Easily Build Your Event With Inspherio

There is one word to describe the event industry and that word is ‘chaos’. Even the most professional wedding planners can have something go wrong, or get so busy that key details fall through the cracks.

Don’t get caught up in a hectic frenzy, while trying to manage guest lists, pay vendors, keep up with the event activities, and more. Instead, stay on top of your event and easily manage every aspect of it with Inspherio.

What’s Inspherio?

Inspherio is the business management solution for all professionals in the event industry. From wedding planners, DJs, photographers, and more, Inspherio is the perfect assistant that simplifies managing your event. It’s full of innovative features for online payments, event progress, online
marketing, contracts, and more.

Building Your Event

Before planning an event it’s important to know what your clients want, which is why Inspherio makes it easy to learn about what your clients want by having them fill out the Know Your Event form. They can log into Inspherio and answer questions about what time of day the event is, the venue location, if anyone is a vegetarian, and more. You can also customize the know your event form by adding your own questions.

Then you can create contracts for your clients to sign online. The information from the know your event form will auto-fill on your contract, so you won’t have to enter in all of the information yourself. You can create custom payment plans with your contract, and your clients can log in to securely sign the contract online, and make payments.

Invoices for your event will be automatically created based off of the payment plan created with your custom contract. You’ll receive reminders for invoices that haven’t been sent out, and for outstanding payments. You can also create invoices for lost or damaged rental equipment.

Make sure your event runs smoothly with an itinerary that you can check on location right from your smartphone. The itinerary has pre-made templates that you can customize for your event, and you can share it with your staff, vendors, and clients to make sure everyone is on the same page as far as knowing when and where to show up. The itineraries can also be easily printed or mailed.

Are events even possible without guests?! Prepare an organized guest list with your client online, and even send out invitations directly from your Inspherio account. As more guests RSVP you’ll know how many people to expect, and how many guests to bill your client for. Plus, you can pull up the guest list from the Inspherio app no matter where you are to quickly make any changes that your client needs.

Events are expensive, easily keep track of expenses with Inspherio to avoid letting them get out of hand. Record each expense in relation to different events, keep up with which of your employees incurred expenses, and keep track of when you reimburse those employees for those expenses right from the palm of your hand.

Make sure that you have the right inventory to cover an event, and add these items to your contracts. Once an item is added to an event it can be checked out and can be checked back in later. These items will be added to your load list so you can make sure you have everything when preparing for the event. Also, when you return items to your inventory you can add notes about any damages and the condition of your items.

Manage your contacts. Keep track of your staff by adding them to events and assigning them tasks, and keep up with the payroll to make sure they get paid for their hours. Also, organize different vendors into groups related to different events and easily pull up their contact information in a matter of seconds.

Give Inspherio a Try

Enjoy a complimentary 30-day free trial to take advantage of Inspherio’s intuitive features that will help you plan and manage your event with features for managing guest lists, keeping track of vendors, keeping note of your inventory and it’s condition, email marketing, and more.

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Avoiding Food Allergies at Your Event

Remember when Aunt Voula from My Big Fat Greek Wedding discovered that Ian was a vegetarian?  “What do you mean he don’t eat no meat? Oh, that’s okay. I make lamb.” Well no offense Aunt Voula, but that just isn’t going to cut it in the event planning industry. When it comes to food allergies and aversions, you need to have a game plan to accommodate your guests and their safety.

No worries though! We’re here to help you avoid food contaminations, as well as give you some tips on how to accommodate your guests —without breaking the bank, of course!

Most Common Food Allergies

According to recent studies, the most common type of food allergies are:

• Eggs
• Fish
• Dairy
• Nuts
• Shellfish
• Soya
• Wheat

Common Cross Contamination Mistakes

One of the biggest concerns that you need to address at your event is the possibility of food contamination. Guests with certain food allergies are at risk of anaphylactic shock or other reactions if exposed. But making sure to avoid food allergies are not the only issues you need to watch out for. You also have to think about cross contamination. Yep, it’s a thing and can be just as harmful!

How does cross contamination happen, you might ask? Great question! Cross contamination occurs for a variety of reasons:

• Using the same mixing spoons or pans to prepare food
• Working in the same preparation space with cleaning between
• Chopping food all on one block
• Believing temperature will remove any allergens

Are you guilty of any of these cross contamination mistakes? If you are, it’s simple to fix! You’ll need a couple extra inventory items: extra pans, spoons, cutting boards, etc. When you first arrive at the event space, you’ll want to set up different areas. (You can even label them to know which food allergen you need to avoid at each station.)

How You Can Prepare for Each Food Allergy

Options! One of the best ways to avoid allergies is to provide your guests with plenty of options. Now of course, you certainly can’t break the bank but you can make some minor adjustments to accommodate your guests. And there are plenty of ways to help your caterer prepare:

1. Allergy Form- Wedding websites or even on an RSVP card are great places you can ask your guests to specify the food allergy. This will give you a heads up on which guest you’ll need to prepare for.
2. Plated Meals- To avoid cross contamination, it’s best to ensure that you hand-deliver the food to the guest—separate from other guests’ meals.
3. Buffet- If you’re having a buffet, have your caterer label the ingredients in the food or list the allergies that might be possible in the food.

So for all of your Aunt Voulas out there, no you can’t serve lamb!

Have you dealt with a food allergy before at an event? If so, how did you handle it? Let us know in the comment section below or share with us on our Facebook page.

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Blackfish Backlash: Sea-ing Your Event Through the World of Problems

Your event isn’t going to plan and now you have to face the music. What are you going to do? As strong-minded individuals, we never want to admit that we’ve made a mistake, but it’s how we handle the situation that really matters! Don’t believe us? Well, take SeaWorld for instance.

Just this week, SeaWorld released a statement announcing their plans to make major changes to their orca show in San Diego. Instead of the tricks and jumps you’re used to seeing, Shamu is now going to be an educational exhibit. This change certainly didn’t happen overnight, and it probably wouldn't have happened without the pressure from protest groups and the documentary, Blackfish. But before the change, Seaworld went to great lengths to distance themselves from the reports, like posting photos on Twitter of the “mother-calf bond,” purchasing full-page newspaper ads, and manipulating the public opinion polls, instead of just addressing the issues. Not a good way to handle problems if you ask us!

Which is why we’re here with a couple suggestions on how to handle and address event problems, before any Blackfish Backlash happens. And, yes, we know you usually don’t incorporate a show with fish into your events, but there are valuable lessons to learn from SeaWorld.

What To Do When There’s a Sea of Problems:

1. Stay Calm

You’re a professional—remind yourself of that every day! As the professional in the situation, keeping calm during a stressful moment is extremely important. The more you can rationalize and think through the problem, the faster you’ll arrive at a solution. Another reason to remain calm is so you don’t throw your clients and their guests into a panic. They’ve already got enough on their plate, so don’t make things more difficult.

Related: Keep on Schedule with the Itinerary Feature from Inspherio

2. Keep Control

Your clients hired you to plan and manage the event so they don’t have to worry about anything on their big day. When a problem goes wrong, take control of the situation. The more in charge you are, the more contained the problem will be. Your focus should be on finding the solution, not passing the burden onto someone else.

3. Bring Backup

We have backup plans, backup cars, and backup for just about everything—so do you have backup equipment and supplies? Event professionals of every variety need to bring backups with them to the event. If you’re a DJ make sure you have extra extension cords or surge protectors; if you’re a florist bring extra flowers for that just in case bouquet. It’s a proactive measure you can take to prevent problems before they happen.

Related: Listen Up, Wedding Planners: 5 Challenges Facing You Today

4. Great Staff

Of course, you can’t be everywhere, all the time, which why having a knowledgeable staff is incredibly important. When you’re helping your clients, your staff can be solving problems and keeping everything running smoothly. We suggest teaching your staff how to handle problems by using scenario training. Give your staff members a situation in which there is a problem, see how well they solve it, and then offer your suggestions at the end.

You’ll never know all the challenges or difficulties you’ll face during an event, but we hope you don’t swim away from the problem. Accept that mistakes happens and that stuff will go wrong. It’s the first proactive step you can take.

What problems have you encountered at an event and how did you handle it? Share with us in the comment section below!

Related: Slaying Dragons Together: Our (True) Story of Teamwork

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Event Guide: 5 Ghoulish Decoration Ideas for Your Halloween Event

It all started on All Hallow’s Eve night. The rain was heavy and thunder crashed from above. Witches flew on their broomsticks, and zombies crawled through the fields. In the distance, werewolves could be heard howling as if they were calling out to their former soul. Cauldrons bubbled and potions brewed.

Phew! OK, although I feel like we’re forgetting one scary group, I’m pretty sure we covered our bases on every potential spooky story told this week. We just wanted to prepare you for what’s to come when Halloween arrives on Saturday. Speaking of Halloween, how are you designing your next event? It doesn’t matter if it’s a wedding or a neighborhood party, decorations are key to making your event the spookiest. And the best part, you don’t even have to spend a fortune to create the perfect scene. We have five ghoulish decoration ideas for the scariest Halloween party! Don’t be too frightened—we promise to keep the vampire teeth from biting.

Candy Corn Flowers

Forget the sand, water, or rocks—it’s candy corn time! Candy corn is the one treat everyone associates with Halloween. Our idea for this candy though is not to eat or use it in place of bubbles at the end of a wedding reception. We’re thinking more of using it in flower arrangements.

Candy corn arrangements are easy to create. Fill glass vases with the candy and then add your flowers. For the perfect flower combinations, your options are wide open. We suggest adding twigs and branches to give base to your arrangement. And so far, gerber daisies are our favorite flowers for these centerpieces.

Mummy in the Bathroom

One of the most neglected places in an event space are the bathrooms. Here’s an area almost every guest visits, but it’s one we all forget to decorate. So we’re here to fix that! Even if you just add flower arrangements to the area, it can really bring your event full circle. But for your Halloween event, why not add a mummy to the bathroom? Toilet paper decorations and designs are cheap, making it perfect for decorating multiple spaces.

Vampire Teeth Napkin Rings

Instead of the traditional paper napkin ring, why not try something with a bit more bite? Vampire teeth are the perfect fit to a hold a napkin and utensils. These little gift bag souvenirs are available at almost every party store, and are reasonably priced too. All you have to do is slip the wrapped napkin through the teeth, and there you go, vampire teeth napkin rings.

Chemistry Beverage Set

Be the coolest mad scientist by having all of your drink mixes line your shelf in beakers and graduated cylinders. If you have a bar area set up in your event space, add colored lights behind your chemistry set to let the glasses light up and the spookiness take effect. We suggest adding labels to the back of your mixing containers; it can eliminate the confusion when everything looks the same.

Pumpkin Drink Holders

Everyone knows pumpkins are great for carving and creating Jack-O-Lanterns. But did you know they also make excellent drink holders? The idea for a pumpkin drink holder came to me when my brother-in-law sent me pictures of my niece in a pumpkin.  Loving the picture, I thought “What else can you put in a pumpkin?” And the idea for a drink holder came to life. Making this little craft is pretty simple: get a pumpkin, cut it in half, add ice and drinks, and you’re done! And since you can find this oversized gourd anywhere, this decorating tip won’t break the budget. 

Well I think that’s about it from us on this event guide. We hope you’re not too spooked to give these ideas a try at your next ghoulish event. Do you have a favorite Halloween decoration? Share your pictures or tips with us in the comment section below. Oh—that’s who we forgot: the vampires! And no, we don’t mean the ones that sparkle.

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Pinktober: Have Hope & Give Hope

On average, 1 in 8 women and 1 in 1,000 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. In 2015, over 220,000 women and 2,150 men will be diagnosed in the United States alone, with a projected death toll of over 40,000. With such high development rates, breast cancer is real and it affects us all.

This month, let us stand together to remember the people who have lost their lives, those who have survived, and those who are still fighting the battle. We cannot deny that breast cancer is a serious threat to the world’s population. We cannot deny that our support is needed to help find a cure. We cannot deny early detection and treatment for those diagnosed. And we certainly cannot deny that it’s time we have hope and give hope.

Whether you are a wedding planner, caterer, or a photographer, you have the opportunity to help raise awareness and give hope to those who are battling or who’ve battled breast cancer. And the Inspherio Crew could not be more supportive of the cause. As we strive to find a cure, one of the hardest parts is knowing what we can do to help. Here at Inspherio, we’ve been thinking of several different ways to raise awareness and educate others on breast cancer. Between our campaigns and our efforts on social media, we have some ideas on how you can raise awareness and funds to find a cure for breast cancer.

Host an Awareness Event

Doing what you do best—planning an event—can be the best way to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer. Many sponsors are searching for an event professional to help plan, cater, or provide entertainment for their breast cancer awareness event. We suggest brainstorming ideas and reaching out to potential leads to inform them of your services.  

Special Service

Dedicate one of your services or plan to donate a small portion of your profits to finding a cure for breast cancer. By using the Inspherio pricing package feature, we can even help you keep track of the amount you’ll be able to donate.

Donate Your Time

You have the opportunity to make a difference, whether it’s racing in a 5k for a cure, donating money to a few of these reputable charities like the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, or being part of a support group. No action or donation is too small to help make a difference. So don’t hesitate to give one, today. 

Let’s continue helping our neighbors; let’s find a cure to prevent this disease from taking more lives. It’s time for the ratios of 1 in 8 and 1 in 1,000 to disappear. It’s time to beat breast cancer once and for all.

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Listen Up, Wedding Planners: 5 Challenges Facing You Today

Every planner deals with a variety of issues when organizing an event. From the vendors not showing up, to clients changing their minds at the last second, complications do happen. However, as a wedding planner, you have your own set of challenges that differentiates you from any other event planner.

So listen up, wedding planners—here are five of the biggest wedding roadblocks, and how you can overcome them.

Challenge #1: Do It Yourself (DIY) Brides and Grooms

Oh, Pinterest! As the world’s greatest site for wedding planning ideas, do it yourself (DIY) projects, and photo sessions—Pinterest can be your worst nightmare (no hate, Pinterest; you know everyone loves you). Some brides & grooms swear by DIY, and believe it to be the best money-saving option for their wedding. However, doing it yourself doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be cheaper.

An example: A client buys twenty-five floral vases for the reception tables. She realizes the vases will not work with the flowers, but now she can’t return them, and it takes away a significant sum from the reception budget. Instead of doing it herself, the client could have rented vases from the florist, who knows what sizes will work best with the floral arrangement.

Our Advice: To limit the DIY bride from taking over, meet with your client regularly, listen to their ideas, and offer your advice on vendors who can replicate their vision. And just between you and me, it’s usually better to leave the DIY alone and hire professionals.

Challenge #2: The ‘zillas Have Arrived

We have all heard of the term Bridezilla—there is even a show on HGTV about them. (You know, the ones who want to control every aspect of their wedding, and throw huge temper tantrums over the smallest details.) Thankfully, it seems bridezillas are slowly fading away, but their replacement doesn’t look good. Prepare to meet Groomzilla!

Today, men are helping pick the flower arrangements, food and drinks, wedding date, and even the venue. Because most couples share the wedding expenses, men are becoming more involved than ever before.

Our Advice: To prevent a Groomzilla from making an appearance, be sure to include the groom in decisions and meetings. We also suggest giving the bride and groom individual tasks to work on. And remember, this is his day too; make him feel included.

Challenge #3: Small Budgets, Big Dreams

Laughter and love=priceless

Hugs and Kisses=priceless

Growing family= priceless

Planning a wedding= $25,000

Weddings, with an average price-tag of about $26,444, do not cost what they used to. As a wedding planner, clients hire you to plan their dream event without breaking the bank. However, creating and adhering to a budget is difficult, which is why we consider it perfect for challenge #3.

Our Advice: Divide the budget up into different sections and categories. For a wedding, you have three events to plan for: the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, and the reception. Allot a certain budget for each of these events, before delving into figuring out the flower budget, food budget, etc.

An Example:

	Rehearsal Dinner	Ceremony	Reception
Flowers	$500	$4,500	$4,000
Food	$1,500	N/A	$5,000
Music	N/A	$500	$1,000
Total	$2,000	$5,000	$10,000

Grand Budget Total: $17,000

*budget isn’t based on actual wedding.

Challenge #4: Unrealistic Expectations

One of your toughest challenges is fighting the unrealistic, reality TV expectation clients have for their wedding day. Unlike what they see on TV, appointments are needed, you have to decorate, and yes, it all costs money.

Our Advice: It’s OK to say no. If you notice your clients are trying to get more than what they paid for, or becoming a ‘zilla, it’s alright to walk away and not accept the job. Take control of the situation before it takes control of you.

Challenge #5: Weekend Warriors

In the wedding industry, there is not a uniform standard of service or quality, which makes it difficult to find reliable vendors. Anyone with a passion can become a weekend wedding planner or a wedding vendor—so knowing who to trust is quite a challenge.

Our Advice: Don’t wait for others, set a standard; partner with vendors who uphold the same standard of quality and service you provide. And show your clients that the quality of your services can’t be matched or topped. When you set a standard, others will follow.

A wedding can be an emotional and stressful affair, but it is also one of the happiest days in your client’s life. Although you may face challenges in your job, isn’t it worth it when the groom sees his bride for the first time on their wedding day? We like to think so!

Remember, Inspherio is here to make sure every day is the happiest day. With our all-in-one event and business management program, we help make creating dream events and overcoming challenges that much easier. What are you waiting for? Try our free 30-day trial today!

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It's How Much?! The Event Package Feature from Inspherio

Your clients always want to know—how much does all this cost? Creating a separate pricing sheet for each of your clients can be cumbersome, we know that. That’s why we created our event packages feature! We believe the less time you spend re-entering your pricing information, the more time you can invest in bringing the dream to life.

Inspherio offers a package management feature that makes it easier to set, organize, and share your prices, letting you back to more important matters—like your clients.

Here's How It Works:

Managing your event packages with Inspherio is incredibly convenient! We provide you with the option to choose between sending your clients a standard pricing package and a customized one.

But first, let’s get started creating your pricing information with Inspherio.

• Click on the “Settings” tab located at the top, right-hand corner of your Inspherio dashboard
• Select the icon labeled “Products and Packages”
• From there, select “Products & Services”
• To add a product or service, fill in the required fields on the right-hand side of your screen in the “Add/Modify” section

Now that you have your products and services set, here’s what we can do for you! Just choose between sending your clients the standard pricing package or a custom one.

The Standard Package

Isn’t it nice to keep it simple? That’s how we felt when we created this pricing option. The standard package option allows you to send a preset package—including the services and the cost—to your clients instantly. You never have to worry about re-entering package information again. All you have to do is click and send. To create one:

• Click on “Packages” located on the left-hand corner of your screen under the “Products & Packages” field.
• Add a package by selecting the “Add Package” icon at the top of the screen. Complete the required fields, inputting your products and services.

Once you’ve created your standard pricing package in your Inspherio account, you’re ready to go!  The next time you wish to send a standard package to your clients, it’s simple. Here’s how:

• Send your client your standard package by clicking on the “Active Leads” tab and your client’s event name.
• From there, select the “Package Pricing” option listed underneath “Event Info.”
• Select the package you would like to send, and you’re done!

The Custom Package

Clients love knowing that you are catering your services to them, and one of the best ways to do that is with a custom pricing package. By selecting products and services from your preset list, you can build a customized pricing sheet just for your client. And, to make their day even more special, you can add in discount and sale prices with this package option. To create a custom package:

• Click on “Packages” located on the left-hand corner of your screen under the “Products & Packages” field.
• Click on “Add Package” and complete the required fields, inputting your products and services.
• Once you’ve created your custom package, send it to your client by clicking on the “Active Leads” tab and your client’s event name.
• From there, select the “Package Pricing” option listed underneath “Event Info.”
• Then just select the package you would like to send, and you’re done!

At Inspherio, we know that discussing money and sending your clients pricing information isn’t the fun part, which is why we made it as simple and fast as possible!

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