Over the years, I've created a lot of event Web sites and, no, this is not my forte. Yes, it would be better to have professional Web designers do this. When there is enough money to hire a professional, then I do, but what about when we are on a shoe string budget?
That's what hosting company templates and sitebuilder software are for. When it comes to stretching tiny Web design dollars, these are lifesavers.
As you might guess, there is a wide range of quality when it comes to these things. So here is what I look for when I'm evaluating a new sitebuilder:
1. Peruse the site templates offered by the company. Across the industry, these are getting better, but there are still real disparities in quality. Set aside 20 minutes to an hour to skim the album of templates for a company you are considering. You want to see at least a few that seem really exciting and professional; there are still plenty of templates out there that look do-it-yourself shortcuts, and simply won't satisfy anyone with a discerning eye for Web design (which seems to be just about everyone these days).
2. If there is a free demo of the software, give it a spin. If not, this should be a red flag and it would probably be better to look at other options. During the demo (which might be free for as long as 30 days) you should look for two things. One, ease of use. For my part, I have basically no technical skills, so I need something that the average cat could use. The second thing is the widest range possible of editing power -- too many sitebuilders have huge sections of their templates that can not be manipulated. In most cases, the templates weren't that great to begin with, so this is particularly disappointing.
So far, the hosting company with the best sitebuilder I have used is Homestead.com. It has many, many cool templates and offers incredible versatility in design. For my money, it vastly outpaces Yahoo!, GoDaddy, Hostpapa, Hostmonster, and any of the other services with which I have spent time and money.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Nice paper
Today I drove to Kansas City (about two hours away) to visit my favorite paper store. It would be better if I could find a good paper store here in Columbia or closer than 120 miles away, but we make do with what we must.
I went because I needed paper for invitations. Yes, many events now handle all invitations electronically, but there is still no substitute -- in terms of sending a message of quality and class - for paper. In addition to the class issue, people also still pay a lot more attention to high quality, mailed paper invitations than they do to electronic. Paper will increase your response rate (and their is no reason not to couple paper invitations with electronic follow-up).
With that settled, the big issue is cost. We must provide high quality at the lowest cost possible.
For me, the answer is typically to print my own invitations on nice stock that I've bought at a bulk paper store. Doing this also shortens the printing time (since printers typically take a week or two to do what I can do in an afternoon).
Even with the cost of gas, if I several jobs worth of paper at at a time, going to the Kansas City store is a worthile expenditure of both money and time.
- sean
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
I went because I needed paper for invitations. Yes, many events now handle all invitations electronically, but there is still no substitute -- in terms of sending a message of quality and class - for paper. In addition to the class issue, people also still pay a lot more attention to high quality, mailed paper invitations than they do to electronic. Paper will increase your response rate (and their is no reason not to couple paper invitations with electronic follow-up).
With that settled, the big issue is cost. We must provide high quality at the lowest cost possible.
For me, the answer is typically to print my own invitations on nice stock that I've bought at a bulk paper store. Doing this also shortens the printing time (since printers typically take a week or two to do what I can do in an afternoon).
Even with the cost of gas, if I several jobs worth of paper at at a time, going to the Kansas City store is a worthile expenditure of both money and time.
- sean
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
Friday, May 22, 2009
Get the money in the door
For a long time, I was a fulltime political professional, doing a lot of fundraising. I still do quite a bit. Today, I had a meeting with a gentleman who is chairing a fundraiser for a candidate.
In fundraising, all that matters is getting the money in the door. In this case, we have a June 30th filing deadline with the state -- everything we do is focused on raising every dollar we can by that date.
Originally, this fundraising event was scheduled for the last week of June, to accomodate our deadline. When I arrived, the host told me he needed to move it to early July. Ugh. You'd think that the change of a week or so wouldn't matter, but all that matters in fundraising is getting the money in the door. And if there is a deadline involved (because of a state filing, or a bill that is due, or whatever) then nothing else matters.
My initial response was to make an effort to shift us back to June, but it was quickly apparent that this couldn't happen.
So here's the salvage plan -- we'll send the invitations on June 18th. That's three weekends before the event (right in the 2-3 weekend timeframe that is best for event invitations). Importantly, it will give us almost two weeks to collect money that can apply to the June 30th deadline. In the invitations, we can include a line like, "Contributions received by June 30th will be particularly helpful." And we can focus on the deadline in follow-up calls and details.
None of this will make it as good as if the event itself were scheduled earlier, but it might just be good enough.
- sean
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevent.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
In fundraising, all that matters is getting the money in the door. In this case, we have a June 30th filing deadline with the state -- everything we do is focused on raising every dollar we can by that date.
Originally, this fundraising event was scheduled for the last week of June, to accomodate our deadline. When I arrived, the host told me he needed to move it to early July. Ugh. You'd think that the change of a week or so wouldn't matter, but all that matters in fundraising is getting the money in the door. And if there is a deadline involved (because of a state filing, or a bill that is due, or whatever) then nothing else matters.
My initial response was to make an effort to shift us back to June, but it was quickly apparent that this couldn't happen.
So here's the salvage plan -- we'll send the invitations on June 18th. That's three weekends before the event (right in the 2-3 weekend timeframe that is best for event invitations). Importantly, it will give us almost two weeks to collect money that can apply to the June 30th deadline. In the invitations, we can include a line like, "Contributions received by June 30th will be particularly helpful." And we can focus on the deadline in follow-up calls and details.
None of this will make it as good as if the event itself were scheduled earlier, but it might just be good enough.
- sean
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevent.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Keep it short
One of the best ways to increase the chances of a successful event is to keep it short. Think about how much time events of a similar sort usually are and then cut it by 25-50%.
The event we did tonight was a business awards dinner. Two hours or longer is an average length for this kind of thing -- three hours or more is not unheard of.
Our event started at 6:30 and was over just before 8:00. In terms of the program, this included presentation of several awards and three speakers -- one scheduled for ten minutes, one for five minutes and the third one for two minutes. With the speakers, we emphasized the importance of staying on schedule at least three different times, verbally and in writing. This message was also driven home with the MC, who was inclined toward brevity, anyway.
Still, leaving nothing to chance, I stood at the back of the room, in the direct line of sight for the speakers, and they knew that if I stepped forward, that meant it was time to wrap up, immediately. All three had assured me that this would not be necessary because there was no way they would exceed their alotted time; for all three, giving the signal was absolutely necessary, and absolutely worked.
Streamlining the events does several things. It shows attendees and everyone else that we value their time. It gives little time for attendees to think of other things they could be doing, and forces speakers to use their best material.
In all cases, I would rather leave my guests wanting more, instead of wondering why that event couldn't have ended just fifteen minutes earlier.
- sean
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
The event we did tonight was a business awards dinner. Two hours or longer is an average length for this kind of thing -- three hours or more is not unheard of.
Our event started at 6:30 and was over just before 8:00. In terms of the program, this included presentation of several awards and three speakers -- one scheduled for ten minutes, one for five minutes and the third one for two minutes. With the speakers, we emphasized the importance of staying on schedule at least three different times, verbally and in writing. This message was also driven home with the MC, who was inclined toward brevity, anyway.
Still, leaving nothing to chance, I stood at the back of the room, in the direct line of sight for the speakers, and they knew that if I stepped forward, that meant it was time to wrap up, immediately. All three had assured me that this would not be necessary because there was no way they would exceed their alotted time; for all three, giving the signal was absolutely necessary, and absolutely worked.
Streamlining the events does several things. It shows attendees and everyone else that we value their time. It gives little time for attendees to think of other things they could be doing, and forces speakers to use their best material.
In all cases, I would rather leave my guests wanting more, instead of wondering why that event couldn't have ended just fifteen minutes earlier.
- sean
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Better event follow-up -- Send hand-written notes
Earlier this week I put together an event for The Bank of Missouri -- a welcome reception for Columbia, Missouri's new school superintendent. We had almost 100 people there, and kept a complete list of attendees.
Afterward, I provided the list, with all available contact information, to the bank so they could do whatever follow-up made sense for them (e-mail messages, notes, or whatever).
For my part, I sent a hand-written note to all of the attendees that I know, personally, or with whom I had a significant conversation at the event (almost half).
Whoever is doing the thanking, the key is to extend the impact of the event, the positive feelings. A thank you note -- especially a hand-written one (which no one does anymore) -- is an opportunity to say thank you, as well as to reiterate the message of the event.
- sean
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
Afterward, I provided the list, with all available contact information, to the bank so they could do whatever follow-up made sense for them (e-mail messages, notes, or whatever).
For my part, I sent a hand-written note to all of the attendees that I know, personally, or with whom I had a significant conversation at the event (almost half).
Whoever is doing the thanking, the key is to extend the impact of the event, the positive feelings. A thank you note -- especially a hand-written one (which no one does anymore) -- is an opportunity to say thank you, as well as to reiterate the message of the event.
- sean
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Pick up the trash!
I mentioned that there were two events Thursday night, but I haven't said anything about the second.
It was a massive event with way too many people (a few thousand, I'm sure), but still cool. Lots of food and music and other entertainment.
The problem? After the first hour, trash started overflowing the trash cans and collecting around the room. Tables all over the huge exhibition hall were piled high with plates, cups and miscellaneous garbage.
Assuming that there was no way to predict this problem, it should have been dealt with swiftly, sparing no expense. If the hotel couldn't add extra staff to address the problem, then the event promoters should have been dragging staff out of their homes and texting friends to get there and help. Whatever it took, this is one of those problems that is just inexcusable.
It can happen to anyone. If it happens to you, make sure you fix it quickly and completely.
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
It was a massive event with way too many people (a few thousand, I'm sure), but still cool. Lots of food and music and other entertainment.
The problem? After the first hour, trash started overflowing the trash cans and collecting around the room. Tables all over the huge exhibition hall were piled high with plates, cups and miscellaneous garbage.
Assuming that there was no way to predict this problem, it should have been dealt with swiftly, sparing no expense. If the hotel couldn't add extra staff to address the problem, then the event promoters should have been dragging staff out of their homes and texting friends to get there and help. Whatever it took, this is one of those problems that is just inexcusable.
It can happen to anyone. If it happens to you, make sure you fix it quickly and completely.
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
Friday, April 3, 2009
Conflicts with other events; competing with an 800 pound gorilla
Last night I attended an event -- two, actually, and I'll probably address the other in another post.
The first event had a problem that any of us can understand. Only maybe half of the chairs in a very large ballroom were filled. Is that an event planner's nightmare or what?
On the surface, the problem was pretty simple: it was scheduled on the same night of a very popular event that appealed to many of the same people who would typically attend the first event. Two events. Similar audiences. Same night. Yes, this could obviously be a problem.
The real problem, though, was that the event organizers did not adapt to an easily forseeable problem. Once it became clear that their event would be competing with an 800 pound gorilla, it was time to go into action, to do things that had not previously be necessary for this annual event.
Here are a few things that could have/should have been done:
1. All past attendees could have been called and/or e-mailed to help motivate them to attend.
2. The organizing board could have had at least two or three meetings to brainstorm the names of potential attendees. Those names could have been assigned to individual board members, whose job would have been to motivate attendance.
3. Alliances could have been struck with organizations who have large memberships, offering some consideration (probably just a special thank you at the event) in return for e-mailing their memberships about the event.
4. People from all over the community could have been recruited to bring blocks of two to four people with them to the event.
The key is simple -- it is about aggressive, personal contact and motivation. Pay attention to the RSVP list. Count the number of people who are expected -- specific names of people who have committed to attend. Never take anything for granted. Get the names on a list and get the people in the door.
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
The first event had a problem that any of us can understand. Only maybe half of the chairs in a very large ballroom were filled. Is that an event planner's nightmare or what?
On the surface, the problem was pretty simple: it was scheduled on the same night of a very popular event that appealed to many of the same people who would typically attend the first event. Two events. Similar audiences. Same night. Yes, this could obviously be a problem.
The real problem, though, was that the event organizers did not adapt to an easily forseeable problem. Once it became clear that their event would be competing with an 800 pound gorilla, it was time to go into action, to do things that had not previously be necessary for this annual event.
Here are a few things that could have/should have been done:
1. All past attendees could have been called and/or e-mailed to help motivate them to attend.
2. The organizing board could have had at least two or three meetings to brainstorm the names of potential attendees. Those names could have been assigned to individual board members, whose job would have been to motivate attendance.
3. Alliances could have been struck with organizations who have large memberships, offering some consideration (probably just a special thank you at the event) in return for e-mailing their memberships about the event.
4. People from all over the community could have been recruited to bring blocks of two to four people with them to the event.
The key is simple -- it is about aggressive, personal contact and motivation. Pay attention to the RSVP list. Count the number of people who are expected -- specific names of people who have committed to attend. Never take anything for granted. Get the names on a list and get the people in the door.
Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308
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