As an event designer, I use a number of tools to help organize and execute various events in the tech/web community. While I won't be able to talk about all of them today, I'd like to focus on a few that I REALLY like.
Read more...Organization
I've used a number of organizational tools to manage the event design process. One tool that I love to use the most is Things ($49.95 USD), developed by Cultured Code.
One of the great things about, well, Things is that it allows me to breakdown different events into projects, and within those projects I can create tasks related to that specific event. I can track ticket sales leads, sponsorship information, or any other type of content. One thing it doesn't do is allow for the importing of documents (Word, PDF, etc) or store information in the cloud. Fortunately, CulturedCode created a slick iPhone app ($9.99 USD) that syncs your data across your iPhone and laptop/desktop. I have no real complaints about Things at all, except for the lack of the document importing/cloud data storage functionality.
Another application that I like to use is Evernote (free, with the option to upgrade to a paid account) to store data like attendee registration lists, catering information or anything that is relevant to the day-of. Evernote is a great tool, because not only can you store content on your phone (iPhone, Palm Pre, Blackberry, Windows Mobile), it syncs your data into the cloud and into the software application. As if that isn't enough, there's also a web-clipper extension for Firefox and a USB key version of Evernote.
The free account only allows you to store 40MB of data, while the premium account ($5/month or $45/year USD) allows you to store 500MB of data. Check out http://www.evernote.com/about/premium/ for more information.
Wrap-up
Post-event engagement is an important part of the process that some event organizers neglect. Understanding what your attendees thought of your event is critical to learning how you can improve future events. I've setup a Google Docs form to get feedback from event attendees to gain insight on what they thought of the event, the speaker, and the content. I like to ask attendees what they would improve, as it gives them a sense of ownership.
Which tools do you use to organize and curate events? What tools or services do you use for post-event engagement? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts! Hit me up on Twitter.