Does your business currently run or plan to run events that require bookings, such as seminars, community classes, not-for-profit fund raisers, corporate events, or even a large-scale event like a concert, a sporting or religious event, or any kind of event where people need to register to attend?
Managing event sign-ups is a complex process. You may need to co-ordinate event schedules, available dates and spaces, registration numbers, data collection, collecting payments and sending invoices, confirmations, reminders and alerts, refunds and cancellations … perhaps even accommodating special needs and issuing tickets to attendees.
There are lots of benefits to setting up an automated online event registration system. It can streamline your business processes, save time and lower costs, help you easily reproduce previous events, give event managers more control, create a better client experience and grow your sales.
The problem is that setting up an online event booking system can be expensive.
The good news is that if you run a WordPress-based web site, you can easily install a very inexpensive and professional web-based event registration system.
Announcing …
Event Espresso – Event Management And Ticket Registration Software For WordPress
Plugin Description
The Event Espresso online event registration software lets you easily schedule multiple events and begin receiving registrations in a few minutes.
(Event Espresso lets you set up multiple events and receive online registrations)
Event Espresso is a versatile and feature-packed application that gives you full control of your event registration management process.
Customize registration forms
You can employ several event registration strategies, from simple online registration and straight up ticket sales, to creating custom registration forms for collecting detailed information about your event participants, or integrating your event registration forms with social media sites like Facebook.
Access detailed information about event attendees
Please Note: At the time of writing this review, Event Espresso supports two different versions of their plugin: Event Espresso 3 and EE 4. The new EE 4 is completely different than the older Event Espresso 3, as the software has been redeveloped using a different structure to allow for future growth and expansion. The EE 4 plugin software has different features, user interface, data structure, coding method and pricing. The company plans to eventually phase out Event Espresso 3, so keep this in mind as you read more about this plugin.
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Plugin Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits of using Event Espresso to manage event registrations on your web site:
Automated Event Registration Management And Ticketing Solution
Event Espresso provides you with everything you need to turn your existing website into a feature-rich and professional event management website … from custom registration forms and automated response emails, to seating capacity limits, multiple price options and discount codes, to printable tickets and even seating charts.
Higher Business Productivity
By using an online event registration system like Event Espresso, you save time and improve your business productivity by virtually doing away with the need to process registrations manually.
Basically, you are making it easier for attendees to register by themselves.
Allowing your participants to do the data entry frees you up from doing admin work and lets you direct more energy on delivering a memorable event.
More Control Over The User Experience
As you will discover in a moment, Event Espresso gives you complete control over the event management process that you want your customers to experience.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Significantly Lower Costs: The Event Espresso plugin provides you with a very low cost online event registration management solution compared to other options or using a 3rd-party service. This is made possible by using a model where Event Espresso users start with the core plugin (which suits the needs of most users) and then purchase add-ons only if you need new functionality.
- Increased Sales: Event Espresso allows you to accept new registrations outside normal business hours. In addition, Event Espresso social and marketing add ons (see below) let people who are interested in attending your event invite others who may also be interested in attending.
- Paperless Event Sign Up Process: With Event Espresso, your event sign-up process is performed wholly in digital form, reducing traditional paper waste from tasks related to enrollment.
- Own Your Data. You own all the information you obtain from your event participants.
Event Espresso Features
The Event Espresso software delivers functionality to its customers via built-in features (these are included with the plugin) and optional features that you can purchase, called add-ons.
Event Espresso provides many built-in to website owners. Here are just some:
- Quick and simple to install and set up. Ready to start using in minutes.
- Multiple Ticket And Pricing Options. Event Espresso lets you configure as many different types of tickets as you need and specify prices, ticket quantity limits, etc.
- Event Calendar. Registrants can easily find your upcoming events and add these to their schedule using a calendar.
- Collect Payments. Event Espresso integrates with leading payment gateways, enabling you to collect registration fees prior to running events.
- Smart Single Page Checkout Process. The Event Espresso 4 checkout process is smart, fast and intuitive. Registrants are given the option to automatically duplicate the primary attendee’s registration details for any additional participants.
- Default Prices. Create events quickly and easily with pre-configured default ticket prices.
- Mobile Ticketing Apps. The Event Espresso mobile registration system lets you authenticate tickets, speed up in-venue registrations, set up various check-in “stations” and track participants.
- Event Check-In List. Generate an exportable list of attendees and check-in everyone who attends.
- Waiting Lists. Interested persons can subscribe to a waiting list if your event has reached capacity. You can also specify that waiting list members pre-pay if you plan to add more capacity for your event.
- Public Commenting. Add social a new level of interaction to your events by allowing potential registrants to ask questions about your event and previous attendees to post comments that can help others consider whether or not to sign up. Moderation settings for comments are configured via the WordPress default commenting settings.
- Keyword-Rich Event Page Web Links. Keyword rich event page URLs leverage your WP Permalinks configuration settings. Search engine friendly web links with topic-relevant keywords enhance the context of your content and is favored by search engines, helping you get a more targeted audience to your website.
- Country Settings. Event managers can configure the country and currency settings that will be used to host your events, such as currency, currency signs, decimal characters and places, country codes, regions, etc.
- Upload Event Data. Event Espresso 4 provides a CSV-based importing capability that lets you quickly upload bulk event data at once. You can export, edit and import data for events, datetimes, tickets, prices, registration questions, venues, terminology, taxonomies, term relationships and more.
- Register Multiple Attendees. EE 4 allows one person or people to order multiple tickets and different ticket types at the same time. Event managers specify how many attendees are allowed to enroll in one booking session by specifying either limits on ticket purchases per order, or per-ticket minimums and maximums.
- Automatic Software Installation Updates. Event Espresso offers simple 1-click plugin updating to ensure that you have the newest features and to keep your plugin installation working with the latest version of WordPress.
- Invoice Payment Reminders. Follow-up potential event registrants who have not paid in full for their booking with a standard but personalized invoice with just one click of a button. Your invoices will reference registered customers who have not paid their registration yet by name, display the amount owing, and include links to the event, a payment url and a link where they can download a PDF invoice.
- Event Posts. Publish your events using pages or posts and take advantage of WordPress custom post types. You can also customize your templates to display event information in your own custom way.
Extra features include:
- Define Extra Meta Information. This feature allows you to have more control and options over your events and how the information displays to site visitors.
- Maintenance Mode. Pause registration capabilities for regular site visitors when website maintenance is required. You can still work on your event pages during maintenance mode.
- Flexibility, Autonomy & Value: According to the philosophy stated on their website, Event Espresso’s goal 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 as a result.
The premium version of Event Espresso also includes 40+ added features, including:
- Live-filtering when you search for events within the Event Espresso admin.
- Question groups that simplify the process of reusing a common set of questions for similar events.
- Category titles and descriptions on event listing pages.
Event Espresso Add-Ons
As mentioned earlier, Event Espresso provides “add ons”, which allow customers to significantly expand the capabilities of managing your event.
Some of these add-ons include:
- Events Vector Maps Template Addon: The Vector Maps custom events list template allows you to display scheduled events by location. Four maps are currently available: USA, UK, Canada and Australia.
- Recurring Events Dropdown Custom Template Add on: The Recurring Events Drop-down custom template organizes multiple datetime events into a dropdown list.
- Events Category Accordion Template Addon: The Category Accordion template shows event categories in a simple list. Clicking a category name displays the events associated with that category and closes any previously open categories.
- Social Media Buttons Add on: The social media addon displays Facebook, Twitter and Google+ buttons in your events. The Social Media addon is included free with any of the Event Espresso support licenses.
- Custom Template Add on: The Custom Template add on lets you display your events in a variety of visually exciting ways.
- Roles And Permissions Basic And Pro Add on Editions: This add on lets you include your staff in your organization to help manage your events and give new users the capacity to create events or regional managers the ability to manage events. The Roles and Permissions Basic add-on allows you to manage & customize the WP users roles and assign them different permissions with different capabilities, so your staff can help you manage your events or events that other people create. You can customize roles so that users do not have access to certain areas of your WP dashboard and/or certain parts of your Event Espresso settings. If you’d like to create geographic regions for other people to manage events, use the Roles and Permissions Pro add-on.
- EE4 Event Ticketing And Bar Scanning Add-on: The Ticketing add-on adds the ability to generate tickets with bar codes. The Bar Scanning add-on adds the ability to scan ticket bar codes. The ticketing add on includes the ability to customize event tickets. Multiple barcode types are included for managing check-in scans at the door. Registrants can either print out their tickets or display them on their mobile devices. The barcode scanner can be used for checking in or checking out registrants and to validate tickets.
- EE4 Events Table Template Add on: The Events Table Template add on provides event managers with a simple and easy-to-use system that lets you modify the look and feel of your event lists. It comes with a simple table template with category filters, table search, table paging and more. It also enables web developers to design custom templates using one of the included templates as a base template.
- MailChimp Integration Addon: The MailChimp add-on lets you auto-register attendees to a selected mailing autoresponder list or group within your MailChimp account.
Note: Event Espresso regularly adds new features and improvements to the software, including new addons.
To learn more about the latest Event Espreso features and add ons, check out the plugin here:
User Feedback
Below are just some of the many great testimonials that satisfied users have posted about Event Espresso:
”Broadcasting my support for Event Espresso will be a pleasure. I recently helped the Webmaster at a sister church configure your event manager for their site, so I can say with confidence and from experience, that Event Espresso is the best Event Manager plugin ever!” Philip Simpson, The Charlotte Church
”Over the next 5-6 years we should be able to claim that we saved the company over $100,000 – Thanks Event Espresso!” David Waterman, KT Benefits & InkItDigital.com
”You guys have done an AWESOME job with this system…promise me to keep up the excellent work you guys are doing, for as long as you can… Respect!” Robert Jarnroth, Jarnroth Digital Productions
Useful Tips
Whether you are a gym owner, trainer, show promoter, or event professional, there are just unlimited possibilities of what you can do with the Event Espresso software.
After purchasing your copy of the plugin and becoming a licensed user, spend a little time visiting the support forum for new ideas and practical suggestions to improve your event management and registration workflow or enhance the experience of your participants.
Support
Event Espresso works with with other WP plugins and WordPress themes that follow standard WordPress development guidelines. If you experience issues with the plugin, however, you will find that Event Espresso provides excellent user support, as many of its users confirm:
“I’m really impressed with not only the application itself but the support. I have rarely seen such a responsive support staff than at EE. They rock…I highly recommend this plugin!” sock2me
Event Espresso provides great support that includes access to a support forum, comprehensive online documentation with faqs, knowledgebase and how tos, custom development 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 web developers with a solid track record of support, so this is definitely a solution you can rely on to run your events.
Plugin Price
Event Espresso is available in different plugin editions, including a FREE basic edition (named Event Espresso Decaf). For support and advanced plugin functionality, however, you need to consider downloading one of the paid plugin editions below:
- Personal Licensing – This option lets you run Event Espresso on 1 site only. Includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and one year of upgrades and support. Price = $69.95.
- Everything License – This license option allows you to run Event Espresso on one domain only. Includes 51+ Premium features, 29 Premium add ons and one year of upgrades and support. Cost = $279.95.
- Developer License – This option enables you to install Event Espresso on 5 domains. Pricing includes 51+ Premium features, (add ons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Price = $249.95.
The cost to purchase the Event Espresso plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the software is being retailed for the prices shown above. Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details: Event Espresso – Event Espresso
Note: The pricing above was current at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin seller when you visit the site.
Additional Info
The Event Espresso development team is continually adding new features and improvements to its plugin. Make sure to register for their newsletter when you visit their site to receive the latest information and updates.
Look up the plugin’s documentation pages to find answers to common questions about setup and how to use Event Espresso, and the support forums for questions related to your specific situation, or to report issues and give feedback.
For detailed documentation, demos, downloads, videos, tutorials, FAQ and more, visit the Event Espresso website.
We Recommend
Event Espresso is the leading WP event registration and ticketing manager plugin, used by thousands.
If you own a WordPress web site and you intend to run events that require scheduling dates and venues, registering attendees, and booking tickets or seating, then you will probably not find a better solution for your needs than Event Espresso.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Event Espresso – Event Registration And Ticket Management
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