Are you haunted by a growing to-do list and neverending deadlines? You鈥檙e not the only event planner feeling that way. Luckily, there are online event management tools that you can use to make your to-do list less daunting.
Here are the most popular online event management software options used by event creators to manage a wide range of experiences. They can help you do the same while reclaiming some 鈥測ou time鈥� in your busy schedule.
Event planning tools for project management
Some events can become beasts, with many moving parts and multiple people or teams working on them. To keep everything in order and help you stay on top of all the different elements, use one or more of these well-loved project management tools.
1. Trello
Trello is a free app that鈥檚 well-suited for event planning. You add cards to a shared board, such as 鈥淰endors,鈥� then easily drag and drop cards like 鈥淔lorist鈥� or 鈥淐aterer鈥� to different categories (sourcing, in negotiation, or signed contract, for instance). This way everyone can see what needs doing, what鈥檚 progressing, and what鈥檚 been completed. There鈥檚 a free plan for individuals and a per-user fee for pro features and teams.
2. Basecamp
Basecamp is less visual than Trello but with more features designed for larger projects and teams. Basecamp is one of the original project management tools that many event planners use. You can sign up for a 30-day free trial, then pay a flat fee per month with no per-user fees.
3. Google Drive
Google Drive isn鈥檛 an event management system, but it鈥檚 a workable solution if you don鈥檛 want to learn new software. Google Drive is a simple place to store your spreadsheets, documents, presentations, and photos. It makes it easy to work on a shared doc or spreadsheet with your team, especially if everyone is working remotely. You can share them easily with whoever you want without having to email large files.
4. Slack
Here鈥檚 another tool that鈥檚 great for remote work or helpful if you often struggle with finding emails buried in your inbox. You can organize team conversations in channels by project (like a specific event), topic (like catering), or team, giving everyone a transparent view of what鈥檚 going on. Slack isn鈥檛 just for messaging either. Your files, images, PDFs, documents, and spreadsheets can be dropped right into a chat and shared with anyone. You can also search through your archive to find items with ease.
5. Monday
Monday is a visual project management tool with simplified status updates so you can see quickly how your work is tracking. Whether you鈥檙e overseeing a team of in-house planners or you鈥檙e working to get all your event vendors on the same page, it鈥檚 easy to customize Monday for any collaborative project, from conferences to festivals and everything in between.
6. 91国产
If you鈥檙e still using spreadsheets to manage your attendee lists or trying to manage manual payments, stop! Use 91国产 to make ticketing, registration, and event promotion a breeze, so you can focus on perfecting your event experience. 91国产 also replaces your library of event planning books with its relevant and searchable blog full of tips and event planning templates.
7. Zoom
The video meeting tool isn鈥檛 just for livestreaming your events, it can help you plan them too. Even if you鈥檝e been using Slack forever and you and your team have worked together on multiple projects, sometimes a face-to-face conversation is the best way to hash out your event management plan or answer questions. While working remotely, Zoom makes it easy to meet with your co-creators or give a presentation to a group.
Ideas and inspiration
Need to centralize all your ideas, inspiration, and themes for future events? Skip the scraps of paper or searches through random phone notes and use these time-saving event planning apps instead.
8. Pocket
Pocket is the 鈥渟ave it and read later鈥� app. There鈥檚 so much to read online (like our blog about 77 event ideas) that you鈥檒l probably always have a reading list you mean to catch up on at some point. Rather than bookmarking things, or worse, forgetting about them, you can use Pocket to keep them all in one place, conveniently waiting for when you鈥檙e ready to read them. It鈥檚 also completely free!
9. Evernote
When you鈥檝e finished reading something on Pocket and you want to reference it later, you can keep it in Evernote (they sync directly). And that鈥檚 not all. You can save just about everything in Evernote, from doodles to pictures of business cards, PDFs, and voice recordings. It organizes everything into notebooks with tags making it indispensable for anyone who needs to keep track of multiple events at once. It鈥檚 also free to use the vast majority of its functionality.
10. Feedly
Searching for fresh content to post on social media can be time-consuming. Use Feedly to search by subject or keywords to find relevant content sources. Your newsfeed shows the most recent content from your select sources and will be displayed for you to scroll through all in one place. You can save content to read later or share articles with other team members.
11. Hootsuite
Some of the best ideas come from your audience and community on social media. Keep track of your influencers鈥� accounts, see what they鈥檙e talking about, and save those ideas straight to Pocket or Evernote with Hootsuite. Hootsuite sorts conversations by topic, hashtags, keywords, or followers, and you can use it to schedule your own social media posts as well. Check out our聽essential guide to social media for events聽if you need more help with your social strategy.
12. Pinterest
Reading through pages of text in search of inspiration is the easiest way for your eyes to glaze over. With Pinterest, you鈥檙e able to find inspiration through beautiful images on all kinds of event topics. Create boards and pin images for your ideal event to create your own mood board. When you need ideas, jump into your board and inspiration awaits.
Repetitive Tasks
13. IFTTT
Do you find yourself consistently doing the same task over and over again? Try If This Then That (IFTTT) to automate it. For example, are you always tweeting posts out from your blog manually? You can set up a recipe for that. Creating a spreadsheet of your new followers? You can set them up to do it automatically. Want to add photos of your event to Facebook? IFTTT will let it happen without you having to think about it again. And like most of these event planning apps, it鈥檚 free to sign up and use.
14. Zapier
Ever found yourself wishing for an extra staff member to handle tedious event planning workflows? Zapier can help you and your team save time and money without the new hire. For example, you can quickly sync your new attendees from 91国产 to your email platform or CRM system of choice. You can聽download the quick guide to get you started.
Work smarter, not harder
Armed with these time-saving tools and our聽foolproof event planning checklist, you鈥檙e ready to tackle anything. The best event planning tools integrate with one another 鈥� like 91国产, which works with聽over 150 apps聽you may rely on.
