Why pingg Is Different (part #2)
pingg.com
In part #1 I wrote about the importance pingg places on the look and feel of your digital invitation and corresponding event web page. Focusing on look and feel is key to increasing the overall use and acceptance of online invitations for both personal and professional events. This is particularly true for hosts who have a specific style in mind and are concerned with how their event is perceived. This post will detail more of pingg’s differentiators.
In addition to developing better-looking invitations, we also wanted to improve communications between hosts and guests. Traditionally, hosts have been confined to communications by email and event web pages. We wanted to provide hosts and guests with tools to communicate in any manner that would make managing invitations and planning an event easier. Our answer: SurroundSend, from which we derive our tag line, “well sent”. SurroundSend is our multi-channel communication technology, which provides unprecedented flexibility in host-guest communication. Through SurroundSend, pingg offers print invitations and SMS/mobile texting options in addition to our improved email and event website services. Also, our Facebook compatibility allows hosts to send messages to Facebook networks and post event information to Facebook profiles. SurroundSend provides seamless communication between hosts and guests.
At first you may think that there is an essential incongruence in sending printed invites from an online event service, but there are many good reasons for providing this option. First, the combination of printed invitations and online event management allows hosts to send stylish print invitations without sacrificing the convenience of online RSVPs and event communication. We have eliminated the need to choose between the traditional appeal of a printed invitation and the modern convenience of online event management. Second, print invites are simply the most appropriate option for some events and for some guests. Although we tend to think of email and internet as ubiquitous, there are still some people, your grandparents for example, who remain stubbornly offline. Print invites also provide guests with a keepsake from a special event. Finally, the print invitation market remains huge and is, in fact, much larger then the online market. It just makes good business sense to expand into this market.
pingg also offers sms/mobile texting, which can be used for last minute communications and to help the host avoid the inevitable barrage of calls and texts asking for directions on the day of the event. With pingg you can set up customized texts to remind people of event details they would otherwise call about.
Of course we couldn’t ignore the growth of social networks like Facebook. We provide our hosts the ability to easily send invitations to their Facebook friends and to post to their profile.
pingg also offers an innovative event news feed and RSS feeds for both hosts and guests to keep track of event activity and changes.
Beyond SurroundSend, pingg offers a host of tools to make planning and managing an event easier. We have, of course, incorporated essential features like maps, multiple RSVP options and picture/video sharing. In addition, we have moved beyond the obvious to include innovative options like integrated gift and charity registries on the event web page, a tool for easily collecting money for an event (with full ticketing coming soon) as well as advanced reporting and list management tools.
We hope that by combining great looking invitations with SurroundSend and advanced event management functionality, pingg offers a significant improvement over existing online invitation service.
My next post will talk about our business model – and specifically, why you do NOT see your invitation and event web page covered in often inappropriate and unappealing banner ads.
Regards,
Lorien Gabel
Co-founder
