Partners Archives

SPARXO MAKES IT EASY TO ADD AN EVENT CALENDAR TO YOUR WEBSITE

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE WITH ATTENDANCE BREAKDOWN

WHERE SHOULD YOU POST YOUR EVENT? EVENTBRITE, MEETUP, OR FACEBOOK?

A MEATING OF MINDS — HOW THIS COMPANY IS CHANGING THE WAY MEAT IS CONSUMED

LEARN WHAT TICKETING COMPANIES ARE HIDING – A COMPARISON

EVENT PROMOTER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EMAIL PROMOTIONS

HOW CREATIVE STARTUP LABS COMPLETELY SOLD OUT THEIR SECRET UNDERGROUND POP-UP EVENT USING SPARXO

HOW THE NIGHTWOOD SOCIETY TOOK CONTROL OF THEIR EVENT EXPERIENCE

NONPROFIT EVENTS: 5 REASONS YOU NEED MOBILE TICKETING

HOW THE HOLLAND DRAG SHOW SOLD OUT EVENT TICKETS DESPITE CRITICAL MAYOR

DATA SHOWS THESE NON-PROFIT EVENTS RASIE THE MOST MONEY

BRAND AMBASSADORS AND INFLUENCERS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

AN EVENT PLANNERS 10 SECRET TIPS TO HAVING A SUCCESSFUL EVENT

MORE THAN JUST WARM BODIES: STAFFING YOUR EVENT THE RIGHT WAY

SPORTS EVENT TREND: WHAT EVENT PLANNERS CAN LEARN

3 SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS THAT ARE AWESOME FOR EVENT PRODUCERS

HOW TO HOST A SUCCESSFUL REAL ESTATE EVENT

HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH ONLINE EVENTS

8 Apr 2020

How to Make Money with Online Events

How to make money with online events

Make Money with Online Events

Making money from events isn’t just difficult—now it’s illegal. Gatherings of more than 10 people are banned and non-essential businesses are shut down for quarantine.

How do event planners continue to generate revenue, provide value to attendees and make ends meet during the shelter-in-place? Online events! Online events allow event planners of all sectors to host digital gatherings, spreading knowledge and incredible experiences without spreading the Coronavirus or putting themselves or others at risk. The advantages of online events include lower overhead cost, easy access, no red tape, and fewer IRL (in real life) hiccups.

Not only have we written up a quick-start guide to help you host amazing online events, but we’re also giving you specific examples for different event niches. You may not be able to go outside, but at least you can learn the ins and outs of making money with online events!

How do event planners continue to generate revenue, provide value to attendees and make ends meet during the shelter-in-place? Online events!

Step 1: Find Your Blueprint

If you want to sell tickets to a live event, you’ll have to settle on a live streaming system. Zoom, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and GoToMeeting are all popular options with the first three offering access at no cost.

If you want attendees to be especially active, performing an activity or following instructions, a Zoom Meeting or GotoMeeting might be your best bet. Both Zoom and GotoMeeting allow you to follow and engage with multiple participants, allowing you to give specfic instructions and engage in activities a breeze. Both Zoom and GotoMeeting are especially great for multiple or recurring events, like a class.

If you already know your event doesn’t require as much attendee participation and you already have a Facebook following, Facebook Live is a great option. Viewers comment in realtime, participating without things ever getting too demanding. Otherwise, a Zoom Webinar (not meeting!) is also recommended.

Find Your Blueprint for online events

You may also consider pre-recording content to accompany a live event. Recording the live event can also be great, as attendees can get to relive the event after over and over. Recordings can be a kind of digital tote bag—they’re fun, no-cost, and help attendees remember the event. They can also be a great way for lead generation and loyalty-building as videos attendees can access in the future become great tools for them to forward to other friends or people in their network. This will bring you more traffic and visibility. A pro tip would be to embed the recorded video of the event to your own website to help boost your SEO (search engine optimization).

Who should attend your event (target audience)? What will attendees get out of the experience (value add)? How many sessions will there be (future planning)? What technology will you use to reach attendees? Answering these four questions will point you in the direction of what type of event you want to host such as whether you want attendees to have an interactive class experience on Zoom with breakout rooms, or if you’d prefer a more host-lead webinar. Once you have a sense of your audience, technology, and style of your event, proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Create an Itinerary

What will your event schedule look like? Will you include speakers? Will the entire conference be live-streamed, or will there be some pre-recorded content shown, like a tutorial or seminar? This is what you’ll put in your itinerary. If you plan to include speakers, be sure to work out their logistics ahead of time to ensure a stable internet connection and minimal background noise. You may also want to ask speakers for their script or slides on what they’ll be delivering.

Write a rough event script and timeline. This will give you a sense of the event’s voice and style while forcing you to make decisions about what details you want to include. Even for live presentations, having an idea of what you and your presenters will share will be invaluable. It will also save your attendees lots of ‘ums’. They’ll thank you for that.

Create an Itinerary for your online event

Rehearse the event, including all technology. A rehearsal lets you test your equipment, your internet connection, and your online event hosting chops all at once. Practicing the event will also give you a sense of runtime, so you can start and finish on time. Respecting attendees’ time remains important, even in quarantine. Consider recording this practice run-through, so you can review it in your spare time and find ways to improve. This will also let you see the event through the eyes of an attendee, invaluable for optimizing attendee experience.

Step 3: Sell Tickets

Create a registration page where attendees can buy tickets. Be sure to give all the event logistical details like you would for an IRL event, while also including specific tech details. If your streaming platform requires you to sigh-up, be sure to include that information before you go live. You can use Sparxo to register attendees and sell tickets to your online event directly from your website with no redirects – all for free! Sparxo lets you:

Keep 100% of your online ticket sales
Import your guest and sales lists from other systems
Put all your customer data in one place
Improves your SEO & Brand as a Whitelabel system
Host online events from anywhere in the world

Be sure to market the event with as much gusto as you’d market an IRL event. Excluding the physical or guerilla tactics like flyers, of course. Promote the event to your mailing list, advertise it on social media, and to share it with your personal network. Send out a reminder the night before and about an hour before the online event starts. This ensures neither your event or attendee experience slips under the radar, showing you care about keeping attendees in the loop.

Online Events for Fitness Event Planners:

If you are a fitness instructor, you can sell online tickets to access your live-stream classes hosted in realtime or event pre-recorded workout sessions, with possible consultation opportunities like personal diet and exercise plans through offering one-on-one sessions.

As a fitness instructor, attendees turn to you not just for fitness education, but accountability. Having another human expect to see and report to them makes them commit to fitness. Accountability is extra important, especially in quarantine. Equipment and human contact are sparse while junk food and excuses not to exercise are everywhere. The gym is closed but the fridge is open. As a fitness instructor, offering consultations and weekly check-ins, especially as a live stream, gives attendees valuable accountability they’re more than happy to pay for.

Even without a studio, you can still offer valuable fitness education through online events

Even without a studio, you can still offer valuable fitness education. Do attendees have a diet plan for the quarantine? How will they resist temptation if they’re inside all day? Do they have an exercise routine? Nobody came into quarantine with a fitness plan, it blindsided everyone. As a fitness instructor, you can offer valuable instruction and tips on practicing at home. Plus, the exercise routine and even annual meeting routine will be invaluable for attendee mental health.

If you lead events in more technical activities like yoga or dance, you can still teach via online events. In fact, attendees in quarantine may be working from home or not working at all, meaning they may have more time than ever to practice. A month of uninterrupted practice is incredibly rare—this could be the perfect opportunity to go from novice to expert. Continue to hold classes via live stream, offering one-on-one critiques via Facetime or Google Hangouts which are both free of cost. Attendees can also record themselves practicing and send you the video, allowing for an in-depth critique and a rare opportunity for them to see their own form up close.

Online Events For Food & Drink Event Planners:

Instead of selling tasting and tours, you might consider selling tasting kits with access to videos of your sommelier walking them their tasting kit. Or one-on-one sommelier sessions or access to a group live stream with your sommelier. You can include pamphlets and informational cards with each sample. This could actually help attendees learn even more about the wines as there are no real-world distractions. They can rewind and catch every word. A live stream option can also let tasters connect with friends, much-needed entertainment and companionship during the quarantine.

Live tutorials allow for great attendee interaction, and can easily be hosted weekly.

Cooking classes and tutorials are also a great option. These live tutorials allow for great attendee interaction, and can easily be hosted weekly. They’re great fun, and provide a healthy social routine many attendees may miss in quarantine. It might add some extra fun and SEO to your website to post photos of the online sessions of how your attendee’s dishes turned out. This also becomes an interactive way to get audience participation through competition.

Online Events for Kids Event Planners:

With schools closed and parents swamped, there has never been more of a need for online kids’ events. Here’s how to come to the rescue to bored kids and busy parents, putting on an event that leaves a smile on everyone’s faces.

You can sell online tickets to access pre-recorded sessions or live streaming events where kids can follow along with you doing an activity.

With schools closed and parents swamped, there has never been more of a need for online kids events.

Galileo Camps, for example, focuses on hands-on science and art projects kids can do with simple household materials. These types of projects can easily be turned into a digital DIY experience, offering tutorials and live support as kids and parents work on the projects at home. A live stream also allows for collaboration with other kids working on the project, as well as extra help from instructors.

Online Conferences:

Conferences can be adapted to an online format as well, speakers pre-recording seminars or even presenting live. For example, Canada’s Everywhere Book Festival offers writers, readers, and book lovers a live conference experience, networking included. Attendees can get to participate in live seminars and workshops from authors and publishing experts. authors and illustrators take live questions from attendees, including personal glimpses into their daily lives. After the conference, they can connect via email and even meet up after the quarantine and shelter-in-place mandates are lifted.

These are only a few of the many, many online event options. With lower overhead, less setup time, and excellent streaming technology, the only limit is the event planner’s imagination. Think outside the box! But do try to stay inside your home box, at least until this quarantine ends and covid19 is contained. Stay healthy and wash your hands!

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER BLOG POST ARTICLES:

SPARXO MAKES IT EASY TO ADD AN EVENT CALENDAR TO YOUR WEBSITE

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE WITH ATTENDANCE BREAKDOWN

WHERE SHOULD YOU POST YOUR EVENT? EVENTBRITE, MEETUP, OR FACEBOOK?

A MEATING OF MINDS — HOW THIS COMPANY IS CHANGING THE WAY MEAT IS CONSUMED

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HOW CREATIVE STARTUP LABS COMPLETELY SOLD OUT THEIR SECRET UNDERGROUND POP-UP EVENT USING SPARXO

HOW THE NIGHTWOOD SOCIETY TOOK CONTROL OF THEIR EVENT EXPERIENCE

NONPROFIT EVENTS: 5 REASONS YOU NEED MOBILE TICKETING

HOW THE HOLLAND DRAG SHOW SOLD OUT EVENT TICKETS DESPITE CRITICAL MAYOR

DATA SHOWS THESE NON-PROFIT EVENTS RASIE THE MOST MONEY

BRAND AMBASSADORS AND INFLUENCERS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

AN EVENT PLANNERS 10 SECRET TIPS TO HAVING A SUCCESSFUL EVENT

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HOW TO HOST A SUCCESSFUL REAL ESTATE EVENT

13 Mar 2020

How to Host a Successful Real Estate Event

Events are as savvy of an investment as real estate. Putting on an event is one of the best ways realtors and real estate professionals can get their name out there, building their client base and professional network. Events are sure to boost your profile, and possibly boost your sales, too.

But how in the world do you actually do that? How do you find the space, the time, and people to actually show up to your real estate event? Never fear, Sparxo is here with a 6 step crash course on hosting real estate events! Your event will be a hot commodity in no time.

Pick an Event, any Event

The first step? Settle on the type of real estate event you want to sell tickets to. You’re looking at two primary event types: B2C events (client attendees) and B2B events (real estate professional attendees). Since these types of events have totally different types of attendees, they also have different themes and marketing options.

B2C events: Most buyers find their agents through their existing networks, not online portals like Zillow. Referrals and existing connections, the kind made at real estate events, account for over 66% of agent-client partnerships, according to the 2018 NAR Home Buyer and Seller Generational Report. Real estate events will help you meet new clients, building your reputation and exposure among potential buyers. Generally, B2C events are free to attend, or very low cost. B2C events are great for attracting potential new clients, especially by offering food, drink, and some sort of entertainment to draw people in to meet you and your work as an agent.

Client appreciation events are also a great B2C option, especially if you already have an established clientele. Events and marketing focused on your existing relationships are incredibly powerful, as again, over 60% of a real estate agent’s business comes from their existing networks. If you have an existing network of clients, appreciation events can help you leverage it. Client appreciation events tend to be akin to parties, where guests are your star clients and their plus ones. Often, agents rent out bars, night clubs, or even run pool parties. The goal is to provide a fun, easy going experience that leaves attendees with a great taste in their mouths. It helps if that taste is margarita. Costs can run high for client appreciation events, but hosting a party-like event is sure to draw plenty of attention and make marketing the event much easier.

Client appreciation events are also a great B2C option

B2B Events: Networking with other real estate professionals will be the goal for this event type. B2B events will help you meet other real estate agents and agencies, boosting your visibility in the community and industry. For B2B events, real estate conferences are always on the table. You don’t need a massive venue or speaker list–you can host a small network night, allowing local real estate professionals to bump elbows with free food and drink. Another B2B option: educational events. Educational workshop style events can be a great choice, especially as you or your agency have expertise in a certain part of the real estate process, like listing presentation or house showing tutorials. You likely already have all the expertise needed to put on a killer educational real-estate event, and you likely have real estate agents and professionals in your network who attend similar events. Like with conferences, educational events offer attendees a chance to network with other real estate professionals, but they have the added draw of offering a new skill, too. It’s a two for one.

Budget

You shouldn’t have to break the bank to put on a bankable real estate event. If this is your first real estate event, your budget will probably be more of a guesstimate, and probably an underestimate at that. Be sure to round up. It’s better to be safe and anticipate more spending.

Generally, B2C client appreciation events tend to be pricey because they’re essentially just wild parties for clients. Events aimed at new clients may be less pricey, but they still require food, drink, entertainment, and of course venue costs. Although it is best to utilize a listing you or your brokerage has for your venue as a two-in-one stop. It gets foot traffic in the door for the listing for potential buyers and buyer networks, and it is a free space for you! Workshops and B2B events include similar costs, though you may not have to splurge as much on entertainment and attention grabbers as it is a professionally themed event. For first-time event planners, you may not have a great sense of how many people will actually show up. That’s okay. Plan for more attendees than less. RSVPs and ticketing systems can help, but ultimately experience will be the best teacher. Your budgeting will get more exact as you put on more events.

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER BLOG POST ARTICLES:

SPARXO MAKES IT EASY TO ADD AN EVENT CALENDAR TO YOUR WEBSITE

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE WITH ATTENDANCE BREAKDOWN

WHERE SHOULD YOU POST YOUR EVENT? EVENTBRITE, MEETUP, OR FACEBOOK?

A MEATING OF MINDS — HOW THIS COMPANY IS CHANGING THE WAY MEAT IS CONSUMED

LEARN WHAT TICKETING COMPANIES ARE HIDING – A COMPARISON

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HOW CREATIVE STARTUP LABS COMPLETELY SOLD OUT THEIR SECRET UNDERGROUND POP-UP EVENT USING SPARXO

HOW THE NIGHTWOOD SOCIETY TOOK CONTROL OF THEIR EVENT EXPERIENCE

NONPROFIT EVENTS: 5 REASONS YOU NEED MOBILE TICKETING

HOW THE HOLLAND DRAG SHOW SOLD OUT EVENT TICKETS DESPITE CRITICAL MAYOR

DATA SHOWS THESE NON-PROFIT EVENTS RASIE THE MOST MONEY

BRAND AMBASSADORS AND INFLUENCERS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

AN EVENT PLANNERS 10 SECRET TIPS TO HAVING A SUCCESSFUL EVENT

MORE THAN JUST WARM BODIES: STAFFING YOUR EVENT THE RIGHT WAY

SPORTS EVENT TREND: WHAT EVENT PLANNERS CAN LEARN

3 SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS THAT ARE AWESOME FOR EVENT PRODUCERS

22 Feb 2020

Sports Events Trends: What Event Planners Can Lear...

Sports events are crushing the events industry. Sporting event revenue segments to about $10.9 million in the U.S., and is expected to grow about 5.9% over the next 4 years. Even better? Sports events have powerful brands and offer even more powerful experiences to attendees, keeping fans glued to their seats. Take notes, event planners.

How do they do it? What do sporting events have that event planners in other sectors can take advantage of? Here are 5 Sports Event Trends going into 2020, and what event planners can learn from them.

Striving for Social

Sporting events are social. There’s always cheering, drinks, and laughter. By the end of the game, friends go home closer and often go home with new friends, too. Businesses take clients to ball games, companies go to games to bond the same way fans do. Networking, personal and even professional, seems to be one of the biggest reasons people attend sporting events. Attendees go to bond with the people sitting next to them, even total strangers. In 2019 and going into 2020, this is even more of a priority.

Attendees want a social experience. How can event planners make their events more social, to facilitate the networking attendees are after? Games are always classic. Watching a game is great, but playing one can be even better, getting attendees comfortable with each other before the event even properly starts. A pre-event social or happy hour is another more relaxed way to got attendees comfortable chatting. Seating arrangements are another great way to facilitate meet-and-greets. At sporting events, attendees agonize over and compete over getting great seats, and more importantly, getting seats together. How can you make this easy at your event? Can you seat parties together, as well as parties with similar interests nearby? Last, the tried and true way is just to encourage attendees to say hi to the person next to them. Give them a few moments to chat, maybe even promoting them to see what they have in common. These small steps can go a long way in facilitating attendee networking, one of if not the main reason people will attend your event.

Ticketing Could be in Trouble

Ticketing could go through more turmoil. College sports, football especially, have been struggling with ticketing. More and more empty seats go empty each year. Sales have been going down, forcing vendors to raise prices, meaning even less cycle.

Sparxo is an approved ticket printer for the California State Athletic Commission, so we like to think we know a few things about sports ticketing. We also have a bone to pick. Ticketing platforms often take big chunks of ticket sales, forcing organizers to require donation upfront before attendees can even buy season tickets. Secondary markets are popular as they let attendees pick and choose specific games of the season, but they often come with even higher service fees. Clearly, losing money in ticketing costs both the event planners and the attendees.

Event-planners in all sectors are looking for a free way to sell tickets and keep as much revenue as possible, giving you the resources to put on an incredible event at an affordable price. Unfortunately, most ticket sales software take big percentages of ticket sales, cost too much, promote competing events, and eclipse your nonprofit’s brand. You can use Sparxo to post your event and sell tickets for your event anywhere, letting you sell tickets directly from your website with no redirects – all for free! Sparxo let’s you:

Keep 100% of your ticket sales
Import your guest lists and sales lists from other systems
aggregate all of your customer data in one place
White Label, greatly improves SEO and Brand

Brand and Familiar Faces

Sports events are all about brand. Teams have their own style, their own logo, a distinct personality and history that attendees care about. Attendees care about particular players and athletes because they understand their brand, where the player comes from and what they’re like. Attendees can follow a team’s journey online or on TV, reading up on their stats and style. This holds true for just about any event. If attendees understand what you stand for, if they can follow the event’s journey, they’ll be so much more invested. Is your event on social media? Do you use ‘storytelling tactics’ when presenting your mission, giving attendees a clear value proposition with a story they can relate to? The power of an accessible event brand that attendees can follow will make all the difference.

Attendees go to sporting events for familiar faces. They usually have a favorite player or an athlete they know or follow. This connection makes the attendee go to all their games, the familiar face bringing them back again and again. The power of a familiar face is universal, a kind of human branding that can make all the difference. When attendees get to know a member staff or an event planner personally, they become so much more connected to the event, the experience connecting on a human level. Often, a handshake and a pleasant conversation with an event planner will bring attendees back again and again. They’ll be invested in the future of the event, staying interested in newsletters and updates. As an event planner, meeting attendees or at least VIP attendees personally is one of the most important steps you can take to keep them happy and keep them coming back.

Grab-N-Go Food & Drink

At fast-paced sports games and big stadiums, grab-and-go food & drink services have really taken off. Grab-N-go gives attendees options while seriously reducing wait times. At any event where food & drink are not the focus, Grab-N-Go services can be a convenient way to give attendees variety while keeping things moving. Waiting in line at a sports event can mean missing the best moments. That’s just as true for any event. Opting for a convenient Grab-N-Go catering style could save your attendees valuable time, ensuring they don’t miss key networking, learning, or just plain fun opportunities at your event.

Free Races to the Front

A major draw of live sports events? Free stuff. Promotions, giveaways, swag bags, and merchandise has been and will continue to be a reason attendees love live sports events. Even better? The freebies tend to be exclusive, usually branded, often only on offer for people who actually attend the event. Attendees can’t usually get freebies by watching the game from a computer screen. Sure, not every sports attendee wins a car or a season pass, but there are usually t-shirts and grab bags to be had, or at the very least peanuts. Raffles and promotional contests are also a great way to get attendees involved, occasionally even bringing them up onto the field to make a pitch or battle a mascot.

Consider adding giveaways to your event. Swag bags are always popular, giving attendees a thank you while also spreading your brand. Raffles and contests could even be money makers for your event. Give attendees something they couldn’t possibly get if they’d stayed at home. Not only will this make them feel appreciated, but they’ll have a memento to remember the event by. And what event planner doesn’t their event to be remembered? Freebies are a deceptively simple way to impress and draw in attendees. It works at sporting events, and it could very well work for you.

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER BLOG POST ARTICLES:

SPARXO MAKES IT EASY TO ADD AN EVENT CALENDAR TO YOUR WEBSITE

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE WITH ATTENDANCE BREAKDOWN

WHERE SHOULD YOU POST YOUR EVENT? EVENTBRITE, MEETUP, OR FACEBOOK?

A MEATING OF MINDS — HOW THIS COMPANY IS CHANGING THE WAY MEAT IS CONSUMED

LEARN WHAT TICKETING COMPANIES ARE HIDING – A COMPARISON

EVENT PROMOTER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EMAIL PROMOTIONS

HOW CREATIVE STARTUP LABS COMPLETELY SOLD OUT THEIR SECRET UNDERGROUND POP-UP EVENT USING SPARXO

HOW THE NIGHTWOOD SOCIETY TOOK CONTROL OF THEIR EVENT EXPERIENCE

NONPROFIT EVENTS: 5 REASONS YOU NEED MOBILE TICKETING

HOW THE HOLLAND DRAG SHOW SOLD OUT EVENT TICKETS DESPITE CRITICAL MAYOR

DATA SHOWS THESE NON-PROFIT EVENTS RASIE THE MOST MONEY

BRAND AMBASSADORS AND INFLUENCERS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

AN EVENT PLANNERS 10 SECRET TIPS TO HAVING A SUCCESSFUL EVENT

MORE THAN JUST WARM BODIES: STAFFING YOUR EVENT THE RIGHT WAY

13 Feb 2020

5 Steps to Planning an Eco-Friendly Event

Most of us know the importance of reducing our impact on the earth and keeping trash out of our ever-expanding landfills, not to mention the tons of plastics and other waste that are polluting our waters. And many of us do what we can on a personal level, dutifully recycling and trying to minimize waste in our homes.

However, if you’re planning an event, the idea of minimizing waste may seem like a daunting project. Yet, given the tons of waste that large events produce, many people are finding it’s not something they can ignore. Fortunately, there are many dedicated people and organizations committed to more eco-friendly events. Some even aspire to zero waste.

What Is Zero Waste?

While technically zero waste means just that — no waste going to the landfill—most organizations understand that achieving zero waste is very difficult. “It’s not about perfection; it’s about making better choices,” says Kathryn Kellogg, a zero-waste lifestyle blogger and author of Zero Waster’s Travel Companion. “We’re all human. We’re all just doing the best we can and that’s OK.”

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities facilities department offers a resource about planning zero-waste events. They define zero waste as 90% or more waste being diverted from a landfill, Further, “as a philosophy, zero waste is about much more than just recycling and composting. It promotes a circular economy in which materials can be used and reused without harm to humans or the environment.”

Is A (Nearly) Zero Waste Event Possible? Yes!

Some major events have successfully met the goal of 90% or more of their waste being recovered, or diverted from landfills. Some examples are:

The Super Bowl. In 2018, 63 out of 69 tons of waste were successfully diverted from the landfill, according to Environment and Energy Leader. Sixty-two percent of the waste was reused and the rest was composted. As a result, they achieved a recovery rate of 91%, meaning only 9% of the waste was trashed.

Green Festivals. These large events have been dedicated to reducing their impact. Greenamerica.org boasts that the festivals have an average rate of above 91% of trash recovery.

The Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit successfully diverted 110 pounds of trash from the landfill in 2018.

Waste Management Phoenix Open. In 2019, blogger Kathryn Kellogg attended and reported on this week-long golf tournament and charity fundraiser, noting that, with 700,000 attendees, it’s the biggest zero-waste event in the world. The previous year, the event successfully recycled 56% of its waste, composted 26%, and donated 9%, and another 9% was sent to a waste-to-energy plant.

Planning Your Zero Waste Event

Here are some suggestions from those experienced in organizing successful zero-waste events.

Go paperless. Use online ticketing vendors (like Sparxo) for ticketing and event updates. Use social media instead of print ads — you’ll reach more people this way for less. Email or social media messages sent out in advance of the event can alert people that the event will be “zero waste,” to help prepare them for thinking about what they do with their garbage instead of just tossing it in the trash.
Partner up. Work with vendors and the venue to figure out how to make sure your event minimizes waste. Green Festivals organizers ask their food-service vendors to use compostable service ware. In addition, “ all Green Festival vendors sign a statement that they will not distribute plastic disposables.”

Working with the venue is also key, says Ashley Weisman of the GreenLight Solutions Foundation, who has worked on several zero-waste events: “Even if the venue’s staff has not engaged in anything sustainability-related before, you would be surprised at their adaptability and openness to learning. Nevertheless, it is important to find feasible solutions together that work for both parties.” By meeting with a venue representative beforehand, you’ll be able to identify where and how the venue is already doing some of this work, and what else might need to be done, such as adding compost bins or setting up additional recycling collection bins.

Plan where and how to collect recyclables and compost. While most of your event-goers will probably appreciate you “going green,” you still have to make it easy for them. Setting up bins with clear signage and instructions will go a long way toward encouraging participation.

“Generally, people will not recycle or compost unless bins are directly next to the trash bin, as opposed to having them at opposite sides of the room,” notes Weisman. “Hence, make sure you have enough compost and recycle bins for every trash bin.” Many zero waste experts recommend also limiting the number of trash bins available, so people won’t be tempted to use them instead of other receptacles. The Waste Management Phoenix Open does not provide any trash bins for public use at all.

You’ll also need to figure out what facilities are available nearby for recycling if this isn’t already set up with the venue.

Recruit help and teach attendees. You can hire a business that specializes in green events, but you might also look into an organization that recruits volunteers eager to help make a difference.

Volunteers can help most by standing near bins and being available to provide direction and reminders for using the bins correctly. They can also help with sorting after the event is over, to be sure everything goes to the right place.

Weisman emphasizes that “it is crucial that you have bin guarders and signs. I cannot stress this enough. The attendees are not taking better habits home with them if they are not recycling and composting correctly; make this a learning opportunity for everyone attending the event.”

Look into donating. Some suggestions include donating leftover food to food pantries and offering flower arrangements to hospitals and nursing homes. Consider partnering with a children’s club, like the Boy or Girl Scouts, to take back bottles and cans for deposits, where they can keep the cashback.

Of course, these aren’t the only ways to be more eco-friendly. Other areas to consider when planning an eco-friendly event is thinking about ways to reduce water and electricity usage as well as reducing gas spent on transportation and using eco-friendly vendors.

Encourage feedback from your team, participants, and your partners. And remember, you don’t have to cover all your bases at your first event. If you run events regularly, you might consider adding something more each time that will further help minimize your impact.

At Sparxo, we’re all about helping people easily and efficiently plan your event, and you can do it all without wasting any paper! Sparxo enables you to enter event registration and ticketing on to any website with no other brand or logos, produce media-rich pages to assist with your brand and selling efforts, offers a straightforward guest arrival app and permits you to possess all of your information, therefore, you’ll be able to track your progress. Everyone has full access to all features, despite the size or type of event-free or paid!

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER BLOG POST ARTICLES:

SPARXO MAKES IT EASY TO ADD AN EVENT CALENDAR TO YOUR WEBSITE

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WHERE SHOULD YOU POST YOUR EVENT? EVENTBRITE, MEETUP, OR FACEBOOK?

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1 Feb 2020

How to Plan a Non-Profit Event with No Money

So you want to plan a non-profit event. Congratulations! Hosting an event is a wonderful way to raise awareness for your non-profit, find donors, and spread your mission of change. The catch? You have no money. You can hear the flies buzzing from your nonprofit’s wallet. Never fear! Sparxo will show you how to start putting together an incredible non-profit event without an incredible budget. Or any budget, really.

Find ‘Fresh’ Venues

What you can’t fix, you feature. Sure, your non-profit might not have the funds to rent out the Ritz, but this could be to your advantage. We’ve all attended a stuffy event at a stuffy venue, they’re a dime a dozen. With a low budget, you’ll have to get creative with your venue, finding a less known, possibly even public venue. But the uniqueness of these cheaper venues could help your event stand out.

Your first venue choice: public or private? A public venue, like parks and plazas, can be great for more active events. They’re also normally, totally free. You could plan a relaxed picnic-style event, with active games and plenty of room for meeting new people in a casual environment. This can also attract bystanders in the public space, spreading awareness for free. However, even with a public venue, you’ll still have to consider costs other than rent. Will you need insurance? Permits? Parking? You’ll also likely have to bring food, and ensure there are restrooms nearby. While there is no obvious entry cost at a public venue, these smaller costs add up. However, the unique, casual atmosphere of a public revenue could very well set your event apart.

A private, or commercial venue, is pay-to-play. You rent this space, but it will come with event accommodations like insurance, parking, bathrooms, and seating. If you can find one of these venues on your budget, it’s definitely worth considering. Be sure you reach out to all your own contacts too: someone may be able to offer you commercial space at a discounted price or be familiar with a venue that will fit your budget. This is especially common for non-profit event planners, as their message of positive change makes contacts more likely to help them or give them special deals. If you decide to go with a commercial venue, we recommend that you choose a venue with a smaller staff. The more staff needed to run a venue, the more people you’ll likely be paying for. Smaller staff will likely mean a smaller bill.

After you’ve narrowed down your list of affordable (or even free!) venues, send the venue manager an email explaining your event and how it will benefit the venue. As a non-profit, you’ll want to stress your mission statement, the good the event will do, as well as how your attendees’ presence could benefit the venue. You can find a sample venue request letter here.

Master Mailing Lists & Social Media

Throwing more money into marketing is not always the answer. Sure, money can help, but free tactics like an email list, newsletters, and social media have proven effective time and time again.

Your first stop: a newsletter. Setting up a newsletter system with a service like Mailchimp is free for up to 2,000 contacts and unlimited emails. This will help you craft personalized newsletters and allow anyone interested in your event to stay up to date. Everyone on your newsletter mailing list is there because they’re actually interested in your events, meaning the returns on sign-ups will be high. But a mailing list is a long-term investment: you won’t instantly get thousands of sign-ups the second you create a list. However, over time and over many events, your mailing list will grow and help you immeasurably. Progressive newsletters can urge members to attend future events, ad even donate, boosting your nonprofit’s budget.

But what do you do get sign-ups now? Reach out to people in your personal network. Sent them a personalized email asking if they’re interested in joining the list for this event and future events. This is a great place to get started. Word of mouth and plenty of hustle is the first and extremely critical step for marketing an event with no money.

You can also add a mailing list to your website, linked to some sort of free giveaway, to incentivize sign-ups. A free brochure or even a discount can be a great incentive. Free website builders like Weebly, Ucraft, or Strikingly can create a landing page for your event, where you can put key information and promotional pictures. This will also make it easier for attendees as all your information will be in one place, plus you’ll get more eyes on your brand, a key advantage when selling tickets. This will help your SEO.

Consider creating a Facebook event page. Not only will this let you post promotional pictures and links to the event, but Facebook Events allow you to invite all your friends to like the page. You can go one step further: send your Facebook friends a personalized message, with one or two words on why they specifically might enjoy the event. This personalization will greatly improve the amount of page likes you get, in turn boosting your event’s visibility. Another way to boost social media visibility? Follow and interact with attendees. When someone buys a ticket or even signs up for your site, follow them on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Not only will this make them feel more connected to the event, but these social media platforms give greater visibility to events with interaction. It’s a win-win.

As a non-profit event planner on a budget, you’re looking for a free way to sell tickets and keep as much revenue as possible, giving you the resources to help spread your nonprofit’s message of change. However, most ticket sales software take big percentages of ticket sales, cost too much, promote competing events, and eclipse your nonprofit’s brand. You can use Sparxo to post your event and sell tickets for your event anywhere, letting you sell tickets directly from your website with no redirects – all for free! Sparxo let’s you:

Keep 100% of your ticket sales
Import your guest lists and sales lists from other systems
aggregate all of your customer data in one place
White Label, greatly improves SEO and Brand

Back to Basics

Data shows these non-profit event types get the most donations. The most lucrative type? Food, wine, and music events. Your nonprofit event doesn’t need a yacht, fancy dining rooms, or expensive speakers. Sure, those things can help, but when you get down to it, basic food and drink events bring in the most donations anyway. This sort of simple nonprofit event is very do-able with a shoestring budget, especially because you’d need food and drink at pretty much any other more complex event type anyway. But how can you make these basic event types engaging? You can keep it easy and personal. First, offer plenty of value upfront, with the event clearly geared toward attendee experience rather than donations. Give attendees opportunities to interact with each other in a stress-free environment. Consider orchestrating some simple party games or ice-breakers. Once everyone is comfortable and having a good time, check-in personally with attendees. This personal level of intimacy and warmth can take your event to the next level. Finally, make it as simple as possible for attendees to donate, with credit card readers and pledges available at your event. Many attendees will only feel inspired to donate at the event when emotions are high. Logistics can make all the difference.

As long as attendees are having a fun, relaxing time, your non-profit event doesn’t need a complex theme or advanced auction to raise funds. Focusing on the basics, like atmosphere and logistics, is an affordable way to make sure your event shines. This way you can raise awareness without destroying your budget.

Secure Sponsorship

Sponsorship will not only boost your event’s budget but boost future event budgets, too. Establishing a relationship with a sponsor will streamline your event planning events, giving you the resources you need.

Typically, sponsors will support you if they can benefit from access to your attendees. Sponsors give you resources, visibility, and assistance because your audience will be interested in your sponsor’s organization. In plain English, sponsors want to take advantage of crossover interest.

Start by finding sponsors that might have an interest in your audience and their demographics. Who attends your events and why? What are their interests and needs, where do they shop? What problems do they need to be solved? Review your event demographic data until you have a very clear picture of your attendees’ habits and wants. Then seek out sponsors who market to audiences with similar demographics to your non-profit event attendees. Once you have sponsors in mind, craft a personalized pitch. Tailor the emails to the sponsor, with details about the sponsor’s organization to show you’ve done your research and care about their experience in your potential sponsorship relationship.

As a non-profit, your mission for change may help sway potential sponsors. Stress the good your non-profit does in your pitch, especially how your event will contribute to that good. You may also want to put it in a ‘story’ format, with specific examples of lives made better by your non-profit. This ‘storytelling’ can help make your pitch more human, and connect to sponsors.

For small scale donations, consider crowdfunding for your Non-profit. Tools like Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow you to get small sponsorships without the hassle of going from door to door. This is no substitute for proper sponsorship, but every little bit helps when you have no money.

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20 Jan 2020

Event Tech Trends for 2020

Technology changes with the times and both are changing fast. With the price structure of event tech going down as the tech gets smarter, event planners can take advantage of new technology to rock 2020’s event season. But with all the new innovation, it’s also never been easier to fall behind, missing critical event tech trends.

What’s in store for event industry tech? Here are 4 key tech trends to watch for.

Radio Makes a Comeback

Radio was huge and the 1920’s and it’s poised to be huge in the 2020s, too. Event planning is being revolutionized by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), automating and personalizing events, while providing brilliant insight into attendee activity.

RFID proximity devices provide insight into where event-goers are in your event and what they do. These devices can be card readers, badges, wristbands, small keychains—the important thing is that they’re cheap, simple, and have radio capacity. These proximity devices let you know where attendees are whenever the device is signaled, and many can even offer the same capability to attendees, allowing parties to find each other easily. Some of these devices can even point out key attractions to attendees. This RFID tech lets you see where attendees go, how long they stay, and which products and features they engage with at the event—all critical data. Even better? Rather than being limited to data after the event, RFID presents data in real-time, giving event planners a better understanding of the event during the event. This is invaluable for making changes on the fly and spotting problems attendees may have with the event.

RFID tech also streamlines events, allowing for cashless payments and confirmations with just the tap of a wristband. RFID can allow for personalized event access, VIP’s getting an extra special experience, their RFID devices enabling early access, discounts, reminders, and special attractions. RFID seems to be a leap forward for event planners and attendees because it’s so simple, streamlining everything from security to check-in.

If you’re looking to further streamline your ticketing and event-planning process, consider a white label solution. If you find RFID is still too expensive for your event budget needs, QR codes, while simple, has most of the same capacity. Ask us about its white glove service opportunities to simplify your needs and budget. Sparxo is an all-in effective if your tickets are also sold directly from your site, allowing for direct conversions, aggregating all your data in one place. You can use Sparxo to post your event description and sell tickets for your event directly from your website with no redirects – all for free! Sparxo lets you:

aggregate all of your customer data in one place
Keep 100% of your ticket sales
Import your guest lists and sales lists from other systems
White Label, greatly improves SEO and Brand

Robots Find Your Venue

Robots are dominating 2020’s RFP game. A Request For Proposal (RFP) is a request that event planners send to suppliers, usually potential venues. In plain English, it’s how event planners ask for a venue. According to a Cvent Global Planner Sourcing Report, only 16% of event planners said they are “certain of their venue” when they begin the process of sourcing a venue. Going into 2020, event venue finders and RFP tools have been combined into automated event venue sourcing tools, streamlining the process for event planners. These tools will present you with hundreds of thousands of event venues, complete with blueprints and full specs. Once you’ve found a few venues that work, event sourcing tools send the venue manager a tested RFP, improving your odds of landing your dream venue.

Venue sourcing technology is not quite ready to cut out the human middle man—a human touch is still important for best results. You may want to further personalize some of your RFP’s, stressing special features of your event or some unusual venue feature you need. Also consider sending your RFPs out when people actually check their emails. Mornings on weekdays have much higher open rates than late Fridays or weekends. Many of these Event Sourcing tools can even do it for you, but it’s something to always be thoughtful of. Make sure your RFP asks for cost and DDR (Day Delegate Rate), as automation tools can compare these to final you the best rates.

Ingenious Internet

Slow internet seems to be the bane of every event ever. Again and again, attendees report issues accessing and staying connected to event wifi, struggling to download key event information and media. But what if we told you internet connection could not only get much faster but also become one the most powerful tool for event planners’ analytics?

Enter, 5G. While 4G LTE ran 100 megabits per second at top speed, 5G runs 10 gigabits per second. 5G is 100 times faster than most attendees’ current 4G devices! This will make so many event technical difficulties a thing of the past. There always seems to be a handful of attendees who can’t access online event programming, left out of downloadable videos or photo sharing, or even big tech demonstrations like 3d, artificial reality, and virtual reality. The fear of these new technologies being glacially slow and crashing made event planners… cautious, to put it kindly. But 5g speeds make these fears a thing of the past, potentially turning more complex event tech from a risky fad to key feature.

Internet isn’t just getting faster, it’s getting smarter. 2020’s Wifi can give event planners key data and insight, from the sorts of technology attendees use to their demographics. Wifi will likely only get better at collecting information, able to offer key insight into how your attendees engage with your event, what they enjoy doing, and even what problems they need solving. The analytics of modern wifi gather incredibly useful data on attendees, data that can impress sponsors and help you improve. Before your event, ask your Wifi provider what data you can collect, potentially turning that knowledge into power with sponsors and future event planning.

Artificial Intelligence Gets Less Artificial

As the demand for artificial intelligence is higher, the bar is higher, too. According to a Nielsen study, 24% of American households own smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home’s speaker. Many of your attendees will own voice assistants, and they’ve come accustomed to a smooth, smart experience. A responsive FAQ is no longer enough—as AI grows in its capabilities, so will event planners.

Chatbots are an incredible way to automate customer service with AI, streamlining the process for both event attendees and planners. Attendees tend to have the same or similar questions. They want answers as fast as possible, and a robot operating at 10 gigabits per second is more qualified for that job than human event planners and staff. Event planners can use

But moving into 2020, artificial intelligence has the potential to make attendee experience less artificial and more human, personalizing the event. Some AI technologies can collect data from attendee social media and web activity, and then provide them event recommendations based on those preferences with shocking accuracy. This could potentially be used for smarter networking and meet-and-greets, artificial intelligence suggesting attendees other attendees with similar interests. AI itself could also connect with attendees on a more human level going into 2020. Smart AI like Neon’s Spectra is being put to use at events, artificial intelligence with more fluid communication styles, including friendly voices and faces to make the experience as human as possible. This new AI with a focus on human touch could very well be the next big thing in the events space. At the very least, it’ll be an improvement from finicky FAQ bots. There’s no Nielsen data on chatbots attendees want to strangle, but we’ve all thought about it.

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3 Jan 2020

More Than Just Warm Bodies: Staffing Your Event th...

You have the time and place ready to go for your event. You still have a lot of items on your to-do list, but one of the most critical is finding and hiring staff to make sure your event runs smoothly.

Hiring staff for events shouldn’t be just about filling a space with warm bodies. A dynamic staff can be the key to providing a high-quality immersive brand experience that leaves attendees satisfied and with a positive impression, increasing the likelihood of word-of-mouth and social sharing about your event and brand.

“Not only is the event staff the face of your brand, but they help to build and establish relationships with your most valued customers,” notes Margaret Colebeck of Event Manager Blog.

Where to Find Staff

Ideally, you’ll find some of your staff through referrals with a track record for reliability and success. If you have an online community, this can also be a great way to find staff, as these are people who already have familiarity with and are likely enthusiastic about your mission or brand.

While these are good strategies, it can be difficult to fully staff an event this way. Online job boards like Jooble for event jobs are quick and easy, and can help you with the initial paring down of applicants. Post the details of the event, when and where staff will be needed, what kinds of qualities you are looking for, and instructions in how to apply. Make sure your tone is both professional and friendly. Be sure also to have a process in place for processing applications. If you aren’t getting enough applicants, try casting a wider net and reviewing your job ad.

Tips For Hiring Event Staff

Industry experts suggest the following when hiring staff:

Don’t hire just on looks. You want someone who looks presentable, of course, but someone with a friendly, welcoming attitude who can quickly resolve problems is going to be a lot more valuable than someone who simply sits around looking pretty.

Be honest about what the job entails. People know what they can handle; this will help weed out people looking to make an easy buck.

Consider using an online application that uses video to get an idea for a potential staff member’s personality and communication skills.

When you find someone who you think is a good fit, offer them the job as soon as possible, before they’re snapped up somewhere else.

“Hiring event staff is an investment in your company and it’s important to find the right mix of skills and abilities in the people you hire – whether they’re part of your day-to-day team or contracted for a specific event,” says Melanie Woodward of Eventplanningblueprint.com.

Some qualities to look for when hiring:

A genuine interest in the organization and event and a willingness to represent your brand
Ability to listen and communicate well
Demonstrated relevant experience
Reliability and flexibility
Energetic and outgoing (especially if interacting with event-goers)
Ability to acknowledge areas of strength and areas that need to work, and demonstrated efforts at making improvements

Make Time For Training

Once you’ve assembled your staff, arrange for training that includes information about your company and brand. Even if the venue you are using comes with its own staff, it is important to convey to everyone who will work your event the ultimate goals of your particular event and organization.

Make sure all employees understand the exact process for handling a problem, including who to go to and what to do in an emergency. It may be tempting to skip over this training for a one-time event, but taking an hour to provide this information can be the difference between a disaster and a success.

Finally, make sure your legal ducks are in a row. Consult with your accountant, human resources professional, or legal team about everything you must do when hiring temporary staff. You also might want to consider having all staff sign a non-disclosure agreement if that’s relevant for your industry to further protect your brand.

Planning For Future Events

Taking some time after the event to review the performance of staff can pay off in the long run when you need to hire again. Make note of anyone who especially stood out or went the extra mile and make sure to keep their contact details on file. Conversely, take note of any staff who didn’t come through, or just weren’t a good fit. Also, assess the training and processes and look for any areas that could be improved. Every event is a learning experience; build on those lessons so your next event is the best one yet.

About Sparxo

There are many details to take care of when planning an event. You may want to check out Sparxo’s white-glove service that includes everything from ticketing to registration, check-in, staffing, hardware, box office, and badge printing. Sparxo is the platform for you. If your organization runs several events, multiple event coverage is also available. Sparxo enables you to enter event registration and ticketing on to any website with no other brand or logos, produce media-rich pages to assist with your brand and selling efforts, offers a straightforward guest arrival app and permits you to possess all of your information, therefore, you’ll be able to track your progress. Everyone has full access to all features, despite the size or type of event-free or paid!

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER BLOG POST ARTICLES:

SPARXO MAKES IT EASY TO ADD AN EVENT CALENDAR TO YOUR WEBSITE

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE WITH ATTENDANCE BREAKDOWN

WHERE SHOULD YOU POST YOUR EVENT? EVENTBRITE, MEETUP, OR FACEBOOK?

A MEATING OF MINDS — HOW THIS COMPANY IS CHANGING THE WAY MEAT IS CONSUMED

LEARN WHAT TICKETING COMPANIES ARE HIDING – A COMPARISON

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HOW CREATIVE STARTUP LABS COMPLETELY SOLD OUT THEIR SECRET UNDERGROUND POP-UP EVENT USING SPARXO

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NONPROFIT EVENTS: 5 REASONS YOU NEED MOBILE TICKETING

HOW THE HOLLAND DRAG SHOW SOLD OUT EVENT TICKETS DESPITE CRITICAL MAYOR

DATA SHOWS THESE NON-PROFIT EVENTS RASIE THE MOST MONEY

BRAND AMBASSADORS AND INFLUENCERS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

AN EVENT PLANNERS 10 SECRET TIPS TO HAVING A SUCCESSFUL EVENT