The Next Best Thing to a Time Machine... Backing Up Your Data

“Oh no! Please no!”  It’s happened to all of us, that sudden shock when you realize you’ve deleted something really important.  Unfortunately, no one has created a “Go Back in Time” button but we have a near equivalent…

Backing up your data.

If you don't already back up your data, start now. Today. You should backup your data at least once a day, or more, depending on how much information you enter in a day. Also, it's a good idea to create an extra backup every time you undergo a big process that will make a lot of changes.  Then, if something goes awry (human error, virus, hard drive crash, etc.), you can simply go back and recover the pre-screw-up data.  It's like going back in time and righting wrongs, but without something as cool as the Tardis.

EventPro Planner doesn't have a built-in backup option because backup software is a specialized area and there are so many different products you can buy or get for free. We'll leave backup software to the backup experts.

There are expanded instructions on taking backups in the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 19: Utilities and Help, Data Backup.

Organizing Your EP Planner Company/Contact Screen

Are you using the Companies/Contacts grid in EventPro Planner to its best potential?

Take advantage of all its features to organize it the way you want, so that you get the view best suited to your work style.

• First, choose whether you want to view all companies/contacts or just one upon first opening the screen. Go to your System Settings, and check or uncheck the “Show All Companies/Contacts on Grid by Default” option under the Contacts tab.
• Second, which view do you want the screen to open to by default: Single Company, Single Contact, Company List or Contact List? In your System Settings, click on the General tab and find Companies/Contacts in the menu tree under Tab Visibility. Click on the tab you want to appear by default, and click the Default button; the font will change to red.
• Finally, do you want to change the order of the sub-tabs – Communications, Actions, Events, etc. – or remove some of them altogether? Still in the General tab of System Settings, unselect the checkboxes next to the tabs you want to hide. To switch the order, select a tab you want to move and click the up or down Order arrows to the right until the tab is in the right place.
• Remember to save your System Settings before you leave the screen.

Now, the Company/Contacts screen should be better organized for the way you work.

Remember that if the screen is only displaying one record, you can click the Show All button to the right to display all records.

Also, remember that the grid is color coded to help you easily identify certain companies and contacts: Companies and contacts marked as ‘Inactive’ are now highlighted in orange, and Companies that are marked as ‘Warning’ are now highlighted in purple.

You can find all sorts of tips for organizing EventPro Planner to work better for you in the EventPro Planner User Manual.

• For more information about System Settings, refer to Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 1: System Settings, in the EventPro Planner User Manual.
• For help managing your companies and contacts, see Chapter 3: Companies/Contacts.

Content by EventPro Planner Software

Contact Us



How to Increase Productivity with EP Planner Training

Time is your most valuable resource. It is important to get things done in the most efficient manner possible. Right now, you may be overlooking something that can save you valuable time: EventPro Planner Training.

EventPro Planner Training is an excellent way to increase productivity through more efficient use of EventPro Planner Software. When you maximize your knowledge of EventPro Planner, you can work faster, reduce repetition, automate procedures and optimize your database to improve performance.

Even if you have received training before, supplemental training is still a great resource for your company. With our twice-annual Software Updates, we are constantly adding new features and benefits that you may not know about.

A refresher course will take your EventPro Planner skills to a whole new level and help you complete even the most complicated event planning task with confidence.

If you have had staff turnover and need to train new employees working with EventPro Planner, our expert trainers will get them started and bring them up to speed.

There are two options for EventPro Planner Training:

• Onsite Training sessions are conducted in the comfort of your own facility with a class size of one to six people to allow for hands-on instruction. Our trainer specially customizes the session to cater to the needs of your organization and staff members.
• Online Training sessions are conducted through the internet and telephone with an individual or small group from your company. Online meeting technology allows the trainer and trainees to share a computer screen, essentially replicating an in-person environment.

Contact our Account Representatives for a quote: Sales@eventpro-planner.com

Our consultative approach is focused on helping you understand EventPro Planners's features and options so that you can determine whether our software and services are right for you.

Content by EventPro Planner Software

Contact Us 

 

How to Save Time with Planner's Communication Defaults

If you want to save some time when working with EventPro Planner Communications, make sure that you have set your communication defaults in your System Settings. They have been specifically designed to fill in defaults that will reduce the clicking and typing you have to do for each communication.

If you take a few minutes now to adjust these settings, you can avoid repetitive data entry in the future.

In the program, select Setup - System Settings from EventPro Planner’s main menu, and click on the Communications tab.

For some of the default settings, you can choose whether EventPro Planner will always perform the task, never perform the task, or prompt you each time to ask whether you want to:

• Save the communication after the email is sent
• Save the letter content after the email is sent
• Create a follow up action after the communication is saved
• Save incoming attachments after the communication is saved (Enterprise Edition only)
• Save outgoing attachments after the communication is saved (Enterprise Edition only)

For the other settings, you can choose the default entry that will appear in the field, so that you do not have to select one every time you create a communication. In your system settings, you can choose the default:

• Outgoing communication method
• Incoming communication method
• Incoming communication reference
• Subject format for an event report communication
• Whether to show the company name in the subject of a report communication

Saving a few seconds each time you send a communication will add up to a lot of time over the year! To learn more about Communication System Settings, refer to the EventPro Planner User Manual at Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner, Step 1: System Settings, Communications.

Content by EventPro Planner Software

Contact Us



Simplify a Complex Job - Attendee Management with EventPro Planner

If you keep track of attendees at the events you plan, you know that it is difficult to organize all of the details involved in attendee management: Who is attending? Are they bringing guests? What attendance fee do they pay? Have they received invitations and responded?

EventPro Planner’s Attendee Module simplifies all these tasks.

Registrations
Create any kind of registration package you need. The flexible charge structure allows you to set up per-package, per-function, or per-table rates, or rates based on attendee type or time of registration.

Seating Arrangements
Make the most of available space. After registering attendees and entering tables, simply drag and drop attendee names onto place settings in the Event Function Seating chart.

Communications and Task Reminders (Actions)
The Communications area helps you record and organize the steady flow invitations, RSVPs, registrations, event information, invoices, and so on. The Actions area allows you to schedule reminders so that attendee-specific tasks get done on time.

Mail Merge
If you need to send a communication to multiple attendees, such as a batch of invitations, the Mail Merge feature makes this task quick and effortless, while still personalizing messages for each attendee.

Billing
The flexible billing structure allows for third party billing, multiple batch invoicing, percentage invoices, manually created invoices, credits, deposits and more.

You can read more about Attendee Management in Chapter 8 of the EventPro Planner Manual.

Content by EventPro Planner       Contact Us

Flexible Invoicing Options to Suit Your Event Planning Business

Every event planning business is unique, which is why EventPro Planner offers many different options in its software, including multiple invoicing and billing options.  We want to make sure you can bill the way you need to, right in EventPro Planner.

The most convenient invoicing option for EventPro Planner, and therefore the most often used, is the Automatic Invoice, which automatically calculates the total for all chargeable items in the event, or directed to an attendee or exhibitor.

However, did you know that there are other invoicing options, too?

• If you are ready for a more advanced feature in the Automatic Invoice, you can choose to invoice only certain Items, certain Types of items or a Percentage of the total charges. When you later invoice the balance of the charges, EventPro Planner will calculate the correct remaining charges to invoice. So, for example, you could split event costs between two parties 50/50, or invoice a customer for 75% of all costs before the event and invoice the remainder (automatically calculated for you) after the event occurs.
• If you have many invoices to create, and time is of the essence, the Batch Invoicing feature allows you to create multiple invoices for all events or all attendees/exhibitors in an event with one easy-to-use Invoice Wizard.
• If you want more flexibility in creating invoices, you can create Manual Invoices, which can begin blank or with a calculated percentage of the total charges. You can freely add, edit or remove line items in the invoice.
• Special Deposit Invoices allow you to deduct amounts from future invoices. For example, if you create a deposit invoice for an event, and later create an automatic invoice for the event charges, you will have the option to deduct the amount of the deposit invoice from the event charges invoice.
• Finally, Credit Invoices allow you to credit a customer for items that were invoiced, but for which you will not receive payment. This eliminates the need to void and recreate invoices if an item must be removed from an invoiced event.

Use EventPro Planner’s flexible invoicing options to create a billing system that works perfectly for your business. Take a look at the EventPro Planner User Manual under Chapter 6: Finance, Invoices for extensive instructions on creating invoices of every kind.

Content by EventPro Planner       Contact Us

Simplify Attendee Accommodation Management with EventPro Planner

If you arrange accommodations for attendees, you know that there can be hundreds of details you need to keep straight:
- When do attendees arrive?
- When do they leave?
- Which hotel should you book?
- What kind of rooms?
- How many rooms to block off?
- When do attendees check in and check out?
- Will attendees share accommodations?

Instead of keeping stacks of paperwork and notes, you can keep all of this information organized and integrated in EventPro Planner with the Travel and Accommodation Module.

Hotel Bookings - Individual or Block
It’s easy to create a hotel booking for a single attendee or reserve an entire block of rooms for an event. If you assign an attendee to a reserved block of rooms, all of the pre-entered details are automatically filled in for that attendee’s booking.

Flexible Billing
You can direct the billing of the hotel charges as necessary – to the attendee, the attendee group or the event client.

Time-Saving Features
This module is designed to help you save time with features such as Multi-Add and Multi-Edit. For example, if five attendees book the same kind of accommodations, you can select those attendees and record the accommodation arrangement just once. EventPro Planner will automatically add the same details to all of the selected attendees. If those attendees change or cancel their arrangements, instead of dealing with each record separately, you can quickly and easily multi-edit or multi-delete all of the relevant records.

Data You Need with Built-In Reports
EventPro Planner’s detailed and ready-to-use reports will help you keep track of which attendees are coming and going. Reports included with the module, such as the Attendee Accommodation List and Event Accommodation Summary, allow you to easily review the information you need, such as arrival and departure times, check in and check out dates, and more.

Read more on how to create and organize accommodation reservations in the EventPro Planner Manual under Chapter 10: Attendee Accommodations.

Content by EventPro Planner       Contact Us