Your Event Planner's Event Planner

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Last week I told you a bit about web applications and how they can save you money, time, and manpower. I want to give you a little more detail over the next few weeks about the way web applications work, and how they can work for you.

Managing the Details

Web applications are great at automating repetitive tasks. Events like conferences and trade shows run much smoother when supported by client facing systems.

For instance, say your non-profit organization is holding a golf classic. You’ll need a way  for golf foursomes to reserve tee times, a way to collect payments and logos from sponsors, and a way to take lunch or cocktail hour reservations, etc. Here’s how a web application can do all of that for you.

Taking Foursome Reservations
Scheduling a golf outing can take a lot of time and effort. Someone needs to call golfers,  ask for details, find out when they’d like to tee off, and cross fingers that a suitable time is available.

But it can be done much more simply with a web application. We can build an application that works like a day planner. Golfers could look at the schedule for themselves, find out what times are available, and book one right from their desk. They could even find out who’s teeing off at which slots. Maybe they want to talk about a business deal with another foursome. A web application would make it easy for them to tee off right before the people they want to run into.

And all this happens while your staff does other work.

Collecting From Sponsors

Dealing with event sponsors is a lot of work too. You’ve got to figure out who’s sponsoring at what level, collect checks, collect logos from companies, and make sure you come through on your promises to your sponsors. For big enough events, this kind of thing can take up every moment of a person’s day. Doesn’t it make more sense to automate it?

A web application can do all this for you. We can build functionality right into your website that guides sponsors through every step of the process. We can even work with outside services like paypal so that you can accept credit card payments. Sponsors can go to your website, pick a sponsorship level, send you a payment and upload their logo. Heck, you can even allow them to print their tickets!

All that saves you time. But just as importantly, it saves time for your sponsors. And that makes you look good. Next year, when they’re inundated with sponsorship requests, they’ll remember that yours wasn’t just a great event, it was easy to participate in.

Taking Reservations for a meal or cocktail hour

There’s a reason why golf is the unofficial sport of businesspeople. It’s the only sport that leaves lots of time for conversation. When businessmen go out on the course, it’s not just for the sport of it. It’s to make deals.

Why not help them facilitate those deals? In the same way you can use a web application to let golfers choose who they want to golf near, you can use another one to let them choose tables at the luncheon. Show them the floor plan, along with who’s booked which tables, and let them browse around the room before they even get there. It’s just one more way you can make your event memorable. And all while saving you time.