A common question from non-InviteRight users is what happens when guests RSVP or register for their event? Where does the information go?

One of the best features about using InviteRight is you have access to every guest response whenever you want it, simply by signing into your administration area. And guests are automatically send a confirmation email listing their RSVP/registration details.

After you have opened your event to registration, sign in to your Administration Area to view who has responded for each event created. From your admin area you can also:

1. View a summary of all the guests coming to your event
2. Add and edit details of each response
3. Sort, search, and export a report of your responses/registrations
4. View all the events and event forms you have created

For a more in-depth explanation of searching, sorting and filtering your guest responses, check out our FAQ page. And if you want to learn more about how to look like a hero to your finance people, read Eric’s blog on custom reporting.

As kids get prepared for the final months of the school year, several parents are pondering about what they can do to fixate their kids with for the summer. How about a zombie survival camp?

The first ever zombie survival camp will available to the public in Portland, Oregon where actors portray real-life zombies while campers will be trained in the best way to dispose of them. The aim of the camp is to blend fun with significant skills. Groups of campers partake in an assortment of movie-inspired zombie settings throughout a 2 day course. Instructors teach campers combat skills such as throwing axes, using a sword, constructing an outdoor fire and acquiring shelter.

The zombie craze has become enormously popular in western pop culture with many movies (28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Resident Evil), books (World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide) and television series (The Walking Dead) surfacing.

Why do individuals love zombies so much? People love the thought of the world existing in complete anarchy. Civilization must survive in small groups and trust each other in order to survive the epidemic. Unlike vampires and werewolves, zombies appear less mythological since they are the closest to humans – resurrected dead corpses.

So once the apocalyptic epidemic begins changing people into zombies, will your kids be prepared?

Like Paul Revere galloping through the night to warn his neighbors that the British Invasion was coming, the InviteRight team is charging to Washington, D.C. this weekend with equal vigor.

We’re going to the North American Association of Commencement Officials (NAACO) conference to chat with commencement and special event organizers from all over North America. So it was with great interest that I read the following blog from The George Washington University’s Student Activity Centre. Here are some of the local landmarks they suggest you visit in the D.C. area:

1.  Take your binoculars to the National Cathedral and find…Darth Vader? After you view the impressionable stained glass windows and beautiful architecture within the cathedral, make your way outside and search for the infamous villain sculpted into the northwest tower of the Cathedral.

2.  Take a trip down historic U Street; get your last half-smoke or burger from Ben’s Chili Bowl.

3.  Spend a nice evening in Old Town, Alexandria. Catch a local spotlight band on Thursday evenings at the Torpedo Factory or visit George Washington’s Masonic Memorial.

4.  Need to get out of the concrete jungle? Grab a friend and get your paddle on around the Tidal Basin!  More info at http://www.tidalbasinpaddleboats.com/index.htm.

5.  Discover a Speakeasy – Have you ever noticed the random unmarked door between Marvin Bistro & Bar and Jin Lounge on U Street? Do you know where the blue light is on King Street? There is good reason for the confusion and secrecy! You’re not supposed to find a speakeasy unless you’re told how to!  Click on the following link to PX Lounge on King Street or call The Gibson on U Street (202) 232-2156 for more information.

If you want to read what the other landmarks that GWU students suggest are must-see’s, click here.

Planners are always seeking an edge and for new ways to entice donors to give from the heart and using Valentine’s Day as your theme is just one idea. Here’s a few suggestions on how to make this happen:

• Paint the hall red - Ask your attendees to wear read and decorate your banquet hall with red streamers and red balloons.
• Hand out red roses and balloons - great for interacting with your guests and a much more personal gesture than other trinkets.
• Have the right soundtrack - Depending on what your audience is in the mood for you can choose from pop idols, like Taylor Swift, the silky voices of Barry White or Ben E King or even some romantic Honky Tonk like Willie Nelson.
• Sell gift baskets - these can be made from a combination of items including perfume, candy and flowers and sell them at your fundraiser. Having customized baskets available would be an even bigger attraction.
• Create personalized Valentines – with not only a message suitable to the occasion but also your organization’s name and logo.
• Theme your silent auction items - hit up businesses for items like hotel getaways, movie tickets, wine and gift certificates to romantic restaurants. If you sell raffle tickets, hold the draw a week before V-Day so Mr. or Mrs. will look like a hero to their significant other.

We always encourage organizers and planners to use event management software like InviteRight to help them reduce some of the administrative work. We have a wonderful system made with love that includes an interactive floor map.

Besides gawking at the Oval Office, the Lincoln Memorial and soaking up the atmosphere in Georgetown, what is the eventIQ team doing in Washington, D.C. next month?

We’re there to exhibit and take part in the North American Association of Commencement Officials (NAACO) conference Feb. 17-19.

Once a year, NAACO members (we’re members and also sponsors) gather to celebrate the professional rapport and camaraderie they share with other commencement and convocation officers. Besides sharpening their leadership skills and gaining valuable insight into all things graduation, members network and share new ideas.

So how does SchoolTools fit into this equation? When it comes to online software, we are uniquely qualified to work with schools of all sizes for their commencement needs. No two ceremonies are alike and many times there’s other events happening around the ceremony too.

How InviteRight makes graduation great:

1. Graduation Banquet Ticket Sales with
2. Commencement Seating in theatre style venues
3. Grad Photo Session Scheduling and sitting fees
4. Collecting Cap and Gown sizes and rental fees or deposits

Watch our Twitter feed @InviteRight for updates from the show where we will share some of our experiences from the conference.

Well he didn’t get on the front page of SportsNet news for winning the Stanley Cup but he still looks great in a jersey! Our team Captain, Dave Bodnarchuk and the Tour of Alberta team announced their phenomenal race, scheduled to debut Sept 3rd-8th 2013

Hats off to the Rural Alberta Development Fund and everyone else involved in this getting this fantastic event off the group.

photo from sportsnet.ca

Over the years the gymnasium at Ross Sheppard High School has seen its share of highlight-reel dunks and shooting stars during the school’s annual Totem Hoop Basketball Tournament.

But the gym probably hasn’t seen this kind of fast break before. Shep students and alumni formed a break-dancing troupe and entertained the crowd with a routine that would make a contortionist impressed.

Check out the video and tell me if I’m wrong — while everyone with their face painted with Shep’s T-Bird logo and double-blue pom poms are there to watch some great young basketball players — the dancers stole the show on day one!

If you haven’t already devoured the U.S. election coverage like a Thanksgiving turkey drumstick, I came across some oddities about elections that you might find interesting.

Forget the red versus blue states and who won Florida — the real information you need is all here. Earlier this month we blogged about some unusual indicators that historically seem to predict who will win the election.

In this blog we discuss important issues like what’s up with an election on a Tuesday? And why is it rare a politician is photographed wearing sunglasses?

Last question first. Politicians are almost never photographed wearing sunglasses, especially during election campaigns and even at leisure because style consultants tell them people won’t trust them as much.

President Obama plays golf with the sun glaring in his eyes, and this summer, Governor Mitt Romney was photographed on the back of a jet ski, bare-eyed, though his wife Ann wore sunglasses.

Sunglasses, though a fashion must if you want to look cool, are considered a barrier between them and you (every heard the expression, “Eyes are the windows of the soul?”).

And elections on Tuesdays? Why not the weekend? And why November?

One easy answer is because it’s federal law in the United States; a law that dates back to 1845.

In the early decades of the union, most Americans made their living as farmers and lived in rural areas. Planting fields and crops took precedent in the summer, but by November the harvest was over. The weather was still dry and mild enough to allow travel over dirt roads and making a trip to a polling station meant an overnight trip via horseback.

Another good reason for having a November election — it’s far enough from April 15 that voters have forgotten about the last tax-day and haven’t started worrying about the next one.

When was the last time you stood in line? How do you control yourself when waiting? If you’re like me, you’re very impatient when it comes to standing in line…particularly those lengthy moving ones. You squirm, perspire and even curse under your breath. It’s remarkable how 5 minutes in a line can go by instantly while other times seems like forever. Here are a few aspects that make the wait seem a lot longer than it is.

1. If you have nothing to preoccupy yourself with, the wait is enormously longer. Hotels try to cut this impression down in elevators by positioning mirrors inside so guests are diverted by their appearance.
2. Anxiety is a factor of time. If you believe you’re in a slow line or you’re nervous about getting a seat at a restaurant, bus, airplane, etc., the delay seems lengthier.
3. Undefined waits are longer than scheduled waits. If you are informed that the line will take 20 minutes, this will seem a lot quicker than not being told how long the wait will be.
4. The better the service or product, the longer the wait. In most cases, people will stand in line longer to talk to a doctor than a sales clerk or even purchasing a cellphone than chips.

We hate lines. We hate standing in them. We even loathe the fellow liners ahead of us, even though they are blameless. The easiest way to avoid line-ups is to not have any at all! If you’re setting up an event that will possibly have some sort of line, attempt to make the guest experience as painless as possible. Try InviteRight.com to set up your events online and avoid those horrendous lineups or SchoolToolsHQ.com for school related events.

Need any line-up tips? Read Ken’s blog about line-up tips he discovered from the Magic Kingdom.

Imagine the embarrassment a student would feel, not to mention frustration, if they wait in line for 40 minutes to buy their tickets to graduation. Only when they get to the front of the line, they are turned away because of outstanding student fees.

Or as a parent, perhaps you weren’t thrilled with having to leave work to pay school fees. Only to hear that fees are going up again so the district can make up a shortfall in funding — essentially making you pay for someone else’s child that hasn’t paid their fees.

Your school policy prohibits them from attending graduation until those fees are paid up so the student is sent away, either to a cash machine, their parents or perhaps after this negative experience they decide not to be part of grad at all.

Even the most stoic business manager would be a little emotional about this scenario, wouldn’t they?

This scenario could be avoided when using InviteRight. We can show you how to use InviteRight to collect those fees at the beginning of the year instead of having your office staff chase them at the end of the year.

OK, your interest is piqued. How does this work?

• We create your free collection form and link it to your school website
• Students or parents pay for textbooks, bus passes and rentals then pick their lockers
• Monitor collect fees and generate reports through InviteRight
• Students are emailed a receipt with a locker number and material list
• Collect fees at the beginning of the year or before school begins, saving teachers a bunch of after school time

There’s a little more to the process than what I’ve listed but you get the idea. If you want to capture some of that outstanding money and give yourselves more accurate budgeting, then call us (1-866-811-3144) or email sales@eventiq.com to set up a short demonstration.

Another aspect of InviteRight is that you have such great control over your grad ticket sales. For instance, if your school is using InviteRight to sell tickets to graduation then you can collect fees in the spring, when grad tickets go on sale, or give credits to a student for fundraising.

I love it when things are simple, don’t you?