Welcome to EventHub!
Let's get you started.
A note from the Customer Success Team before you begin:
This article is a great step-by-step guide to get you started creating your first Event Listing on EventHub. It is best to get as much information added as possible before your Initial Onboarding. This will let us focus on your questions and how your event can get the most out of your account! Keep track of any questions that come up and we will go over them in detail during your onboarding.
Topics Covered:
Create a New Event
The first thing you need to do is start a new Event Listing by clicking Create New Event from your dropdown menu. Be sure you are logged in first!
You will be brought to this page where you will need to add the basic information for your event to proceed. Don't worry - if something changes down the road, this information can always be updated. Once you've added your event's basic info, click the Save button.
1. Choose Your Event Type - Choose the category that best fits your event. This will help exhibitors find you in the marketplace!
2. Basic Information - Add the name and location of your event.
3. Region - Exhibitors can also find you in the marketplace by browsing by Region. If you aren't sure what region to choose, click the blue question mark to find out more about regional breakdowns on EventHub.
4. Duplicate a Previous Event Listing - This is a feature you can use next year to duplicate this year's event as a starting place! For now, leave this alone.
Event Wizard: Create and Edit Your Event Listing and Customize Your Application
In this section, we will go through each tab in your Event Wizard Menu. Follow along step-by-step for instructions and best practices!
Event Wizard Menu Tabs:
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Basic Information
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Description
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Amenities
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Photos & Videos
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Customize Application
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Required Documents
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Pricing
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Payment Settings
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Calendar
Basic Information
Begin by filling out the core details of your event, such as the event name, date, and location. This information sets the stage for everything else. If at any point you need to change the Basic Info you added when you created your event, you can go back to the Basic Information tab.
If changes are made here you will need to hit the Save button at the bottom of the page.
Description
On this tab, you will be adding most of the information that will appear on your Event Listing. Take your time and add as much information as possible to make your page interesting and appealing to exhibitors!
**Important Note**
Information on this page will only save if you add the following three fields, so be sure you have this information handy as you begin to add to this tab (or add notes as a placeholder)!
- Event Description
- Previous Year Attendance (or estimate if new)
- Event Terms and Cancellation Policy
Event Description and Optional Uploads
1. Event Map - If you have a public-facing map of your event (think Disney World ride map), you can upload it here. A link will be available to view at the top of your Event Listing.
2. Sponsorship Deck - A detailed sponsorship deck can be added here. A link will be available within the Opportunities Box so that potential Sponsors can take a look!
3. Floor Plan - If you have upgraded to a Live/Interactive Floor Plan, you do not need to upload your floor plan here. However, if you opted not to upgrade but would still like a PDF of your exhibitor floor plan on your Event Listing, you can upload a copy here. A link will appear at the bottom of your Opportunities Box.
4. Event Description - This should be a short description of your event aimed at enticing potential exhibitors to apply to your event! Remember, exhibitors from the marketplace may not know anything about your event, so try to add a description that gives them a good picture of what your event is about to lure them in. We recommend this description be between 1 and 2 paragraphs long.
Demographics
Adding demographics information to your Event Listing can help paint a better picture of your event and the people who attend.
You are welcome to add (or not add) as much information as you'd like to the demographics section. We know not all demographics will apply to every event, so only add the information you would like to appear on your page!
Note: this is optional. If you don't have the demographics data, then skip this section!
1. Freeform Demographics - This area is for you to add any event-specific demographics that are not already built into EventHub.
2. Gender Split - The gender split will appear as icons on your Event Listing. When inputting the numbers, you won't need to include the % character.
3. Pre-formatted Demographics - The rest of the demographics will be formatted into pie charts for you!
Here is how the three demographic types above will appear on your Event Listing. The colorful graphics add a lot of appeal to your Event Listing and will help exhibitors, and especially sponsors, know if their brand is a good fit for your event.
Previous Year Attendance and Exhibitors, Vendors and Sponsors
Add your previous year's attendance information. If your event is new, you can estimate based on the space you have and average attendance for events of this type in your area.
1. Previous Year Attendance - Be sure to be as accurate as possible so that your exhibitors know how much merchandise to bring, estimate food consumption, etc. Exhibitors can also browse in the marketplace by attendance numbers, so accurate attendance numbers will make sure you attract the right type of exhibitor.
2. Previous Year Total Exhibitors - This should be the total number of exhibitors, sponsors, food trucks, etc. that you have had in years past. You can leave this space blank if your event is brand new!
Event Terms and Cancellation Policy
This is an especially important required field. This information will be accessible from your Event Listing and your exhibitors' Order Summaries, Invoices, and Email Notifications.
When a participant cancels an order, the pop-out cancellation box will include the event’s terms and cancellation policy. This addition provides clear information on rights, potential penalties, and refund details, ensuring participants are well-informed about their cancellation.
So it is best to make sure to include as much detail as possible! If you allow cancellations, until what time? Do you give refunds? Is this a rain or shine event? Be specific so that you don't receive questions or complaints from exhibitors down the road.
Special Notes
Add any additional notes to your exhibitors here. If it is information you know your exhibitors will want and need before applying, this is a great freeform space to add that.
We highly recommend including a note about anything that will come with their booth purchase as well as whether or not additional add-ons will be available during checkout, or later through a third party.
Note: this is optional. If you don't have any special notes, then skip this section!
Participating Partners
You can add partners you already have lined up for this year to your Event Listing. You can add these sponsors in list form, or upload their logo to your Event Listing. However, we don't recommend doing both for the same sponsor, since this would be redundant and add clutter rather than value to your page.
Note: this is optional. If you don't have any partners or logos or want to enter names via text, then skip this section!
1. Listing Partners - Add any partners you want in list form here. This will be simple text on your Event Listing
2. Upload Partner Logos - Click this button to upload partner logos. You can upload them one at a time and they will appear on your page in the order you upload them. We recommend 200 x 200 or 150 x 150 as the size for the logos. Smaller, square logos tend to look the best on all browsers and devices and it looks best if they can all be approximately the same size.
3. Current Logos - Your current logos will appear here. If you would like to delete one, just click the red Delete icon underneath that logo.
Marketing Statistics
Add as much information as possible to show exhibitors and sponsors the reach they will have, and add value to any marketing add-ons you will have available for purchase.
Note: this is optional. If you don't have the marketing statistics, then skip this section!
Prohibited Categories
If your event has certain categories of exhibitors who you do not want to apply to your event, you can list them as a prohibited category by clicking on the category in the Prohibited Categories section. The ones highlighted in blue will appear as prohibited. This can also be utilized for exclusivity purposes.
Note: this is optional. If you don't have prohibited categories, then skip this section!
Amenities
Here, you can check off any available amenities, free or paid, that will be available at your event. You will be able to select which (if any) amenities are available for your event, whether they are included complimentary, or sold as “add-ons” to booth orders (see <add-ons> for more details on this). This allows any potential vendors and/or sponsors to decide if setting up at your event would be a good fit for them.
Note: this is optional. If you don't provide amenities, then skip this section!
Photos & Videos
You will need to upload at least one photo of your event to your page to be the cover photo (banner) for your Event Listing. Adding more can help lend legitimacy to your page and capture marketplace leads by giving an appealing visual of your event. You can add several photos and videos to your multimedia gallery. We recommend at least 4-6!
1. Add Photos - Click the Upload Photos button to upload. We highly recommend that your cover photo be something that displays the crowd and the exhibitor/vendor village to show what the experience will be like for them. Other photos of the event are great too, but the banner image should be something that will make an exhibitor want to apply right away! The ideal dimensions for a cover photo are 1440 x 512
2. Add Videos - If you have a short video sizzle for your event, you can add the link and a description to your multimedia gallery. Video must be hosted on YouTube!
3. Current Photos and Videos - Your uploaded photos and linked videos will appear here. If you would like to change which photo is your cover image, just click "Set Cover Image" on the picture you want to set as your banner.
Customize Application
Now that we've gotten most of the information added to your Event Listing, it's time to start customizing the application process for your event.
Participant Categories
The first thing you need to customize are the Participant Categories for your event. You'll notice that there are several default categories already there. You are welcome to keep or get rid of as many of these categories as you'd like!
These categories will come into play in a few different ways. First, they will help you keep your exhibitors' orders organized in a way that makes sense! Beyond organization, you can also apply paperwork requirements, an application fee, and application questions on a participant category-specific basis. For example, if you have paperwork requirements specifically for food vendors, you can create a "Food and Beverage" category and make that paperwork a requirement for them without confusing the rest of the exhibitors!
1. Add a Participant Category - With the above in mind, you can add a new participant category for your event by typing in the category name, then click the Add button.
2. Current Categories - All of your categories are displayed here. If you need to edit one, just click into the name field and make the needed changes. You can get rid of a category by clicking the red trash can icon.
Once the Participant Category is saved an Exhibitor will be able to browse through the saved categories while going through Step 2 of the Checkout process.
Required Uploads
Below the Participant Categories, you will see a few different toggles and a Preview icon. The Required Upload toggles will let you choose to require a booth or product image or a logo upload with the application. The Profile Preview button lets you see what the application will look like for your exhibitors.
Custom Questions
(Note: you want to avoid reordering the custom questions after launching registration. This will reorder the answers from matching the question when exporting the applications).
Basic exhibitor information is already built into the application process on EventHub (email address, contact information, booth name, address, etc.). If there is additional information you would like to gather from your exhibitors, it should be added as a Custom Question. This is a perfect way to capture any information that would help with vetting, logistics, data and demographics, and more!
Need to know what your food vendors' cooking setup is? Add a Short Answer question. Would you like to require them to agree to a term before proceeding with the application? State the term as the question and have "I Agree" be the only option for a Multiple-Choice question. They will need to agree to proceed. Want to gather company bios for a program ahead of time? Add a Long Answer question. This feature is key to customizing the application to be exactly what you need, so take advantage!
1. Enter the Question - Enter the text of your question here.
2. Choose Question Type - You can choose between three different question types: Short Answer, Long Answer, and Multiple Choice. Short and Long Answer allows them to write out their own answers. Short Answer will usually be long enough to answer most questions. Long Answer is best for company bios, full menus, etc.
3. Edit Participant Categories - As mentioned above, you can make these application questions specific to certain Participant Categories! Clicking this button will open a pop up where you can check and uncheck categories to apply this question to.
4. Delete Question - If you'd like to trash a question, click this icon.
5. Change Question Order - Use these arrows to change the position of the questions. You can move them up and down individually one position at a time.
6. Add a New Question - Click here to add a new question!
Want more info? See this article!
Required Documents
One of the best features of EventHub is the ease of adding paperwork requirements for your exhibitors. You should start by creating folders for the different types of paperwork you will have for your event. These can be as specific or general as you'd like!
Note: folders are not visible to the vendor unless you have uploaded a min. of 1 file into the folder. Vendors can only access their paperwork after their order has been approved.
Folders
1. Upload a Document - To trigger a requirement, you will need to upload a document to a folder. Click this icon to begin an upload!
2. Folder Menu - If you would like to change or delete a Folder, start by clicking the three-dot menu icon.
3. Edit Participant Categories - You can apply folders to certain Participant Categories! This means that you can require paperwork from specific vendor types to make sure that everyone knows exactly what is required of them and only sees the paperwork they need to complete.
4. Add a New Folder - There are some default folders already created for you, but these are customizable. You can click here to create a new folder of your own!
Documents
Once your folders are all set, you should add your paperwork requirements. To trigger a requirement, you need to upload a document to one of your folders. This can be something for them to sign, instructions, information, or an example form (such as the required language for Additional Insured listed on a COI).
Start by clicking the upload icon on a folder and uploading a document to the folder. When you do, there will be a pop-up for you to choose the document requirements and add instructions. The default requirement will be for the exhibitor to upload a document in return. However, you can also choose to require a signature, a read receipt, or make it an optional/read only doc!
Want more detailed info on this feature? Check out this article!
Pricing
The Pricing tab will be where you add your entire pricing structure for your event. Whether spaces, participation packages, sponsorships, or add-ons, everything that your exhibitors can purchase through you should be added here.
1. Add Event Spaces - This is where you will add your space and/or participation types. Be sure to include the size of the booth and make sure that each price point is represented. For example, if you charge a different price for a corner booth than an inline, add each as its own booth type. 10 x 10 Corner and 10 x 10 Inline.
2. Add Booth and Marketing Add-ons - If an add-on can be purchased directly from you, you can add that here! Whether it's a digital marketing shout-out or additional tables and chairs, you can have it all available during the checkout process so that your exhibitors can have one invoice with all of their items.
3. Add Sponsorships - We recommend adding at least 4 sponsorship packages to EventHub. This will provide an opportunity for marketplace leads to be turned into sponsorships! It also adds transparency to your price points that comfort potential sponsors.
4. Add Advertisements - Offer digital marketing pre and post-event to extend the relationship and add more value to your partners.
5. Pricing Box Label - You can also change the pricing box label. The label can say either "Opportunities", "Get Involved", or "Partnerships". Select the best label that fits your packages!
6. Enable Fast Track Booking - If you would like to enable Fast Track Booking, check the box and you will be a given a code. This code will allow any vendor using this code to be automatically approved when they submit an application.
Event Spaces
1. Add a Booth Type - Add the name and price of each booth type here, then click Add to add it to your list of booth types below.
Note: If you have a Live Floor Plan synced to your page, an option for choosing the Assigned and Unassigned colors will appear.
2. Enable Inventory Tracking - If you have a Live Floor Plan, this will be turned on to track your inventory levels. If you do not have a Live Plan but would still like to track inventory, you can turn this on and add inventory via the Advanced Inventory Management feature (see below!).
3. Booth Preferences or Selection - Exhibitor Booth Purchase will be visible if you have a Live Floor Plan synced to your page. Exhibitor Booth Purchase will let your exhibitors choose their own space to be assigned to during checkout. Preferred Booth Selection will ask them for their top 3 preferences during checkout and leave the ultimate assignment decision up to you. You can choose to have one or the other turned on!
4. Availability - You can manually mark booth types as Sold Out at any time. Just click the Sold Out button. The status that is on will be blue!
Add-ons
Any add-ons that will be purchased directly through you can be added here. There are several categories to choose from, so choose the one you think best fits!
If add-ons are through a third party, don't add those here. This feature is for add-ons that will paid to you directly. You can always add a price list for the third party's available add-ons as an optional document on the required documents tab with instructions for ordering!
Sponsorships
1. Add a New Sponsorship - Sponsorships have the same features as Booth Types, but you can also add details about what is included in each sponsorship package. Be sure to be thorough and detailed when adding each package to your opportunities to make them as appealing as possible to potential sponsors.
2. Include a Booth Space - You can choose whether to include a booth space with each sponsorship type! If it does include a booth space, just add a checkmark to this field.
Advertisements
1. Add a New Advertisement - Any advertisements that can be purchased will be added here. Be sure to be as detailed as possible when adding each advertisement package to make them more appealing!
2. Advertisement Button Label - You can choose what you would like your advertisement button label to say. You can choose from "Advertisements", "Online Marketing", or "Goodie Bag". Pick the label that will best fit the advertisement!
Payment Settings
Alert: Finalize your credit card payment gateway configurations, including check deposit plans, before your event goes live, as changes cannot be made afterward. This includes selecting your payment gateway and setting the credit card, sales tax and application fees, which cannot be modified later.
Check and Alternate Payments
To enable Check and other Alternate Payment types, click the checkmark for "Accept Alternate Payments (Check, Money Order etc.)" at the top of your Payment settings tab. Once selected, three options will appear below: Check, Money Order, and Cash.
Below, add the Payment Terms and Payment Address Info needed for these types of payments.
This information will be listed on each Invoice.
Would you like to offer installment payments as an option? Take a look at this article on Installment Plans!
Credit Card Payments
There are three different payment gateways that you can choose to use on EventHub to accept credit card payments: authorize.net, Stripe, and PayPal. If you already have a merchant account with one of these, you can integrate it by plugging in the API keys. Click on a payment gateway below to see how to find the API keys:
Taxes and Fees
You can apply taxes and a few different types of fees to your application as needed. Here is a list of taxes and fees you can apply. Click each one for more info!
Invoice Customization
This is an optional feature, but we highly recommend taking advantage of it! You can add your company's information here so that it appears on exhibitors' invoices. You can include whatever information you would like them to have.
Using this feature can help reinforce for your exhibitors that they are paying your event directly, rather than EventHub!
Calendar
Last but not least, you will need to add the dates and hours for your event!
1. Event Date(s) - Add the date(s) of your event. This should be the days that it will be open to the public and not include extra days for load-in/out.
2. Event Times - Again, these should be the public hours of your event. If there will be more than one session in a day, you can click the blue + to add an additional session to that day.
3. Registration Deadline - If you have a registration deadline, you can add that here. It will be displayed in red at the top of your Event Listing as well as your listing summary when exhibitors are browsing the marketplace. That way, they know they need to act fast!
Submit Your Event Listing for Mandatory Review
Once you've completed your Event Listing, click the blue Submit Event button. Your page won't go live immediately. Instead, our Customer Success Team will review it to ensure everything is set up correctly. Please allow up to 48 hours for this review process to be completed.
Navigating to and Within the Event Wizard
Since you are new to the platform, here are a few helpful tips for getting around while you create your Event Listing
After saving your event's Basic Information, you should be brought to a page that looks like this. This is your Event Wizard Menu where you will be adding all of the information for your Event Listing, customizing your application, and adding paperwork requirements.
At the bottom of each section is a Next button. When you click this button, a check will be performed to see if you have filled out all of the required fields. If you haven't, you will receive an alert that you need to add this information.
If you need to take a break from creating your Event Listing at any point and come back later to finish, you can get back to the Event Wizard Menu by choosing My Event Hub from the drop-down menu, then clicking Edit Showcase Page underneath your event's name.
Want to take a look at the pages in our marketplace? Click here!
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