Prepare the Right Food for America's Most Popular Sporting Event

The Super Bowl has become one of the biggest events of the year, with viewers around the world gathering to watch the game, the halftime show, and the commercials. For many people though, the the big game is about one thing: food. If you're hosting a Super Bowl event, don't expect that serving any old food will be accepted by guests. What you serve matters! There are foods that are acceptable for a Super Bowl gathering, and some that just don't belong. 

Here is a list of the most popular foods to pig out on during celebrations for this major football event, and some recipes to go along with each to help you prepare the perfect menu.

Chips and Dip 
The great thing about chips is that you don't have to make them. Buy a few different types and pair them with a variety of dips, such as salsa, guacamole, 7-layer dip, an aioli, hummus, or even a bruschetta. People will appreciate the variety of flavors over the course of the long game, and everyone will find something they like.

Recipes: Seven-layer dip; Queso dip; Easy Guacamole; Caramelized Onion Dip

Pigs in a Blanket
These appetizers are not only cute, but they're easy to make and safe to eat.Whether you make them classic style or throw in some bacon, they're sure to be a hit.

Recipes: Crescent Dogs; Neely's Pigs in a Blanket; Bacon-Cheddar Pigs in a Blanket

Wings
Wings have become a must-have for Super Bowl parties. These saucy snacks have grown popular due to the wide variety of flavors, their practicality (they're accessible, deliverable, and inexpensive) and the fact that they go so well with beer.

Recipes: Classic Buffalo Wings; Baked Chicken Wings; Hot Wings
 
Pizza 
Super Bowl Sunday is pizza's biggest day of the year. It's a food you can easily get delivered that you know everyone will enjoy. If you'd rather not have to wait for your order, it's just as easy to make on your own. In either case, as long as you offer guests a variety of toppings to choose from, they'll be happy.

Recipes: Basic Pepperoni Pizza; Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza; Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Game-Day Desserts
After eating all of the savory foods of the night, it's nice to finish up the fourth quarter with a sweet snack. The best part is that you can dress up your desserts to match the theme of the night and use them as decoration before you chow down on them!

Recipes: Oreo Football Cookies; Pull Apart Touchdown Cupcakes: Peanut Butter Football Cookie

Beer
We know that beer isn't technically a food, but it's not the Super Bowl without it. It's heavily advertised during the game, so if you don't have it you'll constantly be reminded that you're missing out on something. Plus, there's nothing like cracking open a can and taking that first sip as the ball is kicked off.

We aren't going to suggest that you attempt to make beer this late in the game, so you can just pick up something from one of the many brands that are heavily promoted during the game.

Get the Word Out: How to Effectively Promote Your Event

Event planners have a lot to think about when putting together an event, but one of the most important parts of the event planning process should be publicity. You could put together a gorgeous event page in preparation for the event you've spent so much time, money and energy planning, but if no one knows about it you're not very likely to sell tickets. Luckily, ezEvent's publicity tools make it simple to spread the word and get your tickets sold!

The methods you use to promote your event will depend on the event's purpose, the likely audience, the best ways to reach that audience, and your promotional budget and resources. Below are a list of popular marketing channels that you can use to get the word out about your event and how ezEvent can help you utilize them.

1. Social Media

Social media has a vast reach, with nearly one in four people worldwide having an online social presence. For that reason, social media should be a primary weapon in your arsenal for generating buzz for your event. Facebook and Twitter should be your primary tools, as they're designed for spreading a message. Having a Facebook page, rather than a group, allows your posts to appear in News Feeds every time you update the page's status. On Twitter, you can create a hashtag for the event (or use a popular existing one) and ask for retweets of the most important information. No matter which vehicle you use, make sure to post your event link consistently in the time leading up to the event. You should also vary your posts with different types of content, including event information, contests, and pictures that showcase what guests will see at the event. Since everyone uses social media differently, the repetition and varied content assures you'll engage as many people as possible.

ezEvent's Share Your Event tools allow you to like your event on Facebook so that your friends can see it, tweet the link, publicly recommend it on Google+, or share it on LinkedIn. With one click of a button, you also have the capability to create a Facebook event page that has all of the information you entered on your event page along with a Get Tickets button that links back to your page.

2. Email

Email marketing is effective because you can directly reach people you know are interested in your event or the general type of event you're hosting. Email marketing is permission-based, meaning the people on your email list have told you they want to receive messages from you, so these people are very likely to buy tickets to your event. People also check their email constantly, wherever they are, and that allows you to stay connected to them. To get people to open the email you send, make sure you include a great subject line that is clear what the contents of the email are.

ezEvent allows you to email out your event page to everyone in your contacts list. Simply type in or import your contacts, enter in a subject line, add in a custom message and click send. It's that easy.

3. Utilizing Your Website

When guests look for information about your event, it's likely that the first place they'll check is your website. Links to the event should be placed anywhere and everywhere on the site where it seems appropriate, whether that be on the home page, an events section, announcements section, etc.

ezEvent has several options that make it easy for buyers to access your event page from your website. If you simply want to include your event link, you can copy and paste it from your Event Information page. When your event is created, an HTML code is generated for several types of buy tickets buttons that you can include on your page. These buttons look cleaner than just having a link and make it obvious where the person will be going when they click it. If you have several events going on and you want to promote them all at once, you can use our Event Calendar/Event List widget so that a potential customer can scroll through a map and see which dates have events.

4. Print Media (Flyers, Posters, Newspaper Ads, etc.)

Many people have stopped utilizing print media since the world is so online-focused nowadays, but it can still be a viable marketing option if your target audience utilizes it. Buying ad space in a newspaper that's target audience is the same as your event's is a great way to reach those people. If the event is in a high traffic area, conveniently placed posters and flyers may also help catch the eye of your target. Just make sure all of your print media contain your event link!

ezEvent allows you to customize your event link so that it's easy to remember. Under the Customize section, you can enter in an easy to remember event link so that when someone sees it listed on a poster or in the newspaper, they'll be able to remember it when they have a chance to go online.

Now that you know which marketing channels you can use to promote your events, you'll need to create content that will allow you to effectively connect with your audience. Once you do that, you're sure to have a well-attended event!

Don't Let Winter Weather Ruin Your Events!

Here in Connecticut we woke up to a foot of snow. Being that it's a Friday, there's a high likelihood that many events around the state are going to be impacted. 

If you've been following our blog, you know that when planning your events you should hope for the best and plan for the worst, and always make plans to minimize weather worries. Sometimes, no matter how much planning you've done you're still going to have some last minute decisions to make regarding the status of your event. Here are some questions you'll need to ask yourself and some tips for dealing with them.

 

Should I make backup plans?

If you're planning a winter event, be sure you've considered how it will change if snow threatens to ruin your day. While weather problems like rain or extreme heat may allows for a change of venue, snow is likely to prevent people from getting to your event no matter where it's held. You should always have a "Snow Date" in mind and advertise it in advance. If you're contracting with vendors, musicians, or anyone else, you should be able to work out an alternate event date when you first negotiate your contracts and service orders.

 

Can I still hold my event if there's snow?

If you're able to modify your plans sufficiently to make sure your event is safe and are confident that guests will be able to travel to your event safely, then you can proceed even if there's snow on the ground. This is advisable if the snow ends hours before your event is scheduled to begin or if there's only a light snow expected. If it's still snowing during your event or if a storm could come in earlier than expected, it may not be wise to proceed. Sometimes you may not even have a choice, as your venue could decide not to open or event staff might not be able to get to the venue. If you are able to go on with the event as scheduled, make sure all parking areas and walkways have been plowed thoroughly to ensure guest safety. 

 

Is it alright to simply cancel the event when it snows?

In many cases, the best decision may be to cancel to ensure guests' safety. If you do cancel, make sure everyone scheduled to attend is aware of the decision. Send out a message via email and/or social media saying "This event will be cancelled on account of snow." If it's a paid event, let guests know how they will be refunded.

 

If it's snowing or threatening to snow, how and when should I implement alternate plans?

Making this call can be tricky, and sometimes unpopular, and takes a person or team with confidence in their decision-making abilities. Sometimes there won't be snow early in the day, but major storms threaten to hit during your event. You need to decide if it's safe, financially smart, and worth proceeding. This plan should really be custom to every specific event, but some elements that are common to help making this decision include:

• Who will make the call?
• What safety concerns need to be considered?
• What are the costs/losses associated with cancelling, moving or postponing vs. going forward with potentially smaller attendance?
• When will you make the call? (Some timelines may depend on contracts you've signed)
• Who needs to be notified?

 

What if a presenter/performer is delayed due to the weather?

If you know far enough in advance that your presenter or performer can't make it, it's best to work with your presenter to try to reschedule or make a call for a cancellation. Contractual agreements and ticket sales/refunds will affect how you handle this. If the news comes last minute and you already have an audience at your venue or on their way, you might choose to think creatively about an alternate offering. Do not plan to stall the start of the event for longer that 20 minutes without communicating changes to your attendees.

2013: A Year Full of New Features

It's that time of year where pretty much the entire Internet makes lists to reflect on what's happened over the last 12 months. Here at ezEvent we've released a ton of great features in 2013, and we're proud to present our picks for the 10 most notable ones (in no particular order):

1) Buyer Payment Options

We know that not everyone likes to pay online. We also know that our event organizers like options when it comes to how they collect their funds. For that reason, we now allow event organizers to choose between several different payment options. These options include ezEvent's Merchant Account for credit card processing, PayPal, and offline payment options such as pay by check, invoice the buyer, or pay at the door.

2) Help Center & Sample Events

ezEvent was designed to be very user-friendly, but we know that people will still end up with questions. To give our users the answers they need, we created a Help Center with 12 in-depth tutorials and 15 example events. If it's inspiration you need for your event page or if you want to master the event creation process, the answer can be found in the Help Center!

3) Merchandise

Selling merchandise is a great way to bring in extra revenue at an event. The problem is, if you go in without knowing how many people are going to buy your items and you produce more than you sell you could end up with a loss. To solve that problem, ezEvent now allows you to sell any and all merchandise alongside your tickets. Custom questions allow you to get into more details, such as what size or color t-shirt customers want, so you know exactly what you need to have with you at the event. Buyers will print off a voucher and exchange it for the merchandise at the event. Isn't that 'ez'?

4) Participant/Pledge Forms

Hosting a walk-a-thon, read-a-thon, or any other "a-thon" event that requires participants to collect pledge donations? ezEvent's particpant/pledge forms make it simple to keep track of the participants and all of the pledge donations they've collected all in one place.

5) Custom Event Header

If you want to grab someone's attention immediately, having an eye-catching image right at the top of the page is a great way to do it. ezEvent's newest feature allows you to upload a custom banner, poster, or other graphic to include as a header on your event page.

6) Attendee Information With Custom Questions

Do you need to know more about an attendee than just their basic contact info? Maybe you're planning for a dinner and need to know if you'll have any vegetarians in attendance. Maybe you want to know how guests heard about your event. No matter what you need to know, you can ask the question with the attendee information feature. Questions can have an open-ended text answer, or guests can select from multiple answers with a drop down box or radio buttons.

7) Ticket Scanning

You've sold out your event and the time has come to let guests into the venue. Our ticket scanning options make the process quick and easy! Whether you choose to scan using a QR code reader, a 2D scanner, or simply by entering barcode numbers into your computer, ezEvent's scanning system allows you to quickly check in guests and make sure there are no duplicate tickets.

8) Post Event Surveys 

Event planners work hard on their events, so it's important to get feedback once the event is over. ezEvent allow you to design a custom survey and send it out to all of your event attendees so you know what they thought of the event, the ticket buying process, and anything else you'd like feedback on.

9) Ticket Dividers

Many events have different categories of tickets or items for sale. Whether it's general admission, VIP, or merchandise, using ticket dividers helps to separate out different ticket groups so buyers can easily find and purchase various items that are on sale. Unlike tickets, dividers are just for display and organization. Not only do they separate your items, but you can even use them to add some extra color and style to your page! 

10) Calendar Widget

Many of our event organizers host multiple events that take place on different dates and times. We've created a nifty event calendar/event list iframe that organizers can post on their websites. When potential customers see a show they're interested in, they can click the buy tickets button and be directed right to the ezEvent page for that specific event date and time.

Keep an eye out in 2014 for more new and exciting features!

The Top 5 Christmas Cookies (With Recipes!)

You leave them out for Santa. You give them as gifts. You enjoy them after (and sometimes before and during) your Christmas meal. Cookies are a delicious highlight to any Christmas celebration, and baking has become as much a Christmas tradition as carols and stockings. If you're anything like me you wait until the last minute to bake because you can't decide what you want to whip up this year. Don't fear! We've compiled a list of the top 5 Christmas cookies (with recipes!) to help you prepare for your big Christmas event!

Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are a Christmas go-to because they're so versatile. They're essentially the blank canvas of the cookie world, which makes them great for people who don't really like sweets. For those who like a more flavorful cookie, they can be dressed up on the inside with flavors like lemon or almond. Sugar cookies are also perfect for decorating. You can cut them into cute shapes and make them your own with frosting, icing, sprinkles, and candies. The best part is you can let your kids do the decorating, and even if they look terrible they'll still look adorable.

Recipes: Easy Sugar Cookies; White Velvet Sugar Cookies; Chewy Sugar Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread cookies are like the more flavorful cousin of sugar cookies. They're very traditional during Christmas as they're packed with warm holiday flavors like ginger, molasses, and cinnamon. Like sugar cookies, they're also great for decorating. Typically found in the form of men and women, it's a Christmas tradition to add icing outfits to your gingerbread people. Basically, they brings out the fashion designer in all of us. While they can sometimes be a bit dry, they're a great pairing for a hot drink or a glass of milk.

 

Recipes: Classic Gingerbread Cookies; Spicy Gingerbread Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms

These chewy little cookies combine are the perfect combination of things people love: chocolate and peanut butter, candy and cookies. They're textured and crunchy, but have the smooth taste of peanut butter in each bite. They're so good that they're usually the first to disappear from a cookie swap or dessert platter, and you tend to find a lot of people make these because they're so easy to prepare. 

Recipes: Original Blossoms; Red Velvet Blossoms; Nutella Caramel Kiss Blossoms

Chocolate Crinkles

Chocolate crinkles are, soft, fudgy cookies encased in a coating of confectioners sugar. They're as close to a brownie as cookies get. It's rare to find a cookie made of chocolate during the holiday season, so for chocolate lovers these are a must have. There's also something magical about the way these cookies look like they're covered in snow. Even if it's a green Christmas, you'll still be in the winter spirit when you eat these.

Recipes: Martha Stewart's Crackle Cookies; Peppermint Fudge; Crinkles With M&M's

Russian Tea Cakes / Snowballs / Mexican Wedding Cakes / Butterballs

These buttery little delights go by many names, but no matter what you call them they're melt-in-your-mouth delicious. These cookies are simple to make and are a great gift because they're easy to pack up and actually taste better with time, which can't be said for many cookies. They're also great entertainment. Just imagine how ridiculous people look when they eat them and get the powered sugar everywhere!

Recipes: Classic Russian Tea Cakes; Lemon Russian Tea Cakes

What cookies are your favorite to eat on Christmas?

Host the Ultimate New Year's Eve Bash

New Year's Eve is the biggest party night of the year, so if you're hosting a New Year's Eve event you'll want to make sure it lives up to your guests' expectations! Whether you're staying in and having a few guests over or hosting a big bash, you can make the night unforgettable for everyone in attendance!

To start planning your event, you'll want to choose a theme. New Year's Even in itself is a great theme, and you can use decorations in colors such as black and silver that focus on the year that's about to begin. Glasses that have the upcoming year on them are always popular, and once guests put them on they become part of the decor! Other popular themes for New Year's Eve parties include black tie, casino night, 1920s, and white wonderland. The more lavish you go, the better! If your theme requires a certain attire, make sure to let guests know. No matter which theme you choose, you'll want to  have noisemakers, confetti, party hats, and other items placed around the event space so that guests can interact with them while they ring in the new year. Another great addition would be televisions that are airing the ball dropping in Time's Square, or a projector that's displaying  a countdown to midnight so guests can keep track of the time and count down along with it.

Since New Year's events typically start later in the night, you don't need to have a dinner or buffet. Since guests will be partying all night, it's important to provide them with tasty refreshments to help them make it to midnight. Serve heavy hors d'oeuvres such as tiny dishes of baked macaroni and cheese, chicken skewers, sliders, and stuffed mushroms. Of course, New Year's is mostly about the drinks. If there's ever a night for champagne, this is it. Make sure you have some bubbly to pop open when the clock strikes twelve! You should also consider having other classic cocktails and a signature drink of your creation.

Music is the key to entertainment on New Year's to get people dancing and having a good time. If you have the budget for it, hiring a live band or DJ is an excellent option for your celebration. Just make sure to book far enough advance! There will be many other New Year's events held on the same night, so don't lose out on a great musical act to another party. If you're hosting a large, big budget event, you could also consider hosting a mock celebration similar to the ones you'd see on televised New Year's celebrations. Hire tribute bands and celebrity impersonators similar to those you'd see on tv so guests will feel like they're celebrating in Time's Square without having to deal with the crowds and cold weather!

How to Host a Hanukkah Celebration

"Hanukkah is the festival of lights. Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights."

-Adam Sandler, The Hanukkah Song

Celebrate the Festival of Lights with a Hanukkah party complete with great decor, amazing food, and fun activities. Whether you celebrate by hosting an event on all eight nights or just one big celebration, these tips will ensure that your guests have a great time.

Decor: Hanukkah is observed by lighting one light of the Menorah for each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. Since the Menorah is so important, it should be at the center of your decor. If you don't own a Menorah or want a more decorative one, retail stores like Macy's now sell them. You can also find many creative ones online that you can buy or learn how to make. To enhance your table and other areas around the Menorah, set up linens, plates, balloons, and other decor in the traditional Hanukkah colors of silver, blue and white. You can also hang images of the Star of David, the religious symbol of the Jewish faith. Bags of gelt (chocolate coins) can be placed on each plate. Decorations that are also edible are always a hit!

Food: All food served at a Hanukkah meal should be as festive as the decor. Foods served are those cooked in oil, as it represents the oil found in the Temple of Jerusalem. Typical dishes served include fried latkes, braised brisket, and jelly-filled donuts (called sufganiyot). Not only are these dishes symbolic but they're delicious! To mix things up, you can try something new like having a latkes bar with a variety of toppings that guests can choose, including apple sauce, sour cream, horseradish, or tomato and roasted garlic relish. For dessert, serve up some kugel, rugalach, or blintzes. Don't forget some kosher wine!

Activities: The lighting of the menorah can be an activity in itself if guests are at the celebration after sundown. Call up different guests and have each one of them light a candle. The dreidel game is a traditional game played at Hanukkah celebrations. Printable instructions for the game can be found here. Gift giving is also a major part of Hanukkah. Make it extra fun by pulling names from a hat to see who you'll give a gift to, or do a Yankee swap! Since you'll have eight nights of gift giving, the gifts are typically small and inexpensive so you don't have to get too extravagant.