1. Schedule your tours at the right time When you go a venue for a tour, try and schedule it for at or around the same time of the event you plan on hosting there. Everything from the lighting inside to the safety of the surrounding area outside could change depending on the time of day. To get an accurate idea of the venue, you want to try and experience it in the same time frame as your event.
Brianna Fleet: The Top Austin Model Showcase on Sunday, February 9th at North Door is the second public installment of the competition. Models have participated in variety of challenges exploring their potential and careers in the fashion industry. The Top Austin Model Showcase will score models after four runway appearances. Scores from our judges Brianna Fleet of ButterFly Entertainment, Laura Gamble of Vanity Salon & Spa, Benson Roberts of Atelier Benson, William Jackson of Influential Magazine, and Adrian Amiro of Shallotlilly will be combined with scores from previous challenges to determine who will be eliminated, with only ten models moving on in the competition.
During the Top Austin Model Showcase, our semi-finalist models will participate in a fashion show featuring local designers Krista Harty and Nicole Marie. Models will have the opportunity to work with some of the top beauty professionals in Austin from Rae Cosmetics and Jackson Ruiz who will create their hair and makeup looks for the runway. In addition to a fabulous fashion show, guests will enjoy live music by local artist Serafia and local DJ Cabrini Green. After the models have rocked the runway, guests will have the opportunity to cast their vote for Top Austin Model Fan Favorite.
TB: Talk a little more about the casting & selection process.
BF: The Top Austin Model Casting invited Austin local models to try out for one of the coveted spots as a Top Austin Model contestant. Before participants have an opportunity to walk twice for our judges including Brianna Fleet of ButterFly Entertainment, Laura Gamble of Vanity Salon & Spa, Cheryl Bemis of Fashionably Austin, Top Austin Model 2011 winner Britany Walker, and Top Austin Model 2013 winner Nicole Glenn, contestants are first mentored by Top Austin Model All Stars, former contestants with continued success in the fashion industry. After the runway, models then move to a mini-shoot with Todd White Photography where they are given 5 frames to impress the judges. Models then are scored and fifteen of the models are selected to compete in the 2014 competition.
TB: How did you come to be involved with Top Austin Model?
BF: I began the process of creating Top Austin Model in 2010 and launched the first competition in 2011. I’ve worked in the fashion industry as a model and producer for many years and have developed a great respect for the creative talent Austin has to offer. Having grown up in the Austin modeling community, I wanted to offer my resources and knowledge to other models. I’ve had the opportunity to develop an extensive network with some of the top professionals in the Austin fashion industry and have been able to bring some amazing mentors and judges to help develop models’ skills and talent as they compete. My goal with the Top Austin Model competition is to provide a platform for local professionals and introduce their creativity and talent to the general public in an inspiring manner.
TB: What are some of your favorite parts/experiences of the Showcase?
BF: My personal favorite is the excitement and anticipation that goes on backstage before the models hit the runway. Top Austin Model offers participants a chance to compete for a spot to continue on in the competition and advocate for Fan Favorite votes from guest who attend the showcase. This gives the models a different experience because even though they are competing, they have to come together and represent each designer and stylist featured in the show.
It’s inspiring to see models support and praise each other backstage within a competitive environment. It always makes me proud to see their improvement and confidence on the runway. It’s a very rewarding and exciting experience for contestants to have the ability to invite family, friends, and fans to cheer them on and support them in the Top Austin Model competition.
theCHIVE Maryland, a local chapter of “the world famous website TheChive.com”, bringing its members together isn’t an occasion to just hang out and lie around; it’s a perfect opportunity to combine meeting new people, having fun and supporting local and national charities.
“Our members are very passionate about the causes,” explained chapter founder Zack Rexine, “and what better way to support them than by also meeting new friends and having a great time?”
Founded in 2013, Rexine and his administrators host parties and events year-round for their members, known as “Chivers”, and the proceeds from the events go to various charitable causes across the country.
“Our favorite part of theCHIVE Maryland is easily the charitable causes we have supported…I’ve met so many amazing people through this group and our events. Many of them are so close now I consider them family!”
For their “New Year’s Eve Chive Meetup”, Rexine and his team chose Ticketbud to help them seamlessly sell tickets online without taking precious revenue away from their donation efforts.
“We wanted to keep expenses and out of pocket costs to the bare minimum so that we can donate more to charity,” Rexine recalled, “and Ticketbud’s low fees allowed us to do that.”
“We had over 1200 people attend and raised $30,000 for Chive Charities,” the official non-profit of theCHIVE and it’s online community. “The website was easy to use and it integrated well with the mobile app. The ease of use was a key element.”
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To learn more about Chive Charities & how you can donate, visit: http://chivecharities.org/]]]]> ]]>
Ticketbud, we know that events come in all shapes and sizes so feel free to tweak this checklist to your specific needs. Look at this as an event planning template to help kickstart the process. Before we dive into it, below are a few motivational thoughts to establish the right mindset for you to jump right into the planning process.
Sign contractual agreements Get bio information and professional photo (for speakers/entertainment) Arrange for travel/lodging Gameplan presentation topics and/or performances (introduce speakers if part of group discussion)
Venue/Location LogisticsMeet with venue management to review permits, licenses, security, limitations etc. Gameplan on-site registration setup, parking, equipment, layout etc.
Determine your registration pricing and setup online event registration Determine sponsor tiers and create collateral to send to prospective sponsors/partners Create Your Marketing PlanDetermine channels to allocate your marketing budget towards Create content to supplement your marketing channels (blog posts, ad copy, design assistance, radio/tv commercials,PR copy) Create invitations, programs, posters etc. Curate media list to reach out to and prepare media kit materials Setup social media accounts for event promotion Gather speaker/sponsor image assets to add to your website Integrate event registration into your website Push event to event listing websites Supplement marketing efforts through promotional discounts
Include post-event data to ensure their participation for next time
Reflect with team on your event’s successes and how you can make the planning process smootherLeverage attendees by conducting post-event surveys and reaching out to see what you can improve on
Set initial date to kick off planning for your next event]]]]> ]]> Hal-Con, who dedicate countless hours to plan and setup the event, preventing those kinds of surprises comes down to one goal: making the fans happy.
“We are entirely fan-run and staffed by an extremely devoted group of volunteers who dedicate a great deal of time to the convention’s success,” explains Matt McNutt, Registration Coordinator for Hal-Con, now in it’s fourth year. While the work is difficult, it’s all worth it to “get to see our attendee’s costumes and their happy faces just before they’re about to be admitted to the convention.”
With attendance growing steadily each year since it’s inception, Hal-Con 2013 needed a ticketing and registration service that could accommodate their growth and, as McNutt puts it, “handle everything that we needed it to do” without breaking the bank.
In looking at Ticketbud, McNutt and Hal-Con found a ticketing platform that fit both their affordability and usability needs. “We looked at TicketBud because…the price was very enticing for a nonprofit organization like our own,” McNutt elaborates. “The system is easy to use, setup, and manage” and the collaboration with Ticketbud’s Customer Support team helped to add “a great personalized touch to our ‘shopping’ experience.”
Ticketbud was also able to support Hal-Con’s growing fan base on-site as well as online.
“Ticketbud provided value to my event by providing an easy to use online ticket system, along with a mobile application (in both iOS and Android) to use for on-site ticket scanning. The ticket scanning app worked perfectly with no issues, and sped up our registration process immensely”
And the results? “In 2010, we had approximately 1500 attendees and [at Hal-Con 2013] we had close to 5000. Saturday sold out before lunch time,” said Hal-Con Press Director Joni Crocker. “Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine we’d experience such rapid expansion!” “Ticketbud worked like a charm for us!”]]]]> ]]>1. Make It “WIIFY” No, WIIFY is not the new YOLO. WIIFY stands for “What’s In It For You” and the you in this context refers to your potential attendees. So, making something WIFFY, for the sake of this post, means focusing on giving your attendees a good reason to buy a ticket to your event. To do this, try and think about your event from the attendee’s perspective. Why should they go? What does your event offer that would compel them to buy a ticket? Whether it’s free food, learning a new skill, or a special appearance by Beyoncé, be sure to make it clear what your attendees will get from attending. Otherwise, from an attendee’s perspective, they really have no reason to go.
Sometimes, curious customers simply want more content than your page can possibly contain. This is where links to your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and other social media accounts come in handy.
Links to your social media add credibility to your event and give potential attendees places to go to read and see more. When attendees know more about your event they’re more likely to buy tickets.
It seems like common sense but the amount of ticket and registration pages I see devoid of social media links is unnecessarily high.
The number one reason we see for attendees not attending an event is price.
Discount and promo codes counter that by convincing the attendee they are getting a ticket to the event for less than it’s true value. This “steal” of a deal makes the attendee feel smart and savvy, two emotions you want associated with you and your event.
On top of spurring conversion, deals like these are also word-of-mouth gold mines. When one attendee feels clever for getting a deal on a ticket, they want to tell a friend, first, to share in the deal with them and, two, to show them how clever they were for finding the deal in the place (don’t act like you haven’t done this).
So, for example, if the “Buy Now” button on your event page is green, you can A/B Test to see if more people would click on it if it was red. In this scenario the green button is the “A” test and the red button is the “B” test.
Relating this back to your event, try A/B testing various parts of your page to see if tweaking certain aspects leads to more ticket purchases.
Some examples you could use for your event:
Have you tried to upload a banner image for your event? Have you had issues with the image not fitting correctly?
1. Keep It Simple For Your Guests This might sound obvious but many well-intentioned organizers start with a simple plan only to see it get more and more complicated (and expensive) as the planning gets more and more hectic. Avoid an exotic venue or exotic location (unless the event absolutely call for it). While you might think it would be a treat to host your event at the swanky new bar downtown, it could a hassle for your guests to get to and a reason not attend. Also, be sure to schedule the event at a convenient time of day for your specific audience. Trying to make your event time and date work around your schedule rather than your attendees is a quick way to a low turnout.
It is that time of year, so lets rock with Ticketbud’s Super Bowl Party Checklist.
1. Television
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This one is a given.
You have to make sure that the television is strategically placed for optimal viewing. It is best to place the television in the middle of a back wall and then have the seating surround the television in a semi-circle. If you do not have a large TV, you can always move multiple TVs into one room for a multi-view experience. Its like being in a sports bar, but in the comfort of your home.
2. Beer
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Beer and football goes together like spaghetti and meatballs!
It all depends on the size of your Super Bowl party. If it is just a few friends, BYOB works very well. If you are having a mid to large size group, just go for it and get a keg. A keg insures enough beer during the Super Bowl and after. Beer is essential for after the game to celebrate or drown your sorrows depending on the outcome. Not everyone drinks, so it is a good idea to have alternative beverages. Water, soda and coffee.
3. Food
The picture says it all.
I am just going to order 100 hot wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, but there are many options when it comes to food for a Super Bowl party. Of course wings are the most obvious, but you can get creative with the food. It is best to have a options that are shareable. Dips are great, wings are great, pizza is great, pizza is great, and wings are great. So there you go.
Oh, and also always over order or over make. Leftovers are also great.
4. Registration
Online is the new offline is the new online.
You have to have a way to create buzz about your party. Making a Facebook event is nice, but it is sooo boring and played out. I suggest making a free Ticketbud event to keep tract of registration. You can also link up that Ticketbud event with Facebook for mass coverage. Here is a great help document showing how this can be done.
Well there you go. After reading this amazing and informative blog post, you have all the tools to throw a amazing Super Bowl party. No need to thank me, its what I do ;).
Have a questions?
Email me at hayden@ticketbud.com or hit me up on twitter at @hayden_joseph ]]]]> ]]> 1. Makelight Interactive
Makelight Interactive wants to light up the live event experience with your smart phone. By downloading their app, any attendee can essentially turn their smart phone into a glowstick to illuminate the venue.
The company is also releasing a conference facing app geared towards keeping attendees engaged through something they call visual voting. According to their About page, the product was scheduled for release in December 2013. To see it in action, click on the link above for their promo video.
This application allows anyone to create beauitful video slideshows without having to spend thousands of dollars. They provide a large catalog of styles you can choose from and you can add in your own photos, video clips, and music.
Animoto works great for generating buzz prior to your event via marketing channels you’ve invested in. You can also utilize the service for during the event as well as post-event recaps. Leveraging video content is a great way to extend the life of an event beyond the start and end times.
(Full disclosure: I work at Ticketbud.) There exists a number of event registration platforms available. However, Ticketbud gives you a number of tools you can use to keep the attendee communication lines open. Beyond email functionality to send invitations and updates, Ticketbud allows you to integrate your event with a Faceboook page along with capturing custom information from your attendees.
Another great engagement feature is the ability to add Instagram hashtags to your event page to drive attendee generated content.
Twitter is a powerful engagement tool that every event organizer should take advantage of. The guys over at Tweetwall aim to move tweets from your smartphone to the screen.
Creating a Tweetwall allows you to easily display Twitter activity around a hashtag at your event. This helps push people to join the conversation and acts as a megaphone for your event in the Twittersphere. All Tweetwall updates are done in real-time and you can even create leaderboards that rank top tweeters.
Continuing the social network conversation, New York based Bizzabo takes networking at conferences to the next level. The mobile app allows attendees to log in with their Linkedin account to make valuable connections and establish new relationships before, during, and after the event.
From the organizer side, Bizzabo creates a full agenda with the ability to add sessions right into your attendee’s calendar. All of their features aim to drive event discovery and increase awareness for your event.
I experienced the power of Bonfyre at an event first-hand. After downloading the app for a concert, I found myself checking in to see other people at the event post photos and messages ranging from asking how long the lines were to the location of the sponsor beer table.
This event tool made it easy to engage with other attendees without having to completely lose focus from the event itself. As an event organizer, you can also post messages right to the app for all of your attendees to see. This makes sending quick updates surrounding your event a breeze.
EZ texting gives you a better way to capture attendee data. Their mass text messaging software allows you to notify people of upcoming events, important updates, or send offers like VIP passes or special prizes. You can also use EZ texting to boost communication within your event planning group.
People love looking back at photos from events they attend. The question is where can they go to find them? With Eversnap, you can collect all of your attendee’s photos and videos so that they can exist in one online album.
Moving beyond the wedding space, Eversnap is now used by any type of event that wants to make their event last a lifetime. You can also setup a live slideshow at your event to display all the photos you’ve collected.
Instead of losing valuable time towards creating goody bags for your attendees, this platform provides a digital solution that does all the work for you. Virtual Race Bags eliminates the hassle of getting content into the bag by allowing event organizers to invite sponsors to participate and create goodies to offer your attendees.
This event tool can not only be used by endurance events but also for tradeshows and conferences. As an added bonus, you won’t be producing any uneccessary waste either.
For multi-day events like festivals and conferences, Aloompa makes customized mobile apps tailored to your specific needs. Their apps are designed to work in any type of setting which bodes well for events with unreliable connectivity.
The company does a great job in working with events from a branding perspective to capture the experience and promote engagement via detailed maps and scheduling capabilities. They also integrate well with other technology solutions and look beautiful regardless of the device your attendees access them from. Download the Bonnaroo app to see what they are capable of.
Building an event budget is a great place to start when organizing and planning your event.
It sets parameters for your event and your team and allows to start realistically brainstorming what is feasible and, perhaps more importantly, what is not feasible for your event.
To help get your budgeting juices flowing, heck out this useful infographic from Planning Pod!
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Hippohonk come in. We sat down with founder Jason Goodrich to talk about how they help festival goers sort through & find the best music for them and what they have planned for SXSW 2014.
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Ticketbud: Tell us a little bit about Hippohonk! How did it get started?
The concept of Hippohonk was started about 7 years ago when a friend and I had both gone to our first SXSW and were both completely overwhelmed. We didn’t know who to see or where to go and once we finally got somewhere, we realized that we had never heard of the bands we were watching and a lot of them were kind of terrible.
The following year, we remedied this by creating a huge spreadsheet that we passed back and forth. This magical, knowledge-wielding document contained brief descriptions of the bands and ratings from 1 to 5. Every year the spreadsheet grew, new guest reviewers were added and more people started looking on.
After a few years of this, we noticed that a lot of people started asking us who to go see and where to go during SXSW. Instead of answering all the emails and IMs, we decided to make a website called sxswreviews.com where we published all of our ratings. A year later, and after a drunken discussion on what to name the site, we changed the name to Hippohonk because we wanted to rate other festivals and we also didn’t want to get sued by the SXSW people.
TB: So what does Hippohonk offer to music festivals lovers, particularly those attending SXSW?
Our site offers a quick and easy spot to discover artists coming to SXSW and other major festivals. Each reviewer listens to at least 3 or 4 songs per band and watches any live performances that are available online. They then rate the band from 1 to 5 and add a link so users can easily stream the band’s music.
The rating system is fairly simple. Reviewers give a band a rating from 1 to 5 based solely on how much they would like to see the band live (not necessarily on how good they sound in studio) and we take the average of all the reviewers’ rating:
