Tag: instagram

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 Tech Tuesday: 5 Best Social Media Management Tools
As event planners, we leverage social media as a powerful tool to grow businesses, whether it involves showcasing that we’re on top of all of the latest trends, or promoting and marketing our events to a targeted audience. Thus, today’s #TechTuesday features 5 of the best social media management tools to help you stay organized and efficient from a single interface!
1. Buffer

Buffer is a classic social media management tool aimed at primarily scheduling posts and tracking the performance of your content. With this app, free users can connect up to 3 social accounts, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on.
2. Hootsuite

HootSuite is another popular social media management app. Compared to Buffer, HootSuite supports more services such as WordPress Blogs and YouTube Channels. Besides content scheduling, HootSuite also allows you to review timeline and manage replies, all in one tool.
3. PostPlanner

In addition to scheduling, PostPlanner is the best tool for curating content on your social media accounts. PostPlanner helps you to identify best-performing content that will resonate with your audience, so you’ll never run out of idea! And most importantly, PostPlanner is pretty affordable compared to other alternatives.
4. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is an efficient social media marketing tool for business of all sizes. You can collaborate on items with multiple people in real-time as well as assigning tasks to your teammates. Moreover, Sprout Social has a unique feature called Smart Inbox, so you can review messages from different social accounts in one single spot.
5. eClincher

eClincher is the ultimate social media productivity system. It allows you to manage multiple social media accounts, pages, and groups with just one intuitive platform. This app also has built-in visual marketing tools, so you can edit your posts with Canva, emoji, etc. Lastly, users also have access to unlimited analytics reports for both social media and websites.
Organizing all your social accounts can be extremely stressful and overwhelming, and these tools can simplify every aspect of managing your social media. Have you heard of any of these apps? Which of these social media management tools do you use? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

ABCey’s San Francisco Weekend Lineup 7/27-7/29
It’s almost Friday! ABCey brings you this week’s San Francisco Weekend Lineup with the top events happening in the Bay Area! We hope you have plenty of room on your schedule. We have things from Street Soccer USA to TreasureFest to Guaclandia!
NorCal Night Market
July 27-29 | 3pm – 11pm | Free admission | Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton, CA
Bring all your friends! It’s the first ever NorCal Night Market with with food, games, art, shopping, and performances at Alameda County Fairgrounds! It’s the perfect place to find unique and amazing gifts for all your loved ones from crafts vendors or commission a special piece by a local artist at our Art Walk!
Guaclandia: Instagram-able Avocado Experience
July 27-28 | Times vary by day | Free admission | SF Marathon Health & Fitness Expo, 2 Marina Boulevard
Love avocados? Express your love at Guaclandia! The makers of the WHOLLY GUACAMOLE® brand invite Bay Area residents to visit Guaclandia, its one-of-a-kind mobile exhibit dedicated to all things avocado. It’ll be filled with Instagram-able photo ops paired with tons of guacamole on the side!
Craving Chinatown Food Fest
Saturday, July 28 | 11am – 2:30pm | Free admission | Waverly Place, San Francisco
Craving Chinatown is the first food festival in the Chinatown community! It will feature a selection of restaurants and foods that bring back memories of the San Francisco Chinatown community. Local Chinatown restaurants will feature unique dishes and snacks as well as food demonstrations! It’ll be the perfect San Francisco weekend!
Street Soccer USA Cup Series 2018
July 28-29 | 9am – 5pm | Free | Union Square, San Francisco
We’re just as upset as you are that the World Cup ended! But not to fret, Street Soccer USA is coming to San Francisco! Teams from all ages and backgrounds will come together to share and to celebrate their diversity and passion for our city in our Social Impact, Corporate, and Open Cup competitions. Find your friends and cheer for your favorite team!
TreasureFest – Hawaii July
July 28-29 | 10am – 4pm | Cost: $5.00 | 500 Ave n, San Francisco, CA 94130
TreasureFest hosts 400+ local artists, makers, designers, antique collectors, under ground food start-ups, & more. Hope your bellies are empty and your dancing shoes are on because there are tons of food trucks and food tents with Hawaiian inspired dishes and local bands will be playing all day long! Also, the first 1000 each day get lei’d! (free leis).
Sunset Campout 2018
July 27-30 | Friday 12:00pm – Monday 9am | Cost: $205+ | Belden Town Resort, Belden CA 95915
Be prepared for a weekend full of amazing artists like Solar, Galen and J-Bird, to get you pumped! There’ll also be muralists and live painters, as well as art installations and interactive pieces. If you’re ready for a weekend full of fun in the river, friends, art, music, and food, pack your bags!
What does your San Francisco weekend lineup look like?
Which events are you most excited about? Did you go to one and loved it? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know about it in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter! We hope to see you there!

Startup Monday: Share in a Better Way with Buffer
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 today’s Startup Monday, we highlight Buffer, a smarter way to share on social media!
Being an event professional can be overwhelming at times. To top it all off, you have to worry about social media marketing? The struggle is real! The downside of posting on social media is that you can’t be on all the time, so being able to schedule your posts can be a huge help. Well, what better way than to do all that than with Buffer? Buffer helps to manage your social media all on one platform by scheduling posts and is great for teams!
Features of Buffer
Schedule Your Posts For Later
This is the most important feature out of everything that Buffer has to offer. Ease your mind by scheduling your social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google Plus! You can also make sure your team shares posts during specific times to drive the most traffic to your website. Stay on schedule and keep those posts coming!
Collaborate With Your Team
Avoid posting at the same time on social media with other team members! You definitely don’t want to flood your followers with a bunch of spam. Instead, collaborate smoothly and effortlessly! You’ll be able to see what your team members have lined up and can easily manage collaborations.
Identify Insights
Get the stats you need to track how you’re doing! Buffer helps you to easily visualize your social media growth. Through this, you’ll be able to track reader engagement and trends. This will not only let you know what your readers like, but also helps you to get to know your readers better.
There are over 2,500+ businesses using this web and mobile app already! Will you be using Buffer next? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

5 Tips to Successfully Use Instagram for Your Event Business
Instagram has easily become one of the most popular social media apps. In 2016, it’s estimated that 500+ million people use Instagram monthly, 300 million daily, and 58% of Instagram users are 18-29 years old. Why is this important to Event Profs? Because this means Instagram can allow you to reach a larger audience, including millenials!
There are tons of research on the Instagram usage and the ways businesses can utilize it. Also, it’s important to stay up to date with what’s going on with your instagram account. So ABCey Events has created 5 tips to successfully use Instagram for your event business!
1. What to post
First, you need an Instagram account! If you don’t have one, just scroll down to #5 for tips to create the perfect account. Okay, you have an account or just created one, but now what? What do I post? hint: See below to see what types of content to post!
Types of Posts
1. Have a story: Let your followers feel like they are a part of your business and on the inside of the event action with story-like posts! However, don’t post straight advertisements. Instead, have a variety of images from selfies to video interviews. There is no limit to the content you post!
Similarly, studies suggest users want to experience the story rather than see plain objects. Salesforce found most users liked, “amusing, creative, beautiful, and inspiring” content. So maximize your Instagram reach by captivating images, posting entire event processes, features of event speakers and famous attendees, inspirational quotes, and especially human faces!
2. Relatable posts: Keep followers by posting stuff they can relate to! By fusing scenes and possible scenarios that can happen in everyday life with your products and services, followers can see how useful your products and services are!
https://www.instagram.com/p/0tpeJfAUUf/?taken-by=nike
3. Business posts: Advertise your business by posting your sponsors, events, and brand. Do this by sharing images about your sponsors in colorful and fun photos. Additionally, try to get other users, special guests, and famous people to post/tag/hashtag about your event and company. More and more people are basing their decisions on what they see on social media. Therefore, you can grow your business by having ambassadors give you some exposure!
But be careful! No one wants their entire feed filled with obvious advertisements. Learn about event marketing on Instagram below (#4 Instagram for Events).
2. Strategic Posting
Previously, we mentioned that Instagram accounts are more successful when the types of posts are different. But here are other things you can do to boost likes, follows, and comments!
1. Editing your posts: Studies have found what specific aspects of a post make them more popular. They found more people like photos with the Mayfair filter! Also, the 2nd and 3rd most liked filtered photos are #nofilter and Inkwell, respectively. In addition, you’re more likely to get likes on images that are brighter with a single dominant color, especially blue, and background space than others! Don’t forget to use Geographical locations and connect with users by a shared location. Check out Curalate’s full study for more tips.
2. Posting times: Don’t pester and annoy followers! If you are posting multiple times a day, spread them out. However, most studies suggest posting only 5-7 times throughout the week. Specifically, your best bet is to get the most likes by posting on Wednesday from 5-6pm! Additionally, don’t stress about posting right on time and schedule posts with apps like Hootsuite and Schedugram.
3. Gain followers, grow your business
1. Instagram interaction: By interacting with users, you’re sure to gain and keep followers! First off, you can simply ask questions and inviting captions that lead people to comment. From re-gramming someone’s post related to your business/event, tagging companies, responding to comments, commenting on and liking posts, and giving shout outs to your loyal followers, show your followers you care and value their support!
2. Spoil your followers: Reward your followers well by posting announcements, contests, and special offers! You can have them follow, like photos, comment, hashtag, and tag your account to be entered to win prizes and special offers! This encourages people to follow you, as they will be the first to see when you are holding contests. Now you have followers promoting your event and business to others!
4. Instagram for Events
Now, for all you event profs, we have Instagram tricks to make your next event a success!
1. #Hashtag: Make sure you use hashtags to help people discover your Instagram. Use both specific hashtags and popular hashtags so people can find your event/company easily! One study found that interactions increased with 11 hashtags, but most studies suggested using 5-10 hashtags. If your choose to include many, hide them by commenting your hashtags or hiding them many lines below your main caption. This way followers don’t get annoyed seeing them!
2. The Event: You can use Instagram to entertain your attendees and market your next event! Encourage users to post images and include your event specific hashtag in the caption. Then, companies like instafeedlive, will display them on screens around the event, making your guests feel special!
In addition, by simply using your event hashtag, your guests can leave your event with memorabilia! Printers, like Photoboxx and Luster, scan Instagram for your event hashtag and print the images out instantly. Also, you can allow guests to print a postcard and polaroid picture when they hashtag their photos! Learn more about them here. So give your event and company immediate publicity and get these tools at your next event!
3. Event hype: When showing the story of your event, there are tons of things to capture! Post about the event before, during, and after to keep the event fresh in your follower’s minds. First get them excited with behind the scene images of the venue set up with your event team hard at work! Moreover, use Instagram to not only remind followers when tickets go on sale, but also hype up attendees with event fliers and countdown day photos. This makes them feel like they are right in the middle of the everything happening at the event!
5. Creating Perfect Profile
Your profile is extremely important as it’s how they judge your account! Therefore, you need to be sure that your Instagram looks like something they should follow.
1. Your Bio: First, create a bio description that is short, fun, and interesting. But it still needs to say your business name or who you are, what your business does, and make it unique!
2. Get them to your website: If you didn’t know, links on your photo captions don’t work. Thus, the only link to get people to your website is in your bio. So make sure you include your website link, and any other informative names you want people to search and find you by (ex: Event Planner).
3. First impression/Profile pic: Along with photos and your bio, users see your profile picture first. Get a good quality photo of your logo or a picture that represents your company to bring in more followers!
How are you going to use Instagram at your next event? Tell use in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter. Also, follow us on Instagram!

10 Ways to Use Snapchat For Events
Here at ABCey, we like to keep up with all the latest tech trends. As Snapchat has arguably become the most popular social network among teens and millennials, we’ve caught on to the idea that it can be used for event marketing, to enhance guest experience, provide event messaging, and even promote your speakers or sponsors. Here are 10 ways to use Snapchat for your next event using geofilters, ads, lenses and more!
*A snapchat account is needed in order to post stories, chat, and send snapchats directly to users; we suggest your company uses an account at least for the duration of the event.
1. Pre-event Hype
From the very start, you can build up suspense by event marketing with Snapchat! Send invites to guests via snapchat to create important interaction with guests. Long before the event, keep your guests informed and excited by sending them snaps and posting about your event through the transformation of the venue, decor, or anything else that goes into the event prep!
2. BTS (Behind The Scenes)
Market your event by showing behind the scenes snaps on the event prep. From snapchats of swag bag prep, setting up guest registration, or watching the AV team set up an awesome projection mapping display, guests will be excited long before their arrival.
3. Speakers/Sponsors/Performers/VIP’s
Are you bringing in speakers, sponsors, or VIP’s? Follow in the footsteps of other event producers and let them take over your Snapchat to talk about the event and post snaps!
4. Live Updates
Engage with and update your guests! Utilize Snapchat by sending snaps and posting throughout the event when there’s a speaker or performer. You can even use it to post info on the event/time changes, etc. With this app you can bring event engagement to the next level!
5. Thank you’s
After the event, engage with attendees to solidify relationships built and keep the success of the event in their minds. Use Snapchat for post-event engagement with your guests by sending snaps to them personally, messaging them, and posting on your event, and of course thanking them for attending!
6. Coupons, discount, or gift
One brilliant yogurt company let users send a snap of them with their product at their locations to the company’s snapchat account, so that they could receive a reply snap with a coupon. You can do the same thing for an event, possibly for a product launch. Just give users a discount on the event admission or a cool gift for buying the product!
7. Prizes for promoting
You can also give out prizes to people who use their Geofilter, and post the snap on Facebook or Instagram with the event or business hashtag. This can help promote your event through your attendees!
8. Ads: Lenses & Discover
Use lenses relating to your business or event to help with event promo’s by reaching tons of users. Snapchat’s Discover feature also has channels (ex: ESPN, Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed) that create new content daily. Get your ad featured on a popular channel to help spread your content!
9. Snapchat Live Story
Snapchat’s feature called Live Story is great for major sporting events or music festivals. This allows users in the vicinity to post to this story, and every snapchat user worldwide can view their snaps. If you are hosting a large enough event that gets OK-ed from Snapchat, Live Story can be an incredible tool. Over 100 million people use snapchat daily, so imagine what getting a live story can do!
10) On-Demand Geofilter
The On-Demand Geofilter feature allows anyone to make a filter that users who are at a certain place can use, during a specific time range. Whether it’s for the Oscars or for a birthday party, anyone can buy one, and they’re cheap! Event promotion is enhanced as guests use the filter and post their story or send snaps.
Do you use Snapchat for your events? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter.

DIY: 4th Of July Party Decor
The 4th of July is just around the corner, which means it’s time for grilling out, chilling out, and celebrating one of the best days of the year! ABCey Events has 5 easy DIY ideas to get you party ready for the upcoming holiday weekend.
Center Pieces
1) Center pieces are a necessity to make any great theme party shine. Nothing screams summer quite like a mason jar does, so these easy to make, adorable center pieces are sure to make your party sparkle for the 4th! Check out how to make them here.
_________________________________________________
2) Extra bottles laying around? We have your solution! This DIY is super easy and will no doubt give your 4th of July party the extra pop you’ve been looking for. Using wine bottles for a decoration? No complaints here! Be sure to find out how to make these adorable center pieces here.
_________________________________________________
Door Decor
3) Make sure that your guests feel welcome upon arrival with these festive wreaths to hang on your front door! These are inexpensive to make and only require 3 materials- talk about an ideal DIY! You can find out how to make these here.
_________________________________________________
4) Burlap wreath not your style? No worries- we’ve got back up options to make sure your guests are greeted in style at your front door. These awesome patriotic wreaths are easy to make and oh so chic! Don’t miss out on this great door dec, find out to make these here.
4th of July Photo Backdrop
5) ABCey knows no party is complete without that perfect Instagram picture. This simple DIY scrap flag is the ideal backdrop for guests to take photos at your 4th of July party! What better way to celebrate the 4th than by taking fun, festive photos with your pals? Read more on how to make these here!
_________________________________________________
Wall Decor
6) Kites are a true symbol of summer time and can take anyone back to their childhood. This easy DIY kite garland is guaranteed to spruce up your wall space at your 4th of July get together! See here to find out how to make these kites the star of your party!
_________________________________________________
7) If you need to primp up those white walls before you host your 4th of July party this weekend, these will definitely do the trick! This American flag painted window is the extra festive touch you need to make sure your July 4th party is one to remember. Check out how to make these here!
_________________________________________________
Festive Table Decorations
8) Need some extra 4th of July table decor for your event? These simplistic and festive signs add some patriotic pride to your upcoming independence day party! Find out to to make these here.
_________________________________________________
9) Nothing says festive fun quite like these darling red, white and blue inspired pin wheels! These are perfect for adding a little extra flare to your snack tables for the 4th. You can find out how to make these simple decorations here!
_________________________________________________
4th of July Luminaries
10) Light up your 4th of july party with these adorable patriotic luminaries! This DIY is super simple and uses recycled jars as the main material- easy and green! Don’t miss out on the chance to illuminate your party, and find out how to do these here!
_________________________________________________
Will you use any of these fun and creative DIY’s for your 4th of July party? ABCey wants to know your faves, or ones we missed! Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and on Twitter.

Behind The Scenes: SGN at GDC16
On March 14-18, 2016, developers and gamers from across the country took the Bay area by storm for this year’s Game Developers Conference. Some of the most brilliant minds in the gaming industry took to the streets of downtown San Francisco for GDC16. While other shows are about the fans, GDC determines the future of this industry: it’s the world’s largest gaming conference attended by a record breaking 27K professionals in its 30th year. Nearly half of developers here are building mobile + tablet games!
ABCey Events paired with SGN to showcase their newest game Genies and Gems, and also had a great time bringing awareness to their biggest game Cookie Jam. Between the moments that brought laughs in between sessions and the surprising and exciting moments that changed an attendees day, a powerful question was also addressed to the gaming community, #WHYDOYOUPLAY?!
TOP 5 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EVENT
- THE GENIE OF SF
SGN, the fastest growing growing major mobile games studio in the U.S., has just released it’s newest match-3 puzzle game. Genies & Gems is a spellbinding adventure that takes its players on a magic ride. Famous Youtuber Jesse Wellens from Prank vs. Prank brought this game to life in downtown SF with his motorized magic carpet. For those that spotted our magic genie, they were in for a lucky surprise!
2. (REAL!) GEMS
If you’ve gotten the chance to play, then you already know Genies & Gems is a game that’s true to it’s name. As the players cross through the magical worlds they recover lost relics, collect gold bars, and are taken on a journey with their enchanted keys. To celebrate the game’s launch SGN brought the game’s realities to life! Lucky San Franciscan’s scored some major gems from our genie that included- $20/$50 bills, silver coins, silver cufflinks, and (real!) gemstone rings!
3. COOKIE JAMMERS
With more than 70 million downloads, SGN’s top grossing game Cookie Jam showed it’s followers some serious entertainment for GDC16. Rocking out in front of the Moscone Center were our very own Cookie Jammers. If the outfits didn’t scream cookies, their lyrics surely would. San Francisco’s favorite cover band Pop Rocks twisted some of your most favored songs into actual cookie-filled jams (Just Eat It, Eat It, Eat It)! These life-sized cookies fueled up GDC16 attendees as they were headed to their next session!
4. COOKIES
We couldn’t promote a cookie game without thousands of FREE cookies! SGN provided attendees with a yummy snack to keep them going throughout the day. Who doesn’t love free cookies?
5. WHY DO YOU PLAY?
GDC16 determines the future of this industry, and because of this they are capable of bringing together a global community to attend their annual conference. It was the people in attendance that play a significant role in the creation and lifespan of games, and SGN had a thought provoking question to ask attendees- Why Do You Play? We can get lost in a game, but we can forget what really motivates us to play. We interviewed hundreds of people and received a variety of answers ranging from fun, stress relief, escaping reality, and interacting with friends or family. Our favorite answer may have been to “Escape From Trump!”
So, the question we have for you today is- Why Do YOU Play? Let us know in the comments below or find us on Facebook and Twitter!