Do you currently run or plan to run events that require co-ordinating bookings, such as seminars, community courses, non-profit fund raisers, marketing functions, or even a big event such as a food fair, a sporting or religious event, or any kind of event where people need to register to attend?
Managing event sign-ups is a complex and time-consuming process. You need to co-ordinate scheduling, dates, registration numbers, data entry, payments and invoicing, confirmations and reservations, reminders and alerts, refunds and cancellations … perhaps even accommodating special needs and delivering tickets to event attendees.
There are lots of advantages to setting up a web-based event registration system. It can make your business more efficient, save time and lower expenses, help you easily duplicate previous events, give event managers more control, improve client experience and increase your sales.
The problem is that setting up an online event booking system can be quite expensive.
Fortunately, if you own a WordPress-based digital presence, you can set up an inexpensive and professional online event registration solution.
Introducing …
Event Espresso – WordPress Event Management & Registration Software
Plugin Description
The Event Espresso online event registration plugin for WordPress enables you to easily set up your event and begin accepting registrations in minutes.
(Set up multiple events and receive online event bookings with Event Espresso)
Event Espresso is a flexible and feature-packed plugin that gives you full control over the event registration management process.
Create custom event registration forms
You can employ multiple event registration strategies, from simple online bookings and straight up ticket sales, to creating custom registration forms in order to better understand your event attendees, or integrating your event bookings with social media sites like Facebook.
Access detailed information about event attendees
Important: Currently, Event Espresso supports two different versions of their plugin: EE 3 and EE 4. The new EE 4 is considerably different than the older Event Espresso 3, as the software is being redeveloped using a different structure to enable future growth. The EE 4 plugin platform has different features, user interface, data structure, coding method and pricing. The developers aim to eventually retire EE 3, so keep this in mind as you learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the plugin.
More info:
Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits of using Event Espresso to manage event registrations on your website:
Automated Event Registration Management
Event Espresso provides you with everything you need to turn your current online presence into a feature-rich and professional event management site … from custom registration forms and automated emails, to maximum seating limits, multiple pricing options and discount codes, to printable tickets and seating charts.
Increased Business Productivity
By using an online event registration solution like Event Espresso, you save time and increase your business productivity by virtually eliminating the need to process registrations manually.
Basically, you are enabling attendees to enrol themselves.
Allowing your participants to do all of the data themselves frees you up from doing administration and lets you direct more time on creating a better event.
More Control Over The User Experience
As you will see shortly, Event Espresso gives you more control over the event management process that you want your users to experience.
Additional benefits include:
- Significantly Lower Costs: Event Espresso gives you a very low cost online event registration management solution compared to building your own software or using a 3rd party service. The cost is kept to a minimum by using a model where users pay for the core plugin (which suits the requirements of most users) and buy add-ons when you need added functionality.
- Higher Sales: With Event Espresso you can accept online event signups any time of day or night. In addition, Event Espresso social sharing features (see below) let people who are interested in registering for your event invite other people they know who may be interested in attending.
- Green & Paperless Event Sign-Up Process: With Event Espresso, the event registration process can remain entirely in digital form, reducing typical paper consumption from tasks associated with administration.
- Own Your Information. You own all the information you acquire from event attendees.
Features
Event Espresso provides functionality to its users via standard features (these are included with the software) and optional features that you can buy for an additional cost, called add-ons.
Event Espresso provides many features to WordPress users. Here are just some of these:
- Quick and simple to install and configure. Be up and running in minutes.
- Multiple Ticket And Pricing Options. Event Espresso allows you to create as many kinds of tickets as you want and set prices, ticket quantity limits, etc.
- WordPress Event Calendar. Customers can easily find your events and add these to their schedule using a WordPress calendar.
- Collect Payments. Event Espresso integrates with several payment gateways, enabling you to collect money prior to running events.
- Google Maps. Google Maps integration allows event managers to customize the look and control settings of Google Maps on your event listing and event details pages.
- Default Prices. Create events quickly and easily by pre-configuring system-default ticket pricing.
- Mobile Registration And Ticketing Apps. The Event Espresso mobile registration system lets you validate tickets, speed up door registrations, create various check-in “stations” and track all attendees.
- Contact Profiles & Contact List. EE 4 provides you with the tools to understand who your customers are and how they have done business with you.
- Waiting Lists. Latecomers can subscribe to a waiting list if your event is full. You can also make it a requirement waiting list registrants pay for their spots if you plan to expand capacity for the event.
- Private Comments On Contacts. Keep notes about users on their profile. Private commenting lets you keep a record of when users contacted you, your internal comments, and how you’ve assisted them.
- Works With The Most Up-To-Date Version Of WordPress. The EE 4 user interface follows the WordPress guidelines to help you create visually enhanced event pages that are easier to use and mobile-friendly.
- Full Control Of Your Event Management. Event Espresso puts you in complete control of all aspects of your event’s registration and ticketing processes, and also lets you automate this process with event management tools that include staff and venue manager, custom event designs, payment processing, list waiting, attendee limits, printable ticketing and more.
- Exportable Information. You can export all the information collected from event customers into Excel or CSV format for producing advanced reports, planning marketing strategies, analyzing attendee statistics, etc..
- Multiple Event Attendee. Event Espresso 4 allows one person or a group to book multiple attendees at the same time. Event managers specify how many people are allowed to enrol in a single registration by specifying either limits on ticket purchases per order, or per-ticket minimums and maximums.
- Attendee Profiles. You can manage your registrant’s profiles and payment history and keep all of their data organized and easily accessible.
- Staff Member Manager. Save time and stay organized by reusing staff member profiles for multiple events or displaying their profile using a shortcode in your event description.
- Categorize Events. If you have a number of types of events like free and paid, conference speakers and breakout sessions, different types of programs and program modules, etc. you can categorize these to help event registrants to find what they’re searching for. You can list all 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, as well as suggesting other events in the categories that interest your existing customers.
Extra features include:
- Hooks, Actions & Filters. These allow you to implement safer and more reliable customizations and extensions to the Event Espresso application that are compatible with WordPress.
- Metabox Management & Reorganization. Event Espresso leverages the WP user interface, which gives you the ability to reorganize the user interface to match your workflow processes. Each meta box can be collapsed, re-arranged or deleted from your page.
- Flexibility, Autonomy & Value For Money: According to the philosophy stated on their site, Event Espresso’s aim is to “empower business and organization leaders with the event registration, ticketing and management tools that maximize the success of events.” To achieve their objectives, the software has been built using a model that provides users with great autonomy and flexibility and delivers value for money in the process.
The premium version of Event Espresso also provides you with 40+ added features, including:
- Duplicating events – streamlines the need to re-enter event information when adding new events.
- Default surcharge (the same as applying a service tax to each ticket).
- Category titles and descriptions on event listings.
Event Espresso Add-Ons
As well as a comprehensive range of features, Event Espresso provides “add-ons”, which allow plugin users to significantly enhance the functionality of the event management process.
Some of these add-ons include:
- Events Vector Maps Template Addon: The Vector Maps custom events list template lets you display upcoming events by location. There are four maps available: USA, UK, Canada and Australia.
- Recurring Events Drop-down Template Add-on: The Recurring Events Drop-down custom template lets you organize events with many datetimes into a dropdown list.
- Events Date Range Template Addon: The Date Range custom event list template lets your users to search for events that take place within a certain date range.
- Events Social Sharing Add on: This add on adds social sharing features to the end of your Event Espresso “thank you” page that allows your registrants to post a message about their event registration on Twitter and Facebook after registration.
- Custom Template Add on: The Custom Template add-on lets you display your events in a number of visually exciting ways.
- Roles And Permissions Basic & Pro Addon Editions: This add-on lets you include other users in the event management process and give new users the ability to create events or regional managers the capacity to manage events. The Roles and Permissions Basic add-on allows you to manage & customize the WP users roles and give them different permissions with different capabilities, allowing staff to help you manage your events or the events that others create. You can customize roles so that users do not have access to certain areas of your WordPress dashboard and/or certain sections of your Event Espresso settings. If you’d like to allow users to have geographic responsibilities for events and users, use the Roles and Permissions Pro addon.
- Event Ticketing Addon: The Ticketing add-on adds the ability to create tickets with bar codes. The Bar Scanning add-on gives you the capacity to scan ticket barcodes. The ticketing add-on includes the ability to customize event tickets. Multiple bar code types are included for managing check-in scans at venues. Registrants can either print out their tickets or display them on their mobile devices. The mobile app can be used for checking in or checking out attendees and to validate tickets.
- EE4 Events Calendar Add-on: This WordPress events calendar displays events and categories of events using a nice graphical calendar.
- JSON API Addon: The new Event Espresso JSON API add on gives permission for other software applications, web tools, mobile applications, etc… to access your Event Espresso details through an Application Programming Interface (API).
Note: Event Espresso regularly adds new features and improvements to the plugin, including new addons.
For more details about the newest Event Espreso features and add ons, check out the plugin here:
Customer Feedback
Below are some of the many testimonials that satisfied customers have written about Event Espresso:
“It is a very, very slick plugin. It’s one of those plugins where you install it, change a couple of settings, and boom you’re selling tickets.” Brad Williams, WebDevStudios
”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
”Thank you, we just did 2 sell out seminars of 50 attendees in 48 hours using Event Espresso and it was awesome. My wife was able to pick up on the processing backend with ease. You have done a great job on getting this system together – very simple, clear and well laid out With powerful functionality. I am so glad I dumped the old booking application we had and gave Event Espresso a go. Just wanted to say thanks, and thanks for the very patient, friendly and speedy assistance in helping me to get it all set up at the start. Many thanks to you and your team. A grateful customer.” Nicholas de Castella, Emotional Intelligence Trainings
Event Espresso Tips
Whether you are an education services provider, teacher, event promoter, or event management consultant, there are just unlimited possibilities of what you can do with the Event Espresso software.
After purchasing the plugin and becoming a registered user, spend a little time visiting the user forum for inspiration and practical suggestions to streamline your event management process and improve the experience of your participants.
Support
Event Espresso is fully compatible with other WP plugins and themes that follow standard WordPress development guidelines. If you experience issues with the plugin, however, you will find that Event Espresso provides excellent support, as so many of its clients attest:
“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
The Event Espresso plugin provides comprehensive support including access to a support forum, comprehensive online documentation with faqs, knowledge base and how tos, email 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 proven track record of support, so this is definitely software you can count on to organize and manage your events.
Software Pricing
Event Espresso is available in various editions, including a FREE basic edition (called Event Espresso Decaf). For support and advanced plugin options, however, you may want to consider downloading one of the premium plugin editions below:
- Personal License – This license option enables you to configure Event Espresso on one domain only. Includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Cost = $69.95.
- Everything Edition – This lets you install Event Espresso on one site only. Includes 51+ Premium features, 29 Premium add ons and 1 year of upgrades and support. Price = $279.95.
- Developer License – This option lets you install Event Espresso on 5 sites. Includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and one year of upgrades and support. Cost = $249.95.
Pricing details of the Event Espresso plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the plugin retails for the amounts shown above. Check the plugin’s website for the current price: Event Espresso – Event Espresso
Please Note: The above reflects the pricing when this review was written. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin developer when you visit the site.
Additional Information
Event Espresso regularly adds new features and improvements to its software. Make sure to remain subscribed to their customer update list to receive the latest information and updates.
Use the plugin’s documentation tools for answers to common questions about setup and how to use Event Espresso, and the support forums if you have questions related to your particular situation, or to notify developers about problems and give feedback.
For detailed installation and support documentation, demos, downloads, videos, tutorials, FAQ and more, visit the Event Espresso web site.
Our Recommendation
Event Espresso is the preferred WordPress event booking and ticketing manager plugin, used and trusted by thousands of event promoters.
If you own a WordPress website and you currently run events that involve scheduling dates, times and venues, enrolling attendees, and selling tickets, then you will probably not find a better plugin for your needs than Event Espresso.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Event Espresso
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