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Meeting and Event Planner App-Check In Easy

March 23, 2012 By Comments

Here at plananevent.org we’re always looking for innovative ideas and technology that helps a meeting and event planner do their job. Luckily for the meetings and events industry there is no shortage of creative people. We’ve often talked about event registration being a major component when planning an event. Trying to keep up with the logistics as an event is unfolding is a tough challenge that faces a meeting and event planner.

I recently got in touch with Justin Baer, the founder, of Check in Easy. Having been personally involved in the registration process before, I was impressed with Justin’s latest product, or rather app. It is a guest list and check-in app for iPad’s and iPhones.

So for this post we asked Justin to provide us with an overview of his Check In Easy app and how it will help a meeting and event planner.

Plan An Event (PAE) – Justin, what is the problem that your tools seeks to solve?

Justin Baer (JB) – The overall goal of the Check In Easy app is to make paper guest lists and those cumbersome clipboards a thing of the past. After all who wants to spend two hours after their event reconciling Excel spreadsheets to see who attended the event. As the app is a real-time application, anybody working the event will have instant information as to which guests have arrived (which is especially crucial for your VIP guests) and which guests you are still waiting on. Check In Easy’s guest list iPhone and iPad app makes it very easy, not to mention lightning fast, to check-in your guests. The notification feature will automatically send a text message or e-mail to the meeting and event planner when their special VIP guest arrives. It also makes reconciling an easy task with the touch of a button.

PAE – Who have you found to be the best audience?

JB – Basically any event that has more than 10 guests would benefit from our app. Special events, corporate parties and galas are some of the types of groups that have utilize our tool. I’ve even heard someone that is organizing a baby shower has used it. Basically it covers a wide range of groups and because our pricing model is scaled it allows a meeting and event planner for any size of group to take advantage of the app.

PAE – Justin what does your tool help a meeting and event planner do better?

JB – It allows a meeting and event planner to check-in guest in record speed as well as reconcile the attendees instantaneously. Our clients are also telling us that they can now eliminate staff at the door because the guest list app facilitates a much faster check-in.

PAE – I’m sure you get this question a million times but tell us how you feel your tool is different and better than the competition.

JB – First and foremost we pride ourselves in that our company servers are based in the US and their security protocols are the Fort Knox of guest list apps. Our clients, such as Google, the Guggenheim Museum and Tory Burch, are very sensitive about their proprietary lists. And I’m very pleased to tell you that they trust Check In Easy’s stable platform and servers. For example, when we checked in 2,600 Google employees for their holiday party this past December, we had 11 iPad’s all signed in to the same event and they scanned over 200 guest per minute. All with no download or app freezes. We’re very proud of this feature and we promote some of their testimonials on our website.

Our app is also very easy to use. Uploading the guest list and being ready for check-in can take less than 60 seconds.

Our pricing model is also about half of what our closest competitor charges.

Larger events may choose to use our boarding pass feature. This is where a meeting and event planner can upload their guest list and send attendees a boarding pass with the unique QR code that can be scanned at the door with our built-in scanner on iPhone or iPad.

PAE – Justin, what would you say is the single, coolest feature of your product?

JB – That would be the e-mail and text notification feature when a special guest arrives. As you know, it’s very important for a meeting and event planner to be kept up to date on their event and more specifically their VIP attendees.

We want to take this time to thank Justin for sharing this information about his company.  So for a meeting and event planner that has an upcoming event, large or small, Check In Easy can help you make the check-in process the easiest part of your event. For further information, please visit Justin’s company site, Check In Easy and check out the demo video below. We’re sure that any meeting and event planner will find this app a valuable part of their event planning process.

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Event Planning – Spotlight on Atlanta

November 22, 2011 By Comments

Photo courtesy of Maulim on flickr

Ray Charles once crooned that the road leads back to Georgia and it’s always on our minds. But there’s a lot more to Atlanta than steel magnolias, civil war history and Georgia peaches. In addition to being home to three professional sports franchises, with over 35 million visitors each year, Atlanta is the seventh most visited city in the USA.

Atlanta is a Mecca for Fortune 500 companies and ranks sixth in the country with a gross domestic product of over $270 billion. Although Coca-Cola is the king of Atlanta, it’s also home to headquarters for BellSouth, Delta Airlines, Home Depot, UPS, and Georgia-Pacific. And while business, finance and manufacturing are all big business, tourism is the second leading industry in the state.

So with a combination of history, diverse neighborhoods, and entertainment coupled with a subtropical climate (hot summers and mild winters) you should be asking yourself, “Why haven’t I considered Atlanta lately?”

Event Planning Atlanta – The City in a Forest

Atlanta is known as the “city in a forest”, due to the large profusion of trees. A profusion of trees cuts a swath through the city, spreading into the ‘burbs and encompasses the largest tree coverage of all large American cities at 36% (the national average is 27%).

The natural beauty of the flowering dogwoods, southern pines and magnolias are one of the reasons Atlanta made National Geographic’s list of “50 Places of a Lifetime”, calling it “surprisingly lush”.

Adding to the “City in a Forest” is the Canopy Walk. Located in The Atlanta Botanical Gardens, it’s a 600 foot elevated walkway (40 feet above ground) that ambles through 15 acres of mature hardwoods and is considered the only elevated walkway of its kind.

Event Planning Atlanta – A City of Neighborhoods

The capitol of Georgia has a population of over 420,000 people and the Atlanta metropolitan area (metro Atlanta) has a population of over 520,000. But it truly is a city of neighborhoods with over 240 neighborhoods giving it a feel of a series of smaller communities, rather than one large city. Regardless of what you’re looking for, nightlife, history, traditional or urbane, Atlanta has it all!

Event Planning Atlanta – Venues, Venues, Venues!

The venues are as varied as the neighborhoods. Your choices range from historical to natural to urban and sophisticated. Whatever style and feel you want, you’ll find in Atlanta.

The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) is the largest convention center in Atlanta and the fourth largest in the US with over 3.9 million square of exhibit space. Located in downtown Atlanta, near Centennial Olympic Park, the Georgia Dome and the CNN Center, the GWCC hosts more than one million visitors a year.

The CNN Center is the world headquarters of the Cable News Network (CNN) and is home to the main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN’s news channels. Located in downtown Atlanta, the CNN Center has versatile and functional spaces appropriate for groups ranging up to 400 attendees.

The Georgia Aquarium is the largest indoor aquarium in the world. Home to over 500 different species (and 120,000 animals), the aquarium is a popular destination for weddings, meetings and special events. With events catered by Wolfgang Puck, the Aquarium is a popular destination for weddings, meetings and special events.

Atlanta combines the best of the south with the multiculturalism of a world class city and should be on the radar of every meeting and event planner!

 

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Event Planning – Spotlight on Los Angeles

November 9, 2011 By Comments

Photo courtesy of kla4067 on flickr

For most, the mention of Los Angeles conjures up thoughts of the entertainment industry (swimming pools, movie stars). But in 2010, over 25 million visitors spent over $14 billion, making tourism and hospitality the leading industry in Los Angeles (based on jobs).

Combining beautiful beaches, theme parks galore and glamorous celebrity sightings, Los Angeles ranked number seven on a list of top ten international cities for conferences and meetings. So maybe there’s more to Los Angeles than smog, movie stars and a big old Hollywood sign. Maybe it`s time to take another look at good old LA.

Event Planning Los Angeles – Go Big or Go Home

The venue choices are pretty much endless and the list is as varied as it is long. From large, flashy and extravagant to small, intimate and classic, Los Angeles has it all.

One of the largest convention centers in the US is the Los Angeles Convention Center. Originally built in 1972 (and since expanded) it houses over 860,000 square feet of conference, meeting and event space. The award winning venue has hosted many high profile events including the Prime Time Emmy Awards.

The Staples Center is home to four (yes, four) sports teams as well as the Grammy’s and has hosted A-list acts like U2, Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce. With event suites and club spaces that can accommodate meetings from 12 people to 500, they truly do offer the best seat in the house.

Theme Parks aren’t just for kids anymore! Disneyland and Universal Studios both cater to meetings and events ranging in size from 100 to 20,000 people. You can actually buyout the entire park, or just part of it, after hours for your group and really have an event to be remembered. Now that`s entertainment!

Event Planning Los Angeles – Museums

When we think of Los Angeles, rarely is our first thought of museums. But with a variety of historical, artistic and scientific collections in the greater Los Angeles area, perhaps it`s time to take a second look.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is one of the largest museums in the western US. Opened originally in 1910, it has seen recent updates and renovations including new exhibits and new areas. Its collections include over 34 million different specimens and artifacts that cover billions of years of history. With a range of collections in several fields, the most popular displays are devoted to animal habitats, dinosaurs and pre-Columbian cultures.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is dedicated solely to the collection of art created since 1940. Although relatively new (in the world of museums) it has grown so quickly since opening in 1979, that its over 5000 works are now housed in three separate locations.

Opened in 2008 (celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Grammy`s) The Grammy Museum is an interactive museum dedicated to the history and winners of the Grammy Awards. Different musical genres are side by side, celebrating the history, music and artists of the Grammy`s.

Every meeting and event planner is always looking to create the WOW moment for their attendees. There`s so much more to Los Angeles than what the gossip shows highlight. So for your next event, be sure to look at the West Coast, considered by many to be the best coast.

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Does Size Matter for a Convention Center? http://t.co/Jvp1CSaCgN #CVB #eventplanning #eventprofs24 hours ago