesday features 10 great event discovery apps to help you find events in your area!

1. Do the Bay

Do the Bay shows you all the best events going on in the Bay Area. From concerts, comedy, film screenings, festivals, craft and flea markets, drag shows, happy hours, trivia nights, food, and more, there are so many options! They also tend to give away tickets so you can get into some events for free. Don’t miss out on this app if you live in the Bay Area!

2. Eventbrite

Eventbrite is one of the greatest event apps for finding all sorts of local happenings. The app shows you nearby events and gives you dates, times, locations, maps, and similar events. It also allows you to check ticket prices so you can buy them right from the app!

3. Goldstar

Goldstar is an event discovery app that offers half-price tickets to live entertainment. It allows you to spend less on the hottest concerts, theaters, nightlifes, comedies, sports and other events in your city. You don’t want to miss out on these discounts!

4. Go Do

Go Do is an event finder that has an interesting concept. The app is divided into two tabs. The tab on the left is marked Go. You can add a new location if you’re heading out of town, and the map will update with events in that spot. The tab on the right is marked Do. Tap it to select the types of events that interest you most like art, sports, music, or dance. This event finder is well-organized and easy to use!

5. Gravy

Gravy shows you events based on your location and the date. You’ll see events ranging from holiday parties, music events, dinners, and more. You can also filter the results based on your interests, area, or you can search by keyword. You can get all the event details with dates, times, descriptions, and photos using Gravy!

6. Hangtime

Hangtime works by connecting to your Facebook account, so you can see what events your friends are interested in. Along with your friends’ activity, it will also show you local events in your area, drawing from sources like Ticketmaster and Livenation. This is a great app if you’re looking to connect with your friends to attend events!

7. Meetup

Meetup lets you create or join local groups with varying interests, from tech, food, photography, you name it. The app suggests local meet ups in your area and you can indicte how far you are willing to travel for which interest. There is also a calendar feature with a bunch of events that allows you to quickly see all the meet ups that are happening that month!

8. Field Trip

Field trip uses AR to help you find fun things happening near you! Instead of using visual focus, it tells you what is interesting through your headphones. It will point out recommendations from a list of interests such as history, offers, architecture, food, among others. Now that’s cool!

9. Time to Enjoy

This app draws from your personal calendar and notifies you on what events to consider for when you have free time. It breaks it down to the date and the hourly time slots, and even allows you to publish your own events so others can join or attend it. This app is perfect for those of you who use your smartphone calendar to keep track of your schedule, or for event planners who want to advertise their events!

10. Vamos

Vamos is a discovery app that draws from Facebook events, Eventbrite, and Ticketmaster to show you all the best events all in one place! The app lets you see a ton of information about each event from offers, guest lists, and Instagram photos. The app focuses on whatever city you live in.

Which event discovery apps will you use?

Have you used any of these apps lately? Which one is your favorite? Which ones did we miss? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

ABCey’s #TechTuesday: Make Event Planning Easier with Tech Tools!

#TechTuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. Today’s #TechTuesday features the 10 tech tools to make event planning easier!

1. Loopd

Loopd is a system that uses Bluetooth beacons placed around an event venue and chips guests wear around their neck to enable location-tracking for planners and guests. It keeps track of which exhibit booths and sessions attendees visit and also helps with networking! With one tap, guests are able to share contact information, so forget about shuffling around to pull out your phone! Additionally, guests can receive marketing materials and fliers from all the booths they visited via the Loopd app!

2. Hootsuite

Nowadays, every event planner turns to social media to promote their event, and we don’t blame them! It reaches large audiences and is extremely easy to use! The only downside is how many social media platforms are out there. With Hootsuite, you can manage all your social media platforms in one space, so you can close all your tabs!

3. Estimote

Ever wish the TV in front of you showed you exactly what you wanted to see? Estimote, with the help of Bluetooth beacons, can personalize content displayed on digital screens for guests! These beacons communicate with the smartphone in your pocket to show information based on your interests and buying habits. Now all your guests will have a custom experience and event planners won’t need to be concerned with irrelevant content!

4. Eventbrite Organizer

Lines are a huge deterrent, especially check-in lines! Eventbrite Organizer helps cut the lines by allowing the user to scan tickets directly from their phone! Also, you are able to check real-time ticket sales and can even become a mobile box office!

5. SelfieSpott

Instead of creating elaborate backdrops with only a small space for your event logo, event planners can design a graphic overlay with their event logo and some information on the back, if desired. SelfieSpott allows guests to receive their photos instantly and ready for social media by simply texting a number! Also, with their permission, planners can have access to the numbers for a follow-up!

6. Social Tables

Creating to-scale diagrams has never been easier, so put down those toothpicks and cut-out tables and pull out your computer! With the Social Tables software, you can adjust the placement of tables and also create a seating chart for your guests. You are able to customize every aspect of it to your liking, whether it be color, size, or label! It’ll make event planning easier by far!

7. Facial Recognition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3A9_XDirW4

Looking to amaze your guests and reduce check-in lines? Zenus has constructed a kiosk that will scan and display a guest’s badge upon their approach. If you prefer a less bulky option, their facial recognition software pairs with any device that possesses a camera, like an iPad! Check-in will be quick and your guests no longer have to waste precious time waiting to be checked in!

8. Slack

If you find yourself switching between iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and other channels just to reach all your event staff, we recommend you try Slack! It’s a workplace messaging system that can help you keep all your communications in one channel. Also, you can create groups within the chat to help you keep organized!

9. Speecheo

Ditch the pen and paper! Speecheo allows all your guests to take notes while simultaneously providing feedback to the speaker! Planners and speakers can see the most popular part of the presentation, and the audience can create bookmarks and record audio to later share on social media.

10. Dropbox

Forget lugging around huge binders full of documents! Dropbox keeps all your necessary documents in one secure place. Access can also be shared among all your event staff to avoid losing printed copies and to be a little eco-friendly!

How will you make event planning easier?

We know that event planning can be extremely difficult and demanding. These tech tools are meant to help every planner be a little more organized and to make event planning easier! Are there any tech tools you use? Which ones did we miss? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

Event Alert: Annual Spark SF Public Schools Gala!

ABCey is super excited to help out with the Annual Spark SF Public Schools Gala alongside producer, Bespoke by Katy Higgins! Grab your tickets soon!

Spark SF Public Schools Gala

Friday May 12 | The Fairmont San Francisco | 6 – 11pm | 60’s Cocktail Attire | Tickets

The Spark Gala is SFUSD’s and Spark* SF Public School’s celebration that brings together the SF community. This includes the civic and business leaders and local philanthropists, to the educators and parents. All unite to celebrate and recognize the Mayor’s Teacher and Principal of the Year!

Inspired by the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love, they honor SFUSD’s policies of inclusion and diversity. Together, we can create an education revolution.

We are thrilled to participate in this inspiring event! Make sure to snag your tickets ASAP, and we’ll see you there!

Will you be attending? Let us know thoughts in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

4 Ways to Enhance Your Event Using Social Media

Social media is one of the main tools event planners use to market events, distribute information, engage with guests and solicit feedback. Here are a few tips that will help keep your event buzzing from beginning to end!

1. Create pre-event buzz

Excitement is key to attracting attendees and establishing a good atmosphere at your event. You can create pre-event buzz by meaningfully posting on social media and creating a hashtag. Put the hashtag on presentations, handouts, goody bags and signage so people don’t forget to use it! You can also tease people with content to get people excited through contests, giveaways or a guest’s blog post.

2. Free Wifi

Wifi is key, so make sure it’s available and that the venue has the bandwidth to support your needs. Your digital marketing centers around your guests ability to post on social media. Guests not only share your event content, but their own generated content which helps promote your business.

3. Socialize your event

Live stream, live post, and enable the folks that are there! Post photos or short videos of what’s going on, or try Ustream to stream live video. You can also give away prizes for the most liked photo of the day or most favorited tweet to give people incentive.

It is also important to have a point person at the event responding to posts. They don’t have to respond to every single one, but there is a reason people post publicly and it is because they liked to be engaged with.

4. Post-event engagement

Keep the dialogue going post event, and keep using that hashtag! Ask for feedback from attendees, and post a slideshow or a fun time lapse video. Be sure to post a recap blog letting people about speakers key points, highlights of the event and more.

Were these tips helpful? Let us know by commenting below or on Twitter or Facebook!