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Don’t pay for food (or beer for that matter) If you play your cards right, you can make it through an entire week (or longer) of SXSW without spending a dime on food. Seriously, we’ve done it. No, this doesn’t mean steal. Tons of companies trying to promote their brand or latest product will host free brunches, lunches and other events with delicious food and, once you’re in, you’re good to grub. The key is to find your go-to places early in the festival. Find a specific company’s hangout and ride that gravy train. You can search for other options but it’s helpful to always have that trusty fallback with the breakfast tacos and strong mimosas. Be prepared, though. Often times companies will leave when a specific week ends so, for example, when Interactive ends be prepared to search for another company (and their food) to show up for Music.
Features For Organizers
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invite-only event or just a relaxing day party, here are a few SXSW “hacks” to help you host a better shindig:
For those new to SXSW, ‘hype’ is the name of the game. Sure, you want to get the basic details about the event out (event name, time, location) but, often times, the less people know about your event, the more they can speculate and gossip and, in the process, make the event bigger than any promoting could. And when the gossip starts, accidental leaks and cryptic hints will only fuel the buzz.
Of course, the level of secrecy behind your party varies depending on your goal. A chilled out day party needs no stealth while a secret show may need an element of mystery to break through the SXSW noise.
Tweet at them and use hashtags you know they look for. It may sound juvenile but a retweet or shout out from a well-followed user can go a very long to giving your event the hype and credibility its desperately needs.
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Location, location, location– Aside from choosing what type of event to host, choosing where to host it is typically next on the list. In order to lessen the event’s environmental impact, the place you choose can make a huge difference. Choosing a location close to public transportation as well as encouraging guests to take the public transportation will decrease the amount of carbon emissions released into the environment. If possible, choose a solar powered venue or building that employs other energy saving techniques such as LED lightbulbs.
Design and Appearance- Once your venue is chosen, decorating the area with low impact materials is essential. Avoid disposable decorations (confetti, paper doilies, etc.), and instead choose cloth or plastic materials that can be cleaned and recycled for a later event. Select sustainable materials for your table centerpieces (flowers, fruit, potted plants, etc). Try to steer away from cut flowers that will soon wilt and die, and purchase plants potted in soil that can be recycled instead. Allowing guests to take home the centerpieces as souvenirs is a wonderful way to ensure the reuse of the decorative pieces. Remember, just because your event is low impact, doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful!
Food or Catering– When it comes to food, there is a wide range of options to green your event. It is important to ensure that the food you cater or purchase is all locally grown and organic. If you plan to serve snacks and beverages rather than meals, make sure packaging is biodegradable. Serving finger foods elimates the waste involved with individually wrapped items and utensils. If you must use disposables, purchase compostable plates and silverware. It is best to serve condiments and seasonings in bulk containers. For example, selecting a large bottle of ketchup rather than providing hundreds of ketchup of packets eliminates much waste.
Tickets and Promotions– The event itself is planned, and now it is time to sell tickets and promote! This is where online ticketing & registration comes in. Online event ticketing services allow you to sell tickets with absolutely zero waste and allows guests to pull their tickets up on their smart phones when they arrive rather than wasting paper by printing at home. Online ticketing & registration also makes it easy to correspond with all attending guests via email or social media platforms, online options that have little environmental impact. As for promotions, advertising online rather than with paper flyers or posters is the best way to green your promotions. Lastly, you can notify guests of your green goals, so they can do their part in saving the environment and the event’s carbon footprint as well!
photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography via photopin cc]]]]> ]]>
Kumoricon. Gaining its namesake (kumori) from the Japanese word for “cloudy”, Kumoricon was founded and first held in 2003 with a goal of “embodying everything it means to live in the Northwest and love [anime and Japanese culture].”
For Jeff Tyrrill, who started working at the convention after attending and falling in love in 2005, the growth of Kumoricon since its inaugural year can be attributed to one thing: the people.
“Our staff are all volunteers and we’re a fan-built, fan-focused event,” he explained. “I love the high level of energy and excitement throughout the convention.”
As Kumoricon grew, expanding to two venues and, for the first time ever in 2014, four days, they needed an event ticketing and management system that could adapt and grow with them. “We surveyed as many online registration sellers as we could,” Tyrrill recalled. “Ticketbud had the best mix of features for our needs, particularly:
(1) A good user experience when purchasing memberships for multiple people in one transaction;
(2) Good custom field support;
(3) No heavy-handed pressure for attendees to sign up with an account with the registration service.”
Ticketbud worked closely with Kumoricon to find a solution that specifically fit their needs and, in 2013, the convention saw record attendance. “Ticketbud worked with us to develop a custom feature that we requested. And their technical support has been great whenever we’ve needed it.”
“Kumoricon has had a great experience working with Ticketbud.”
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weekly webinars covering a variety of topics dedicated to keeping you informed and knowledgeable about how to throw a successful event.
Our webinars are designed with our event organizers & attendees in mind! Send us questions before the webinar and we’ll be sure to address them as a talking point when we’re live.
Each webinar also contains a Q&A session so feel free to ask any questions you might have during the webinar using the easy-to-find Google+ “Questions” feature.
Look for our upcoming webinars on our Google+ page and send us your own recommendations for future topics. See you at the next webinar!]]]]> ]]>
Thanks to a new integration with our partners at Hotels For Hope, ticket purchasers can now also book a hotel room close to the event without ever leaving the Ticketbud site. Designed to make attending events as easy as possible, this integration allows you to avoid endlessly searching the web for a hotel and brings the powerful hotel database of Hotels For Hope directly to you!
The best part of this integration, however, comes after you book your room. Once you book your room, Hotels For Hope will donate $2 from every hotel night stay to charities that seek to improve the lives of children worldwide, at no cost to you.
Now, you can travel to the events you love while giving back to children’s charities around the world. Attending an event never felt so good!
To learn more about Hotel For Hope and their mission, click here.
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The answer is simple: events! Goals and resolutions are immensely easier to achieve when you have like-minded people around you encouraging you and striving for the same goal as you. Attending an event or throwing one yourself is an amazing way to share in a collective experience and use the power of people to help keep your resolution on track. At Ticketbud, we want to help make your resolution a reality! Here are few ways:
Arguably the most popular resolution, shedding some pounds in the new year is something that is definitely easier said than done.
Don’t take on this resolution alone! Ticketbud hosts hundreds of endurance races, fitness classes, outdoor events and more with a focus on getting fit!
Losing weight is one of the hardest but most rewarding resolutions you can undertake. Do it surrounded by people working for that same goal!
Check out our Sports & Fitness Category to see all the great events YOU can attend!
Another common resolution often undone by a tight schedule, volunteering in your community is an admirable resolution that many simply can’t maintain as the year goes on. One great way to make yourself stick to your goal? Start your OWN volunteer or fundraising event!
When you are responsible for organizing and managing the event, you become more attached to the goal and invested in its success. Organizing your own fundraising or volunteer event is an incredibly rewarding experience, particularly with the help of others, and it’s even easier with Ticketbud’s helpful features and tools. Don’t miss our Charities & Non-Profits Category to find awesome events near you and start creating one of your very own!
Whether you’re looking to expand your palate, eat healthier or do both at the same time, attending a culinary event or hosting one of your own is a fantastic way to make reaching your resolution goal fun.
Food festivals, wine tastings, cooking classes and more are great places to start out 2014 trying something new and starting a year-long habit of fostering an adventurous yet healthy appetite.
Check out our Food & Wine Category to see our full smorgasbord of events!]]]]> ]]>
Facing mounting medical bills following cancer surgery and treatment, Bob Hodierne’s friends and family rallied to host a fundraiser to help. Utilizing Ticketbud’s Cancer Commitment, they were able to start collecting donations and selling tickets right away with no ticketing fees!
We sat down with organizer Lelica Palecco to talk about organizing a cancer fundraiser, her favorite experiences and why Bob calls his tumor “Pete”.
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Ticketbud: Tell us a little bit about your event!
Lelica Palecco: I have used Ticketbud for three events now! I’m a musician, back in 2011 I had my album release party. I wanted a way to keep track of ticket sales and have a general head count for my event. Ticketbud allowed me to do that, presell tickets and CD’s before my event and all at a one time low rate! It was so easy working with your company that I had no hesitation when we had unfortunately not one but two Cancer Benefits in the past three years.
TB: How did you come to be involved with the event?
LP: For Chris and Bob’s Benefits it was just something I wanted to do to help them. For Chris we basically had never put anything like that together and we were really happy with raising $4000 to help him offset mounting medical bills. Unforunately Chris passed away approx 5 months after our Benefit for him. Bob is currently battling a grade 4 brain tumor. He is 47 years young, and my cousins husband. Being that I had done this before with the help of Ticketbud I didn’t hesitate to contact you again and we sprung into action. This time I had the help of over a dozen family members and we were able to pull off a fantastic night filled with music and comedy to help Bob ‘Evict “Pete” the brain tumor FOREVER!’
TB: What led you to choose Ticketbud for your event?
LP: Ticketbud was so great with my Album Release Party that I didn’t hesitate to come to you again when we had two Cancer Benefit Concerts to raise money for my friend Christopher Scott and my cousin’s husband, Bob Hodierne.Ticketbud not only doesn’t take away a valuable percentage of proceeds, they also waive the one time fee completely for a Cancer Event! This enabled us to raise $4000 for Chris back in 2011 and we were able to raise $15,000 for Bob Hodierne! We cannot thank Ticketbud enough for creating an avenue for us to sell tickets for a great cause!
TB: What are some of your favorite experiences of the event?
LP: For our latest event for Bob, I noticed that the ticketbud site changed allowing us to add sponsors which was extremely helpful! Ticketbud waived our fee extremely quickly which enabled us to start collecting donations and selling tickets right through the site basically immediately.We hope to hold another event for Bob in the upcoming months and we will definitely be using Ticketbud to help us again! We hope to break our record of $15,000 raised for Bob and continue to help him battle his brain tumor.
TB: Ticketbud constantly strives to provide the best online event management experience possible and, for cancer events, maintains a commitment to waive the fees for all cancer fundraisers. How was your experience working with Ticketbud?
LP: I think I stated this previously but I just can’t thank Ticketbud enough for creating a site that allowed our family to raise donations and sell tickets quickly when we needed it most. Time is of the essence when battling cancer and we were able to spring into action with the help of Ticketbud! Bob’s a fighter and since he named his brain tumor ‘Pete’ and told us that ‘Pete is getting an eviction notice’, we have been able to run with his sense of humor for this past event and we will continue to help Bob Fight the Tumor with Humor! Thanks Ticketbud!!]]]]> ]]>
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After being rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a brain tumor, the last thing most people would have during such a chaotic time is a sense of humor. Yet amidst the chaos, Bob Hodierne had exactly that. Lovingly naming the plum-sized tumor “Pete”, Bob told his friends and family he would be serving “Pete”an eviction notice.
“Bob’s a fighter,” said Lelica Palecco, Bob’s cousin-in-law,”and since he named his brain tumor ‘Pete’ and told us that ‘Pete is getting an eviction notice’, we have been able to run with his sense of humor for this event.” “This event” is “Bob’s ‘Pete’ Eviction Benefit“, a fundraiser led by Palecco to raise awareness & money to help Hodierne and his family pay for the mounting medical bills associated with his treatment.
Having hosted a cancer fundraiser in 2011 with Ticketbud, Palecco turned to our Cancer Commitment again to help sell tickets, promote and manage the benefit. “Being that I had done this before with the help of Ticketbud I didn’t hesitate to contact [them] again and we sprung into action.”
For Palecco, it was crucial to get the event up and raising money as fast as possible. “Ticketbud waived our fee quickly which enabled us to start collecting donations and selling tickets right through the site basically immediately.”
From there, Palecco, along with other friends and family, brought together food, drinks, local musicians, comedian Vinnie Brand and a host of giveaways for an incredible evening celebrating “‘Pete’s’ Eviction” that, ultimately “was able to raise $15,000 for Bob! We cannot thank Ticketbud enough for creating an avenue for us to sell tickets for a great cause!
And as for the Bob and his continuing fight to “evict ‘Pete'”? “We hope to hold another event for Bob in the upcoming months and we will definitely be using Ticketbud to help us again,” said Palecco. “We hope to break our record of $15,000 raised for Bob and continue to help him battle his brain tumor.”
