Does your company currently run or plan to run events that need handling registrations, such as seminars, training courses, non-profit fund raisers, social functions, or even a big event like an art exhibition, a sporting or religious event, or any kind of event where people need to book to attend or participate?
Co-ordinating event registrations is a time-consuming process. You may have to manage event schedules, event dates, participant numbers, data collection, payment processing and sending invoices, confirmations and reservations, reminders, cancellations … perhaps even accommodating special requests and providing tickets to event participants.
There are many benefits to setting up a web-based event registration system. It can make your business more efficient, save time and reduce expenses, help you easily replicate previously-run events, give event managers more control, improve customer experience and increase your sales.
The problem is that setting up a web-based event booking system can be quite costly.
Fortunately, if you own a WordPress-powered site, you can download and install a very inexpensive and professional online event booking solution.
Presenting …
Event Espresso
Plugin Description
The Event Espresso online event registration WordPress plugin allows you to easily schedule an event and begin accepting online registrations in minutes.
(Set up multiple events and accept online event registrations with Event Espresso)
Event Espresso is a flexible and feature-rich software that gives you complete control of your event registration management process.
Event Espresso lets you customize registration forms
You can employ various event registration strategies, from simple online bookings and straight up ticket-selling, to setting up custom registration forms for collecting detailed information about your participants, or integrating your event registration forms with social media sites like Facebook.
View detailed information about your event attendees
Important: Currently, Event Espresso supports two different versions of their software: EE 3 and Event Espresso 4. The new Event Espresso 4 is considerably different than the older EE 3, as it is being rebuilt using a different structure to accommodate future growth. The Event Espresso 4 plugin software has different features, user interface, data structure, coding method and price. The company plans to eventually move completely to Event Espresso 4, so keep this in mind as you learn more about this plugin.
More info:
Benefits Of Using Event Espresso
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using Event Espresso to manage event registrations on your site:
Hands-Free Event Registration Management
Event Espresso provides you with everything you need to turn your existing digital presence into a feature-rich and professional event management website … from custom registration forms and automated response emails, to maximum seating limits, multiple pricing levels and discount codes, to printable tickets and even seating charts.
Better Business Productivity
By using a web-based event registration system like Event Espresso, you save time and increase your business productivity by literally doing away with the need to process registrations manually.
Essentially, you are enabling participants to enroll by themselves.
Allowing your attendees to do all of the data entry frees you up from doing administration and lets you focus more of your resources on creating a more enjoyable event.
Full Control Over The User Experience
As you will discover shortly, Event Espresso gives you full control over the event management process that you want your participants to experience.
Additional plugin benefits include:
- Lower Costs: The Event Espresso plugin gives you an inexpensive online event registration management solution compared to other options or using a 3rd-party service. This is made possible by using a model where users buy the core plugin (which suits the needs of most users) and buy optional add-ons only when you need extra functionality.
- More Sales: Event Espresso lets you accept online sign-ups outside normal business hours. Not only that, but, Event Espresso social features (see below) let people who are interested in registering for your event share your information with others who may also be interested in attending.
- Green And Paperless Event SignUp Process: With Event Espresso, your event sign-up process can remain entirely in digital form, eliminating typical paper waste from tasks associated with admin and record-keeping.
- All Data Belongs To You. You control all the data you collect from your event attendees.
Plugin Features
The Event Espresso plugin provides functionality to end-users through standard features (these are included with the plugin) and additional features that users can purchase, called add-ons.
Event Espresso provides many features to website owners. Here are just some of these:
- Quick and easy to install and use. Ready to start using in very little time.
- Multiple Ticket And Pricing Options. Event Espresso lets you set up multiple ticket types and set prices, ticket quantity limits, and more.
- Customizable Event Designs. Match your site’s look and feel for your events and signup page using Event Espresso’s unlimited template options and components, plus HTML and/or CSS.
- Tax Administration. Event Espresso 4 gives you several options to administer taxes for an event and report tax fee components to customers when purchasing tickets. Event managers can administer taxes globally or on a per-ticket basis.
- Google Maps. Google Maps integration enables event managers to configure the display of Google Maps on the event listing and event details pages.
- Spam Protection. Reduce the risk of spammers and robots making fake registrations on your site with reCAPTCHA option to provide human authentication.
- Mobile Registration And Ticketing Apps. The Event Espresso mobile registration system enables you to validate tickets, speed up door registrations, create various check-in “stations” and track attendees.
- Manual Registration Option. you have the option of booking event attendees when they show up, or sending in paper-based forms for manual registration later.
- Waiting Lists. Interested persons can subscribe to a waiting list if your event is sold out. Additionally, you can make it a requirement wait-list attendees pre-pay if you plan to add more capacity for the event.
- RSS Event Feeds. Provide automatic updates to site visitors, bring in more visitors and expand your content distribution with the built-in XML RSS events feed.
- Keyword-Rich Page URLs. Keyword-rich URLs take advantage of your WordPress Permalinks configuration settings. “Pretty” urls that include topic-relevant keywords add to the context of your content and improves your search rankings, helping you drive more traffic to your website.
- Your Organization Settings. Configure your organization’s profile to be deployed throughout Event Espresso and your front-end templates. The organization data include: company name, street address, city, state, country, zip code, email address, telephone, tax number, company logo, Facebook profile URL, Twitter profile URL, LinkedIn URL, Pinterest URL, Google+ profile URL, Instagram profile URL.
- Exportable Information. You can export all the data collected from your event participants into Excel or CSV format for creating advanced reports, planning marketing strategies, reviewing attendee statistics, and so on.
- WordPress WYSIWYG Editor. Event Espresso uses the standard WordPress Visual editor, allowing you to quickly and easily add graphic images and create your event descriptions without knowing HTML or CSS, just like any other WP post or page.
- Registrant Profiles. You can manage your registrant’s profile information and payment history and keep all of their data organized.
- Invoice Payment Reminders. Follow-up potential event registrants who have not paid yet for their booking with a standard but personalized invoice with one click of a button. Your invoices will address pre-registered attendees who have not paid their registration in full by name, display the amount owing, and include links to the event, a payment link and a url where they can download a PDF invoice.
- Categorize Events. If you have several different types of events like free and paid, conference speakers and mastermind sessions, different types of exercise classes, etc. you can categorize these to make it easier for your registrants to find what they’re searching for. You can display all the events in a category on a custom event category page, make the events searchable by category, and color-code events on the Event Espresso events calendar to make them easier to find, in addition to suggesting new events in the categories that interest your visitors.
Additional features include:
- Object-Oriented Programming. Event Espresso is simple enough for non-technical WP users, and also robust and customizable for higher end users and web developers. The bottom line is that by using OOP, Event Espresso 4 makes possible more complex developments and customizations to the plugin.
- Maintenance Mode. You can pause registration capabilities for normal website traffic whenever you need to make changes on your site. You can continue to work on the back-end of your site during maintenance mode.
- Autonomy, Flexibility And Value: According to the philosophy stated on their site, Event Espresso’s objective is to “empower business and organization leaders with the event registration, ticketing and management tools that maximize the success of events.” To achieve their goals, the company operates on a model that provides users with great autonomy and flexibility and delivers value for money in the process.
The premium edition of Event Espresso also includes 40+ added features, including:
- Live-filtering when you search for events within the Event Espresso admin.
- Default surcharge (similar to applying a service tax to tickets).
- Category titles and descriptions on event listings.
Add ons
In addition to an incredible array of features, Event Espresso provides “add ons”, which allow customers to significantly expand the functionality of your event management system.
Some of these addons include:
- Events Vector Maps Template Add on: The Vector Maps custom events list template lets you display all upcoming events by location. There are 4 maps available: USA, UK, Canada and Australia.
- Recurring Events Management Addon: The Recurring Events management add-on enables you to put events on autopilot by scheduling recurring events weeks or months in advance. You can create as many classes, meetings, courses and conferences in the future as you like. Event Espresso will automatically open and close registrations for all recurring events.
- Events Calendar Table Template Add-on: The Calendar Table template is a list template with a bold date and customizable “register now” button. The template can also be customized to show an event thumbnail instead of the date.
- Social Media Buttons Add on: The social media add-on displays Facebook, Twitter and Google+ buttons in your events. The Social Media addon comes free with all of the Event Espresso support licenses.
- Custom Template Add-on: The Custom Template addon can display your events in a number of exciting and interesting ways.
- Seating Chart Addon: The seating chart addon is great for venues and events that sell and reserve seats for attendees in advance. This is for venues and events such as theaters, concert halls, play houses, sports arenas and stadiums. The Seating Chart addon lets you promote reserved or assigned seating to your events and venues from your WordPress site. The Seating Chart addon lets you manage the experience for your customers and design assigned seating charts and attach a single price to every seat.
- Multi-Event Registration Addon: The Multi-Event registration add-on gives potential customers the ability to book multiple events at once. In each event listing registrants will be given the option to either register for a single event or add multiple events to their shopping cart. With the Multi-Event Registration add-on, attendees can register for several events at once and even add additional attendees to any of the same events in the same checkout process.
- Events Table Template Add on: The Events Table Template add on gives event managers a simple and easy-to-use system that allows you to modify the design of your event lists. It comes with a simple table template with category filters, table search, table paging and more. It also allows web developers to build their own custom templates using one of the templates included as a source template.
- MailChimp Integration: The MailChimp add-on allows you to auto-register attendees to a chosen mailing list or group within your MailChimp account.
Note: The Event Espresso development team is continually adding new features and improvements to the plugin, including new addons.
For more details about the latest Event Espreso features and add-ons, check out the plugin here:
Plugin Users – Testimonials
Below are just some of the testimonials that satisfied customers have written about Event Espresso:
”Event Espresso rocks! I use it for my dance class registrations. Unlike most dance studios where people have to call or send an email in advance, Event Espresso puts a registration form right there in front of the user and allows me to collect valuable information from the user during the registration process with custom questions such as “Do you have previous dance experience?” or “How did you hear about us?”. It also gives my site a professional look and feel.” Ral, Ral’eau Salsa Dance Company
”I have been using Event Espresso to run my festival and have been very happy with how it has worked out. They have provided tremendous support and their iPhone app is amazing and easy to use. I suggest using it for your event.” Alex Grant, Byron Spirit Festival
”I played around with the free version for a couple hours then purchased the Pro for a client. Love it and so do they! Sweetest Event plugin I have tried.” Bill Chambers, Bill Chambers Design
Event Espresso Tips
Whether you are a motivational speaker, teacher, show promoter, or event professional, there are just countless possibilities of what you can do with the Event Espresso plugin.
After purchasing the plugin and becoming a licensed owner, search the support forum for inspiration and practical ways to improve your event management and registration workflow or improve the experience of your event participants.
Support
Event Espresso is fully compatible with all WP plugins and themes that follow standard WP development rules. If you experience issues with the plugin, however, you will find that Event Espresso provides highly responsive technical support, as so many of its satisfied clients attest:
”Your plugin saved our client nearly $9000 in development costs because it handled the majority of the functionality we were looking for at a much lower cost. EventEspresso’s staff have been very responsive to our needs when we have them (which has been rare, because the plugin is so well coded). Great job on a great plugin!” Brandon P., Experience Farm
Event Espresso provides robust support including access to support forums, comprehensive online documentation with faqs, knowledgebase and how tos, premium support and even a monthly VIP member pass giving you access to community of developers, designers, event managers, publishers and webmasters that use Event Espresso tools, plus faster support response times.
In addition, Event Espresso boasts a well-staffed team of experienced WordPress developers with a solid track record of support, so this is definitely a plugin you can count on to run and manage your events.
Plugin Cost
Event Espresso is available in a number of plugin editions, including a FREE basic edition (referred to as Event Espresso Decaf). For support and advanced plugin features, however, you should consider purchasing one of the paid plugin editions below:
- Personal License Edition – This allows you to install Event Espresso on 1 site only. It includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and one year of upgrades and support. Price = $69.95.
- Everything Edition – This lets you install Event Espresso on one domain only. Includes 51+ Premium features, 29 Premium add-ons and 1 year of upgrades and support. Cost = $279.95.
- Developer License – This lets you configure Event Espresso on 5 sites. It includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and one year of upgrades and support. Price = $249.95.
Price details for the Event Espresso plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the plugin sells for the pricing shown above. Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details: Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticketing Management
Please Note: The above reflects the pricing when this review was written. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin seller when you visit the website.
Additional Info
Event Espresso regularly adds new features and improvements to its plugin. Make sure to stay subscribed to their customer update list to receive the latest information and updates.
Use the software’s online documentation tools for answers to common questions about setting up and how to use Event Espresso, and visit the support forums if you have questions related to your specific use-case, or to notify developers about errors and leave feedback.
For detailed documentation, demos, downloads, videos, tutorials, FAQ and more, visit the Event Espresso product web site.
We Recommend
Event Espresso is the preferred WordPress event booking and ticketing manager plugin, used and trusted by thousands of WP site owners.
If you are a WordPress user and you intend to run any event that requires managing dates, times and venues, registering attendees, and reserving tickets, then you will probably not find a better software for your needs than Event Espresso.
For more information, visit the plugin website: Event Espresso – Event Management & Ticket Registration Software For WordPress
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