Event Planning Must Include An Event Website
As part of your event planning you should seriously consider
registering a special event domain. That should in fact be the
first step for your planning of any event.
Whatever it is: - your big wedding event - any other big family
event - a festival - a course / training event - a celebration
event in your local community - an international seminar or
conference event - a campaign event / promotion event - a school
class event.
It is much easier to find a proper domain name for an event
website than for a permanent website.
In many cases you can use the formula: www.EVENTNAME2005.com or
...Net or with a national domain like ...co.uk
You can use the formula: www.musicfestival2005.com or
www.music-festival-2005.com
or for your wedding event www.maryANDpeter.com or
www.wedding-mary-peter.com
You can use this formula or similar ideas for domain
registration for all events of any kind, whatever it is special
events or annual event or more frequent events. Think of:
A course day for training: www.MarketingTraining2005.com
A sports day: www.Soccer-championship-2005.com and so on for all
events.
If your event is an ongoing event, year after year, (I don't
think of your wedding!) and you can get a really good domain
name, then register this domain name, and use it year after year
for the annual event.
This is fine for the branding of the domain name, as well as for
the re-use of printed material, internet links etc.
Remark, that you can write the domain name of the event in
different ways, using capital letters to make the domain name
more readable, as the capitalization of the letters in the
domain name doesn't matter. Only if you refer to specific pages
other than the home page you need to have an exact match for the
letters. This is one of the good reasons, too, to go for a
completely new domain name.
You only get help from the domain name registration if you also
set up a website.
In the big picture to register a domain and to have it hosted is
a very little part of the expense for all events.
If you are really on a shoestring consider a service like Direct
Nic, see http://www.domainregistrationhosting.net/directnic.htm
The registration costs as little as 15 USD per year and you can
set up a f*ree website without any extra costs. This web hosting
company allows you to upload 20 MB of web pages on the free
account just for your cost of the domain name registration. That
is more than enough for most event websites. Just be careful
with the graphics, including pictures. All the graphics have to
be optimized for web use for the lowest possible file size. This
shouldn't give you any problems.
What to use event domains and event websites for?
In your event planning make use of your event website to tell
about: - What is the background of the event? - If it is a
special event, then why is it a special event. - Where and when
and for whom? - Will it cost something and how to register to
participate in the event? - Are you expecting presents - other
things guests have to prepare for?
The website after the event should also be a part of your event
planning.
Most visitors will use the event website after the event, so
remember that in your planning.
You can post photos from the event - this is a very popular
aspect of any modern event, so plan for that. You can
incorporate the photos on your event website or you can link to
a special service that makes it easier for you to upload the
event pictures after the big day. I have put some of the best
offers together here and some services are f*ree:
http://www.OnlinePhotoSharing.net
You can highlight special messages, lessons learned, info for
further work, cooperation and event planning - may be try to
coordinate all events after the common big event?
I am sure you have many more ideas already to be included in
your event planning - just remember for all events - plan in
time, that makes everything much easier for yourself and for
other event participants.
And, PLEASE, don't close down your successful event website just
a few months after the event. Visitors will first arrive in
numbers to websites after some time.
Lesson: If possible, include in your event planning some years
of hosting of your event website and keep your event domain as
long as you can.