EventPro Planner

Organizing Your EP Planner Company/Contact Screen

2011-12-20T08:36:00.022-06:00

Are you using the Companies/Contacts grid in EventPro Planner to its best potential?

Take advantage of all its features to organize it the way you want, so that you get the view best suited to your work style.

First, choose whether you want to view all companies/contacts or just one upon first opening the screen. Go to your System Settings, and check or uncheck the “Show All Companies/Contacts on Grid by Default” option under the Contacts tab.
Second, which view do you want the screen to open to by default: Single Company, Single Contact, Company List or Contact List? In your System Settings, click on the General tab and find Companies/Contacts in the menu tree under Tab Visibility. Click on the tab you want to appear by default, and click the Default button; the font will change to red.
Finally, do you want to change the order of the sub-tabs – Communications, Actions, Events, etc. – or remove some of them altogether? Still in the General tab of System Settings, unselect the checkboxes next to the tabs you want to hide. To switch the order, select a tab you want to move and click the up or down Order arrows to the right until the tab is in the right place.
Remember to save your System Settings before you leave the screen.

Now, the Company/Contacts screen should be better organized for the way you work.

Remember that if the screen is only displaying one record, you can click the Show All button to the right to display all records.

Also, remember that the grid is color coded to help you easily identify certain companies and contacts: Companies and contacts marked as ‘Inactive’ are now highlighted in orange, and Companies that are marked as ‘Warning’ are now highlighted in purple.

You can find all sorts of tips for organizing EventPro Planner to work better for you in the EventPro Planner User Manual.

For more information about System Settings, refer to Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 1: System Settings, in the EventPro Planner User Manual.
For help managing your companies and contacts, see Chapter 3: Companies/Contacts.

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How to Increase Productivity with EP Planner Training

2011-12-06T09:27:00.003-06:00

Time is your most valuable resource. It is important to get things done in the most efficient manner possible. Right now, you may be overlooking something that can save you valuable time: EventPro Planner Training.

EventPro Planner Training is an excellent way to increase productivity through more efficient use of EventPro Planner Software. When you maximize your knowledge of EventPro Planner, you can work faster, reduce repetition, automate procedures and optimize your database to improve performance.

Even if you have received training before, supplemental training is still a great resource for your company. With our twice-annual Software Updates, we are constantly adding new features and benefits that you may not know about.

A refresher course will take your EventPro Planner skills to a whole new level and help you complete even the most complicated event planning task with confidence.

If you have had staff turnover and need to train new employees working with EventPro Planner, our expert trainers will get them started and bring them up to speed.

There are two options for EventPro Planner Training:

Onsite Training sessions are conducted in the comfort of your own facility with a class size of one to six people to allow for hands-on instruction. Our trainer specially customizes the session to cater to the needs of your organization and staff members.
Online Training sessions are conducted through the internet and telephone with an individual or small group from your company. Online meeting technology allows the trainer and trainees to share a computer screen, essentially replicating an in-person environment.

Contact our Account Representatives for a quote: Sales@eventpro-planner.com

Our consultative approach is focused on helping you understand EventPro Planners's features and options so that you can determine whether our software and services are right for you.

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How to Save Time with Planner's Communication Defaults

2011-11-22T09:20:00.021-06:00

If you want to save some time when working with EventPro Planner Communications, make sure that you have set your communication defaults in your System Settings. They have been specifically designed to fill in defaults that will reduce the clicking and typing you have to do for each communication.

If you take a few minutes now to adjust these settings, you can avoid repetitive data entry in the future.

In the program, select Setup - System Settings from EventPro Planner’s main menu, and click on the Communications tab.

For some of the default settings, you can choose whether EventPro Planner will always perform the task, never perform the task, or prompt you each time to ask whether you want to:

Save the communication after the email is sent
Save the letter content after the email is sent
Create a follow up action after the communication is saved
Save incoming attachments after the communication is saved (Enterprise Edition only)
Save outgoing attachments after the communication is saved (Enterprise Edition only)

For the other settings, you can choose the default entry that will appear in the field, so that you do not have to select one every time you create a communication. In your system settings, you can choose the default:

Outgoing communication method
Incoming communication method
Incoming communication reference
Subject format for an event report communication
Whether to show the company name in the subject of a report communication

Saving a few seconds each time you send a communication will add up to a lot of time over the year! To learn more about Communication System Settings, refer to the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 1: System Settings, Communications.

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Simplify a Complex Job - Attendee Management with EventPro Planner

2011-11-08T08:43:00.020-06:00

If you keep track of attendees at the events you plan, you know that it is difficult to organize all of the details involved in attendee management: Who is attending? Are they bringing guests? What attendance fee do they pay? Have they received invitations and responded?

EventPro Planner’s Attendee Module simplifies all these tasks.

Registrations
Create any kind of registration package you need. The flexible charge structure allows you to set up per-package, per-function, or per-table rates, or rates based on attendee type or time of registration.

Seating Arrangements
Make the most of available space. After registering attendees and entering tables, simply drag and drop attendee names onto place settings in the Event Function Seating chart.

Communications and Task Reminders (Actions)
The Communications area helps you record and organize the steady flow invitations, RSVPs, registrations, event information, invoices, and so on. The Actions area allows you to schedule reminders so that attendee-specific tasks get done on time.

Mail Merge
If you need to send a communication to multiple attendees, such as a batch of invitations, the Mail Merge feature makes this task quick and effortless, while still personalizing messages for each attendee.

Billing
The flexible billing structure allows for third party billing, multiple batch invoicing, percentage invoices, manually created invoices, credits, deposits and more.

You can read more about Attendee Management in Chapter 8 of the EventPro Planner Manual.

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Flexible Invoicing Options to Suit Your Event Planning Business

2011-10-25T08:19:00.018-06:00

Every event planning business is unique, which is why EventPro Planner offers many different options in its software, including multiple invoicing and billing options. We want to make sure you can bill the way you need to, right in EventPro Planner.

The most convenient invoicing option for EventPro Planner, and therefore the most often used, is the Automatic Invoice, which automatically calculates the total for all chargeable items in the event, or directed to an attendee or exhibitor.

However, did you know that there are other invoicing options, too?

If you are ready for a more advanced feature in the Automatic Invoice, you can choose to invoice only certain Items, certain Types of items or a Percentage of the total charges. When you later invoice the balance of the charges, EventPro Planner will calculate the correct remaining charges to invoice. So, for example, you could split event costs between two parties 50/50, or invoice a customer for 75% of all costs before the event and invoice the remainder (automatically calculated for you) after the event occurs.
If you have many invoices to create, and time is of the essence, the Batch Invoicing feature allows you to create multiple invoices for all events or all attendees/exhibitors in an event with one easy-to-use Invoice Wizard.
If you want more flexibility in creating invoices, you can create Manual Invoices, which can begin blank or with a calculated percentage of the total charges. You can freely add, edit or remove line items in the invoice.
Special Deposit Invoices allow you to deduct amounts from future invoices. For example, if you create a deposit invoice for an event, and later create an automatic invoice for the event charges, you will have the option to deduct the amount of the deposit invoice from the event charges invoice.
Finally, Credit Invoices allow you to credit a customer for items that were invoiced, but for which you will not receive payment. This eliminates the need to void and recreate invoices if an item must be removed from an invoiced event.

Use EventPro Planner’s flexible invoicing options to create a billing system that works perfectly for your business. Take a look at the EventPro Planner User Manual under Chapter 6: Finance, Invoices for extensive instructions on creating invoices of every kind.

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Simplify Attendee Accommodation Management with EventPro Planner

2011-10-11T09:02:00.016-06:00

If you arrange accommodations for attendees, you know that there can be hundreds of details you need to keep straight:
- When do attendees arrive?
- When do they leave?
- Which hotel should you book?
- What kind of rooms?
- How many rooms to block off?
- When do attendees check in and check out?
- Will attendees share accommodations?

Instead of keeping stacks of paperwork and notes, you can keep all of this information organized and integrated in EventPro Planner with the Travel and Accommodation Module.

Hotel Bookings - Individual or Block
It’s easy to create a hotel booking for a single attendee or reserve an entire block of rooms for an event. If you assign an attendee to a reserved block of rooms, all of the pre-entered details are automatically filled in for that attendee’s booking.

Flexible Billing
You can direct the billing of the hotel charges as necessary – to the attendee, the attendee group or the event client.

Time-Saving Features
This module is designed to help you save time with features such as Multi-Add and Multi-Edit. For example, if five attendees book the same kind of accommodations, you can select those attendees and record the accommodation arrangement just once. EventPro Planner will automatically add the same details to all of the selected attendees. If those attendees change or cancel their arrangements, instead of dealing with each record separately, you can quickly and easily multi-edit or multi-delete all of the relevant records.

Data You Need with Built-In Reports
EventPro Planner’s detailed and ready-to-use reports will help you keep track of which attendees are coming and going. Reports included with the module, such as the Attendee Accommodation List and Event Accommodation Summary, allow you to easily review the information you need, such as arrival and departure times, check in and check out dates, and more.

Read more on how to create and organize accommodation reservations in the EventPro Planner Manual under Chapter 10: Attendee Accommodations.

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Sync Your Email with EventPro Planner for Fast Communication

2011-09-27T08:34:00.014-06:00

Did you know that you can synchronize EventPro Planner communications with your email program? No need to copy and paste text – just a few clicks will assign an incoming email to a communication, transferring all the information you need.

It’s really easy to use. In any Communication area, click the New From Email button. The Synchronize Email window appears, displaying the emails from your Incoming Folder, which would typically be your email program’s Inbox.

Select the email and click Assign. Most of the communication information, such as the method, reference, related event, email address, subject and text, will simply default in. Make any adjustments you need and click Save.

The communication will be automatically attached to the correct attendee, exhibitor, or contact for the event.

If you have the Enterprise Edition of EventPro Planner, you can also save any email attachments.

For more information about using this feature, see Chapter 13: Communications, Synchronize Email and Communications in the EventPro Planner User Manual.

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Make Your Life Easier - Move Your Attendee Registrations Online

2011-09-13T08:55:00.061-06:00

You need to collect so many details when registering event attendees. Instead of painstakingly gathering information through illegible handwritten forms and confusing phone calls, why not let the attendees take some of the work off your hands?

Attendee Online allows attendees to enter their own registration details online, so that you can transfer that information back to EventPro Planner in one easy step.

Furthermore, why pay another online registration company a fee per registrant with expensive setup fees for every new event? With EventPro Planner's Attendee Online, you purchase the application outright, and can have as many events and registrants as you want without paying again and again!

Here's just a quick summary of Attendee Online's many great features:

Easy to Setup: You just have to pick which pages you want to show attendees, and choose the fields you want them to fill out.
Customized Registration Packages: Set up your own totally customized registration packages for each event. Attendee Online will monitor event attendance and other restrictions so that the right people get registered for the right functions.
Travel & Accommodation Reservations: Attendees can enter their own travel and accommodation details, or select from travel and accommodation reservations you set up in the event.
Sell Merchandise and Provide Equipment: Attendees can buy event merchandise or request required equipment from items you set up in the event.
Guest Registration: Attendees can also register guests, including their registration details, accommodations, travel, and requirements.
Registrant Help: Define your own “Help” pop-ups for your registration website.
Payment System: The Attendee Online payment system integrates with most online payment services, such as PayPal and Beanstream.
Automatic Confirmations and Notifications: Attendee Online will send automatic confirmation emails to the attendees, and registration notifications to the organizers.
Easy Information Import: After attendees enter their information, you easily import it all back into EventPro Planner, right to the place it needs to be.

Check out online samples of Attendee Online HERE.

Download the full feature brochure HERE.

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Streamline Booth Management with Integrated EventPro Planner Module

2011-08-30T08:17:00.002-06:00

Do you organize Trade Shows, Exhibitions, Fairs, Conferences, Festivals or any other kind of event that involves Booths and Exhibitors?

Then you should be using EventPro Planner’s Booth Module. It's designed to help you manage every detail related to exhibitors and booths.

Define Your Booths
You can set up general booths for each event, defining the Booth Type, Dimensions and Detail Items for each, or use the “New – Multiple” function to create several booths simultaneously.

Assign Booths to Exhibitors
When you assign a booth to a company, you can adjust the booth supplies, characteristics and rental dates according to the requirements of the specific exhibitor.

Custom Rental Codes
It is easy to set the rental fees exactly the way you want them, whether you use your pre-defined Rate Codes, create an entirely new charge for an exhibitor or provide a special discount.

And more...
Several other features in the Booths Module will make your job easier.

Registration Packages help you keep track of which exhibitors will be attending the event.
The Mail Merge allows you to send out personalized letters or emails to numerous recipients in one easy-to-follow wizard.
Communications and Actions ensure that you stay in touch with the exhibitors and complete all the required tasks within the deadlines.
The Finance section allows for adjustable third-party billing, batch invoicing, invoice mail merge and other flexible, convenient invoicing options.

To ensure that you can easily find the records you need, the Booths Module stores all of this related information in one convenient folder within the event.

Read more about the Booths Module in Chapter 11: Booths and Exhibitors in the EventPro Planner User Manual.

Want to give the Booths Module a try for free? Contact our Account Consultants for a Free Trial.

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Drag-and-Drop Your Way to Easy Seating Arrangements in Planner

2011-08-16T08:01:00.033-06:00

Planning a seating arrangement for an event can be a time-consuming headache. Just when you get everything right, a guest drops out or another two attendees are added, and it’s back to the drawing board. Are the sticky notes just not cutting it anymore? Let the Tables and Seating feature in EventPro Planner take care of seating arrangements for you.

It is so easy to set up tables of any capacity for an event function. With the New-Multiple option, you can add as many tables as you need in one easy step.

Tables are automatically assigned numbers and basic names, but if you have a special themed event, you can even give a unique name to each table. For example, perhaps the wedding you are planning has a “Flowers of Spring” theme; guests can be assigned to the Tulip Table, the Iris Table, the Daffodil Table, and so on.

Once attendees are registered for the event function, all of the function tables, seats and attendees will appear in one Event Function Seating window. You simply need to drag and drop Attendee Names onto the correct seats.

If attendees are not yet registered for the function, but you know that you must save certain seats or tables for special VIP guests, you can reserve seats and/or tables in advance.

If an attendee drops out, just drag and drop the attendee off the seat.

If new attendees are added to the function, their names will automatically appear in the Event Function Seating window, and you can drag and drop them into place. EventPro Planner will automatically keep track of how many seats are assigned and available.

When the seating arrangement is done and ready for review by the client, you can print a Seating Chart by Table or Attendee in one quick step.

To learn more about Tables and Seating, see Chapter 7: Manage Attendees, Attendance and Seating in the EventPro Planner User Manual.

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How to Manage Attendee Travel Arrangements the Easy Way in Planner

2011-08-02T08:18:00.019-06:00

If you look after travel arrangements for attendees, you know that there are many details you need to keep straight:
- Which travel agency will you use?
- When does the attendee arrive?
- When does the attendee leave?
- What kind of transportation?
- Which carrier?
- First class or economy?
- Who pays for the trip?
And those are just the details you need for one person, not to mention a whole event full of attendees!

To keep all of this information organized and easy-to-access, try using EventPro Planner’s Travel and Accommodation Module. This module can track all the attendee travel details you need, keeping them integrated with the rest of your event planning information.

Create Reservations - Individual or Block
You can easily create an individual travel booking for a single attendee, or create a block reservation for the whole event. If you assign an attendee to a pre-made block reservation, all of the pre-entered details will be automatically entered for the attendee’s booking.

Flexible Billing
You can direct the billing of the travel charges as necessary – to the attendee, the attendee group, or the event client.

Multi-Add and Multi-Edit
To help you work at maximum efficiency, EventPro Planner’s Travel and Accommodation Module is designed with time-saving features like Multi-Add Detail and Multi-Edit. For example, if five attendees travel at the same time from the same destination, you can select those attendees and record the travel arrangement just once; EventPro Planner will automatically add the same details to all of the selected attendees. If several attendees change or cancel their travel arrangements, you can quickly and easily multi-edit or multi-delete all of the relevant records instead of dealing with each record separately.

Travel Reports
EventPro Planner’s built-in, detailed reports will help you keep track of how and when attendees will arrive and depart. Reports included in the module, such as the Attendee Travel List and Event Travel Reservation Summary, allow you to keep all the dates, times and details you need at your fingertips for quick review.

Read all about how to create and organize travel reservations in the EventPro Planner Manual under Chapter 9: Attendee Travel.

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Use Planner's Letter Templates for Professional Communications

2011-07-13T08:04:00.001-06:00

Hopefully, you are already using EventPro Planner's Letter Templates to quickly load pre-written content into the body of your emails and communications.

Letter Templates help to save valuable time by cutting out repetitive typing. They also ensure a professional consistency through all of your communications to clients, attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and presenters.

If you haven't set up your letter templates yet, reviewing Chapter 14: Letter and Label Templates in the EventPro Planner User Manual will get you up and running. A little bit of time spent setting up your standard letter templates now will save you hours of typing in the future.

In this chapter you will learn:

How to set up the letter templates: Create Letter Templates
How to type up the documents in the built-in Word Processor: Word Processor
How to add merge fields that will pull in the specific information for each recipient, such as name, address, event name, and dates: Merge Fields

You can also add your Letter Templates to Event Category Templates. This means that each time you book an event using an Event Category Template, the relevant Letter Templates will automatically be pulled into Event Setup. At this point, you can simply edit the letter templates to be specific to that event, if required, and they will be ready whenever you need to send them.

To learn how to add letter templates to Event Categories, see Chapter 16: Event Category Templates, Create Letter Templates.

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Don't let anything slip through the cracks with the Task Notification Service

2011-07-05T08:15:00.027-06:00

Do you want to keep tabs on everything that happens at your event planning business? Well, the Task Notification Service* can help you out. It ensures that important deadlines or tasks never slip through the cracks again.

The Task Notification Service is designed to work in sync with EventPro Planner’s Actions. As you know, you can set up Actions in EventPro Planner to remind you of impending tasks. You can set the start times for the Actions, and assign them to the correct users.

Now, the Task Notification Service will scan your EventPro Planner database, looking for Impending, Starting and Overdue Actions, and will automatically send notification emails to the user or user groups assigned to the Action.

For more information about setting up and using this service, see the User Manual at Chapter 22: Task Notification Service.

You can also contact our Account Consultants if you have any questions or would like a quote.

*This new service is only available in the Enterprise/SQL Edition of EventPro Planner. For more information about how to upgrade to the Enterprise Edition, please contact one of our Account Consultants.

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Manage Resources and Avoid Conflicts with EventPro Planner

2011-06-21T08:05:00.023-06:00

Keeping event resources organized can be a challenge, but did you know that you can organize resources, avoid conflicts and speed up data entry with the EventPro Planner's Master Inventory module?

As the name suggests, the module allows you to create a Master Inventory of commonly used resources. When it comes time to add resources to an event, you simply need to select from the list of already recorded items. Better yet, use the Multi-Add function to quickly and easily add a batch of resource items without re-keying information.

The resource inventory will patrol in-stock quantities of items and warn you if you try to assign more items than you have available. EventPro Planner will check for Resource Conflicts within an event and across multiple events by either the time scheduled for the item's use or the entire event duration, depending on how you use the resource.

The Resource Usage tab in the Organization Calendar will display all of the resources used in an event for quick and easy review. You can edit all event resources and check for conflicts in one convenient location.

For more information about using the Master Inventory module, see the User Manual at Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 10: Resources.

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How to Organize Event Activities with Functions

2011-06-16T12:58:00.000-06:00

EventPro Planner allows you to create "Functions" within events. A function is basically an activity within an event. For example, in a conference, you may have information sessions, lunches, dinners, workshops, and so on.

TIP: If you can't decide how to break up your event into functions, consider these points:

If you need to create a Seating Chart for part of the event, you probably need to create a function for that portion.
If you have a Program for your event, each of the main headings assigned a time should probably be a function.
If you have the same session or meal occurring in multiple rooms or multiple days, with different attendees in each room or on each day, you probably need to create separate functions for each occurrence. However, if the attendance is open to all people across all rooms and/or days, then you probably only need one function to encompass the session or meal.
If you change rooms in the middle of an event, this usually indicates that you need to create a new function.

To learn how to create functions for your event, see the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 5: Set Up an Event, Organization Setup: Functions. To learn how to add functions to an event, see Chapter 7: Organize an Event, Add Functions to Venue Locations.

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Software Update: EventPro Planner Version 2.4.4.552

2011-06-15T16:02:00.000-06:00

There is a new EventPro Planner Software Update available: Version 2.4.4.552.
There is also a new version of Attendee Online available: Version 3.0.4183.15324

To download these latest software updates, log in to the EventPro Planner Support Website and select the links under the Downloads tab.

Why update your software? With each new version, EventPro Planner becomes more comprehensive and powerful. To see the changes and updates in EventPro Planner, go to Help - What's New in your EventPro Planner Software program.

To access software updates, you need a current Upgrade Protection Plan, a yearly contract that gives you access to software upgrades and updates, unlimited software support via email and phone, and more. If you need to renew your Upgrade Protection Plan, please contact your Account Consultant.

Do you want to hear about updates to EventPro Planner as soon as possible? Follow us on Twitter at @plannerupdates.

Budgeting Made Easy with the Right Tools

2011-06-03T11:23:00.001-06:00

A well-organized budget is a crucial part of organizing a successful event, but creating an event budget can be an overwhelming ordeal. Balancing income and expenses is difficult at the best of times, but it is particularly frustrating if you don’t have the right tools.

Many event planners still struggle through the process of keying income and expense amounts into outdated spreadsheets. In addition to the potential for error every time you type something, problems can result from broken links, different layouts in different documents, or multiple users saving different copies.

Why struggle with spreadsheets when you can streamline the budgeting process with EventPro Planner’s Budget Module? The Budget Module tracks revenue and cost items as you work, increasing the speed of data collection and eliminating errors.

To make data entry quick and easy, you can create Budget Templates for each type of event. With one click, you can copy a template into any event. Templates can easily be customized for a specific event by simply adding or removing categories or items.

As you add revenue and cost items to an event, the records contain Budget fields that reflect the categories and items you set up in your budget earlier. After you identify the price of the item, select the correct budget designation from the automatically generated drop-down list. EventPro Planner automatically populates the budget, compares the predicted budget to the actual, and calculates the percentage of the difference.

Don’t let an event’s budget run away on you! To learn more about the Budget Module, consult Chapter 6: Finance, Budget in the User Manual.

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Software Update for EventPro Planner and Attendee Online

2011-05-20T11:16:00.000-06:00

There are new Software Updates available for EventPro Planner and Attendee Online.

EventPro Planner: Version 2.4.4.551
Attendee Online: Version 3.0.4157.18041

Log in to the Support website to download the latest versions.

Remember that you need an Upgrade Protection Plan to access software update and upgrades.

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Your Opinion Counts at EventPro Planner!

2011-04-21T14:03:00.000-06:00

Right now, we are surveying all EventPro Planner clients to hear what you think about our products and services. Client feedback is the driving force behind new development and services at EventPro Planner, so don't miss this important opportunity to voice your opinion.

If you haven't received your survey invitation, email Sales@eventpro.net to request your EventPro Planner Survey link. Hurry - you only have until Wednesday, April 27th!

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EventPro Planner's ACCED-I Trade Show Roundup

2011-04-07T08:45:00.008-06:00

Just last week, account representative Troy Wruck attended the 31st Annual ACCED-I Conference (Association of Collegiate Conference and Event Directors-International) in Orlando, FL. This was the 6th year in a row that EventPro has attended the ACCED-I conference trade show.

As Troy reports, the trade show was buzzing with energetic Conference Directors and Staff on both days. Troy had a chance to visit with some current clients, and was introduced to many new prospective clients. He had numerous conversations with many friendly ACCED-I members about software pros and cons, and plans to pass this valuable feedback on to our developers so our software can become better suited to ACCED-I members’ needs.

At the Region IV business meeting, Troy learned more about the challenges faced by those who run campus conference centers. Because funding registration for ACCED-I events is always a challenge, particularly for smaller universities, EventPro Software has agreed to sponsor a Region IV professional at the next Region IV meeting.

In addition to all this, Troy somehow found the time to be interviewed by Chris Augeri, Director of Conference & Event Services at Stonehill College, who was researching his Graduate Studies thesis on introducing a “real-time” campus-wide master calendar system at the college level. This sounds like a very interesting project and we look forward to hearing the results.

So, once again, Troy found the ACCED-I Conference and Trade Show to be a great experience, and we look forward to returning next year. We always look forward to these opportunities to meet our clients personally! Keep posted about future face-to-face events with EventPro Planner's News website and sign up for our Newsletters - The EventPro Connection.

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Notice anything new? Why, yes, we do have a new logo!

2011-04-05T14:53:00.003-06:00

Welcome to the unveiling of our new EventPro Planner logo! It’s not a dramatic change that will make you gasp in shock. We just wanted to freshen up our logo a bit – something a little cleaner, a little brighter and a bit more current. Our software is pushing forward into the future; we want our logo to come along with us. Here’s the new logo in all its glory:

What do you think?

You will soon see our new logo splashed all over our web pages, newsletters, blogs, Facebook pages, and so on. You may also come across the new logos for our sister products, EventPro and PMXpert, as well as our parent company, Profit Systems Inc.

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See EventPro at ACCED-I Conference starting tomorrow

2011-03-26T09:56:00.003-06:00

The ACCED-I Conference starts tomorrow! Don’t forget to stop by EventPro Software at Booth 7. This is a great chance to see a live software demonstration and talk to our rep, Troy.

Before it slips your mind, jot down Booth 7 (EventPro).

Have fun at the ACCED-I Conference, and we hope to see you there!

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See EventPro at ACCED-I Conference, Booth 7

2011-03-17T09:52:00.000-06:00

Are you attending the ACCED-I Conference in Orlando, March 27-30? Come meet with Troy from EventPro Software at Booth #7.

Troy will be happy to provide you with a free, live demonstration of our professional event management and room booking software. In a few minutes, he can show you how EventPro will help you schedule event spaces, track resources like A/V and setup equipment, manage catering, create professional floor plans, and much more.

Take a moment to jot down "EventPro - Booth 7" in your schedule. We hope to see you there!

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New Versions of EventPro Planner and Attendee Online

2011-03-04T09:14:00.000-06:00

There are new software updates available for EventPro Planner and Attendee Online. To download these updates, log in to the Support Website, choose the Downloads tab and select the latest download links.

Why update your software? With each new version, EventPro Planner becomes more flexible and powerful. To see the changes and updates in EventPro Planner, go to Help - What's New in your EventPro Planner Software program.

REMEMBER - to access software updates, you need a current Upgrade Protection Plan, a yearly contract that gives you access to software upgrades and updates, unlimited software support via email and phone, and more.

To receive notifications of EventPro Planner Software Updates as soon as they are available, follow us on Twitter @plannerupdates.

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EventPro Planner is now on Facebook

2011-03-02T10:45:00.002-06:00

Like pretty much everyone else these days, EventPro Planner Software is now on Facebook. Click below to become a EventPro Planner fan, and feel free to browse through our photos, leave a comment on our Wall, and read up on new EventPro Planner information.

Even if you're not on Facebook, you can still view our Facebook page HERE.

EventPro Planner Manual in Print at Lulu.com

2011-02-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

EventPro Planner's User Manual is now available for purchase in printed form. While we have a completely comprehensive free user manual on our website in HTML and PDF formats, we understand that some people just really can't do without the look, feel and reading-ease of good old-fashioned paper.

So, if you simply must have a printed copy of the manual, to save you the time and agony of printing and hole-punching 1000+ pages, our manual is now available for sale at Lulu.com. This is a print-on-demand service, so that manuals are only printed as needed, saving paper and expense. We have so much information in our manual that we had to split it into 3 volumes, so please note that you need to buy all three volumes for the complete manual, with Table of Contents, cross-references, and Index. Follow these links to find the manual on Lulu.com:

WARNING: Our user manual is constantly updated as new features are added to EventPro Planner, so printed copies can fall out of date very quickly! Your best source for completely updated information is still our online manual at www.eventpro-planner.com/manual.html.

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New Software Update for EventPro Planner

2011-01-27T07:58:00.001-06:00

The latest software update for EventPro Planner Software, Version 2.4.4.545, has just been released. Sign into the Support Area of the EventPro Planner Website to download this latest update.

Remember that you can only access software updates and upgrades if you have an Upgrade Protection Plan. The Upgrade Protection Plan is an annual contract that provides you with unlimited access to Support via phone or email, regularly scheduled software upgrades, as-needed software updates and hotfixes, and more. See our website for more information.

If your Upgrade Protection Plan has lapsed, contact a Sales Representative for a quote to reactivate your support contract and continue getting the most out of EventPro Planner.

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Event Category Templates make it easy to set to-do tasks in Planner

2011-01-26T13:18:00.013-06:00

Recently, we mentioned the new Task Notification Service available in EventPro Planner. That post described how the Task Notification Service uses your EventPro Planner Actions (tasks) to determine when notification emails are sent and who receives them.

If you find that you are setting up the same Actions for events over and over (Check Deposit Paid, Book Venue, Confirm Catering Numbers, and so on), here is a time-saving tip: Create Event Category Templates.

An Event Category functions as a template with which you create similar events quickly and easily. For each category, you can set up actions, budget, attendee types, functions, booths, letter templates and more. When you book a new event and select the relevant event category template, all of those pre-set options are automatically loaded into the event, with no extra typing or clicking. Think about how much time you can save!

For assistance with setting up event categories, see the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 16: Event Category Templates, Event Category Template Overview.

After your templates are created, it is also easy to pull a set of event category actions into an existing event. In the User Manual, see Chapter 12: Actions, Copy Action Template.

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Automatic task notifications keep your event timeline on track

2011-01-20T15:06:00.000-06:00

We recently mentioned the new Task Notification Service for EventPro Planner. Here are a few more details about how this new service can help you out...

If you've ever wished that someone would have reminded you before an important deadline passed, the Task Notification Service is what you need. It's like a to-do list that nudges you when something needs to be done. This service monitors the status of Actions (tasks) in EventPro Planner and automatically sends notification emails to designated recipients.

So, to make sure that the Task Notification Service keeps you (or your co-workers) on track, you need to set up actions in EventPro Planner. You can attach actions to events, contacts, attendees, and more, or just make a general to-do task. When setting up an action, you choose the User or User Group who is supposed to complete the action. That user or user group will be the recipient(s) of the task notification email. For complete instructions about setting up an action, see the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 12: Actions, Create Action.

Once you have actions set up in EventPro Planner, the Task Notification Service will monitor them and send notification emails as required. In setup, you can choose how often the service will scan your database and send the notifications. The "Reminder" date on the action will determine when the "Task Reminder Notification" email is sent out. The action's "Start" date will trigger the "Task Start Notification" email. Finally, when the action's end date/time has been reached, but the action is still not marked as "Completed", the "Task Overdue Notification" email is sent. For overdue actions, you can also set a repeat interval, so that the overdue notification is sent out at a set interval until the action is marked as "Completed".

Task Notification Service setup is covered in the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 22: Task Notification Service, Installation and Setup.

*Please note that the Task Notification Service is available only for the Enterprise Edition of EventPro Planner Software.

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2 New Things You Should Check out in EventPro Planner

2011-01-03T21:35:00.000-06:00

Our developers were busy bees all year long, adding new features and enhancements to EventPro Planner Software. While there is a long list of new features for you to check out, we think the two biggest announcements of 2010 were:

New Attendee Online Version 3: The new Attendee Online does everything that the previous version did, plus more, with a sleek new look, easier setup and expanded functionality. Registrants can use your online registration site to enter contact information, choose functions, select travel/accommodation reservations, record guests, buy merchandise, and pay online. View our Sample Attendee Online Events on our website.
Task Notification Service (Enterprise/SQL Edition only): The Task Notification Service automatically sends email notifications to designated users for EventPro Planner Actions that are upcoming, started and overdue. Never miss an important deadline again!

In 2011, watch for...The New EventPro Planner. The future of event planning software is almost here! We'd love to show you a list of features and screenshots from EventPro Planner Version 3, but our developers are keeping the details behind locked doors at the moment. They assure us, though, that it will be fantastic. Watch for the release of the new EventPro Planner in 2011.

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Who's in Charge Here? Let People Know with Event Roles

2010-12-22T11:05:00.001-06:00

When you're booking an event in EventPro Planner, you can specify who is in charge of what event elements by using the Event Roles. What are Event Roles? Well, you should have set them up in your System Settings.

Go to your System Settings and click on the Events tab. Under Event Roles, type in the typical roles that need to be filled for each event, e.g. Coordinator, Catering, AV, Finance, Transport, and so on.

Then, when you book an event, those roles will appear in the Event Information page of the Booking Wizard. Select which EventPro Planner User will fill that role for the event. Now, everyone will know the go-to person for each department.

Event Roles when Booking Event
EventPro Planner Software

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Notes from the IAFE Convention & Trade Show 2010

2010-12-10T13:16:00.003-06:00

Our Account Representative, Ken, recently returned from the IAFE Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas. Not only is Ken the newest member of our Sales team, but this was also his first trade show appearance on behalf of EventPro Planner, so it was a whole new experience for him. However, Ken reported that he had a great time and met a lot of great people.

Ken's Notes from IAFE Trade Show 2010

Vegas was unseasonably cool. (Author's Note: Gee, that's too bad, Ken. Did we mention it was MINUS 17 C/1 degree F here?)
All of the attendees were really friendly.
There were so many unique exhibitors, everything from Butterflies and Kangaroos to Firetrucks, Stilt walkers and Hypnotists.
It was great to meet with current customers who dropped by specifically to say "Hi". Our clients had great things to say about our software (which is wonderful to hear), and our software trainer, Carrie, in particular got a lot of compliments.

So, if you didn't have a chance to catch up with Ken at the show, hopefully we can get in touch at the next event. Subscribe to the EventPro Planner newsletter to hear about all the latest news, including future trade shows and conventions we will be attending.

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New Software Update: Version 2.4.3.544

2010-12-08T13:16:00.000-06:00

Sign into the Support Area of the EventPro Planner Website to download the latest version of EventPro Planner Software.

Remember that you can only access software updates and upgrades if you have an Upgrade Protection Plan. The Upgrade Protection Plan is an annual contract that provides you with unlimited access to Support via phone or email, regularly scheduled software upgrades, as-needed software updates and hotfixes, and more. See our website for more information.

If your Upgrade Protection Plan has lapsed, contact a Sales Representative for a quote to reactivate your support contract and continue getting the most out of EventPro Planner.

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New Update for EventPro Planner

2010-11-23T08:20:00.000-06:00

There is a new EventPro Planner Software Update available: Version 2.4.2.542.

To download this latest software update, log in to the EventPro Planner Support Website and choose the Downloads tab. Select the EventPro Planner Install 2.4.2.542 link.

Why update your software? With each new version, EventPro Planner becomes more flexible and powerful. To see the changes and updates in EventPro Planner, go to Help - What's New in your EventPro Planner Software program.

To access software updates, you need a current Upgrade Protection Plan, a yearly contract that gives you access to software upgrades and updates, unlimited software support via email and phone, and more. If you need to renew your Upgrade Protection Plan, please contact your Sales Representative.

To receive notifications of EventPro Planner Software Updates as soon as they are available, follow us on Twitter @plannerupdates.

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Why Use Online Event Registration? Five Quick Reasons

2010-11-12T12:36:00.003-06:00

If you don't have an online event registration system yet, you may ask why it's worth the initial expense and bother. Here are five quick reasons:

Saves Time: A person can only register one person at a time. Think how long it takes to collect information over the phone, or re-type information from a faxed form. Your online registration site can collect information from multiple attendees, simultaneously, all while you are taking care of other business.
Convenience: An online registration form can work 24 hours a day, unlike most of us. If registration procedures are inconvenient, attendees may be less inclined to go through the motions. Online registration allows early-birds and night-owls to register on their own schedules.
Better Organization: All of the attendee information entered online is automatically pulled in to the correct fields in the program, so you don't have to go searching for it.
Get Payment Immediately: Instead of waiting for a check to arrive in the mail, get payment on the spot with an integrated online payment processing service.
Less Paper: No more reams of paper wasted or filing cabinets stuffed full of invitations, registration forms, faxes and receipts. All of the information is neatly stored and organized for easy viewing on your computer screen.

EventPro Planner's Attendee Online registration module provides you with unlimited online events and attendee registrations for one purchase price (no per-registrant fee!).
To see how Attendee Online can work for a variety of events, see our demo events at http://www.eventpro-planner.com/attendee_online_registration.html.

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Make Online Attendee Registration Much Quicker and Easier

2010-11-09T12:21:00.014-06:00

The brand-new Attendee Online Version 3 for EventPro Planner is here! What can this great new module do for you?

Look Great: Your Online Event Registration website will look sleek and professional.
Customize: Express the event vibe with a new color theme, logo, and page descriptions for each event.
Collect: Get the information you need for each event with the easy-to-setup registration forms. No special programming skills required!
Book: Just imagine that you don't have to record each painstaking detail for each attendee's travel and accommodation reservations. Now, open your eyes - it's real! Attendee Online now collects attendee accommodation and travel information for you.
Provide: The new Requirements page allows registrants to select required items or buy event merchandise.
Help: Give your registrants a virtual helping hand with your own customized User Help pop-ups.
Notify: New easy-to-setup notifications will automatically send confirmation emails to attendees and event organizers.
Get Paid: The new and improved payment system integrates with PayPal and many other online payment services so you can collect fees on the spot.

To see examples of Attendee Online in action, visit the demo page by clicking HERE. For more information, book a free consultation with our Sales Team by calling (306) 975-3737 (Press 1) or emailing Sales@EventPro.net.

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Update: Emailing Event Reports to Suppliers Improved!

2010-11-03T15:15:00.024-06:00

Thanks to the input from one of our clients, we have improved another feature in EventPro Planner. In the last post, Doris Clark from Event Day Coordination provided a helpful tip for emailing event reports to event suppliers. Now, we've improved the mail merge so that you can send event reports from the Company/Contact mail merge (without needing to print and save the reports elsewhere).

Go to the Company/Contact area of EventPro Planner and begin a mail merge for the suppliers to which you want to send an event report. When you get to the page that says "Select an Event to Attach", select the Booking Number of the Event. Continue with the mail merge wizard. At the end, when you enter the Subject and text of the email, you will see an Add Report button in the bottom right of the window. Click Add Report and choose the event report you want to send (e.g. an Event Itinerary, as Doris suggests). For more help with mail merges, see the manual at Chapter 3: Companies/Contacts, Companies/Contacts Mail Merge.

This is just one of many examples of how we use client feedback to make EventPro Planner more user-friendly, comprehensive and efficient. We want to make our software the best it can be for our clients. Suggestions from UPP clients are a major source of ideas for our great new features. (What is UPP? It stands for Upgrade Protection Plan, our annual support and software update contract).

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Emailing event itinerary to your event suppliers

2010-10-15T14:22:00.049-06:00

One of our EventPro Planner clients, Doris Clark from Event Day Coordination, has a great time-saving hint for emailing the event itinerary to your suppliers:

I am a wedding planner on Martha's Vineyard. I use and love EventPro Planner. One of the things that I do with every wedding is send the bride's itinerary to every supplier a few days before the wedding. In the past, I would cut and paste the supplier's email addresses into an email that I was sending to the bride with the itinerary in it. Or send individual emails to the suppliers with the itinerary.

I spoke with one of the Support Representatives at EventPro Planner and he suggested a work-around. I figured that maybe this info would help someone else as well:

When you are in an event, pull up the report you want - in my case, it is the Daily Function Overview. In the Print window, choose File as the print Destination to save it to your desktop. In the 'Where' drop-down list, choose Desktop, name the file so you can find it on the desktop, click Open, and then click OK. Now the report is on your desktop.

Now you go to the Companies tab and select all of the companies that you want to send the report to. Hold down the Control key and click in the far left hand column beside the company's name to choose it. Now click on Detailed Options in the right-hand column, and choose Mail Merge. Make sure "Selected Records" is checked, click Next and choose Email. Click Next, and then Next again. Under Update Communications, put in an email method and click Next. Fill out the Subject for the email and write the info you want. Then at the bottom of the email, attach the report file you saved to the desktop. Click Finish.

Hope this saves you time, too!

Doris Clark
Event Day Coordination

Eventdaycoordination.com

Meet EventPro Software at the IAFE Convention and Tradeshow

2010-10-12T09:53:00.003-06:00

If you want to put a face to EventPro Planner Software, meet up with our representative, Ken Neudorf, at the IAFE (International Association of Fairs and Expositions) Convention and Tradeshow in Las Vegas.

The 2010 IAFE Annual Convention takes place November 29 to December 2 in Las Vegas Nevada. The theme of this year's convention is "Aim Higher". Our man on the ground, Ken, will aim to get you better acquainted with EventPro. Ken will be at Booth #1319 to demonstrate EventPro and answer your questions. He invites anyone and everyone to drop by for a chat. Here is Ken’s schedule:

Monday, November 29. 3:00PM to 6:30PM
Tuesday, November 30, 11:00AM to 5:00PM
Wednesday, December 1, 10:30AM to 2:30PM

For more information about the IAFE Annual Convention, see their website HERE.

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Coming Soon: EventPro Planner Automation Service

2010-10-08T09:33:00.031-06:00

Attention EventPro Planner Users:

We have another great idea coming down the pipeline!
EventPro Planner will soon be offering a new Automation Service.

The first phase of the Automation Service - Action Notifications - will monitor the status of Actions in your EventPro Planner database, and automatically send emails to designated Users in three cases: Action Reminder, Action Start Date and Overdue Action.

We plan to do much more with our Automation Service in the future. The basic function of the Automation Service is to continually scan your EventPro Planner database and look for things to do based on the rules you have set up. There are many possibilities for automation in Planner.

This is where you, our valued clients, come in. Many of our ideas for great new features come from client suggestions. What would you like our Automation Service to do? Send us your suggestion through our suggestion form in your region:

Note that you will need to log in with your User ID and Password. Submitting development suggestions is one of the many benefits of maintaining your annual Upgrade Protection Plan.

The initial phase of the Automation Service - Action Notifications - will be available in October 2010. If you want to be notified of its release, contact our friendly and helpful Sales Representatives in the region nearest you:

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Online Registration made Fast and Easy for You and Attendees

2010-10-06T09:33:00.002-06:00

The new Attendee Online is right around the corner! Just in the last phases of development, this extensively upgraded Attendee Online Version 3 will be available in October 2010.

Our previous version of Attendee Online does lots of great stuff to make registration easier for you. It allows attendees to enter their own registration details online, so that you can download that information back to EventPro Planner in one easy step. However, the New Attendee Online has even more fantastic new features:

A great new look! Who really believes that looks don't matter? The new Attendee Online has a sleek new interface that’s easy on the eyes, with new color/background themes to suit each event's vibe.
Travel and Accommodation Reservations: Registrants can now enter or select their travel and accommodation requirements.
Requirements: This new page allows registrants to select required items from your Event Resource Setup.
Easier Setup: Customizing the online registration pages is now so easy. No special programming skills are required.
New Help Pop-ups: You can now create customized User Help pop-ups in your online registration pages to help out registrants.
Automatic Notifications: The new easy-to-setup notifications will automatically confirm attendees’ new registrations or accept/decline invitations.
Improved Payments: The new and improved payment system is now much easier to set up and use.

It’s hard to describe everything the new Attendee Online can do. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. If you want to see it in action, book a free online demonstration with our Sales Team. Contact the Sales Representative in the region nearest you:

If you want to be the first to know when the new Attendee Online is ready for take off, tell our Sales Representatives. They’ll be happy to contact you when it arrives!

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Easy access mail merge ensures attendees get communications quickly

2010-09-26T14:20:00.008-06:00

If you need to send a communication to all attendees registered for a function - a new itinerary, perhaps, or a change-of-venue notice - it is now really easy to send a group attendee email from the Organization Calendar (thanks to our hard-working development team).

In the Calendar, Function or Detail View of the Organization Calendar, you can view the Function Attendees (in the Function and Detail View, it's a tab, and in the Calendar, you can right-click and choose Function Attendees). In that window or tab, you'll see the Mail Merge button. Click it, and you're a few steps away from sending your important communication.

For complete instructions, see the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 7: Organize an Event, Register Attendees for Functions: Sending Mail Merge to Function Attendees.

Planner's Calendar Respects Your Point of View

2010-09-24T14:03:00.009-06:00

Do you find that every time you view the Organization Calendar for a multi-location event, you spend a lot of time scrolling around to find the locations and functions you want to view? Well, the freshly revamped Organization Calendar has a new feature that adapts to your "point of view".

On the Calendar View, you can now choose to show and hide locations. Just check or uncheck the checkboxes next to the location listed in the left column. You may find it handy to hide some locations so that the locations you really want to see are visible (without needing to scroll to the right).

You can also change the order of the venues, or the order of locations within venues, by dragging and dropping the venue or location name into a new position. Venues/locations at the top of the list will be appear in the left-most column of the calendar. Again, you may want to put the most important venues/locations at the top so that they are easiest to view in the calendar.

So, when you have your view set juuuuuuust right, you don't want to do that every time you open the calendar, right? Exactly - that's why you can now save your selection and order of venues/locations as a Template. If it is your favorite view and you want to use it often, you can set it as your default view.

For more information, you can always consult - say it with me, now - the User Manual. See Chapter 7: Organize an Event, Using the Organization Tab: Calendar View.

Organization Calendar More Function-al Than Ever

2010-09-22T14:02:00.000-06:00

A new feature on EventPro Planner's Organization Calendar (just one of many new features, by the way) makes it really easy to schedule functions in an event.

You can now create brand new Functions directly on the Organization Calendar. (Before, you could only schedule existing functions on the calendar.) This new function saves you from spending the extra time going into the Event Setup area when you just want to quickly throw a function into the event.

There are several ways to add and schedule a new function - EventPro Planner is flexible that way. To learn how to do this, consult the User Manual at Chapter 7: Organize an Event, Add Functions to Venue Locations.

Warm chocolate and champagne hues for elegant comfort

2010-09-17T15:10:00.000-06:00

As the cool winds of fall descend upon us (at least where we live - it's freezing here already!), we long for warm and comforting surroundings. And what color is more warm and comforting than chocolate brown?

Take a look at this lovely chocolate brown and cream decorating theme, courtesy of Gina Digness at The Rent-It Store Wedding and Specialty Center.

Photos courtesy of The Rent-It Store Wedding & Specialty Center

I love the combination of champagne, chocolate, and soft pink hues. Doesn't it look warm and inviting? And - somehow - delicious? The decorations make me think of sea coral and candy, simultaneously. And they also resemble intricately decorated cake balls, which reminds me of those available from Sphere-Licious: The Chocolate Cake Ball Company, http://www.chocolatecakeballs.ca/.

Another way to infuse that warm cream hue into your decor would be with accessories made of capiz shells, like these Capiz Flower Candleholders or Bronzed Gold Capiz Bowls from Ten Thousand Villages. Capiz absolutely glows when lit with candlelight - perfect for your champagne and chocolate color scheme.

Honor your Grandparents today (and every day)

2010-09-12T09:15:00.006-06:00

Did you know that today is Grandparents Day? Grandparents Day was initiated in 1970 by Marian McQuade, when she began a campaign for a special day to honor grandparents. Grandparents Day is now celebrated annually on the Sunday after Labor Day, with these three purposes:

To honor grandparents.
To give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children's children.
To help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.

Source:
National Grandparents Day Council, www.grandparents-day.com

If you can, call up your grandparents, or any grandparents you know, and tell them how much you appreciate them. Better yet, stop by for a visit. If you are a grandparent, take a moment to go and claim your hug from your grandkids. You've earned it! For activity ideas, see Grandparents.com.

Forget-Me-Not, the official flower of Grandparents Day
Source: Wikipedia

New feature allows you to integrate Gmail and EventPro Planner

2010-09-10T10:12:00.004-06:00

If you have a Gmail account and use EventPro Planner, there's good news for you! EventPro Planner now supports Gmail, so you can integrate Gmail with Planner's email function.

To learn how to adjust your email settings in EventPro Planner, consult the User Manual at Chapter 1: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 4: Users, Create User: Email.

There are several other fresh new features in the latest software update to make EventPro Planner more efficient and convenient for you. Check out the full list in our Bulletin or What's New in Help.

Computer, set Attendee System Defaults to Awesome!

2010-09-10T07:47:00.001-06:00

The new Planner Update has added some new options to System Settings. Okay, it’s hard to get all fired up about system settings. They aren't exactly flashy, but if you set them up correctly, you’ll feel as if Planner is anticipating what you want to do. Having default settings will reduce the amount of clicking and typing you have to do, which will save time, and, ideally, reduce errors.

There's an entirely new tab for Attendees under System Settings. All the old attendee-related settings have been moved under there, plus there are some new settings.

• Update Attendee Arrival/Departure Date From: Each attendee has arrival and departure dates stored on his/her record. If you track travel and accommodations for attendees, you can choose to have the attendees' arrival and departure dates automatically updated using travel and accommodation records.

• New Accommodation Record Prompt: When you add an accommodation record for an attendee, you can choose to use a pre-booked reservation or create an entirely new reservation. This setting allows you to choose whether you want to see an Accommodation Type Prompt asking whether the accommodation record will be Open (entirely new) or Reservation (pre-booked ). You can also choose the default that will be selected in the prompt.

• Expand Registration Groups by Default: When you register an attendee, all of the available registration groups and functions appear in the Registration Item Selection window. If there are a lot of functions, it can be difficult to view all of the groups, so a new feature allows you to expand and collapse the functions under registration groups. This setting allows you to indicate whether you want the registration groups expanded by default.

• Overbooked Functions Dialog: If saving an Attendee Registration will cause any functions to be overbooked, the new Overbooked Function dialog will appear to warn you. This setting allows you to turn the Overbooked Functions prompt on or off.

• Check Attendance on Registration Save: This setting allows you to choose whether you want Planner to check the attendance of each function upon saving an attendee's registration.

Expand or collapse your registration horizons - your choice

2010-09-09T15:17:00.001-06:00

A small detail has been adjusted for Attendee Registration in EventPro Planner. It may not seem like much, but saving a few seconds here and there can eventually add up to hours.

When registering attendees, if you have set up several registration groups with multiple functions, you may have noticed that you have to do a lot of scrolling up and down in the Registration Item Selection window to find the registration group you want.

To eliminate that inconvenience, our developers added a new enhancement that allows you to collapse the registration groups. In the Registration Item Selection window, click the negative sign (-) to collapse the registration group and hide the functions within it. This opens up room in the window and makes it easier to scan the registration groups. To expand the registration group and view the functions again, click the plus sign (+).

You can even choose how you want the registration groups to default each time you open the Registration Item Selection window - expanded or collapsed. Go to the Attendees tab of System Settings, and indicate your choice by checking or unchecking the "Expand Registration Groups by Default" box.

New functions make Seating Plans even easier

2010-09-07T14:59:00.002-06:00

Our developers have added some slick new improvements to the Event Seating Plan area of EventPro Planner.

No More Ctrl Key
This first change is a subtle but significant improvement in functionality. You no longer need to hold down the Ctrl key while dragging and dropping attendees onto seats and tables. This will drastically reduce the utterance of this phrase: "Okay, why isn't this working?! I'm dragging the attendee over, and ...Oh yeah - the Ctrl key!".

Add New Attendees from Event Function Seating screen
The second change is the ability to add new Attendees to the event directly from the Event Function Seating screen. This will come in handy, for example, when you're making up the seating plan for Event A, and as you put Mrs. Jones at Table 1 Seat 6, you remember that Mrs. Smith will want to sit next to her, but you forgot to add Mrs. Smith to the event. Not a problem - just click New to add the new attendee, and you can even register her on the spot. You can also add Guests from this screen, so it saves you the trouble of later finding the attendees and assigning the right attendee as the guest.

If you need a refresher on how to use Event Function Seating, check out Chapter 8: Manage Attendees, Attendance & Seating in the EventPro Planner Manual.

Lay down your labor on Labor Day

2010-09-06T08:05:00.001-06:00

Ahhh, Labor Day – the bittersweet last gasp of summer before the cool winds of autumn sweep us towards winter. As you relax and enjoy the long weekend, you may ask: What inspired this end-of-summer reprieve from work?

In Canada, Labour Day originated in the 1880s. The Toronto Printers’ Union went on strike in 1872, seeking to reduce their work to 58 hours per week (that’s right – reduced to 58 hours per week). Workers in Toronto marched in a solidarity parade. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald sided with the workers over the employers, and enacted new legislation that legalized union activity. The parades continued as an annual tradition, and Labour Day was legislated as a national holiday in 1894.

In the United States, the first Labor Day was celebrated on September 5, 1882. There is still some debate over who had the idea first. Some sources claim that Peter J. McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, witnessed a labour parade in Canada, and brought the idea back to New York. Others say that Matthew Maguire, the secretary of the Central Labor Union, thought it up. McGuire or Maguire – take your pick. In any case, after experiencing violent labor unrest during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland enacted legislation in 1894, officially creating the national holiday of Labor Day.

Sources:
Origins of Labour Day, James Marsh, The Canadian Encyclopedia
Why Do We Get Labor Day Off? Brendan I. Koerner, Slate Magazine
Labor Day, Wikipedia
Labour Day, Wikipedia

Zip through tasks with more-efficient-than-ever Organization Calendar

2010-09-05T14:34:00.002-06:00

The newly enhanced Organization Calendar now allows you to do more tasks on-the-fly directly on the calendar. This saves you time because you no longer need to leave the calendar screen and go into other setup areas when you want to quickly add something new.

Create New Functions
You can now create new functions directly from the calendar, without having to go back into Event Setup. Right-click in the calendar and select New Function. In the Event Function [New] window, click the ellipsis next to the Function Name. From here, you can select an existing functions from Event Setup, or create an entirely new function by clicking New. This is handy when you are working in the Calendar and suddenly realize that you forgot to create a function you need (and don't feel like going back into Event Setup). You can even add the function to the correct Registration Group from here.

Register Attendees
You can now also register attendees right on the calendar. To register attendees, right-click the calendar and select Function Attendees. In the Function Attendees window, click New. This will open a list of attendees, where you can choose to register one or multiple attendees for the function.

Note that this quick-register function is meant for a simple, straightforward registration setup. The function can only belong to one registration group. If you have a more complex registration group setup, it's better to register attendees through the Attendee screen.

For more information about the new features in the Organization Calendar, see What's New in Help in the EventPro Planner Manual. Those links will direct you to the specific instructions you need.

You shall not pass...without clicking Next

2010-09-04T16:40:00.000-06:00

Wizards (in software, not the Harry Potter kind) are great because they guide you through a process you need to complete, reducing the chances of missing important steps. If you find that you or other users working in Planner are leaving out important information when adding companies and contacts to your database, a new feature allows you to create companies and contacts using wizards. This means instead of clicking through tabs at the top of a window, each tab is presented as a screen, and you work through the wizard using the Next, Back and Finish buttons.

To turn on the “wizard” options for companies and contacts, go to your System Settings. Under the Contacts tab, select the checkboxes next to Use Company Wizard and/or Use Contact Wizard. If you want to be able to finish the wizard before going through all of the pages, you can choose the page to finish on from the “Show Finish Button On” drop-down list. Remember to save your system settings before going to the Company/Contacts area and trying out the new wizards.

Learn the ropes with the Planner Manual

2010-09-03T08:01:00.003-06:00

If you've downloaded the latest Planner Update (and you really should, because there is lots of cool new stuff in it), don't forget to take a look at the EventPro Planner Manual for instructions on how to use the new and enhanced features. As always, the manual has been updated right up-to-the-minute with the latest version. That's why it is best to use an electronic version of our manual (online, locally in the software, or PDF), instead of a printed copy. The manual has to constantly change to keep pace with the software, and our developers keep enhancing the software to meet the requirements of our clients. Awesome just can't stay in one place.

Find info in a snap with even-more-organized Organization Calendar

2010-09-02T08:30:00.022-06:00

With the latest Planner update, the Organization Calendar has been enhanced so that you can find the important information you need more quickly.

Usage Listings for Functions and Resources

These new listings make it really easy to find Functions and Resources on the Organization Calendar. Previously, if you had a lot of days and many functions for an event, it would take a lot of scrolling around to find a specific function or resource scheduled in the calendar.

Now, just go to the left sidebar of the calendar and click on the Functions or Resources button. If a Function or Resource has been used in the event, there will a plus sign (+) beside it. Click the + to view listings of the time, date and place in which that function or resource is used. Double-click the listing to move the calendar to that function or resource.

For more information, don't hesitate to check out the Planner Manual, which is always updated to the latest version of the software. To read up on the new features in this post, see What's New in Help and Using the Organization Tab.

Lots of new and enhanced features in the latest Planner Update

2010-09-02T07:02:00.001-06:00

You can now head over to the Support website to download the newest Planner Update, Version 2.4.1.532. You may ask, "Why should I take valuable time out of my busy day to get this update?". Well, this new version is packed with new and enhanced features designed to save time and make Planner work more for efficiently for you. So take a few minutes now to gain time-saving advantages for the future.

There are too many new features to list in one blog post, so you can find all the changes in the EventPro Planner Bulletin. Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing some of the new features on this blog, so stay tuned for some behind-the-scenes information.

Remember, if you want to find out about new software updates ASAP, follow us on Twitter @plannerupdates.

Computers decrease ability to concentr... Hey, what's that?!

2010-08-30T10:11:00.003-06:00

As we multi-task with our computers and mobile devices, we like to think we are more efficient and productive than ever, but a recent article in the New York Times, Attached to Technology and Paying a Price, explains that we're probably wrong. According to scientists, because of the constant stream of information from technology, we are changing the way we think and we are losing our ability to focus.

We old timers who remember life before the Internet like to grumble about how, in our day, we had to write letters by hand, look up things in books, and walk twelve miles to school, barefoot, in the snow, uphill both ways. Now, we know that our very brains were different back then, consarnit!

So, is it too late for you? Has your attachment to your Blackberry or iPhone irrevocably changed the pathways of your brain, or could you quit at any time?

Arranging Air Travel for Attendees

2010-08-28T08:29:00.019-06:00

Arranging group travel can be time consuming and difficult. Do your event clients ask you to arrange air travel for event attendees?

If you are looking for airlines that still offer group discounts, see Stretch Your Budget by Saving on Airfare by Ashley Spitzer at the ConventionPlanIt.com Meeting and Events Blog.

For some tips about trimming the travel budget, check out Finding Savings in Air Travel at Meetings and Conventions.

Whenever you are arranging travel reservations for attendees, watch out for "extras" that can balloon the costs past your budget. Sue Pelletier at the Face2face blog has been chronicling the latest airline fee proposals, including:

The Talking-to-a-real-person Fee
The Avoid-Fees Fee
My personal favorite: Standing-Room-Only "Seats"

To commiserate with others about companies nickel-and-diming you to death with surcharges, read Charging More for the Basics (industrythoughts.net).

If you arrange flights for your event attendees, you probably already know that you can keep this information organized in the Travel area of EventPro Planner. To learn the ins and outs of recording and assigning travel bookings in Planner, see Chapter 9: Attendee Travel in the EventPro Planner Manual.

More Ideas for All: Cross-Pollination in the Event Planning Industry

2010-08-26T08:25:00.001-06:00

A lot of the neat ideas I find for posts originate from weddings, and I often conclude with, "But this could work for all kinds of events!". I feel much more justified after reading The Big Shift in the Events Industry on Ready2Spark.com. In the post, Lara explains that because of social media like Facebook and blogging, she has noticed that the former sharp divisions between different kinds of event industries are starting to fade. You can read the whole article here.

So, I guess the take-away message is that event planners shouldn't be afraid to look to other kinds of events for ideas and inspirations that enhance their own area in the event industry. What is your experience? Have you found that increased exposure to ideas through social media has changed your approach to managing events?

Getting Photos: The 21st Century Alternative to Disposable Cameras

2010-08-24T14:12:00.014-06:00

Does this sound familiar? You're at a great event. Dozens of people take funny, beautiful and/or priceless pictures. Everyone looks at each other's cameras and declares, "I totally want a copy of those pictures! Email them to me! I'll email you mine". Shortly after the event, lethargy ensues. Nobody totally gets a copy of those pictures.

On a related note, a colleague of mine is getting married, and we got around to discussing how to get photos from guests. I suggested that in lieu of handing out disposable cameras (the old-school, pre-digital solution), she could hand out cards to the guests detailing where they can send their photos from their wedding - perhaps a dedicated email account or an online album. I thought I was extremely clever, until I realized it's already been done. Here are some ideas from people who thought of this before me:

Army of Photographers (weddingbee.com) - The author explains how she set up an account to collect photos and video from her wedding guests.
My First DIY Project (weddingbee.com) - Essentially same idea, but there was another suggestion in a comment below. One reader explained that she provided a low-tech alternative by setting out a basket of CDs in pre-addressed stamped envelopes for people who wanted to mail their photo files, which got around the problem of everyone using different photo-sharing sites.

My colleague also thought that she could perhaps set out her laptop computer at the wedding reception, and let people download photos right from their memory cards before they leave. This idea would work if (a) you trust your guests around your computer, and (b) guests are still sober enough to handle a computer by the end of the event.

Couldn't these ideas work for special events other than weddings? With a little bit of planning ahead, this seems like a good way to get those photographs passed around before they fade from the collective memory. Has anyone tried this before? Do you have other ideas for collecting photos from event attendees?

Colors, colors and colors - More Color Inspirations

2010-08-22T13:43:00.008-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

I recently posted Pantone's hot colors for fall, and while I was on their website, I stumbled on another great place for color inspiration: Pantone Wedding, from The Dessy Group. Just take a look at the beautiful ideas on the Styleboard Gallery. Now, granted, these are wedding styleboards, but I don't see why some of these color schemes couldn't be used at a variety of events.

I've mentioned Colour Lovers before, but it's worth repeating that it is another great site for finding the latest color trends. Check out the latest trends at http://www.colourlovers.com/trends.

...
It was red and yellow and green and brown
And scarlet and black and ocher and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
And red and yellow and green and brown
Scarlet and black and ocher and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
And blue

Lyrics from "Joseph's Coat"
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Andrew Lloyd Webber

Birds of a Feather Flock to Peacock Decorating Ideas

2010-08-20T08:32:00.008-06:00

I don't know if peacocks are popular right now, but I am personally going to declare that peacock-themed decoration is a hot upcoming trend, based entirely on my personal inclination. I think peacocks make for fabulous decorating for two reasons:

(1) peacock blue is a gorgeous color, and
(2) peacock feathers are super cool (although some people think that peacock feathers indoors are bad luck, so I guess take that under advisement...).

Also, there is something extra luxurious about the peacock - a creature that seems to exist solely for the purpose of strutting around and looking beautiful.

Here is a beautiful example of a peacock feather centerpiece, courtesy of Gina Digness and The Rent-It Store Wedding and Speciality Center in Saskatoon. I love the exotic and mysterious feel created by the peacock feather and blue uplight.

You can see all of The Rent-It Store's portfolio on Facebook and on their website.

I found some other cool peacock-related items on ThisNext.com. Here are some beautiful Peacock Feather Cards from Blackbirdletterpress and Peacock Wine Glasses from marywibis, both on Etsy. There are several other types of wine glasses from marywibis on Etsy, including Wedding Toasting Flutes that make other toasting glasses look as interesting as tin cans.

Capture the exotic feel of India with the Tree of Life Wall Hanging from Ten Thousand Villages:

This EarthLust Stainless Steel Bottle is both stylish and practical (photo from ThisNext.com). It would make a nice addition to gift bags for your peacock-themed event.

Going Green at EventPro Planner

2010-08-18T09:41:00.005-06:00

EventPro Planner is going green, or - more accurately - staying green. For several years now, we have been following environmentally friendly practices like using web conferencing in place of travel, offering user manuals online instead of in print, reducing paper use in administration and marketing, and providing software via Internet download instead of CD. Going green is not only good for the planet; using fewer resources and minimizing waste is just plain smart for business, too.

To read about our Green Initiatives, click HERE to go to our website. Please let us know if you have any comments or questions.

Have you been taking steps to "green" your business? It seems like a lot of people in the events business have started to pursue environmentally sound practices in response to demands from clients. Event and meeting planners often need to find ways to make their events more environmentally friendly. For example, see the National Recycling Coalition’s Green Meetings Policy, which describes numerous green ideas for events, such as using electronic advertising, registration and handouts for attendees, using china service instead of disposable tableware, composting food waste, and providing easy-to-find recycle bins.

Some other articles you might find interesting:

Why Should a Business Go Green? (brighthub.com)
Earth Talk: Greening the office (eco-officegals.com)
Green Checklist: Check green meetings off your list (smartmeetings.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Seating Arrangements: Maximize Space, Minimize Stress

2010-08-16T13:26:00.001-06:00

Creating a seating arrangement is an important part of planning an event. Everyone has been to at least one event where there was no seating arrangement, so you have experienced the coat-draping, space-wasting frenzy that ensues at a rush-seating event. A seating arrangement maximize the use of seating availability and make attendees feel comfortable upon their arrival, rather than forcing them to jockey for a spot to sit.

How to Create a Seating and/or Table Assignment Plan in EventPro Planner Software: Go to the Attendee tab in the event and select the Attendance & Seating tab. Define the number of tables and seats at each table for each function by clicking the Tables button. After Attendees have been registered for the function, click on the Seating button. In the Event Function Seating window, you can simply drag and drop the attendees onto selected seats, or reserve an entire table under an attendee's name. If you need more help with seating and table reservations, check out the User Manual at Chapter 8: Manage Attendees, Attendance & Seating.

GrammarBot 9000: It's and Its

2010-08-14T13:32:00.002-06:00

GrammarBot 9000 is back, putting the fun in grammar. What's that you say? There's no "fun" in grammar? Exactly. Back to work.

It's is a contraction of it and is. It's cold outside.
Its is possessive. The snowman couldn't find its jacket.

People often want to use "it's" as possessive, because we use 's to show possession every other time - Tim's car, Jane's house, and so on.

Foolproof quick check: When you see "it's", read it as "it is". It is cold outside. The snowman couldn't find it is jacket. The error jumps out at you, ready to be corrected.

It's Friday the 13th...

2010-08-13T09:53:00.008-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

Does this make you nervous, or did you not even notice? If Friday the 13th stresses you out, you are not alone. According to Donald Dossey, the founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, there is approximately $800-900 million lost in business on Friday the 13th because people won't fly or do business as usual. For the full story, see Friday the 13th Phobia Rooted in Ancient History by John Roach (news.nationalgeographic.com).

So where did this fear of Friday the 13th come from? According to Wikipedia, there is no definitive origin of the superstition. It may just be a combination of two other superstitions: 13 is an unlucky number and Friday is an unlucky day.

I figure even if you don't really believe in the Friday the 13th superstition, why risk it? Instead of working on a project that could be tainted by the whiff of bad luck, it's probably better to kick back and relax safely at home. I'm sure your boss will agree!

Tip: Assigning Attendees to Functions

2010-08-12T07:59:00.001-06:00

Sometimes an attendee will both attend a function and perform a task at the function, e.g. a guest speaker, workshop instructor, staff member, etc. In EventPro Planner, you can "assign" these attendees to functions to indicate what they will be doing. If you find that you can't assign an attendee to a function (i.e. can't see the attendee in the Attendee Assignments list of the Organization Calendar), you probably haven't checked the "Can Be Assigned to Functions" checkbox for the attendee.

Go to the Attendees screen and edit the attendee. In the Edit window, under the General tab, you will see the "Can Be Assigned to Functions" checkbox at the top, next to the Type drop-down list. Check that box. You will now be able to assign the attendee to a function.

Enjoying Outdoor Events in the Summer

2010-08-10T08:09:00.001-06:00

There's something special about an outdoor wedding or other events held outdoors in the summer. Whenever I'm walking through a particularly beautiful park or green space in summer, I always think, "Wow, this would be a great place for a wedding." It must be all that fresh air getting to my head.

The Bonjour Events blog provides some tips on how to dress up the otherwise utilitarian white tent in "Decor Tips for Wedding Tents" (bonjourevents.com).

I have a tip to add about outdoor events in general. If your guests need to walk across grass at any point, try to put down some sort of hard surface for all the ladies in high heels. I was at a wedding a few weeks ago, and when the women ventured out onto the lawn to the receiving line, we all sunk down an inch or two. And, no, we are not going to wear flat shoes for a summer wedding. We look good in heels!

Some related articles to see:

Holding an Outdoor Event (meetings-conventions.com)

Image by quinn.anya via Flickr

Hot Colors for Autumn

2010-08-08T08:03:00.025-06:00

If you have an event coming up in the autumn and need some color inspiration, take a look at Pantone Fashion Color Report for Fall 2010. Pantone declares that the hot colors for the autumn will be:

Endive (Pantone 13-0632)
Golden Glow (Pantone 15-1050)
Living Coral (Pantone 16-1546)
Lipstick Red (Pantone 19-1764)
Purple Orchid (Pantone 18-3027)
Chocolate Truffle (Pantone 19-1526)
Lagoon (Pantone 18-0538)
Woodbine (Pantone 18-0538)
Oyster Gray (Pantone 14-1107)
Rose Dust (Pantone 14-1307)

My personal favorites are Purple Orchid, Living Coral, and Lagoon.

(If you love turquoise and can't get enough of it, see the House of Turquoise blog).

To see the whole set of colors, download the full report at http://www.pantone.com/downloads/articles/pdfs/PANTONE_FCR_Fall2010.pdf

How to add an extra day to already booked event

2010-08-07T08:07:00.010-06:00

If you need to add days to a previously booked event without creating a new booking and re-entering a bunch of information, you can use the Append function in EventPro Planner. In the Booking Calendar, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the cell(s) representing the day(s) and time(s) you want to add to the event. Then, right-click and select Append Dates. In the New Event Wizard, you can pick the event to which you want to add the new day(s).

There are all sorts of handy tips and tricks in the EventPro Planner User Manual, conveniently located online.

Don't Fail in Email

2010-08-05T08:11:00.034-06:00

If you're reading a blog, you're probably technologically competent, so you have probably been using email for a long time. You may think you have this email thing down pat, since experience = wisdom. However, if you want to ensure that you aren't making rookie mistakes, check out this blog post: Organize Anything: Are you getting an "F" in Email? (organizeanything.blogspot.com)

The author makes some excellent points about how to better use and organize email. I laughed when I read about the "secondary “oops” email" people send when they forget the attachment in the first email. I'm guilty of that email fail.

If I could add another "F" to her list, I would say "Font": use professional, clear, easy-to-read font instead of colorful, googly, scripty font with marching ants or blinky lights around it. Also, don't type in all caps or use excessive exclamation points. IT'S LIKE YELLING IN SOMEONE'S FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ten Reasons to Say YES to a Planner...

2010-08-04T08:37:00.004-06:00

By Elissa Fallo
Reprinted with permission from Perfect Productions

Number 10 - Save Time: Planning a wedding takes an enormous amount of time. In fact, the average couple spends well over 200 hours planning their special day. A good Wedding Planner will save you time and energy by researching vendors, taking care of the many details, and coming up with various creative ideas to make your wedding dreams come true.

Number 9 - Save Money: With the ever increasing cost of a wedding, couples are, of course, looking for a way to stay within a budget and still fulfill their dreams. Hiring a Wedding Planner can save a great deal of money because of the relationships they have with vendors. Planners provide these companies with so much business they are often able to negotiate discounts that their clients would not receive if they booked themselves. In addition, a great planner is well versed at setting budgets and sticking to them.

Number 8 - Save Relationships: Weddings are very stressful, and this stress often results in arguments, both between the couple as well as the with family members and friends. With the planner as a mediator, disagreements can be quickly settled or avoided entirely. Wedding Planners have been there time and time again. They know how to avoid conflicts and problems before they begin, and can act as a buffer when conflicts do arise. They often takes on responsibilities that would be assigned to family members or loved ones so that everyone can enjoy the wedding.

Number 7 - Make Every Dream a Reality: Most brides have been dreaming of their wedding day for their entire life. Wedding planners work for the couple to ensure that all desires are met (and often surpassed)!

Number 6 - Offer Advice: Wedding Planners have planned countless weddings; they know exactly what works and what doesn't and why. They are also knowledgeable on wedding etiquette, and can help the couple through situations they don't know how to handle. Furthermore, Wedding Planners are able to recommend competent vendors based on personal experience.

Number 5 - Act as the "go to person": The average wedding has at least twenty different vendors. Combine that with the wedding party, parents of the Bride and Groom, as well as all of the guests, and it equals a lot of people with questions and concerns! By hiring a Wedding Planner, couples can simply tell others, “Talk to the wedding planner!”

Number 4 - Create Schedules: There are so many events leading up to the big day! Add that to what needs to happen during the wedding and who can keep track? The wedding planner can! Wedding Planners are well-versed at making detailed itineraries for all involved (including other vendors). It will be their job to make sure that everything happens on time!

Number 3 - Handle a Crisis: Whether we like it or not, most big events involve some sort of crisis. No Bride or Groom really wants to deal with the bakery not delivering the cake on time or the flower girl throwing a tantrum on their wedding day. Wedding Planners know how to handle all unforeseen circumstances and have a wealth of resources at their fingertips to fix the issues.

Number 2 - Orchestrate: From rehearsal through the end of reception – the wedding planner will ensure that everyone is lines up properly, and that the guest who had a little too much to drink departs safely. Start to finish, Wedding Planners ensure everything goes off without a hitch!

Number 1 - Minimize Stress, Maximize Fun! Hiring a Wedding Planner ensures that you will have a worry-free and stress-free day. It is your Dream after all - why should you enjoy the day just as much as your Guests?

Article courtesy of Perfect Productions

Website: http://www.perfectprod.com/
Blog: http://perfectproductions.blogspot.com/

Follow EventPro Planner on LinkedIn

2010-08-03T08:14:00.002-06:00

Are you LinkedIn? You can now follow EventPro Planner through LinkedIn Company Profiles. Go to http://www.linkedin.com/companies/eventpro-planner-software or click the button below.

Corral Paper, Reclaim Your Desk and Save a Tree

2010-08-02T10:26:00.059-06:00

Remember being promised a paperless office in the future? Well, it may not be here yet - or likely ever arrive, according to the article, Will we ever achieve the paperless office? (guardian.co.uk), - but there are some ways you can use EventPro Planner to keep your paperwork in check.

One way of reducing paper clutter is to scan documents into electronic files and attach them in EventPro Planner. Events, companies, contacts, attendees and exhibitors all have special folders that allow you to store related documents or links to documents. Just look for the "Attachments" tab, usually in the bottom section of the screen. What could you add as attachments? Some ideas are menus, speaker biographies, photographs, floor plans - anything you want to store for that particular person or event.

EventPro Planner Communications can help you reduce paper consumption and - bonus! - keep you more organized. For example, you can sync your email with communications so that all the information in an email is pulled directly into an EventPro Planner communication. No need to print and file communications with clients. Instead of scribbling on a sticky note every time you call a client or meet in person, keep notes in EventPro Planner Communications, which you can date and label accordingly: "Phone Call", "Meeting", etc. This will keep all client communications neatly organized in one spot and easy to find.

You can also save on paper by emailing invoice, receipts and reports as PDF, RTF or TIFF attachments, instead of sending paper copies by mail. When you go to print an invoice, receipt or report (such as an event itinerary or attendee confirmation), you will see an Email option in the upper right corner.

If you want to learn how to use these various features in EventPro Planner, check out the Online User Manual:
Chapter 13: Communications
- Print, Email and Save a Communication
- Synchronize Email and Communications
Chapter 18: Reports
- Print Reports

Witty company logos - twice as effective?

2010-07-30T10:53:00.002-06:00

A few days ago, we told you how to change your company logo on EventPro Planner reports, invoices and receipts.

Speaking of logos, how does your logo compare to the logos featured in 50 Fantastically Clever Logos | Design Shack (designshack.co.uk)? These logos do double duty: not only do they look great, but they cleverly hide extra meaning in their design. You can't help but look twice, which was probably the idea.

And you think you have to treat your clients like royalty?

2010-07-28T10:01:00.002-06:00

You may find that you have to fulfill a lot of royal demands for your events, so imagine how many more there are when coordinating a royal tour for a Queen! Kevin MacLeod, the Canadian secretary to the Queen, assisted in organizing the her recent visit to Canada. The painstaking details of organizing a royal tour are described in The Queen’s Man on the Ground in Maclean's. In addition to the regular requirements for any special event, MacLeod had to deal with extra complications, like royal protocol, and work with groups that the average event planner probably doesn't have to, like Health Canada, the RCMP and the Department of National Defence. In comparison, do your most demanding clients seem as demanding?

New Software Update Available (Version 2.3.1.514)

2010-07-26T09:09:00.000-06:00

EventPro Planner clients can update their software by logging into the Support website, clicking on the Downloads tab, and selecting the EventPro Planner Install 2.3.1.514 link.

Remember that to access software updates, you must have a current Upgrade Protection Plan (UPP). If you need to reinstate your UPP, please contact us.

Follow us on Twitter @plannerupdates to receive notifications of the latest software updates.

Event Accessories Ideas: Napkin Shirts to Sun Jars

2010-07-23T08:14:00.017-06:00

I was browsing through ThisNext, and found some cool and/or funny event accessories I simply had to share:

Laser Cut Paper Cupcake Wrappers: Cupcakes now have nicer clothing than me.

Dress for Dinner Napkins: The tuxedo t-shirt's little brother.

Charlie Brown Pathetic Christmas Tree: Does everyone remember the sad little tree from the Charlie Brown Christmas special? Surely you must. These would make cute and nostalgic centerpieces for a holiday event.

Livingstones Lounge: So this isn't quite a party accessory, per se, but I think these would look really cool at a nature-themed event. Guest could lounge among the stones, sipping drinks. Okay, I'll admit it - I just want these for my living room.

Solar Sun Jars: These would be really beautiful at a rustic summer event. It looks like a jar full of glowing fireflies.

I am Not a Paper Cup: These are great little gifts for coffee lovers. They are eco-friendly and actually useful.

Question: How do I change my logo?

2010-07-21T15:45:00.001-06:00

The logo that appears on reports, invoices and receipts is set in your System Settings. To change it, choose Setup | System Settings from Planner's main menu. Click on the Logo tab and click the Edit Logo button in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Note that you can also set an event-specific logo for each event. In the Event Maintenance screen, find the event and click the Edit button in the upper right corner of the screen. In the Event Edit window, choose the Event Logo tab.

Extensive instructions are, as always, contained in the handy-dandy EventPro Planner User Manual. See Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 1: System Settings, Logo, and Chapter 5: Set Up an Event, Event Maintenance Screen Overview: Event Logo.

GrammarBot 9000: Beware the Spell Check

2010-07-19T17:05:00.013-06:00

GrammarBot 9000 is back to help you with your spelling and grammar queries. Today we review the dangers of Spell Check. Spell Check is fantastic, but it does not replace the human proofreader. For professional documents that will go out to clients and colleagues, please, please read over your work and coerce a co-worker to do the same.

The poem "Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer" has been around for a while and pops up all over the web, but it is still a valuable warning of what can slip through a spell check. (Yes, I spellchecked this post!)

Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it's weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Planner even more "Resourceful" than before

2010-07-18T19:45:00.010-06:00

If you frequently use certain resources for events, you should have them set up in your Resource Master List. That way, whenever you need them for an event, you can simply select the items from a list, instead of typing in the same information over and over.

To access the resource master list, go to the Setup Menu in EventPro Planner and choose Resources. You can record all of the resources you need under Resource Categories that you define and color-code. For each item, you can define the default Supplier, Cost, and Markup.

If you have the Resource Management module, you have the additional benefit of conflict checking. When you set up your items in the resource master list, you can specify the number of items you have in stock, and whether the item is "in use" for the entire event, or the specific scheduled times.

If you need a hand setting up your resources, take a look at the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 10: Resources.

Increase Your Efficiency on the Computer

2010-07-15T12:34:00.011-06:00

We often complain about computers being soooo slooowww, but perhaps, sometimes, we are the problem? Are you using your computer as efficiently as you can?

If you want to find a way to work a bit more efficiently, check out blogger Ben Martin's six tips for increasing your computer productivity: "Get quicker and faster on your computer: My six productivity-boosting tips".

One of his tips is to have Dual Monitors - I fully agree! Once you have two monitors, you will never go back. In fact, one of our developers actually has four monitors! If you work in multiple programs and need to go back and forth between windows, it is so much more efficient to look across at another screen, instead of constantly minimizing and maximizing windows.

Do you have any computer productivity tips to share? Let us know via comments or email.

Schedule Activities within Functions using Itinerary

2010-07-13T07:07:00.011-06:00

We talked about Functions in an earlier post. You'll recall that functions represent activities within an event.

If you now need to schedule activities within functions, you can add "Itineraries" to Functions. An Itinerary basically allows you to further sub-divide a function. For example, if you had an event, "Conference XYZ", and one of the functions was "Session 1" from 8 am to 10:15 am on Day 1, the itinerary added to Session 1 could look like this:

8:00 am Presentation: Janet Chasnet
8:45 am Coffee Break
9:00 am Presentation: Martin Oakley
9:45 am Question & Answer Period

You only need a brief description for an itinerary item, but if you want more detailed information, you can record the presentation ID, code, type of presentation, theme, abstract, presenter names and general notes, as well as user-defined fields for anything we've missed.

You can add itinerary in Event Setup or the Event Organization Calendar. For step-by-step instructions (with handy screenshots), see the EventPro Planner User Manual at:

Chapter 5: Set Up an Event, Organization Setup: Functions, Add Itinerary in Setup
Chapter 7: Organize an Event, Add Itinerary to Functions

Aaaagggghhhh! I just deleted something really important!

2010-07-10T11:18:00.013-06:00

Have you said this before? Probably.

Like life in general, EventPro Planner unfortunately does not have a giant "Go Back in Time" button. We really wish it did. However, there is a near equivalent...

Backing up your data.

If you don't already back up your data, start now. Today. You should backup your data at least once a day, or more, depending on how much information you enter in a day. Also, it's a good idea to create an extra backup every time you undergo a big process that will make a lot of changes. Then, if something goes awry (human error, virus, hard drive crash, etc.), you can simply go back and recover the pre-screw-up data. It's like going back in time and righting wrongs, but without something as cool as the Tardis.

EventPro Planner doesn't have a built-in backup option because backup software is a specialized area and there are so many different products you can buy or get for free. We'll leave backup software to the backup experts.

There are expanded instructions on taking backups in the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 19: Utilities and Help, Data Backup.

Special Deal for Planner Clients - Attendee Online Discount

2010-07-08T09:33:00.011-06:00

We don't want to bombard you with advertising on this blog, but we just have to quickly let you know about a great deal for our EventPro Planner clients. If you buy Attendee Online between now and August 17th, 2010, you can get 30% off its regular purchase price (Conditions apply - see the fine print below*).

What is Attendee Online? Briefly, it is a web application that allows you to accept an unlimited number of online registrations for as many events as you require. Attendee Online works with EventPro Planner so that you publish event information from EventPro Planner on a designated website, and download attendee registration details back into Planner.

You can view a limited sample of Attendee Online on our website. To get a more detailed tour of Attendee Online's functionality, you can book a free, no-commitment online demo with a member of our Sales Team. Contact us at Sales@Eventpro.net or (306) 975-3737 (Press 1). Quote promotion code EPPBA1008.

*Limited time offer. Offer expires August 17, 2010. Must quote promo code EPPBA1008 to receive discount offer. This promotion only applies to current clients who have already purchased the software. It cannot be applied retroactively to previous purchases. It does not have cash value and cannot be combined with any other promotion or discount offer. No substitutions or transfer rights will be given.

Food Trends 2010 - Turning Out as Predicted?

2010-07-05T09:09:00.009-06:00

What did you think would be the top food trends for 2010? Here is a sample of the many predictions that came out in late 2009 and early 2010:

Epicurious: Both its own predictions, Epicurious Predicts Top 10 Food Trends for 2010, and those of the Restaurant & Institution's Menu Trends for 2010.

Food Management: 10 Food Trends for 2010

The Food Channel: Announcing Our Top Ten Food Trends for 2010

Technomic: Technomic names 5 leading menu trends for 2010

National Restaurant Association: Chef's Survey: What's Hot in 2010

The Daily Beast: 10 Food Trends for 2010

Some common predictions for what people would want in 2010: Comfort Food, Sustainability, Local and Seasonal food (know your farmers), Back to Basics, and Gluten-Free.

So, now that 2010 is half over, how have these predictions panned out so far? Are people following the trends or sticking to their personal tastes from the past?

What's New? New Resource and Finance Reports

2010-07-04T10:04:00.006-06:00

Our fine development team has added two handy reports to EventPro Planner:

Resource Inventory Usage Report: This report helps you keep track of where and when resource items are being used. It displays a list of resource items, including to whom or what each item is allocated (e.g. attendee, function, exhibitor), the times it is required, the quantity required, event name, venue and location. To find this report, select the Reports Menu - Multi-Event Reports - Resource Inventory Usage.
Exhibitor Balances Report: This report lists event exhibitors, including for each the company name, main contact person, phone number, status, debits, credits and balance. To find this report, select the Reports Menu - Financial Reports - Exhibitor - Exhibitor Balances.

You can find always find the newest stuff in several places:

EventPro Planner User Manual: What's New in Help
EventPro Planner Software: Click Help - What's New
Log into EventPro Planner Support and click on What's New?

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T08:36:00.002-06:00

We hope our American neighbours are enjoying Independence Day, and are not actually stuck in front of a computer reading this blog post. (You can read it tomorrow).

Just three days ago, it was Canada Day, and we commented on some Canadian traditions. As a Canadian, though, I don't quite feel qualified to comment on Independence Day. What does a typical Independence Day entail - BBQ and fireworks? Parades? I've never been to a Fourth of July celebration, although I've read about them in the Little House on the Prairie books. Also, what is the appropriate greeting, "Happy 4th of July" or "Happy Independence Day?". Let us know.

Anyway, have a great day all you folks south of the border. See you Monday!

Printing labels, name badges, business cards and more

2010-07-02T13:11:00.013-06:00

EventPro Planner's label templates allow you to print hundreds of personalized labels in one easy step. If you are viewing companies, contacts, attendees or exhibitors, click the Print button to the right of the selection grid and select "Labels" under Other Reports. In the Labels window, you can choose a template from the Label Selection drop-down.

Besides the obvious use - mailing address labels - you can use label templates to print many other items: name badges, I.D. tags, business cards, table tent cards, envelopes, stickers, CD/DVD labels, file folder labels, post cards, gifts tags and more. If there isn't a pre-made template for the item you want to print, you can easily create a custom template. Do you have any other ideas for label template projects?

For detailed instructions on how to create and print labels, see the EventPro Planner Manual at Chapter 14: Letter and Label Templates, Create Label Templates and Chapter 13: Communications, Print Labels and Envelopes.

Hot new trend in desserts - Doughnuts?!

2010-07-01T12:29:00.004-06:00

So, you want to do something cool for the dessert at your next event. Would you bypass the classics - Tarte Tatin, Crème Brûlee, Tiramisu - for the latest trend, Gourmet Doughnuts? Apparently, there is a recent flurry of interest in the luxury doughnut. See the full Macleans.ca article at Cooler crullers:
The richer, better heeled cousin of the common doughnut is suddenly everywhere.

Just a warning - you will crave a doughnut after reading this article!

Happy Canada Day

2010-07-01T08:01:00.009-06:00

If you're Canadian, it's time to celebrate Canada Day! Fire up your BBQ and get out the fireworks (please check local regulations and be careful). Non-Canadians, I guess you can just carry on with your regular day, but feel free to raise a congratulatory glass for your friends across the border or across the world.

If for some cruel reason you are stuck in front of a computer on Canada Day, take a moment to test your Canadian knowledge with a quiz from the Montreal Gazette: Canada Day: Do You Know...?

Hey, it's your national holiday! Take a few more moments and wax nostalgic as you view these Canadian television gems:

The Canadian Heritage Minutes (If you are Canadian, you should recognize this quote: "Doctor, I smell burnt toast!")
Hinterland Who's Who (Does that warbly flute music still ring in your ears?).

At our office, we compiled a brief list of Canadianisms: maple syrup, Beachcombers, RCMP, "Eh", Toque (this is a "knitted hat", all you non-Canadians), hockey and hockey players with no teeth, beer, politeness and passiveness ("I was so mad, I almost wrote a letter"), the Log Driver's Waltz, beavers, Canadian geese.

What do you think when you think "Canada"?

HST Tomorrow - Are You Ready?

2010-06-30T15:56:00.000-06:00

The HST is coming into effect tomorrow in Ontario and British Columbia. Have you adjusted your EventPro Planner Software Taxes yet? If not, make sure you check out our EventPro Planner Taxes post and contact the EventPro Planner Support department if you need any help.

For an overview of what the new HST will mean for Ontario and B.C., read Shereen Dindar's neat little summary for the National Post: HST arriving tomorrow. Here is what you can expect in Ontario and B.C.

Changing Taxes in Planner

2010-06-29T09:45:00.001-06:00

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
Benjamin Franklin

Amid a flurry of controversy, the HST is coming to British Columbia and Ontario. Whether you like it or lump it, it's coming, and you'll need to change your EventPro Planner taxes (at least until the politicians change their minds again).

You will be tempted to simply go in and edit your existing taxes, but there is a specific process you must follow. Before you start, as with any major procedure, take a backup of your data (just in case the changes don't turn out to your liking). If you're not quite sure what to do, err on the side of caution and contact the Support Department.

First, you should create a new “Effective Date” for taxes. An Effective Date is a date upon which a set of pre-defined taxes comes into effect. In the new Tax Effective Date, define the new tax and rate (i.e. HST replacing the GST and PST). These are the default taxes that will be applied to each newly booked event from the Effective Date onward.

However, remember that you can also create a custom set of taxes for each event. If you need to adjust taxes for an event that has already been booked, but will occur after the new Tax Effective Date, find the event in the Event Maintenance screen. You will need to adjust both the event taxes and the default item taxes.

To adjust Event Taxes, click the Options button in the upper right corner and select Set Taxes.
To adjust the Default Item Taxes, click the Edit button in the upper right corner of the screen; adjust the taxes under the Default Taxes tab.
When you are done adjusting taxes, recalculate the event.

There are extensive instructions regarding Taxes and Effective Dates in the EventPro Planner User Manual. See Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 6: Taxes, and Chapter 5: Set Up an Event, Event Taxes and Default Taxes.

GrammarBot 9000: Programmed to Save Grammar

2010-06-28T13:46:00.004-06:00

In our promotional materials, we often talk about how professional the documents and reports look in EventPro Planner. However, even the most awesome formatting in the world cannot save a document riddled with basic grammar errors.

So, to that end, I don the persona of GrammarBot 9000...sent from the distant future to seek out and destroy bad grammar before we have nothing left but emoticons. Can the written word be saved? Stay tuned...

Episode 1: Then and Than

Use "Than" for comparisons.

Example: Orange juice is better than apple juice.

Use "Then" for time.

Example: Add resources to event setup, and then assign each resource to a function.
Don't do this: We can plan a better event then anyone else in town!

Feel free to comment on GrammarBot 9000, particularly if you find grammar and spelling errors.

NewsBit: Coffee - Not the Boost You Thought?

2010-06-25T08:06:00.000-06:00

A recent study found that coffee doesn't actullay make people more alert, but merely brings coffee-drinkers back up to a normal level. For the whole story, see Coffee 'does not make the brain more alert' at the Telegraph.co.uk.

So, does this convince you to give up your morning java? If you're like us - probably not! We'll wait for more confirming research before we give up our caffeine boost (real or perceived). Plus, we've heard it could make exercising less painful: see the full story, Coffee Lessens the Pain of Exercise on LiveScience.com.

Pursuing and Recording Price Negotiations

2010-06-22T20:40:00.000-06:00

In its annual Top Ten Meeting Trends for 2010, published on Hotel News Resource, Benchmark Hospitality International reports that event planners in 2010 will be "fierce price negotiator(s)" who expect "significant concessions".

So that's supposed to be you, EventPro Planners - fiercely carving out concessions and getting more for less! Are you finding that the current economic climate helps or hinders you in negotiating prices?

TIP: If you want to record your negotiations for future reference, you can use the "Negotiations" area of EventPro Planner. For each negotiable item, like hotel rooms, facility rental, catering, equipment, etc. (which you define in the program), you can record the published and negotiated rates, and Planner will calculate the variance in dollar amount and percentage. You can also print out a handy report that shows you where and how much you have saved for one event or all.

For extensive instructions on setting up and using Negotiations, see the User Manual at Chapter 6: Finance, Negotiation.

EventPro Planner at MPI World Education Congress

2010-06-18T10:01:00.000-06:00

If you are attending the MPI World Education Congress in Vancouver, July 24-27, stop by the EventPro Software booth at the Expo and have a chat with our reps, Chris Leib (a.k.a. C.J.) and Chris Dmytruk. We enjoy any opportunity to meet face-to-face with our clients and colleagues, so don't hesitate to drop in to say hello. We're at Booth 666 (yeah, weird, huh?).

MPI (Meeting Professionals International) is a community of more than 24,000 members in the meeting and event industry. For more information about MPI, see their website at MPIWeb.org.

For more information about the World Education Congress, check out the official website.

Question: How do I set the default font for emails?

2010-06-18T09:52:00.000-06:00

The default font for all rich text (including emails and Comments tabs), is set in your System Settings.

From EventPro Planner's main menu along the top of the screen, click Setup and select System Settings. Go to the General tab. At the bottom, you'll see Rich Text Comments Default Font. Click the Select Font button to choose the font you want. When you're done with System Settings, don't forget to click Save.

Question: How do I print an envelope?

2010-06-16T19:30:00.000-06:00

The Question section of our blog will answer real-life client questions gleaned from our support cases. I have ventured down into the very bowels of our Support department and checked in with our Support experts for handy tips that we should pass on to everybody. Hopefully, you will find them useful - let us know!

So - how do you print an envelope with the address of a contact, company, attendee or exhibitor from your database? The easiest way is to use a label template.

If you haven't already created label templates, click Setup and select Label/Letter Templates in EventPro Planner. You can create templates for either labels that you stick onto an envelope, or for the envelope itself.

It takes a little bit of time to get the template set up, but it will save you so much time later. When you go to print an envelope or label, all you have to do is select the appropriate template and hit "Print". Planner will pull in the recipient's address information - no more typing by hand!

There are extensive, step-by-step instructions in the User Manual, so we won't repeat them here.

To make the initial template, go to Chapter 14: Letter and Label Templates, Create Label Templates and Create Envelope Templates.

When you are ready to print labels or envelopes, see Chapter 13: Communications, Print Labels and Envelopes.

User manual updated - What's New?

2010-06-09T20:03:00.000-06:00

If you have updated your software to the latest version (see our Update Notification post), you may have noticed some new features. To find out what they are and how to use them, check out "What's New in Help" in our online User Manual.

FYI: Our User Manual is frequently updated with all major software updates and any minor software updates that contain new or enhanced features. We want our manual to be a complete and current source of information on how to get the most of EventPro Planner.

Our manual contains a LOT of information, but don't be intimidated! If you just want to pick out the information you need, try using the Search function. For example, say you want to review how to register attendees. Type attendee registration in the Search box. Voila! The topic "Add Registration to Single Attendee" is the fourth result - just what you need.