Spice Up Your Event With Modern Dishes

Think back to when you were a child attending a wedding. There was dancing, there was excitement and laughter, and you may have been let down by the boring food. Cold briskets with bland vegetables that you have to sit down and properly eat were the worst, but you powered through knowing that the cake would come soon. Unfortunately, there was a plot twist because the fondant cake was also boring and unsatisfying!

Don’t let the food bring your wedding party down! Spice up your menus with modern twists that won’t weigh your guests down.

Comfort Food

No one knows how to eat and feel warm inside like Southerners which is why their comfort food is trending. Avoid basic roasts and serve up some fried chicken instead. It’s a comfort foot that can be quickly enjoyed by hand.

Also, put on a modern twist on a classic favorite, meatloaf. You can have your meatloaf stuffed with parmesan cheese and spinach for a delightful surprise inside, wrap it in bacon, or serve it on a sandwich.

Many types of meat are being served with updated sauces and glazes with hints of southern traditions. For example, salmon pairs great with a peach and pecan glaze, steak pairs well with spicy avocado sauces, and chicken goes great with an almond sauce. The creative possibilities to spice up the meats are endless.

Don’t forget southern sides! Nothing makes a person feel warm inside like hot, made from scratch macaroni and cheese. Plus, fried okra is always great to have around. No one knows asparagus better than southerners so check out their herb crusted and garlic recipes.

Everyone loves pizza and pasta, so consider serving up those dishes to please everyone on your guest list.

Keep it Light

People are healthy these days and don’t want to be weighed down, so serve them up a few clean and simple options.

A salad bar is always a good way to keep health conscious guests happy and snacking. They can serve themselves a variety of fresh and crisp veggies with an array of salad dressings to choose from.

However, isn’t salad slightly boring? Jazz things up with a fruit bar instead. Offer multiple varieties of cheese, nuts, and fruits to get the grazers happily nibbling on healthy items.

Also, you can stick with lighter meats like fish and chicken. Red meat often makes people feel sleepy and too full to function.

Keep it Moving

While being served plated food is nice and elegant, it’s also a little stale. Keep your party lively and fresh by getting people out of their seats!

People won’t mind getting up to serve themselves when you have exciting craft your own food stations. Taco and fajita stations are on fire right now. Guests can go up and request personalized entrees or serve themselves with their custom ingredients.

Baked potato bars, burger bars, and oyster bars are also tons of fun.

However, one of the most shocking food bars are the ones with breakfast for dinner! How exciting, people can have made to order pancakes, omelets, and waffles with personalized ingredients and toppings.

Miniaturize it

Guests don’t wanna be weighed down by huge meals anymore. How can they dance if they’re super full or bloated? Plus, big meals take a long time to eat, so consider making your food mini so people can quickly pick up a few items and eat them in no time.

Trending miniature foods include miniature tacos, mini burgers, mini mac and cheese bites, mini roasts on a bun, and even miniature bowls of ramen. Each of these items are fun to eat and can have personalized toppings.

Food Truck it

If you missed the food truck craze where have you been?! Food trucks have become increasingly popular and are popping up all over the city! You can have a few drive up to your venue and serve their local, creative dishes to your guests.

Each guest can pick which food truck they want to visit for delicious food creations from Korean BBQ to southern delicacies on a stick. They will really give your guests a fun memory from your event.

Stay Salty

You know what really kills a cake or nice cocktail? Too much sugar! Pair your drinks with something salty and delicious.

French fries are always a popular menu item. You can serve them cut straight, in curls, or even in a waffle shape. They can be placed in easy to grab containers like mason jars and enjoyed. You can even include healthier sweet potato fries! Regular ‘ole potato chips also pair really well with sweet beverages.

Pretzels and popcorn are salty treats with endless possibilities because they pair with excellent toppings like cheese, jalapenos, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry sauce, powdered sugar, and more!

Update Your Dessert

Big, fondant cakes live in the past. Don’t stay stuck there with them! New desserts are taking the world by storm, like miniature pies ranging from apple to pumpkin. There’s a pie for every season.

Also, who doesn’t go nuts for donuts?! You can set a variety of donuts up for a beautiful, yet mouthwatering dessert display.

Throw your guests a curve ball with desserts that bring back childhood memories, like cookies and milk, s'mores, or ice cream sandwiches.

Don’t forget about custom sweets to pick up on-the-go like cake pops or hand-frosted sugar cookies.

Are you Hungry now?

We are too! We didn’t mean to get your mouth watering, but we wanted to make sure we could help you jazz up your event with delicious, hot and trendy food. Learn more event tips at Inspherio.com.

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Four Reasons Not to Worry About Your Competition

Let’s Get Down to Business

Who is your biggest competitor? Is it another event planner or music professional that lives in your area? Or, is it a well-known restaurant that offers low-cost catering? Whatever the profession, there are always other businesses that provide similar services to yours. They are what you consider the competition. Unfortunately though, many companies worry more about staying so far ahead of the other guy that they forget to concentrate on what’s really important—their customers.

At Inspherio, we understand that other business management programs can help you plan an event or keep track of your inventory. However, in all humbleness, we are confident in the services we provide and the features we offer, which is why we don’t worry about the competition. Want to know how we do it? We aren’t afraid of the competition knowing so we’ll share our secrets with you!

Mission Over Profit

When you go shopping, the salespeople are always so eager to help you find that perfect outfit. When they are done making selections, it turns out to be the most expensive pieces of clothing they have in the store. Doesn’t that frustrate you? You feel like they don't want to help you look nice, and are only there to make a profit. Believe it or not, your customers feel the same way when you try to sell them your most expensive service. You started your business with a mission to offer your talents and to make your customer’s day a special one. It wasn’t a mission to beat your competitor. Did something change?

It’s important to remember why you started your event business and get back to it. Whether it’s providing tables and chairs, getting people dancing to music or making sure the event goes off without a hitch—forget your competition. Focus only on services that will make your client’s dreams come to life. Trust me, they’ll appreciate it.

Be the Best of the Best

Raise your hand if you’ve ever snooped on your competitor’s website to see what type of pictures they are capturing or services they’re offering. *Raises hand* We’ve all done it, and we’re not too proud of it. But we did it for a good reason, right? We wanted to stay ahead of the competition. Well, I hate to break it to you, but copying from your competition is not helping you grow your business and gain customers. You’ve already missed the customer train if you wait to see what your competitors do.

I’m speaking to a creative group of people, and I know that you have dreams and original ideas for your own business. So go with them! Your thoughts and ideas are what makes your business unique and different from the other guy’s. There’s no time to play copy-cat when you have customers wanting to use your services.

Celebrate the Good Times

It’s time to stop envying other’s accomplishments and start celebrating your own! Be confident and proud of the services you provide, as well as always celebrating your business’ gains. When you’re happy with your business, you won’t be envious of what you competitors have done.

At Inspherio, we celebrate all our accomplishments. From new members joining to helping someone plan the perfect event, we celebrate everything because we love what we do.

Just Do It

“Actions speak louder than words.” Although we say we will put an end to our faulty habits, we never actually do, do we? Well, it’s time to escape the trap of feeling another business is better than yours, and embrace your accomplishments, triumphs, and good deeds. It’s your dream; live it for yourself!

It’s time to share YOUR gifts and talents with the world. When you give the best, no one can stop you—not even your competition. And with Inspherio—the all-in-one event planning and business management program—helping you accomplish great things in your business, you’ll never have to think about the competition again.

Try a free 30-day trial, today!

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Losing Clients: How To Turn Negatives Into Positives

Losing clients is always a bummer. For starters, you’ve lost a customer’s business, which is bad enough in and of itself. But then there must have been some reason for their leaving. Some will tell you straightforwardly the reason or reasons they no longer wish to do business with you; others will simply disappear without a trace. The latter is perhaps the worse situation, as not knowing the reason why they left can be painful.

However, not all is lost. There are positives yet to wring out of this bad situation!

The following are some typical reasons clients give for changing services. In each situation, I've outlined how you can turn the loss into a win!

Cost

If you’re losing clients due to price, it may be time to figure out why they believe your services are not worth the price. Balance the time and effort you are putting into your services and re-evaluate whether or not you are asking for too much.

Of course, you may be charging a perfectly fair price, and the customer has simply fallen on difficult financial times. People budget, but people don’t always budget well. Your client may have realized your services are pricier than they can afford, or perhaps something happened that tightened their budget elsewhere. It’s rarely a straightforward scenario. It’s always best to revisit your prices every so often and adjust as needed.

Sub-par Service

This hits where it hurts. You’ll want to try to understand exactly what it was about your service that made it so terrible. Perhaps it is something you didn’t notice as being off-putting or rude; perhaps you realize that you or your employees are too curt in your correspondence -- it could be any number of things. But accept it, let the client know you’re going to do better in the future, and then follow through with it.

Ask yourself if you're making too many promises that you or your team aren't able to follow through with due to money, time, team size, etc. Have a meeting with your team (or, if you work solo, yourself via mirror) and remind everyone that any business relies on customer satisfaction to succeed.

If you follow through on promises to improve, lost clients might be so impressed with your willingness to address grievances that they return. Don’t give the lost client reason to spread ill will against you to their friends and acquaintances. If you deal with the loss professionally and courteously, the client may still recommend you to others -- thereby turning a loss into a potential gain.

Timing

Sometimes it’s simply just not the right time for your client. Your job is to convince them otherwise. However, if the customer is adamant, don’t keep pushing. The client might be dealing with some hard times, and pressing her into a corner is not going to make her feel any better about your business.

Know when to change gears. Make sure you use this as an opportunity to hold on to their business later on. Be sure to establish that you’re still available down the line, and that you are always ready to pick up where you left off.

Not the Right Fit

Sometimes you and the client just don’t fit well together. You have irreconcilable styles and perspectives. This is nothing to take offense over! Use this opportunity to ask what it was that didn’t gel right (if you don’t already know). If it’s something you can easily fix, offer a solution and try to bridge the gap between yourself and the client. But if they resist, let it go and politely part ways. 

In all of the above scenarios, the event professional is able to make positives out of negatives primarily through simple tact and professionalism. Sure, it’s never good to lose a client, but it’s foolish to make it worse than it needs to be. 

Developing a skill for lasering in on what good can be had in any given scenario -- that is perhaps the most valuable skill an event professional -- any professional -- can have. Always ask yourself, “How can I turn this failure into an opportunity?” and you’ll surely find success.

Retaining clients is a lot easier with Inspherio, the all-in-one event planning and business management program. For starters, you won't be a disorganized mess, jumping from application to application to application, which means you'll drastically cut down on slip-ups that could cost you your clients. Everything you need to succeed in the event industry is located in the cloud-based Inspherio. Every minute you waste jumping from program to program is a minute taken away from your clients, existing and potential.

It's time to get going. Try our free 30-day trial today!

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Ask the Right Questions: Inspherio's "Know Your Event" Form

As an event professional, you know better than anyone the time-consuming process of gathering information from clients. You take detailed notes during your meetings with clients, but every so often you forget to ask something. So you make phone calls, you draft emails, you meet up in person -- and then you accidentally throw away the notes you took. Hair torn out.

And despite calling, emailing, and meeting to get all of that information back again, come event day you are told you provided the wrong kind of flowers, or that you should have had this and that but didn't. You could've sworn you asked, but you lost your notes! Hair torn out again.

Then you realize you never asked them their preferences for table skirt colors, or whether or not they need refreshments. You're going to go bald! (If you're already bald, you're beautiful...but you still don't need the stress!)

We know you're not careless. We know you're professionals. But accidents happen, and when they do, you're stuck playing time-consuming (and hair-ripping) catch-up.

With Inspherio's Know Your Event (KYE) form, you can avoid spending too much time corresponding back and forth; planners and clients are able to ask and answer preliminary questions so that all necessary information is available from the start.

With the KYE form, you can:

• Create, save, edit, and reuse your own questions for different types of events
• Use convenient template forms for different types of events (i.e. weddings, parties)
• Edit questions and information for future events
• Ensure all potentialities are covered and all parties are on the same page before planning begins.

And the best news is that it's all cloud-based, so you'll never lose your information (or your hair!). Visit Inspherio.com and get started on that KYE form with our free 30-day trial.

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Financing Tips for Event Industry Professionals

So, after much consideration and relentless planning, you've finally decided to start your own event business. You’re finally here— hooray! Even though you've still got quite a few things to do, you've taken the first step and that is definitely worth a high five.

Now, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty— financing. As a new business owner, you’ll notice how vital it is that you spend time focusing on how and where you spend your money, as well as how and where you receive it. After all, your business’s financial situation is what will cause your business to sink or swim. But don’t worry, we’re here to offer you floaties with a couple of things to keep in mind when considering your event business’s finances:

Spending money...

It’s probably one of the more difficult parts of starting a business, but drafting a budget is an absolute must. You need to maintain the details on the how much money you have now, how much you can spend, and how much you need to bring in to keep the business going. You’re going to have quite a few required expenses— paying taxes, paying any employees you may have, equipment cost, keeping inventory stocked, and more. It’s important to keep track of all of this so that you can stick to your budget and be prepared for tax time. With a program like Inspherio, you’ll have the ability to keep your expenses, invoices, and payments detailed and recorded so there’s never any question as to where money is going.

There’s also the expense of marketing your company— you've got to get your name out there! Luckily for you, there are several cost-effective ways to do this, such as email marketing (pssst, Inspherio offers a great feature for this!) Facebook Ads, Twitter, and so forth. However, if your budget allows, you may want to put some cash towards promoting your company’s name with business cards, advertisements, promotional parties, and more.

It wouldn't hurt to also consider looking in to ways to save money. If you’re just starting the engines of your event business, consider working from home. Just remember to be disciplined with your time and to keep a nicely drawn line between your work-space and the rest of your home. Trust us, this is well worth the consideration when there’s so much time & money to be saved by working from your humble abode— you’ll be offered with the flexibilities many don’t see when going into the office and you’ll see results in your productivity. Oh, and you’ll have extra room in your budget. It’s a win/win!

Getting money...

Pricing your services can be tricky in the beginning. You’re no different than your client when it comes to being a consumer, so you probably appreciate decent pricing for high quality services. Here are a couple of factors to consider:

Location, location, location. Creating a price for your services may really depend on your whereabouts. If you’re living in an area that brings in an influx of people due to peak seasons, then you may want your service pricing to reflect that; for example, your prices may go up during the spring seasons or during the holidays, and lower during the off-seasons.

You and your experience. This can really play a role into how much you charge clients. If your business is newer to the game, you may find yourself sending out lower prices than those of the big-time players you’re up against. However, offering prices that are too low will make it appear as though your services lack quality. Don’t sell yourself short— find a happy medium and stick to it.

This is quite a bit of information, I know, but don’t let it overwhelm you. Though these things are very important to your event business, it’s all doable. You’ve come this far and there’s no way you can stop now! And guess what? You’re literally reading a blog from the inside of one of the best online business management tools out there! Inspherio can help you keep your finances organized and up to date so that you can keep from breaching the budget.

Get your business up and running with Inspherio and get it for free for the first 30 days. That’s pretty perfect for that business budget!

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Using Technology in the Event Industry

If there is one thing that professionals in the event industry have finally accepted, it was the impending descent of Event Technology. We couldn't avoid it and why would we want to? Now that it's 2015, it's been recognized that event technology spans from the ability to gain great sponsorship opportunities, the ease of gathering speaker and exhibitor materials, instant connection to attendees, and the seemingly effortless ability to manage your entire event business.

All of your business information— leads, events, services, products, pricing, invoices, payroll, contracts, and more— it's all got to go somewhere. Wouldn't it be great to have a system that gathers all of this data and allows you to utilize it so that you can completely manage and grow your event business in one program?

Well, we’re here to say there is.

Let’s take a step back and look at all of the programs you’re using right now to run your company— Quickbooks? Mailchimp? CRM? Salesforce? Spreadsheets? Pen and paper? Now, ask yourself why you are using so many different programs during such a technological revolution in the event industry. While this type of industry can be fun and thrilling, it definitely isn’t always easy. It’s stressful enough just trying to plan a single event, but running an entire business that plans several events a week, wouldn’t it make sense to use something that makes your workload lighter and simpler? 

The days of using upward of five to seven different programs to power your business is over. As Liz King of Techsy Talk says, “Forcing yourself to test out new technology trends is the most effective way to get the experience you need to make technology a driving force in your life and your events.” So, put down the pen and paper and take a look at what we have to offer.

Inspherio is a great addition to the world of event technology as it can administer the most important aspects of your event business. From generating contracts and sending them for e-signatures to scheduling events and keeping track of leads, Inspherio is specifically designed to make sure everything for your business is in its right place and easily accessed at all times.

“The silos of services will start to break down, streamlining the planning process by creating more comprehensive technology products and solutions. Planners want simpler solutions and want to work with fewer vendors,” says Jessica Levin, president of Seven Degrees Communications. We find it to be very important to have a program in which you can rely, to make the planning process easier and more effective, and that’s why Inspherio was created.

We’ve listed just a few solutions below that may give you some insight on how Inspherio’s technology can help you and your business:

Accounts
Keeping an eye on the finances of your business is rather crucial, especially when you have money coming in and going out. Inspherio knows the importance of keeping your business’s account detailed and organized. With this program you have the ability to:

>Create and send invoices to your clients and in turn they have the ability to pay instantly in their private Client Portal.
>Track your income, all of your expenses, reimbursements, vendor and employee pay. 
>Run Reports that show the details of your company’s Profit and Loss.

Contracts
Time is precious, so filling out paperwork can often times be a bit of a pain, especially when your time may be more valuable elsewhere. With easy-to-fill out templates and the Client Portal, you can create and send a contract to a client easily and quickly, all with the ability to sign electronically.

Professionals
This features allows you to input all of your employees and their information. From there you can assign them to different events, appointments, or tasks, and keep track of their payroll. If you staff a large number of employees, no problem. Simply import the data using a CSV file into our system and voila, everyone’s there and ready to be put to work.

Marketing
This is huge for any business, and we get it. Inspherio features Email Marketing, which allows you to create your own email template or use system generated templates. Simply create what you like— adding your own images, links, and other flare, and schedule and send to the Contact Groups of your choice.

When it’s all said and done, it is important that both you and your clients are provided with the best experience possible. “Getting savvy with tech is more about aligning with and accelerating desired business results. Just think more about benefits,” says Jeff Hurt of Velvet Chainsaw. 

So take the next step in the technological revolution and get your company and its workflow in control. By integrating event technology like Inspherio into your next event, your opportunities are endless. Why on earth would you want to pass that up?

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Snow Days: Every Event Professional's Frenemy

So, you’re snowed in. You've got events to plan and this means you have contracts to get signed, clients to meet, vendors to contact, invoices to send--the list is, well, endless, and Mother Nature has put a real damper (and a frozen one, at that) on your workflow.

Snow Storms are an unwanted visitor that many have been forced to welcome and the stress of things being out of your control can be a bit overwhelming. But here’s the good news: with Inspherio, you’re still in control. This snow storm is just another obstacle on the event planning path, and it’s important to remind yourself that you WILL overcome it.

Inspherio is right there on your desktop and laptop, cell phone and tablet. It’s here and there, everywhere, just for you and your business. You have to cancel that client coffee meeting because you’re not quite sure which large lump under all that snow is your vehicle--Inspherio has your calendar, safe and sound, ready to reschedule that meeting AND send an update to your client alerting him or her of the change.

You still need to make the employee schedule for the wedding your company is in charge of next week--Inspherio has the list of your professionals and is waiting to put them where you need them.

The bride needs to sign that contract you drafted so you can get the ball rolling for her upcoming wedding, and she’ll be wanting a copy of every single invoice--Inspherio’s got you covered. Click send and you've done your part. Have your client sign contracts electronically, view and pay their invoices through their client portal, and keep their events progressing. If anything, the bride might be the only hassle you’re dealing with, because Inspherio is here to keep things nice and simple for you.

Maybe you’re all caught up on work, all events schedules are in place and clients are satisfied, and you’re still stuck inside but determined to conquer your business from your bed. Now’s the time to hop on Inspherio and set up an email marketing campaign and reach out to leads. You aren't the only one snowed in and it’s highly likely there are potential clients out there trapped like you, checking and rechecking their email hoping for something exciting to happen. Be that excitement and let them know you’re ready to plan that event they were dreading doing on their own!

Now take a deep breath and relax; we’re here to help you power through #snOMG! Check out how Inspherio can you manage your business.

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How Inspherio Helps Everyone In The Event Industry

Organized to the point of crazy, inexplicable love of lists, smoothly moving from Plan A to Plan B without anyone noticing, working until every request is complete, taking simple ideas and turning them into a beautiful and grand outcome? You must be an event planner. (Or, you know, a bookkeeper, publicist, chef, motivational speaker, shoulder to cry on, alterationist, table setter, stand in, or anything else your client might need last minute.)



You keep a notebook and pencil on you at all times so you never let an idea or thought slip through the cracks. Oh, It’s the glamorous world you always imagined. Once you see the sparkle in your clients eye and the smile on their face, it does, in fact, quickly become that glamorous world you always imagined.

Anyone that has joined the ranks of the event industry knows that it is fast paced and demanding, set with deadlines, plenty of communication with more than one person at a time, sticky notes galore, and a lot of patience. Event professionals, why not make your life easier? Why not scrap the sticky notes, the pencil and paper, and all of the programs you use to get one thing done? Inspherio is the premier business management solution for all professionals in the Event Industry. This all-inclusive program will provide you with every tool needed to manage and expand your business from any location with the convenience of your tablet or smartphone.

Meticulously designed by event professionals, for event professionals, Inspherio has streamlined the business management process from start to finish for everyone in the field. Our hope is to eliminate the overwhelming stress that comes with planning an event by making sure the event stays on track at every stage of the planning process. From initial planning to the execution of an event, Inspherio incorporates every marketing and business management tool an event professional could need, and because it’s web-based, these tools are available wherever the user has an internet connection.

Whether it’s your first day in the event industry, or you’re on the brink of success, or even successfully planning several events a week, this all-in-one program is for you, your employees, your business, and your peace of mind. Keep that smile on your clients face and that sparkle in their eye, try the best event technology out there.

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Jan 31st Is The Deadline To Have W-2s & 1099s To Recipients

The team at Inspherio would like to remind you of the upcoming Jan 31st Deadline to have W-2s & 1099s to recipients. Our sister product, ExpressTaxFilings.com can help you quickly and easily generate and file W-2s & 1099s with the IRS.

How do you know if you should file a W-2 or 1099?
The simple answer is if you have employees and have withheld taxes, you would issue a W-2. For independent contractors who were paid $600 or more and no taxes withheld for the 2013 tax year, you would issue a Form 1099.

Want to know more about ExpressTaxFilings.com?
ExpressTaxFilings.com is the premier online filing program for 1099s and W-2s. We are IRS authorized, and our experienced unmatched U.S based support team is here to ensure you to have a stress-free filing experience.

With prices starting at just $2.99, ExpressTaxFilings offers the best e-filing solution and you can easily file for multiple recipients using our innovative bulk upload option - an easy to use feature where you can quickly upload both payer & recipient information from an Excel. doc

The benefits of using ExpressTaxFilings to file your W-2 & 1099 are:

• No expensive software to download or buy
• No paper forms to purchase
• No monthly fees
• No setup fees
• No complicated tax jargon

Questions?
Great! Their US-based support team located in Rock Hill, South Carolina is always available to help you with any problems you might have. You can reach them by phone at 803.514.5155 or by email at support@ExpressTaxFilings.com.

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Top 5 Ways To Use Pinterest For Your Event Business

1 | Plan for Pinning Success 

• Put in the time to set up your account properly. Jot down what you think you will be using your account for to act a guide. Make sure to include keywords in your description. Don’t forget to set up the links to your website and social media channels on your profile so viewers can move seamlessly between platforms.
• Integrate all your social media platforms. You can easily add Pinterest sharing buttons and apps to other social media platforms, such as Facebook. Call-to-action words are great to add to your Google+, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn to gain more followers on your Pinterest page! 
• When setting up your initial boards, choose topics or categories that reflect your business values, culture, interests, products and services.

2 | Check the Source Before You Pin

• Be Copyright Smart. Read the fine print first. It might take an extra few seconds, but it adds a degree of credibility to your page.Always double check the source of the Pin. This is very important. When re-pinning, click before you repin to see if pins are sourced from a legitimate website. If content has been “re-sourced” with a false URL to another site, you shouldn’t repin it.
  

 3 | Pin Strategically

• Pin across a range of boards. Add pins gradually, and create new boards as you feel necessary. Be creative with your board names, captions and pins.
• Follow, Follow, Follow. Start following users and/or individual boards that are of interest to you. By following and engaging with users and repinning their content, you will begin to build your own community of followers.
• Space your pins. Don’t do a pin dump! Pinterest is unlike Facebook and Twitter where the feed-time is limited. Pins will remain in view for days or weeks due to the cyclical nature of their exposure. Pinning for a few minutes a couple of times per day is enough to get you started.
• Time your pins. Take note of the times when your fans are pinning - be flexible, and if all else fails, 2:00-4:00 PM and at night are popular for pinning according to Pinterest.

4 | Be Social

• Comment and Like. Just like you would socialize on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Google+, be sure to comment on, and Like, the pins of other users and businesses.
• Use Names and Tags to make your page more personable. Use @tags to notify the user you are engaging with. Hashtags (#) are used to highlight keywords that will lead viewers to your page when searched. By using names and tags, you can stand out among the large majority of Pinterest users and create engaging boards.
• Remember to Say Thank You. This is a forgotten art on Pinterest and other social media channels. Regularly check your Re-pins and visit the boards of people who have repinned your content and make the effort to thank them for repinning. Just like RTs on Twitter, or Shares on Facebook, the Re-pin is a valuable thing.

5 | Produce Visual Content

• Choose great images for your boards. Having interesting, engaging, quality images will most likely get your content repinned. Include photos, infographics, videos and text. Don’t forget that text is important to accompany your pins.
• Make pinners want to click on your pin by making them simple, visual, and clear. Experiment with size by mixing in taller pins to give your board a visually appealing look.

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Four Tips for Saving Money on Event A/V

As event and wedding planners, you typically must consider audio visual components to give your event that extra wow factor. But what should you look for and what should you be aware of when choosing an A/V company? I contacted A/V professional and social media superstar Jenise Fryatt, who provided the guest blog below.

This is a guest post by Jenise Fryatt at Icon Presentations. The original article can be found here.

Understanding Objectives of In-House vs. Outside Audio Visual Companies

Going with the in-house audio visual service provider at your venue may be easy, but it won't always save you money, let alone provide you with the best bang for your buck.

In-house AV companies have to pay a significant percentage (40-50% is not uncommon) of every sale to the venue. This makes it very hard for them to give you a good deal.

Also, hotel audio visual is usually where new techs cut their teeth. So while these guys may adequately handle breakout sessions, more involved productions can be a bit of a stretch for them.

Beware of Hidden Fees

Hotels and convention centers are very motivated to get your business, so they will take measures to counteract the attractiveness of outside AV companies.

Beware of contractual fees they often slip in to make up for the loss in sales to outside AV companies. Fees for power or "required supervision" by in-house techs can be waived if you catch them BEFORE signing these agreements.

Maybe the venue is offering you a great deal on meeting rooms if you use their AV services and your breakout meetings don't require highly technical audio visual. This could certainly save you money in the long haul. However you still may wish to consider hiring an outside AV company for your general session or gala.

Remember, you are in the driver's seat at least until you sign that contract.

Think Ahead and Build Relationships

To get the best deal and help ensure the equipment and service you hire is top notch, aim to build a long-term relationship with your AV provider.

If you use the same company for all or most of your event audio visual needs throughout the year, you can sit down with them at the beginning and negotiate a screaming deal.

Knowing about your needs in advance will also allow them to plan and give you priority attention - the kind you are likely to get as a returning customer.

Consider Hiring Local Labor

Calling a local union or labor company can save you up to 20% on your audio visual labor costs. Again, make sure that you scratch out any hidden fees for bringing outside labor in before you sign that contract with your venue.

For more good advice from Jenise, check out her blog.

About the Author:

Jenise Fryatt has been involved in the event industry for more than 20 years as Co-Owner/ Marketing Director of Icon Presentations AV for events. She writes for three blogs, manages three Twitter accounts and three Facebook pages. She serves as Social Media Manager for The Conference Publishers and moderates a weekly Twitter Chat for event professionals called #eventtable. She also gives presentations on social media strategy and uses improv concepts to teach leadership and team building skills.

Jenise Fryatt Social Media: Twitter, Facebook

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Getting tech-sy at PlannerTech

For those of you who could not attend or simply may not be aware, happening today in NYC is the the premier Event Tech Conference and Showcase - PlannerTech.

Presented by Liz King Events, PlannerTech's goal is to educate professionals in the event industry on how technology can be strategically implemented to improve the efficiency of events and/or have a lasting impact on event guests. It's a great product and one that continues to grow each year.

In addition to educational speakers, PlannerTech partners with many exhibitors who can showcase their new event tech. While Inspherio is an outstanding tool for the beginning-to-end planning process, there are several other great tools you can utilize that offer other creative services once the event begins. For example, CoatChex is the first and only digital ticketless coat/bag service; they've taken a traditional service and made it more efficient using technology.

Inspherio uses the same concept. We've taken what you already do and made it much more efficient. Instead of scribbling down information on notepads, sticky notes, spreadsheets, and emails, Inspherio allows you to keep all your information organized in one central, web-based location. Instead of having to create, amend, fax, and sign client contracts, Inspherio automatically generates it for you and allows both you and your client to digitally sign. Instead of you forgetting whether or not that invoice has been sent or the payment received, Inspherio will act as your personal assistant and keep track of each lead or event's status. Not to mention, like most of the other event techs, we are completely mobile for your iPhone or Android.

For more information on PlannerTech, its speakers, and exhibitors, check out PlannerTech.com. If you want to follow everything going on, or if you are attending and want to share what you've learned, utilize hashtags #plannertech and #techsytalk.

And as always, check Inspherio and its benefits and sign-up for a 30-day free trial!

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Micromanagement is Not Always a Dirty Word

Photo Credit: Luke Ma

The Following Article was written by David Goldsmith with Lorrie Goldsmith for FastCompany.com

To become a more effective manager, it helps to rethink what you thought you knew--for example, that micromanagement is a sin, and that employees are the most important part of your organization.

Even the best leaders can benefit from adopting a new perspective or expanding an old one. Let’s explore and challenge a few concepts that you may have accepted as conventional wisdom but that aren’t necessarily working in your favor.

Over the years, I’ve heard many decision makers say that people are the most important part of their organization. While I agree that good organizations are made up of great people doing great work and that employees play an extremely important role in the success of any organization, the idea that people are the most important part of an organization is a wrong assumption that can actually hinder the people it intends to credit. We’ve all seen firsthand how even the most talented people turn in substandard performance if they don’t have the systems and structures they need to excel in their work. Therefore, if you make this assumption and are willing to rethink it, you can more readily capture opportunities to empower your people to achieve more successes within your organization.

In order to gain the successes that come from talent and skill, your systems and structures must be in place. The systems and structures include everything from computers, tools, and equipment to the rules, regulations, laws, procedures, and policies that govern how your staff works within your organization. These systems don’t always have to be elaborate; they just have to be appropriate. For example, in 2011, Boeing relocated passengers’ flight attendant call buttons in their new 737 aircrafts away from reading-light buttons. The seemingly small change is anticipated to reduce the number of unnecessary trips that flight attendants will have to make down the aisles of planes in response to typically apologetic customers who mistakenly press their call buttons rather than their reading-light buttons.

Having the appropriate systems and structures in place is one of the most effective ways of bringing out the best talents and highest productivity of your people. Yet it’s one of the most ignored factors in organizations today. When leaders see dipping productivity levels and low morale, they often want to address personnel and personality issues, an attempted solution known as “hugging and kissing” your people. The hugging-and-kissing approach typically yields only temporary relief, if it solves anything at all. Then conditions return to the same or get worse. Instead of fixing the real challenges, these leaders have missed the mark altogether (and they’ve wasted time, money, and resources in the process). If, after the systems and structures are remedied, leaders still have issues, then leadership would be wise to address morale, but not before.

Systems really can make the difference. In fact, the presence of a supportive system is one reason why decision makers who leave major corporations don’t always succeed when they start their own businesses. Many have been so accustomed to a support system that gave them what they needed to be successful that they either flounder or must invent new systems and structures to maximize their skills once again.

Meanwhile, micromanagement has gotten a bad rap over the years, because it conjures up images of the big boss breathing down the necks of hard-working subordinates. But in reality, that’s only one side of micromanagement and is only the case when it isn’t executed properly. It’s time to rethink the opinion that all micromanagement is this in-your-face type of suffocation that smothers people and decreases their abilities to perform optimally.

In reality, micromanagement can be one of the most effective ways to increase performance. In addition, there are some environments where micromanagement through systems and structures are necessary to ensure specific outcomes and safety.

In the stereotypical, negative view, the word “micromanagement” makes us think of leaders who are so engrossed in the daily doings of their subordinates that they get in everyone’s way and don’t get their own work done. By filling their days with tasks that belong in someone else’s daily planner, these micromanagers fail to give ample time to their own responsibilities like thinking, strategizing, and moving their organizations forward. In this scenario, micromanaging efforts ultimately hurt the organization on multiple levels, not the least of which may be employees, volunteers, or other group members reacting negatively to feelings of frustration and needless pressure resulting from the constant monitoring. This means that neither the micromanaging boss nor the subordinates are performing as optimally as they could.

By contrast, when leaders have the right mental tools to be effective micromanagers, they are able to direct their organization’s people and resources in the direction of shared goals. 

Effective micromanagement through setting structure, developing strategy and plans, creating reliable systems for others, and teaching people how to be independent thinkers can actually empower others to do their jobs with little involvement from you at all. Yet truthfully, they are being micromanaged; they just don’t feel it, because you’re not in their faces.

Micromanagement isn’t always a choice. You may be entrenched in an industry or sector that requires a certain degree of micromanagement, so the question isn’t whether or not you micromanage; it is how to do it correctly. Leadership in toxic waste or medical waste-management facilities, for instance, must follow strict procedures to ensure the safety of their staffers, customers, and the general public.

For decision makers, striking the right balance between being involved and letting others work independently can be a challenge. Build an environment of systems, structures, tools, equipment, etc. to support the talents and skills of your people, and you will earn their trust, gain their cooperation, and increase their productivity levels. When micromanagement is done right, you are able to achieve the results your organization needs to grow and survive.

Here’s an example of micromanagement done right. Think about when you drive on the highway. Do you feel micromanaged? Most likely you feel pretty independent. You select your destination and the vehicle you’ll use to get there. You also determine the vehicle’s air temperature, whether you’ll listen to music, who your passengers are, and what type of car you’ll drive. But if you look closer, you are actually very micromanaged. You must drive on predetermined roads, streets, and ramps. You must maintain certain speeds. You must pass only in predesignated passing zones. In some areas, you must pay a toll for using the road. 

However, you don’t resent being micromanaged, and you don’t feel that you’re constantly running into roadblocks due to the micromanagement, because the road system enables you to reach your targeted destinations, much like systems help your staffers to reach their targeted goals.

Systems and structures also direct your organization toward innovative solutions both internally, as organizational improvements, and externally, as product and service improvements. Consider how a restaurateur might opt to “micromanage” his establishment’s reservation process by using a proven software system--one that employees manage internally or one that patrons can access externally through the Internet--to achieve reliable outcomes. Micromanaging systemically removes the crises that erupt from inefficiencies and replaces problems with opportunities. Additionally, micromanagement done right prevents waste, so your organization has more resources to dedicate to these improvements.

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Getting Organized With Inspherio!

It’s time to get your business organized with Inspherio - the most advanced business management program for Event Industry Professionals.  Inspherio provides solutions for businesses of any size, no matter if you are a one person operation or a full crew with many employees.  No other tool allows you to manage your entire business from one place - even employees and payroll! 

The exclusive Enterprise Version of Inspherio is leaps and bounds beyond any other program on the market today!

No other program offers a Truly All-In-One Solution, allowing you to:

• Schedule Your Employees & Assign Them to Events
  No more wasting time on an antiquated scheduling process
• Give Your Employees Account Access with Individual Login Information
  All your company information in one central place
• Automate Your Payroll Process & Track Expenses Intuitively 
  Eliminate that shoe box full of receipts & tax info
• Gather All Event Info From your Clients Automatically Add it to Contracts in Real Time
  Inspherio eliminates redundancies wherever possible
• Create Contracts in the Cloud & E-Sign Them From Anywhere
  Always Be Closing, no matter where in the world you are
• Generate Comprehensive Reports at Tax Time & Throughout the Year
  “Planning Your Success” is our motto, but can also Measure Your Success

With Inspherio, you are not alone.  Our customer support team is always available to offer heroic help whenever you need it through phone, email, & chat support.  Just give us a call at 704.234.6000 or email us at support@Inspherio.com with any questions you may have.

These are just a few examples of what Inspherio can do for your business. Join Inspherio Now to checkout the above features and more!!! Get started for Free!  NO Credit Card required to check it out!

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