Event management software that streamlines how you plan events

Planning Pod is the engine that powers successful events, giving you and your team a single place to organize details, automate processes and centralize communications

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Running events shouldn’t run you ragged ... our software brings balance to planning events

Planning Pod Tools List

Handle hundreds of details and deadlines

No more juggling lots of spreadsheets, calendars, emails and single-purpose apps. Planning Pod gives you a centralized solution so all your event information is in one place and accessible in seconds.

Planning Pod Dashboard with Alerts

Establish timesaving workflows

Our tools work together to help you create reliable processes that make you more efficient. This way you spend less time on micro-managing details, resources, staff and attendees and more on creating amazing experiences.

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Keep everyone organized and on the same page

Things don’t slip through the cracks when everyone is informed and follows through. Our collaborative tools give you and your team, vendors and clients the big picture while keeping everyone accountable.

WHETHER YOU PLAN EVENTS LARGE OR SMALL, FEW OR MANY

Built for any type of event or organization


4.89 out of 5 stars

See why more event professionals rely on our tools to streamline their events!

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See how our 20+ tools save event planners an average of 62+ hours per month

Planning Pod To-Do Tool
PRODUCTIVITY AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Stay on schedule, on budget and in control

Tracking tasks and assignments. Building timelines and budgets. Staying on top of event bookings and appointments. Managing files and notes. These are at the heart of managing events, and they’re also at the heart of our event management software, along with at-a-glance dashboards and reports and so you always know where you stand.

"Planning Pod is perfect for me and my team to manage our events and clients ... it's an all-in-one tool that practically thinks for us in tracking details."
- Brandee Gaar, Blush by Brandee Gaar

Brandee Gaar, Blush by Brandee Gaar
EVENT LAYOUT AND DESIGN

Start giving shape to your vision for events

Transform that image in your head into reality with our event design tools. Create professional room diagrams, event layouts and seating arrangements in minutes ... no design or CAD experience necessary. Build vision boards to share pics and ideas with your team and clients.

Noelle Davis, 73 Productions

"The floorplans are so incredibly useful for visualizing the layout of spaces."
- Noelle Davis, 73 Productions

Attendee List in Floorplan
Planning Pood Registration Tool Ticket Sales
ATTENDEE AND REGISTRATION MANAGEMENT

Promote your event and collect registrations online

No event is complete without ... attendees, of course. Our event planning software lets you build custom event webpages, create tickets, launch online RSVP or event registration forms and collect payments. Track all attendee details and revenues and, on event day, sign them in with our check-in tool.

*Via our payment processing partners.

"A fast, economical way for creating event websites and collecting registrations and RSVP data."
- Cathy Anna, Cathy Anna Events

Cathy Anna, Cathy Anna Events
PROSPECTING AND BILLING MANAGEMENT

Automate how you do business with clients and prospects

Our tools make it seamless for event clients to do business with you. Collect leads via online webforms and manage your sales pipeline. Create and send customized contracts, proposals and invoices (and build reusable templates for all three) and collect signatures and payments electronically. Or invite customers into a client portal where they can view and sign documents, make payments, complete tasks and more.

Courtney Armen, Cocoluna Events

"Your amazing invoicing, proposals and contracts tools make my business shine."
- Courtney Armen, Cocoluna Events

Invoice Payment Reminders
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COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION

Streamline how you and your team communiate and collaborate

Event management requires lots of back-and-forth between staff, vendors, contractors and clients, and our platform gives you the means to manage it all. Like a centralized event CRM manager and email inbox for tracking all your event and client communications. And flexible permission settings for unlimited users so your team can access dozens of shared tools.

  • Notes
  • Permissions / User Groups
  • Unlimited Users

"Planning Pod keeps everything in one place so our staff, clients and vendors can easily collaborate."
- Gretchen Culver, Rocket Science Events

Gretchen Culver, Rocket Science Events
OUR GOALS: LIGHTENING YOUR LOAD, PROVIDING YOU PEACE-OF-MIND

More ways we add convenience to your work life

Automations and workflows to create efficiencies and streamline processes based on the way that you work and how you do business.

Integrations with applications like Google, Outlook, Square and Stripe plus many others via the Zapier platform (like Quickbooks, Xero, Salesforce, MailChimp)*

Mobile friendly platform that you can use via the Web browser of any computer, tablet or smartphone

Planning Pod Templates

Customer support + training to get you up-and-running fast and ensure you are getting the most out of our tools. (training included with enterprise packages)

Timesaving templates for everything from to-do lists, timelines and floorplans to budgets, contracts and proposals

Secure data transmission and storage including Secure Socket Layer encryption, server-side firewall protection, daily remote backups and PCI compliance for online payments


Ready to take control of your events?

GET STARTED! Plans and Pricing

RECENT POST
Jeff Kear · Owner, Planning Pod

How to choose the best event planning software for you


Whether you are a professional event manager or the de facto event organizer slash master-of-ceremonies for your organization or department, web-based event management software can greatly reduce effort and create efficiencies in how you manage your events.

So what is event management software? Generally, the main benefits of online event software include the ability to:

  • Centralize all your event details in one place where they are easy to find and organize.
  • Have an all-in-one complete solution that integrates a bundle of tools designed specifically for managing events (vs. managing multiple spreadsheets or generic single-task apps).
  • Save massive amounts of time by automating your processes and making them easily replicated.
  • Simplify how you coordinate with your team, including managing event vendors, co-workers, stakeholders, clients, contractors, volunteers, committees, sponsors, exhibitors and anyone else involved with managing your events.
  • Consolidate event communications so all your sent and received emails are in one convenient place for you and your team to track and review.
  • Streamline the attendee experience via things like online event registration and ticketing, event websites and webpages and attendee communications.
  • Minimize duplication of efforts (like recreating the same budget, timeline or task list over and over again) as well as avoid double-entering data (because ideally all the tools work together and share information).
  • Save you money from having to invest in multiple applications and from avoiding costly mistakes.
  • Save your job and/or your bacon because you and your team aren’t missing deadlines, losing files or notes and crossing your wires.

With that said, not all event management software systems are identical or even include the same tools or have the same focus.

In fact, there are specific categories of functionality you should be aware of when you want to review and compare event management tools and apps, and these are detailed below.

Event productivity and project management


Many event planning software programs include project planning tools for managing tasks, calendars, logistics, timelines, itineraries and files. These types of tools are focused on improving organization and coordination capabilities of you and your team.

Event communications


There's nothing worse than trying to manage your event communications with emails scattered throughout your inbox and across the inboxes of all your team members. A program that consolidates these communciations into one collective inbox and integrates with your existing email addresses gives you the power to see all your event-related emails in one place.

Event design


One big objective of many event coordinators is to formulate a plan for how the event is set up and flows to provide an optimal experience for attendees as well as exhibitors, vendors and staff. So if this is a priority, you should look for event room layout and floor plan tools, many of which utilize drag-and-drop technology and allow for assigned seating of guests.

Event registration and ticketing


These tools come in many shapes and sizes with many different feature sets and fee structures. At minimum, you should expect the ability to create free or paid tickets, set ticket schedules, create custom online registration or RSVP forms and collect payments electronically plus detailed reporting on attendee details and sales.

Event marketing


Some event management software companies focus on tools specifically for marketing events to attendees, sponsors and exhibitors. This can include functionality for building event websites, bulk/mass emailing capabilities and creating a listing in online event directories, and all this often integrates with registration features.

Event booking management


Tracking event bookings and client bookings is often a feature sought out by event planner solopreneurs, event planning firms and event venues that wish to have an automated way to manage their event businesses and avoid double-booking time slots.

Attendee engagement and experience


Recent years have seen an increase in companies providing event apps and tools to enhance the attendee experience. These apps can include searchable electronic attendee directories; social media-like tools and integrations to facilitate attendee interaction and networking; customizable event schedules; interactive event maps; and live polling and survey tools.

Meeting management


Managing meetings, conferences and conventions often have their own unique set of challenges and require very specialized tools for handling things like venue management (which can include room booking and blocks), attendee travel, exhibitors, sponsors, vendors, RFPs, shipping and much more.

Resource management


"Resources" can mean a variety of things regarding events, from human resources like vendors and contractors to physical resources like venues and equipment. Some event management solutions offer inventory management so you can track resource allocation across events and things like breakage or cleaning/laundering.

So how do you choose which event planning software is right for you? It boils down to 4 easy steps.

  1. Make a list of all the details and areas of your event that you are already managing with existing tools and apps.
  2. Make a second list of all the additional things you need to manage and/or accomplish that your existing tools/resources don’t do or don’t do very well.
  3. Combine those lists into one big "needs" spreadsheet; put the needs in rows; and arrange the needs into three categories: must-have, nice-to-have and over-and-above.
  4. In your spreadsheet, create columns for each piece of event management software you are evaluating so that when you are reading up on them you can check off whether it meets your criteria or not.

This may take a little time, but once you have done this, you will have a clear picture of which event management apps will meet your needs better and can make a more informed decision that you won’t regret down the road.


Ready to take control of your events?

GET STARTED! Plans and Pricing