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Engaging Social Networks for Audience Acquisition with Eventbee--Top Ten FAQ Profile

  1. What is EventBee and how did it get started?
  2. What ticket selling services does EventBee provide?
  3. What other ticket selling incentives are offered by EventBee?
  4. How successful is social network affiliate ticket selling?
  5. What other ticket selling incentives are offered by EventBee?
  6. How are payments handled by EventBee?
  7. If an event is being handled by a different registration company, it is still possible to use the EventBee social network ticket selling?
  8. What other event management services does EventBee offer?
  9. What is the next big innovation on the EventBee horizon?
  10. Where can I find more information about EventBee?



What is EventBee and how did it get started?
EventBee is an online event marketing service that offers event registration management, ticket selling via social networks, and community pages and email campaigns integrated with the event. It was started in 2003 by Bala Musrif and Kumar Lanka.

EventBee's newest feature, launched at the end of January, is the ability for an event manager to conduct affiliate ticket selling through Facebook friends.

What ticket selling services does EventBee provide?
EventBee offers affiliate ticket selling, also called network ticket selling. With network ticket selling, the event manager can name partners who receive a commission for selling tickets on their websites or blogs. The partners are given Java script code that they paste on their websites. Each partner receives a distinct URL from EventBee, to track where the sale comes from.

When someone buys a ticket, the partner gets whatever commission has been set by the event manager, anywhere from $0.50 to $100. An event manager can vary the commissions for different partners. The partner does have to share some of the commission from ticket sales. EventBee charges a 10 percent (of the commission receipts) administrative fee to cover its expenses.

According to Bala Musrif, EventBee's CEO, ticket selling is not easy. “There might be a million impressions on the website but only one to ten ticket sales.” As a means to increase sales, EventBee recently launched social network ticket selling through Facebook, using Facebook's Connect feature that debuted in December 2008. So far, no one other than EventBee is offering this.

Musrif describes how it works for Facebook partners: “They sign up as a partner and there are tools that will allow them to publish the event to their profile, and invite their Facebook friends to the event. When a Facebook user publishes events, that invites the friends.”

What other ticket selling incentives are offered by EventBee?
In addition to the commissions earned by partners, it is also possible for Facebook friends to get discounted tickets. “For example, the event manager is giving ten dollars as a commission,” says Musrif. “A Facebook [partner] can say, ‘I will offer five dollars of that as a discount to my friends,’ and his friends will get a discount of five dollars because they are in the social graph of this [partner].”

How successful is social network affiliate ticket selling?
 Even though the Facebook affiliate selling was only launched a few weeks ago, EventBee is finding that 10 percent of ticket sales are coming through the social network.  Musrif says that the advantage is that a Facebook user who registers for an event probably has Facebook friends with similar interests. “The possibility of them becoming an attendee is more than just shooting an email and hoping that someone will register. This is actually a vital ticket selling model, where you are reaching the right people because the people who are promoting the event are already your attendees or your friends who know your space.”

The social network selling also exploits the impulse aspect. Musrif says anyone who registers for an event is notified that they can make a commission. “That really triggers impulse and leads coming from this new system. When they register for the event, there is a little link saying 'Hey, publish this event on your Facebook profile. By the way, the event manager is giving you $10 per ticket.”

What registration services are provided by EventBee?
 EventBee offers a complete online registration service. This includes custom web pages, different types of tickets at different prices, the possibility of group discounts -- all the traditional aspects of event registration.

Although EventBee does not do physical, on-site registration, it does generate reports that the event manager can give to whatever on-site registration service is being used. Another alternative is to have an Internet connection at the registration table on-site, and the event manager can use EventBee for online registration of attendees.

One of the things that sets EventBee apart from other registration services is that it only charges a fee of $1 per ticket sold, regardless of the price of the ticket. “Our view is it’s the same software, why should we be charging more because of the ticket price?” says Musrif. In the future, EventBee plans to charge an extra dollar for tickets sold through social networks.

How are payments handled by EventBee?
 EventBee has three credit card payment options: PayPal, Google Checkout, and EventBee's own credit card processing. “The advantage with Google and PayPal is the money directly goes to the event manager's account,” says Musrif. “If they use our credit card processing, we receive the money and then we mail the check. So there is a delay.”

If an event is being handled by a different registration company, it is still possible to use the EventBee social network ticket selling? 
The answer is a qualified yes. EventBee will not allow another registration company to access its database. It is possible for an event manager to use a separate registration company and, in parallel, use EventBee for affiliate ticket sales via social networks.

What other event management services does EventBee offer?
 EventBee allows the event manager to build community webpages around the event, such as discussion forums, photo sharing, and member networking. Community pages are free for public and moderated communities. For communities that charge a membership fee, EventBee charges from $2 to $4 per community member.
EventBee also offers self-service email marketing. Prices range from $25 to $80, depending on the number of email addresses.

What is the next big innovation on the EventBee horizon?
Although he cannot disclose the names of the companies that EventBee is working with, Musrif says social network ticket sales will be possible on platforms other than Facebook. “Basically we will be expanding into social web more and more. We see distribution is the key for the event manager to reach more attendees and [gain] more audience for the event.”

Where can I find more information about EventBee?

EventBee is located at this physical address:

441 Deguigne Drive, Suite 101
 Sunnyvale, CA 94085
 Telephone: 408-310-6768
email: support@eventbee.com

Or visit http://www.EventBee.com

Tags: Audience Acquisition, Eventbee, Social Networks

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