We moved the blog!

That's right, we're not just lazy...we moved the blog over to http://www.event-wizard.com/blog/.  Come join us and stay up-to-date with the latest tips, tricks and news about online registration software.

Supporting those that ride for a cause

Often times we post about software how-to's and tips that you may find useful when working within Event Wizard.  I thought I'd change it up a bit this time and instead profile an organization that we here at DotCom Your Event are proud to support, Glotman Simpson Cycling, and their goal of helping fund Pancreatic Cancer research.

Glotman Simpson Cycling (GSC) is a Vancouver B.C. based cycling club and team that is now 180+ members strong.  The club is an all-inclusive mix of recreational cyclists, serious road warriors and racers. Each one of these riders supports the club's main goal of eliminating Pancreatic Cancer.

(2011 Inaugural Club Ride)

Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas remains a major health problem in the 21st century. Today, it is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. Approximately 480 new cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed each year in British Columbia. (http://www.bcpcrnet.ca/)

Each year GSC hosts a hill climb that scales up Cypress Mountain in Vancouver BC, the site of many 2010 Winter Olympic events.  The purpose of the event is to raise money for pancreatic cancer research.  Last year the event raised over $50,000 and this year it's expected to double!  Anyone with a bike, a helmet, and the determination to pedal up the mountain is encouraged to participate. Over 300 local cyclists, of all abilities, are expected to pedal the 13 km to the top of Cypress Mountain.

This year's event is dedicated to the memory of Jack Poole.  Jack, the man responsible for bringing the 2010 Olympic Games to Vancouver, died of Pancreatic Cancer in October 2009 just a few months shy of seeing his Olympic dream fulfilled.

If you find yourself in the Vancouver area sign up for the event, it's a great day and of course, a great cause - http://glotmansimpsoncycling.ca/cypress-challenge

To learn more about Glotman Simpson Cycling visit http://www.glotmansimpsoncycling.ca/

What’s up with your pricing?

I’ve been wanting to write about our Event Wizard pricing for some time.  Not what the pricing is, but why it is.

Event Wizard used to be based on a single per registration fee.  It didn’t matter if you had a very simple event registration form that captured basic information, or a complex conference registration form with many options.  This was great if you were the one running the complex registration form, but it wasn’t that great if you were the one running the very simple event.

When we released Event Wizard 5.0 we saw an opportunity to restructure our pricing so that our customers could decide what functionality they needed on any given registration form and have their per registration fee reflect that.

Gone are the days of paying $4.00 per registration for every registration you process.

How does it work?  Quite easy really, you simply start building your event and before making it live you choose the additional functionality your form requires in the A La Carte fees section ().  These are the A La Carte items you can choose from:

• Session capacities on radio buttons, dropdown lists, and checkboxes
• Fee item capacities
• Capacity management on discount codes
• Unlimited fee items (default is 5)
• Automatic price increases based on a date
• Unlimited number of discount codes (default is 5)

If you’d like to test out how the A La Carte items affect the per registration cost, please go here http://www.event-wizard.com/pricing/ and try out the handy cost calculator.

Don’t forget to choose your items before making your form live.  After you make your form live the appropriate amount of credits will be deducted from your account each time someone completes a registration.

So, to answer the question “What’s up with your pricing?”  The answer is simple – We don’t think it’s fair to charge you full price if you’re not using the full software.

The quiet little branding promo

Since launching the new Event Wizard 5.0 last August we've done a few promotions to encourage users to explore some of it's more advanced features.  One such promotion we ran, and continue to run, is a free branded template in your Event Wizard 5.0 account.

The purpose of which was two-fold.  One, so customers that needed to follow brand guidelines when designing forms had a template ready and waiting for their custom form fields when they wanted, and two, it showcases the very powerful theme builder feature in Event Wizard 5.0.

Why am I telling you this?  Well, I personally think this is one promotion that everyone can get some use out of.  The problem though, it's kind of shy.  Not really advertised, not displayed on the Event Wizard website, no balloons or giant inflatable gorilla standing atop the DotCom Your Event offices with "FREE branded template" scribbled across it.  Usually it just comes up in conversation with clients in a "Hey, we'll create a branded template for you free of charge you know!" kind of way.

So, here it is again, our FREE corporate branded template promotion.  If your company must work within corporate brand standards and you require a template within your Event Wizard account that will meet these standards, let us know.  The template can be used at anytime for any event.  This is especially useful if you have multiple office locations and need everyone on the same page when it comes to your registration form designs.

It's really as easy as that.

Event Wizard Going Live Checklist

Nice registration form, it looks good, now let's go live - WAIT! If you're new to Event Wizard it's important to ensure certain Event Task List items have been taken care of before going live. Use this list for your first few events to ensure maximum success.

For this checklist we'll assume all your graphics and form fields have already been set-up. If you need assistance in that area see How to get started with Event Wizard.

Event
A La Carte Fees	If you need any of the added benefits of these A La Carte fees make sure you've enabled them before going live as you are unable to after going live.
Event Properties	Have one more look through this section to ensure all your event properties are set-up. This section will affect your registrants experience.
Registration Form
Registration Limit	Does your event have a capacity?  If so, enter the number in this section.
Edit Closed Message	Creating a closed message is a great way to let your registrants know that online registration is closed, but that you may be taking a waiting list or will be accepting onsite registrations.
Email
Each of the confirmation emails is an important element of the registration process. Your registrants will expect to receive an email after registering so depending what you have enabled make sure to have the correct messages going out.
Registration Confirmation	This is your standard confirmation email that should go out to everyone that registers.
Payment Confirmation	If you are charging registration fees on your form this email should be used to send invoices with instructions for offline payments, or copies of paid invoices.
Group Leader Confirmation	When Group Registration is enabled you should fill this email out. It is different than the Registrant Confirmation email in that it goes to the leader of a group, so be sure to include information specific to the group leader. The other group members will receive a copy of the Registration Confirmation email.
Change of Group Leader	As an administrator you have the ability to change the leader of a group. When you do this you can let the new leader know by having this email send a notification of the change.
E-commerce
When you have registration fees set-up on your form this section will make sure your payment process is crystal clear.
Payment Process	Fill out this section as completely as possible to ensure there is no confusion when your registrants are paying their event fees.
Offline Payment Instructions	If you've enabled offline payment methods like cheque/check or Purchase Order it's important to edit the payment instructions so registrants know where to send their fees.
Add Discount /Complimentary Code	If you plan on offering a discount or complimentary registration this section is where you'll set-up your codes and then apply them to the fee items they affect. You must set-up all of your registration fees before adding any discount/complimentary codes.
Purchase Credits
	The last thing you'll need to do before making your event live is to purchase credits for your registrations.  To do this, click the Credits icon in the main menu and follow the shopping cart steps. Remember, we'll notify you when your credits are low, they never expire and they can be used for any event.  Unsure how many credits you require?  Use our pricing calculator here.
Promote
	Now that you've built your registration form and your about to go live make sure your getting the word out with our integrated social media and promotion tools.

Ok, now that we've checked over your form, let's go back to the beginning.  Nice registration form, it looks good, now let's go live!