Tag: eventplanning
ABCey Presents: How to Conduct a Site Selection
Location, location, location! A HUGE factor in organizing a successful event is finding the perfect venue. However, the hunt for an event space can actually be a long and exhaustive process. ABCey is here to help with ideas on how you can conduct a site selection for your next event!
1. Needs Assessment
The first step in selecting a venue for your upcoming event is to develop an exhaustive list of selection criteria. You should always start with creating an overall estimated budget for your event that identifies all expenses and offsets. It’s important to know your overall budget BEFORE selecting a venue. Thus, it’s extremely crucial to communicate with your clients and figure out what they need in terms of location, cost, capacity, and so on.
2. Get Organized!
After figuring out what your client wants, it’s time to develop a list of potential venues. You can come up with a list of up to 10 event spaces (anything more than that will be overwhelming), and eventually narrow it down to 3. We suggest creating a google spreadsheet to keep your ideas organized, or any event software of your choice! Make sure to include important details such as location, pricing, capacity, and contact information, and pros and cons!
Many important details such as contact number and pricing can be found on the venue website. Other than that, Google Maps and Yelp are great tools to see the site and acquire information such as location and venue ratings.
3. Create a Visual Presentation
After organizing your spreadsheet, make a visual presentation for each event space. You can put up a few images and talk about why a particular venue is a good fit. You can then go ahead and present the powerpoint to your client and wait for them to narrow down the list for you.
4. Plan Site Visits
Once you have presented your Powerpoint or other presentation to your client, you will then need to go visit the venues. Seeing them in person is much different than anything you can find online. You should offer for your client to join along, but if they can’t you will need to visit them on your own. Be sure to take lots of pics and vids!
5. Time to Make A Final Decision
After visiting all of the venues, you should have a great idea of each event space and be able to picture if your event theme works within the parameters of the space. You can then talk to your clients and show them pictures and videos of each venue to help them make a final decision!
Have you ever conducted a site selection? Is there anything we missed? Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for otherSan Francisco startups or other fortune 500 companies, click here.
ABCey’s Startup Monday: Oh My Green
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that showcases some of the most innovative San Francisco startups! These are often selected from a list of companies that we LOVE or have worked with in the past. This week, we are putting the spotlight on Oh My Green. A startup dedicated to deliver healthy and natural foods to companies.
What is Oh My Green?
Founded in 2014, Oh My Green is a California based healthy food and wellness services provider that aims to make healthy eating and good nutrition easy. Oh My Green offers a custom, nutritious office food program for your organization. The company delivers healthy office snacks, kitchen design, and stocking services, to catering, cafe management, and wellness programming.
How it Works?
Regardless of your company size and budget, Oh My Green brings delicious snacks and drinks to your workplace. Its monthly snack box subscription is perfect for offices with 50 or less. All you need to do is sign up and fill out your company’s information and note dietary preferences. Oh My Green also provides a variety of office catering options for corporate events. Its tech-enabled service, which relies on machine learning can give you personalized recommendations for meals and snacks.
Why Do We Love it?
We love Oh My Green because they truly care about people and their health and well-being. Whether you’re vegan or have food allergies, Oh My Green can customize a menu for your company’s needs. When it comes to catering, Oh My Green always sources ingredients from local farms to maximize freshness and nutritional value of the food. Its advanced technology also allows you to manage orders, track your consumption, control your budget and so much more!
Have you heard of Oh My Green? Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
ABCey Presents: 5 Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Your Next Event
Instagram Stories has opened the door to a new range of possibilities for both users and marketers, making it a great space to promote events. Thus, ABCey has created a list of our top 5 ways that you can use Instagram Stories for your next event!
1. Instagram Live Video
Record and show in real-time! You can shoot live video using Instagram Stories before, during, and after your event. This way, you can showcase your venue and promote event transparency. Backstage content is a great way to drive viewership and keep your audience interested. Filming behind the scenes will give users a sense of involvement/understanding of how event planning actaully works.
2. Q&As
Having a Q&A session is a good way to engage your audience. Your followers might have common questions about your event or are interested in knowing more about the event planning process. In this case, you can collect the most popular questions and answer them in a picture or video format on your stories.
3. Advertisement
There are so many ways you can advertise your event using Instagram Stories. You can promote your brand or upcoming event using appropriate hashtags; you can also place your event page link in your stories. There’s also Instagram Stories ads, which allow you to insert a short advert in between users stories. You can target your ads by reach, video views, traffic, conversions, app installs, and brand awareness.
4. Start A Poll
The good thing about Instagram Stories is that it lets you run quick surveys and take your audience’s pulse. Thus, if you have a dilemma while in the midst of planning an event, you can always ask your audience for their thoughts. This is a nice way to engage with your followers and make them feel that you value their opinion!
5. Influencer Takeover
It’s always good to change things up. Consider letting your event speaker, a performer, a sponsor or an influencer take over your account and engage with your audience. By providing a platform for others to push some of their own content, you’ll also be able to leverage the speaker’s own audience and marketing power, and drive impressions for your event.
What do you think of these ideas? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for other San Francisco startups or Fortune 500 companies, click here.
ABCey’s Top 5 Event Apps Every Event Planner Needs
People assume that event planners have a simple job. Getting paid to make plans? Sounds so easy! But the reality is that event planning is extremely hard work. If you’ve ever planned an event, you know how much time and effort goes into it. Luckily, there are apps that has made it easier to plan and manage events, no matter how large! Today, we bring you our top five apps that every event planner needs to ease the process.
Boomset
For much larger events, Boomset is an amazing application for managing guest check-in. This app is the perfect tool for checking in registered conference guests. With fast check-ins and a walk-in registration feature for attendees who have not pre-registered, lines will definitely be reduced. You can even print customized badges or wristbands for your event by using the Boomset web platform.
Bizzabo
Bizzabo is a bunch of event planning tools all wrapped in one. Targeted towards medium-to-large-sized businesses, Bizzabo is ideal for planning large events with a lot of tasks. The application allows you to build event websites for registration, emails for marketing, and agendas for event management, great for concerts or fundraisers!
24me
For planning smaller events, 24me is the best handy little personal assistant to help you stay on task with planning. The app includes integrated calendars, to-do lists, and notes. It automates events by keeping your tasks and schedules in one place and by sending you reminders for them when necessary.
HeyTell
Communication with your team is key for running your event smoothly, so being in touch at all times is necessary. HeyTell is an app that turns your smartphone into a walkie-talkie. When you need something even snappier than texting or email, get the app, choose a contact and start talking. This makes it easier to communicate and avoid any confusion during your event!
SuperPlanner
Nothing is worse than an overcrowded venue, exceeding a budget due to over staffing or any other problems you might face while planning your event. Super Planner offers calculators for venue capacity, staffing, and catering to avoid these kinds of issues. Use this app to stay on budget and execute all the details to perfection.
What are your favorite event planning apps? Are there any we missed? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!
If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for other San Francisco startups or other Fortune 500 companies, click here.
ABCey’s Tech Tuesday: 5 Best Event Website Templates
Want to build a buzz around your event and wow your registrants? The convenience and customization event websites offer to both event planners and attendees are amazing! Thus, today’s #techTuesday features 5 best event websites to help you create your next event website template.
1. Splash
Pricing Details: Free for personal events and trials, custom pricing for business licenses
From simplifying event asset creation to capturing attendee insights and measuring event impact, Splash is a great event marketing tool.Splash’s content management system makes it super easy to create your event website while maintaining brand consistency. You can also customize your invite, check-in guests, print your event badges, and more with this tool!
2. Squarespace
Pricing Details: Squarespace has 4 price plans, ranging from $12 to $40 per month.
Squarespace is a drag-and-drop website builder with the best quality templates in terms of design and flexibility. With this tool, you can have full customization control without the need for coding. Squarespace also has good SEO, and its pages all follow SEO best practices. It provides you the best tools to promote your brand.
3. EventCreate
Pricing Details: EventCreate has 2 price plans, ranging from $9 to $29 per month.
In addition to website creation, EventCreate is also a ticketing & registration platform. EventCreate uniquely offers fully white-labeled, custom-branded event pages and is the only platform that offers A/B ticket price testing, to help you maximize your event revenue.
4. Planning Pod
Pricing Details: Planning Pod has 4 price plans, ranging from $19 -$69+ per month.
Planning Pod is an online event management software that aims to help people and organizations that manage multiple or complex events and registrations. This tool offers a centralized platform to manage events, clients, staff, venues, vendors, payments and business details. More importantly, the floor plan feature allows event planners to customize designs for the venue, so they can help clients visualize the event.
5. Bookmark
Pricing Details: Free version available; Professional plan: $11.99/month; Business plan: $24.99/month.
Bookmark is one of the most advanced website builders when it comes to web technologies. Its AI software AiDA (Artificial Intelligence Design Assistant) can help you create an exceptional website in less than 90 seconds! The AI can help fill your website with blocks that suits the most, puts on sample content and customizes design colors. And all you need to do after is to change the text and images. This tool is super efficient and is perfect for non-technical professionals and small business owners.
Have you used any of these event website builders before? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
ABCey’s Tech Tuesday: 2019 Bay Area Tech Events and Conferences
Can you believe we’re already half way through the year? For today’s #TechTuesday, ABCey features our top five Bay Area tech events and conferences to attend in 2019.
1. Y-Combinator Demo Days
Twice a year, Y-Combinator Demo Day gathers it’s latest batch of YC-funded founders to present their companies to a room of selected investors and press. Over the course of two days, founders hope for investors to take a chance and invest in their companies. Because of this selection process, this event is invitation only.
When: August 19th-20th, 2019 | Location: Pier 48 |
2. Oracle OpenWorld
Oracle OpenWorld, the tech giant’s deep dive into all things cloud, offers more than 2,200 educational sessions, hundreds of demos and hands-on labs, and exhibitions from more than 400 partners. Over a course of four days, you’ll engage in free-flowing ideas that will help you and your business do tomorrow’s business goals, today! You won’t want to miss out on today’s première business and technology event.
When: September 16th-19th, 2019 | Location: Moscone Center |
3. TechCrunch Disrupt
This large conference allows startups to sign up and present their business ideas on the stage in front of investors, media for exposure and win prize money. In addition, the featured guests this year include Heather Adkins, Michael Rogers, and Evan Spiegel. You sure do not want to miss out on an opportunity like this!
When: October 2nd-4th, 2019 | Location: Moscone North |
4. Open Data Science Conference West
ODSC West 2019 is one of the largest applied data science conferences in the world. It’s the conference to engage, to build, to develop, and to learn from the data science community. At ODSC, their goal is to host those looking to accelerate their skills and knowledge by offering programs of varying difficulty levels, from beginner to advanced and in between. No matter what skill level you are, there is a program for you!
When: October 29th- Nov 1st, 2019 | Location: Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport |
5. Dreamforce 19′
Dreamforce is an annual conference hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco. Each year, Dreamforce attracts tens of thousands of professionals and provides thousands of workshops. Because of this, attendees will be able to learn how Salesforce can help take their business to the next level.
When: November 19-22, 2019 | Location: Moscone Center |
What tech events and conferences are you planning to attend? Let us know what you think in the comments below or onFacebook and Twitter!
Want to plan a conference after-party? Look no futher, as ABCey is here to help. Click here to learn more about events we’ve done for other San Francisco startups and Fortune 500 companies,
ABCey Presents: Top 5 New San Francisco Event Venues in 2019
Planning an event but don’t know where? Today, ABCey has curated a list of the top five new San Francisco venues for your next big conference or event!
1. Palette
Palette is a restaurant and gallery that explores the relationship between food, art and community. Located in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, Palette is an 8,500 sq. ft. storied space within walking distance of the Moscone Center, Yerba Buena Gardens and the SFMOMA. With the ability to accommodate up to 225 guests, Palette is a great place for large events!
Location: 816 Folsom Street | Book here | Contact Info |
2. DecantSF
DecantSF is the newest addition to San Francisco’s wine and beverage scene. It is available for private events such as tastings, wine list consulting for off-property events, and corporate gifting. Whether your event is small or big, DecantSF will work with you and specially customize a program just for you!
Location: 1168 Folsom Street | Book here | Contact Info |
3. Story on Union
Conveniently located on Union Street in the Cow Hollow neighborhood of San Francisco, Story on Union is the sweet spot for your next private event. Whether it is a cocktail party, rehearsal dinner, fundraiser or even retirement party, the options are endless! In addition, it can accomodate up to 175 people.
Location: 2136 Union Street | Book here |
4. Nommo
Opened by two acclaimed bar owners Thad Vogler and Jon Santer, Nommo was built with your event needs in mind! Nommo has a menu that appropriately spans land and sea. Not only are there seafood, but also there are cheese plates, little gem and chicory caesar salads, and desserts. With views of the Bay Bridge, this place is sure to be on your list!
Location: 396 Harrison St. | Book here |
5. The Brixton on 2nd
The Brixton San Francisco has opened the second location of its iconic, rock ‘n roll inspired restaurant. It is a full service restaurant with a lively bar and cafe that features two separate private dining rooms available for guests, which are named after baseball players Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. If your event is small or big, this place will sure be a smash hit!
Location: 701 2nd Street at Townsend Street | Book here | Contact Info|
What are your favorite new San Francisco venues? Are there any we missed? Can ABCey help plan your next event at one of these fun spots? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!
If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for other San Francisco startups or other Fortune 500 companies, click here.
ABCey’s Tech Tuesday: Top 10 Event Tech Trends of 2019
It’s Tuesday! ABCey presents #TechTuesday as we highlight the best and brightest ideas in the event tech industry. For today’s #TechTuesday, we feature ten event tech trends to look for in 2019.
1) Mobile Charging Stations
Full charge ahead! Having a convenient and reliable way to charge mobile devices is one of the top amenities event attendees crave. By incorporating charging outlets into themed décor to your next event will not only satisfy their craving but also make it more trendy. goCharge is a great source to rent or buy a charging station for your next event!
2) 5G
Verizon and AT&T have both launched preliminary 5G services, but neither one is broadly available yet. With 5G, it’s fast, more responsive and able to connect a lot more devices at once. The speed and reliability of your venue’s Wi-Fi will become less important, as attendees will already have high-speed internet available to them on their devices, allowing for more opportunities.
3) Event Diagramming
Event diagramming tools are constantly improving. With the ability to lay out your event in any way you want, it allows for better planning and better control. Additionally, it helps planners and venue management save time. Forbes has used the software since 2013 to improve the efficiency of their events by visually verifying the placement of every piece as well as the viability of venues. We recommend MagicPlan or SocialTables Check in to make your planning a breeze!
4) Facial Recognition
Identifying and verifying an individual by using their faces has never been easier. With facial recognition, we can easily check in and register guests, reach new audience members and most of all, improve on site security. Apple and theme parks, like Disneyland have already take on facial recognition and have integrated into their systems with the IPhone and tickets respectively.
5) Beacons
A great companion for your event app- Beacon’s bluetooth technology send signals to other smart devices nearby using small, wireless transmitters. . One of the most useful benefits of beacon technology is that it has the capability to help attendees navigate from point A to point B. AppAtlas, powered by the mobile event app provider MeetingPlay, recently launched indoor wayfinding throughout enourmous ropms. By downloading an app, venue guests can easily navigate throughout these mega complexes with turn-by-turn directions right from their mobile or smart devices..
6) Event Applications
Event applications are a great tool for listing your event info, schedules, performer information, and more all in ONE place. Their flexibility makes them a perfect fit for almost any type of event. Pathable and Guidebook are just a few! Built with ease of use and design in mind, both event apps are great at being simple and convenient!
7) Event Automation
Event automation gives event planners the ability to create personalized experiences for all attendees. By sending out information tailored to each person to their own interests, it could also help prevent attendees from getting slammed with information overload. GEVME, Silverpop and HubSpot are some trending event automation platforms that will get you started!
8) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Waiting in line for an event? Say no more! With RFID, you can set up a faster entry process and store payment, all in one with this tool. Furthermore, you can significantly cut down on your day-of staff or reallocate your staff into more engaging roles at your event venue. Xylobands, made popular by Coldplay is a great source of RFID coming into play. During the concert, it lights up during the musical acts and is a beautiful sight. Not only is it mesmerizing, but it will be a factor in getting people to come back.
9) Artificial Intelligence (Chatbots)
If you had questions about an event, don’t fear! With chatbots, you are able to get your question answered in a few seconds, relieving overwhelmed staff. In addition, chatbots are virtual meaning they could be on different social media platforms anytime and anywhere. There are numerous chatbots all over the internet including Spotify, Uber, Nike and more!
10) Augmented Reality
In simple words, augmented reality is a combination of our real and computer-generated worlds in the form of live video imagery. With this technology, events planners can utilize the capabilities of computer-generated display text, sound and effects to enhance attendees’ real world experience. Attendees can experience AR through headsets or through displays on mobile devices. When Apple announced the ar feature at Apple’s annual conference, Worldwide Developers Conference, it changed everything for years to come!
Have you tried any of these event tech trends? Which one is your favorite? Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for otherSan Francisco startups or other fortune 500 companies, click here.
ABCey’s Startup Monday: Gametime
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that showcases some of the most innovative San Francisco startups! These are often selected from a list of companies that we LOVE or have worked with in the past. This week, we are putting the spotlight on Gametime.
What is Gametime?
Founded in late 2013 by Brad Griffith, Gametime is a platform for users to buy tickets for sports, concerts, and theater events across the US and Canada. And, they curate an epic list of the most amazing possibilities your city has to offer all while making tickets as easy as possible to purchase with your smart phone. Tickets arrive in a flash and there’s no need to print!
How Does It Work?
Through an algorithm, the app is able to find the best seat for the selected venue that caters to you. Once you’ve found the perfect seats, check out in two taps—even after the event starts! Gametime delivers the tickets directly to your phone. Going with friends? Text your tickets to your crew and everyone gets in instantly. If plans change, no problem – sell your tickets (even paper ones) with the push of a button.
Why we love it
We love Gametime as purchasing an event ticket has never been easier. It is easy to select your seat and find one that matches your budget. As time draws closer to an event’s start, Gametime strategically reduces ticket prices for last-minute customers, setting up a great last minute hangout and experience.
Have you tried Gametime? Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for other San Francisco startups or other Fortune 500 companies, click here.
ABCey Presents: Tips for a Smooth Site Selection Process
Site selection for events can be a challenging and tedious process. However, by accomplishing the right steps, you can find the best venue for your client. ABCey has curated a list of tips for a smooth site selection process that we use to pick the perfect venue!
Make an Initial List of Sites
The first step in our site selection process is doing a general brainstorm of sites that seem to fit the needs of the client. Consider the location, number of guests, and venue-type when compiling the list. Leave no stone unturned and make sure you’re getting a variety of different venues. This makes your client feel like they have options and will show them that you’ve considered everything.
Create a Master Spreadsheet for Your Client
After making an initial list of sites, create a master spreadsheet with a Site Selection tab. This should incorporate all the venues you found and important information about each venue, including pros and cons. For each site, include information on availability, contacts, venue size, location, pricing, and information about the space. Make sure the client can quickly and easily see what the venue has to offer!
Put Together a Style Guide
After the master spreadsheet has been shared with your client, it’s helpful to make a style guide with the key information and images for each of your top picks.
Send an RFP to all of Your Top Venues
An RFP (request for proposal) allows you to easily communicate your event needs to outside vendors. By sending your RFP to the various venues you’re considering, you can get a clearer idea about the availability and pricing for each site. This will help you narrow down your choices. Here are some tips on creating the perfect RFP!
Set Up a Review With Your Client
The next step is setting up a time to chat with your client over the phone or in person to go through each venue. From there, you’ll be able to get a better sense of which sites you can eliminate and which ones are worth visiting in-person.
Go on Site Visits to Check Out Top Venues
Once you and your client have picked your favorite venues, make sure to visit them in-person. This can help you decide if they’re the right fit for your event. There’s no better way to get a sense of the venue and their ability to meet your needs then to set foot on the actual grounds!
Make Your Final Decision
Hopefully the in-person site visits will help you identify your absolute top venues, so you can decide on the one you want to go with. Once you accomplish this, you can start working on the fun stuff, like figuring out event decor and can move forward with your chosen venue!
Which site selection tips did you find to be most helpful?
Did we miss anything? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!