What a year; On to the next!

This has been a very exciting year for all of us at DotCom Your Event.  It began with our development team working hard to prepare our most significant release in years, Event Wizard 5.0, and ended with a vision for 2011 that we are all very excited about.

Throughout 2010 we redesigned www.dotcomyourevent.com, then shortly after redesigned www.event-wizard.com and launched Event Wizard 5.0.  Both website redesigns were long overdue and have received some great comments and feedback.  The Event Wizard website was redesigned to coordinate with the updated look and feel of Event Wizard 5.0 which was launched on August 19.

Leading up to and since the launch of Event Wizard 5.0 we have been keeping busy adding new features and enhancements.  We have some exciting additions coming to the software in January and more scheduled for release in the weeks following the New Year.  There is definitely no shortage of ideas that come out of our weekly development meetings and we are eager to show you the results…but, I cannot let any cats out of any bags quite yet!

Well, perhaps I’ll give you a couple of hints, as a nice holiday gesture.  One of our new features, in fact the first one to be released in the New Year, will make operating any event with a fee that goes through the DotCom Your Event payment gateway extremely cost-effective to run.  Another, coming shortly thereafter will finally take the headache out of registering all those large groups!  Make sure you’re signed up to receive our emails (right hand side of page) and you’ll be the first to know when these and other exciting features are released.

Of course, new websites and software weren’t the only exciting things in 2010.  Shortly after 2009 when we moved into our new office space we added new team members.  Each member of our team has contributed significantly to the advancement of DotCom Your Event this year.  From developing world-class registration software, to creating visually appealing websites and user interfaces, to ensuring your needs are taken care of on time, to communicating new features and enhancements, we’ve been able to take some big strides this year.

We are only just getting started and are eagerly awaiting 2011.  We hope you’ll join us; it should be a fun ride!

From all of us at DotCom Your Event, we hope you have a wonderful holiday and wish you the best in 2011.

p.s. we’ll be taking a much needed break from noon on December 24 until January 3, 2011.


New (and FREE) Promotion Tools in Event Wizard

As part of our ongoing effort to provide you with the most comprehensive event registration software available, we are pleased to announce three new tools in Event Wizard 5.0 to help you promote your events. These are:

1. Register Button Factory
2. Send to Twitter
3. Share on Facebook

These new tools can be found in your events task list under a new section called Promote.

The Register Button Factory has been created to give you a quick and easy way of creating custom 'register now' buttons for your events marketing materials.

Here's how it works. First, click the Register Button Factory icon in your promote section. Follow steps 1 and 2 to design your button just the way you want it. As you are designing your button you will see your creation take shape on the right hand side.

Step 1:

Step 2:

After completing these steps you can then indicate where you want the button to take someone when it's clicked. By default the button will direct to your events URL (www.event-wizard.com/events/_____/), but if you'd like you can also enter a custom URL destination. You can also create a button in any language you want and if you have created registration forms in alternate languages, you can create a button for each.

Once complete, click Get Button Code then copy and paste that code to any of the previously mentioned email campaigns, websites, etc.

Steps 3 & 4:

It's important to remember the Register Button Factory will not save your button creation, so make sure if you are leaving the page to save your code to notepad, WORD etc.

The other two promotion tools now available are Send to Twitter and Share on Facebook. Both of these are very simple to use; simply click the icon in the Promote section of your task list and either Twitter or Facebook will populate your message with your event information. You can even add a custom message if you would like.

These three new tools are the first in a series of releases that will help you promote your event and gain as many attendees as possible. These tools are 100% FREE to you, so create buttons, Tweet and share till your heart's content!

We hope you like them!

Help is everywhere when building your registration form

When we set out to develop Event Wizard 5.0 we knew there were many aspects to the registration software that needed an update.  We also knew that many of our clients had become quite used to Event Wizard Standard and Pro, especially where to find and how to do certain tasks.

With any large scale software update such as Event Wizard 5.0 it is important to ensure that level of comfort is not lost.  So to help you navigate around we have created three user levels that will dictate the level of help displayed in your account.  Those levels are:

• Beginner users benefit from all tooltips, help panels, etc. This is the default setting and is recommended to all new users who don't know their way around Event Wizard.
• Intermediate users do not see any help panels. This setting is recommended for users who are somewhat familiar with Event Wizard.
• Advanced user setting hides all help panels, tooltips, etc. This is only recommended for users who are very familiar with Event Wizard.

To update your level click on the ‘My Account’ icon then ‘Preferences’, then once you have chosen your preferred user level click save.  You can update your user level at anytime you like.

If you have Beginner or Intermediate chosen, hold your mouse over almost any icon within the software and a tool tip will explain what it does.

No matter what level you have chosen you can also view quick help items located throughout the software, they look like this:

If you have a question about Event Wizard 5.0 you can also consult our FAQ section located in your main menu, or if you would just plain have us answer your question directly you can contact us at techsupport@event-wizard.com.

Event Wizard 5.0 is here!

We are very pleased to announce that after many long hours and approximately 5,458 cups of coffee later, Event Wizard 5.0 is now available!

We've taken your feedback and over a decade of our experience and created what we believe to be the industry's most advanced event registration software available today.  There are many changes you will notice right away; among them are:

• Modern, attractive and very customizable themes
• Increased user management control
• More powerful reporting
• Multi-language and currency support
• Value added registration services (i.e. only pay for what you need)
• and lots more!

To support this release we have also launched a newly redesigned website where you can find out everything you need to know about Event Wizard 5.0.  We've even created an FAQ page to help answer your questions about how this release will affect you.

Event Wizard 5.0 is built using an entirely new database structure, so for anyone wanting to use the new software you will be required to sign up for a separate account.  Your trial will never expire so feel free to test it out as long as you'd like, and for current clients you can access either version quickly and easily.

Well, enough with the build up, we have lots to show you! What do you want to do next?

• I've been waiting a long time for this. Sign me up for the free trial so I can check it out!
• Head over to www.event-wizard.com and see what all the fuss is about.
• View the press release

Once you've had some time to look around, let us know what you think.  We invite all feedback to feedback@event-wizard.com.

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2010 Calgary Stampede - Were you there?

Calgary’s greatest networking show of the year has just wrapped up and what a ride!  I’m talking about our famous Calgary Stampede and its never-ending party circuit. The competition to be at the best party in the city is more fierce than the finding a ticket for the rodeo finals. The Stampede is Calgary’s version of the Oscars, where you are defined by the people you are seen with and the parties you attend. Well…almost. Trade in your limo for a chuck wagon and your Chanel dress for a denim mini and cowboy boots.

Our company, e=mc2 event management, produces many of these high-profile events. It’s like planning every company Christmas party in Calgary in a 10-day period! Luckily, we have the support of our trusted and tireless partners. DotCom Your Event, we would have “fallen all to pieces without cha”.  With your exceptional registration tools, we were able to process thousands of guests over stampede week. With your system, we registered people quickly, easily and weeded out all those pesky, would-be, party crashing varmints…a very important matter for our clients.

Much obliged DotCom Your Event and happy trails.

Guest post by Joann Chatterton Director, Conference Production/Registration at e=mc2 event management.  To learn more about e=mc2 event management visit www.emc2events.com.