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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Wedding Industry Legal Tips: Q&A with Rob Schenk

In the wedding industry, there are contracts upon contracts, clauses upon clauses. With contracts, inevitably, will come lawsuits. Even if you think you have done everything perfectly, if one tiny thing involved with the wedding goes wrong, the search for a scapegoat will begin.

In order to protect yourself against frivolous lawsuits, you want to have a good grasp of the law. That being said, I contacted business law attorney Rob Schenk, who represents wedding industry professionals. He was kind enough to take the time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions.

Wedding Industry Law: Rob's online resource for legal news and education about the wedding profession

What is the strangest wedding industry case you have seen? 

I love the lawsuit where the Groom sued his Wedding Photographer SIX YEARS LATER claiming that the photographer showed up late, failed to capture portions of the event, and did not have knowledge of the venue as claimed. What makes this one awesome is that the Groom demanded $48,000 to fly everyone back to NY and reenact the missing portions of the Wedding! What makes this one TOTALLY awesome is that he's now divorced! You can check out more info on the case here. 

If a contract does not explicitly say that a retainer or deposit is refundable/non-refundable, how will a court view any dispute between a vendor and their client? 

It will depend on other language in the contract, and sometimes, who the Judge believes. This is why it is extremely important that contract terms are explicit and the age old question, "What happens if I cancel the wedding X days before the wedding," should be clearly spelled out. 

Do you have any recommendations for wedding/event planners regarding injury liability? For example, say a guest gets hurt at a venue that the planner booked for the event. 

I routinely see Wedding Venue Operators requiring that the Bride/Groom acquire Event Insurance to cover these type of issues. Better safe than sorry.

Who owns the rights to wedding photos/video: bride & groom or photographers/videographers? 

This will depend on what the contract says. Generally, the person capturing the images (still or video) is the copyright owner. This means that the photographer/videographer has exclusive rights to distribute, duplicate, sell, burn, whatever. This would be the case even though the services are paid for by the Bride/Groom. Unless, as stated, the issue of copyright ownership is laid out in the contract. 

What is the top piece of advice you would give wedding professionals across the board?

Work only with a written contract. Work only with a written contract that you understand and that covers the issue of MONEY, CANCELLATION, and VENDOR DUTIES. 

We'd like to thank Rob for taking his time to provide us with some excellent legal advice. You can check out some case studies and more great advice from Rob at weddingindustrylaw.com.

About Rob:
As a business law attorney representing wedding industry professionals, Rob Schenk concentrates his practice in two areas: advocating for clients currently engaged in litigation and counseling clients on how to avoid litigation. Understanding the common disputes that arise from the ‘big day,’ Rob provides advice on a daily basis regarding contract provisions and business methods that help reduce the risk of a lawsuit with Bridezilla. 

Robert's Social Media: Twitter,  Facebook

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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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Unusual Contract Clauses

So I was browsing Facebook the other day and saw an article called 51 Pieces of Movie Trivia You May Not Know. While there are plenty of interesting items on the list, one that stuck out was this: 

Pierce Brosnan was contractually forbidden from wearing a full tuxedo in any non-James Bond movie from 1995-2002.

Brosnan in The Thomas Crown Affair in 1999, sans bow tie.

Given the branding of the James Bond franchise, it actually kind of makes sense. The studio didn't want another film profiting off the James Bond image. Makes sense.

How about this one? In 2000, the New York Mets waived Bobby Bonilla, whom they owed almost $6 million that season. The team and Bonilla came to a deal to defer payment until 2011...but with interest. To pay off his deal, the team agreed to pay him nearly $1.2 million a year from 2011-2035, meaning that a Major League Baseball team would be paying a player at the "I still have some game, you whippersnappers" age of 73!

What's this have to do with event professionals?

Well, as event professionals we've all had our share of difficult, needy, paranoid, or just weird clients. We've also had to deal with other vendors and their demands.

So what are some of the strangest contract clauses you've seen in a contract? Maybe you even put one in to protect yourself against a shady client. Any unreasonable non-compete clauses? Or facility requirements demanding an exorbitant amount of liability insurance? Anything just straight up weird?

Share your experiences below.

And don't forget, with Inspherio you can enter all the terms and conditions you want - ridiculous or not - into your contract template in Inspherio.

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A Christmas Donation

This year, instead of a Secret Santa program or exchanging gifts, the Inspherio Team decided to take up donations for a local charity.  This made much more sense than giving each other things we don't really need, and it gave us an opportunity to reach out to our local charities. 






The local organization we decided to work with this Christmas was the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen.  This Soup Kitchen has been faithfully serving their community for 24 years, providing daily hot meals for anyone in need.  During Thanksgiving & Christmas, their volunteers provide a large banquet and also deliver to the sick & shut-ins of the community. 

It was truly a blessing to see such goodwill in action.  After seeing this work being done here in our city, we have been inspired to do more with the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen in the future.  Especially since these organizations need help and assistance not only at Christmas, but throughout the year as well.   



Agie & Amanda meeting with Beverly Carroll of the Soup Kitchen

If you have been working with a local charity this year, send us a picture & we will share the story!

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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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