Hacker News Reader

Comment by doublerebel | Hacker News Reader

As a DJ I have seen some very disorganized event planning, which made me wonder recently why there isn't a standard Basecamp-style software for events. A group of independent contractors who have to coordinate for an event is not so different from working on a remote team for an app launch.

EventGeek looks really useful but clearly targeted at tech events. I still haven't found an event project management software that would be as easy for event planning as any of the PM software I use for $dayjob.

Does EventGeek have any plans to target smaller, non-tech events like weddings/receptions/auctions/galas etc?

View on HN

I do a lot of event organizing (community organizations, lectures, dinners, etc) and believe the same thing.

Why not just use existing project management tools? What is it that is "unique" about event organizing that you think is missing?

Partial list:

-Budgeting -Travel planning -Shipment tracking -Google maps -Time zones -Min-by-min scheduling -Calendar integration -Loose-knit in/external teams -Vendor collaboration, invoices -Event templates -Event-based pricing -ROI analytics

Basically traditional project management tools are set up for knowledge projects. Events have lots of contingencies, like physical space and scheduling, that make them difficult to manage with generic pm tools.

@lexap makes very good points.

Still, in addition to the name being "EventGeek", the integrations are an immediate sign that this is tech-focused. Most smaller planners don't know anything about Slack, Hubspot, or Zapier -- but they would nearly all use Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress integrations.

Budgeting is necessary even on the smallest projects, but only starts at the $450 plan. I imagine this puts it out of reach for planners who need the budgeting feature most :)

Hi, we actually have quite a few planners doing festivals, galas and the like. Please check out our free 2 week trial and let me know if it would work for you. I'd be happy to give you a discount for planning only a few events + your feedback. My email is alex@eventgeek.com.

Thanks Alex, however I rarely plan events -- as the DJ, I would be pitching this to the planner. I do private events and I'm not sure how to pitch EventGeek in that scenario -- there's not typically analytics for weddings or private receptions, where the focus is more on coordination and execution of the event, rather than the event serving to market a product or service.

I understand I'm probably asking for a different product, but I was curious.

Our website is admittedly focused on marketers, but the product works great for event planners too. We have a scheduling feature which breaks down where each participant should be, min-by-min. I'd say share this screenshot first (http://imgur.com/of3Sn49) and then give the free trial a try. The benefits should be obvious in the first few mins.

Hi Alex, this is a great product my company, we work with hundreds of event planners and this could be an interesting sell.

If you like to explore more, drop me an email.

FYI, We help clients increase audience engagement through live Q&As, polls and surveys at their live events.

Very cool, Lyon. Sending you an email now.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com