Thanksgiving, For the Host
Let’s talk turkey. Seriously. Thanksgiving―gateway to the holiday season―is just under two weeks away, so it’s time to nail down your plan of attack for the feast.
pingg blog
Websites for Foodies
Much to the dismay of my large Italian family, my cooking skills don’t extend past grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soup. So over the years I have found myself on an eternal search for any website willing to coax me through meal preparations.
NEW: eCards for Business
We are excited to announce pingg’s eCards for Business service - the solution to your professional communication needs.
World Series Party
A hot dog at the ball game beats roast beef at the Ritz ~Humphrey Bogart. So true, Humph. However, most of us will be enjoying the World Series from the comfort of a living room.
Show Us Your San Fran
We want you to Show Us Your San Fran! Over the summer we launched the first ever pingg Photography Competition, which asked for artist to send us their favorite shots of Brooklyn, NY
Note From pingg CEO: Married in pingg Fashion
If you would have told me 3 years ago, when we first thought of the idea for pingg, that I would be using pingg to send my surprise wedding invitation and video, I would have thought you’d eaten one too many “crazy tacos.”
You Are In For A Scare
There is no better time than Halloween to get in the ’spirit of the dead’ and scare the jeepers creepers out of each other. Allow me to share my experiences of the best places across America that will truly frighten you with strange and unusual tales of centuries past where people have reported ghostly encounters.
Bring Your Halloween Party Back From The Dead
Now that the weather has reminded us more than ever that fall is here to stay, it’s time to start planning the perfect Halloween, especially since this year the holiday falls on a coveted Saturday.
Halloween Classics and Beyond…
Well, my pretties, Halloween is upon us once again. This is probably my favorite “holiday” of the year, and judging by the estimated $6.9 billion Americans spend every year on Halloween, it’s probably your favorite too.
Party Like Mad Men: 3 Critical Components
With the return of the hit show Mad Men—now in its 3rd season—you may be tempted to don a sharp vintage suit and tie or knockout dress, brush up on your mixology, and have your like-minded friends over for a retro-bash. For your consideration here are 3 critical components for your soiree, starting with the most important…
Planning the Perfect Road Trip
Every year, friends, families, adventure enthusiasts, holiday travelers or those simply looking for a change of scenery will choose to hit the road, participating in a right of passage by trekking across America. Over the years, after many adventures in the family station wagon to the mountains of Nevada, Niagara Falls and lots of incredible scenery in between, I have amassed some helpful tips to planning the perfect road trip.
pingg’s BRAND NEW EVENT STREAM Launches Today!
These days, everything is instant. The news is updated minute-to-minute and conversations occur instantly across the world. So why should news and updates on your birthday party, office shin-dig or holiday bash suffer a delay in event news?
Thanksgiving - Canadian Style
You may know pingg is headquartered in New York—the center of the world—but we also have an office in the other center of the world: Toronto. We look forward to our long weekends here, and the next in line just happens to be Canadian Thanksgiving.
A Bridal Shower Mother Earth Could Be Proud Of
This year, I will be walking down the aisle — as a bridesmaid that is! But, before the big day comes, there’s the fun of hosting an amazing bridal shower.
Welcome Home Chiquita!
In my experience, when it comes to pets, people become, how should we say, territorial. You’re either a dog person, a cat person or a “get that thing away from me” person.
NYC Chocolate Show
For most people, fall means changing leaves, apple picking and Halloween costume preparations, but for me it means the countdown begins for the annual New York Chocolate Show.
Introducing pingg For Yahoo! Mail, Invitations Well Sent
Please excuse us while we celebrate a little; we’re a company that’s all about parties and entertaining, so it’s one of the things we do best. Today marks an important and exciting opportunity for us here at pingg.
An Inglourious Soundtrack
I recently went to go see the new Quentin Taratino movie, Inglourious Basterds. Regardless of whether or not you sleep, dreaming of Brad Pitt, you will enjoy this movie.
Return to the Gridiron
Summer may be cooling down, but football season is just starting to heat up. Non-Steelers fans like myself have had months to get over the previous season and now it’s time for a brand new one to begin.
Will Your City Be Next?
This summer pingg launched its very first photography competition. Our goal was to create a new collection of original art to be featured in our pingg Designer Series– an exclusive gallery of original art from both established and up-and-coming artists.
Labor Day Weekend
Next time you look at your calendar you might be a little upset to realize the inevitable, summer is drawing to a close. But, no need to pack away your sandals and shades just yet. In what has been a relatively cold summer, the temperature is heating up just in time for Labor Day Weekend.
Are You Fashion Ready?
If you’re like me, Fall Fashion Week in NYC cannot come soon enough. While my chances of sitting front row, between Anna Wintour and Sarah Jessica Parker, at the Diane Von Furstenberg show are unlikely, I still cannot wait for the kickoff of the Fall Fashion season.
And the Winner is…
Earlier this summer we launched our first ever amateur photography competition. From Coney Island to Greenpoint, the Brooklyn Bridge to Prospect park.
Why I Love Brooklyn
If you hadn’t already heard, submissions are in for our new Brooklyn-themed Designer Series and we’re asking for you to VOTE for the best one! Being one of 2 people at pingg living in Brooklyn, I knew I would have to educate my fellow NYC residents on a thing or two about the ‘better’ borough.
VOTE NOW - Brooklyn Photography Competition
After receiving hundreds of photo submissions, 15 photographers have been chosen as finalists in pingg’s first ever Photography Competition. The winner of the contest will receive a Fujifilm FinePix camera. Who will win the Grand Prize? It’s up to you!
Pamper, Polish, Primp and Party!
What girl doesn’t love to be pampered, polished and primped? We think a little rest and relaxation does every hardworking girl some good. It seems several of our favorite bloggers had the same thought and have set up the ultimate pampering party to “properly kick off BlogHer ‘09.
Savvy Auntie’s Day
This year we’ve added a new “date of note” to our calendar, Savvy Auntie’s Day. We’ve also launched a collection of flower invitations and ecards, the symbol of the day. Now you may be asking yourself, “What is Savvy Auntie’s day?” Our friend Melanie Notkin, the ultra savvy founder of SavvyAuntie.com tells us more.
10 Easy Outdoor Entertaining Tips
In the spirit of summer BBQs and pool parties, what is better than enjoying a great meal with family and friends in your backyard? Our friends at Martha Stewart Living remind us, just because the location doesn’t change, doesn’t mean the ambiance must stay the same.
No Need For 3D Glasses!
They say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Whoever came up with that phrase has not seen one of Erni Vales’ creations. Erni Vales’, celebrated graffiti artist, developer of 3D graffiti technique and creative innovator, eye catching, explosive images do more than express a thousand words, they jump off the page (or wall).
Show Your Borough Pride
We love New York City, and right now, we especially love Brooklyn. With several of our staff living in Brooklyn, we’re always regaled by stories of how great their borough is compared to Manhattan (where I live), Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx.
Happy Father’s Day!
Dads always appreciate convenience, so an ecard is definitely the way to say Happy Father’s Day! For a really unique design, we suggest checking out pingg’s Father’s Day ecard collection that offers great images, like a vintage yellow sports car from the famed photographer Ben Watts or a 3D graffiti image from the popular Erni Vales.
New Artists Unveiled on pingg
We have recently added a number of talented, new artists to the pingg Designer Series and we are stoked! From 3D graffiti to contemporary patterns, these new designs will surely have you thinking of an excuse to celebrate and use them.
New Designs: Direct From Indonesia
We are excited to have added the whimsical, stylish designs of Yenty Jap to the pingg Designer Series! Hailing from Indonesia and studying in Malaysia and Auckland, New Zealand, Yenty’s travels around the world have directly influenced her work.
The clip-pingg Newsletter: V5
Summer is in full swing and pingg has got you covered. Take a look through our June edition of the monthly clip-pingg newsletter and check out new features, new designers and great new tools to keep your invitations and ecards always well sent!
Travel With Joobili
I always wish I had more excuses to travel, like little reasons to hop on a plane and escape to Europe. So I was completely overwhelmed when I stumbled upon the site Joobili.com.
Congrats Graduates!
On behalf of pingg, I would like to say congratulations to everyone who graduated from high school, college, graduate school, or any other form of education. The parents and guardians who are responsible for those who graduated deserve a round of applause as well.
pingg’s Evolving: New Features!
We’re excited about the new updates and additions we have made to pingg. You spoke, we listened and have added even more tools to help you stay organized and entertain in style!
Clean, Clear & Protected pingg Postcards
I like to feel protected. I mean, who doesn’t? I never fail to buy warranty when offered or to purchase the extra protective case. So why not protect your pingg postcards?
Gypset Style at the New Jane Hotel
One of the best things about living in NYC is that there are new restaurants, lounges and hotels opening every week as well as a plethora of launch parties celebrating everything from new shows, to new brands, to new products and new books.
Keys to the Perfect Tailgate
Spring has hit full swing and summer is not too far away. The temperature is getting hotter, baseball season is hitting its stride and tailgating season is underway.
Happy Mother’s Day
Each Mother’s Day, I take pleasure in the look of shock on my mother’s face after she receives an unexpected gift from her beloved middle child. Unfortunately, I have run out of creative gift ideas to make sure I elicit the same genuinely surprised and thrilled response.
Summer Movie Preview
Summer is the best season of the year because of the weather, vacation, the beach, baseball and most of all, the movies.
Springtime at pingg
Just in time for spring, I’m excited to say that we’ve added a great collection of whimsical illustrations to our pingg Designer Series from the extremely talented Atlanta / San Francisco based artist, Erin Sledd. Her colors are so vibrant and playful you can’t help but be drawn to them.
Celebrate Earth Day!
All year round we are aware of the increasing importance of protecting our environment and for those who don’t always participate, Earth Day is the perfect excuse to do your part.
Hey, Look Who’s Number 1
Vogue is to fashion as CNET is to technology and the web. Therefore, getting a stamp of approval, means you’re definitely doing something right.
10 Ways To Trim Your Wedding Budget
It’s almost that time of year again, wedding season. From engagement parties to save-the-dates, showers and all the other festivities that come with getting engaged, the costs can add up quickly.
Sweet As Sugar
We always love something sweet! That’s why we’re thrilled to announce an exclusive, new collection of invitations and ecards from Sugar Network.
The clip-pingg Newsletter: V4
A lot is going on at pingg - exclusive sweepstakes, free text messaging and new designer collections!
The Masters
On April 6th the most storied event in golf will begin, the Masters. The battle for the exclusive right to wear the Green Jacket will take place once again in Augusta, Georgia on its beautiful golf course, filled with sand traps, water hazards, and perhaps the most treacherous three holes on any course, Amen Corner.
Baseball Is Back!
The weather is starting to get nicer, trees have almost grown all their leaves back, and it seems like ages ago when that pesky ground hog went back into his hole. This can only mean one thing… Baseball Season is back!
New! Food Bank For NYC Blog
Last month we partnered with the Food Bank For New York City for their annual Time Out For Hunger campaign. We were honored to be a part of the promotion this year.
WIN An Eco-Chic Bar!
Earth Day is around the corner and in its honor we want to give you something special. So we’ve teamed up with our friends at Stirrings to offer you a chance to WIN an Organic Classic Cocktail Collection.
Eco-Chic Entertaining
At pingg, eco-entertaining isn’t just something we think about when Earth Day rolls around. It’s something that we’re conscious about all year long which is why we were so excited to participate in a great event produced by notesonaparty.com, A Night of Eco-Chic Entertaining.
March Madness Is Upon Us
It is once again the time of year when people around the country must call upon the basketball gods to fill out their NCAA tournament brackets. March Madness, the greatest tournament in sports, is back.
Time Out New York Kids
We’re excited to say that the Special Issue of Time Out New York Kids on newsstands now has championed pingg as the way to go when designing and sending electronic invitations. It’s easy on the ozone and even easier on the wallet.
New! Easily Add Guests From Past Events
You’ve already planned your baby shower with pingg and now you want to send out thank-yous to everyone who attended. Now, you can easily select guests or recipients from previous events and announcements to receive any new pinggs that you might be working on.
All Work And No Play
All work and no play - - sounds pretty dull to us. Working at a start-up, we certainly log in lots of hours. That said, we are an event company after all so we never shy away from a reason to have some fun as evidenced by the smiles on our faces in this photo.
The clip-pingg Newsletter: V3
There is always a lot going on at pingg.
Don’t want to miss anything? Check out March’s newsletter!
Free Text Messages on pingg.com
Who doesn’t like free? We certainly do!
Thanks to our partner T Mobile, now you can make sure that your guests don’t forget about your party and won’t get lost on their way there.
Notesonaparty.com on pingg
An online magazine celebrating the art of entertaining, Notes on a Party, is one of our favorite go-to sites for information on what’s hot in the world of party planning.
Martha Stewart for pingg
This morning, we are excited to announce the Martha Stewart Collection exclusively for pingg!
Martha and her team of experts have created a truly unique collection of invitations and ecards featuring iconic images from their extensive libraries.
Time Out For Hunger
We’re excited to be a part of Time Out New York and the Food Bank For New York’s annual Time Out For Hunger campaign. On March 8th, Time Out For Hunger will bring more than 90 of the city’s top restaurants together. Each will donate 10% of the day’s proceeds to the Food Bank For New York.
Pandora Your Next Party
So you want to throw a party? Well, one thing’s for sure, whether a relaxed gathering around a bottle of wine or a blow-out bash for your best friend, you need to have the perfect music. No one likes to host and play dj all night long and the cost of getting one for the night is way beyond most people’s budget. I have a secret for you…
Are You Social?
This week marked the first ever Social Media Week in NYC, a collection of events featuring the best and brightest in social media. Our good friend Toby Daniels, Founder of Social Media Week, asked pingg to participate, enabling us to play a great role in all of the festivities.
A Small Nip/Tuck
Notice something new? We’re almost 1 year old and in honor of our “almost birthday”, we’ve given ourselves a small “nip/tuck”. We’ve spent the past year getting great feedback from all our users, learning more about what they wanted and more about what we still needed to give them. Well, we’re excited to unveil our brand new home page today and hope that you like it as much as we do.
It’s Not a Hallmark Holiday Anymore
Let’s face it, Valentine’s Day brings to mind images of candy in red velvet heart shaped boxes, roses and dare I say it, lame greeting cards.
pingg Loves Art: pingg Designer Series
I love art. I grew up around it, take photos whenever I can, collect it and well just can’t get enough of it. Helping to create the pingg Designer Series has been one of the best parts of my job.
The clip-pingg Newsletter: V2
A New Year, and we have plenty to show for it. With exciting new features and so many new projects there’s a lot we’re rolling out in ’09. Of course, we want our hosts to be on top of everything that pingg has to offer. So we’re sharing our second edition of the-clipping!
New Feature: Group Invite Functionality
pingg would like to introduce you to one of our newest features – group invites – something that no other online invitation service can offer. Now you can easily and simply invite families and groups online in one invitation.
Printed Versions of Your Online Invites and eCards
We’ve had it. You’ve loved it. We enhanced it. Easier than ever, pingg helps you send printed invitations and cards at the same time that you’re sending online invites and ecards.
My Personal Assistant: pingg’s Guest List Manager
Who doesn’t need a few extra hands around? It’s about this time in the year that I wish I had a personal assistant. Really, who doesn’t? Given the fact that I’m not getting one anytime soon, I’m resigned to doing it all myself.
pingg In Style My Fellow Fashionistas
We get it. We know it’s all about the look, which is why we’ve made it so easy for you to invite online, in style. Don’t just take it from us, check out what some of our favorite sites have been buzzing about.
Celebrate the Super Bowl with pingg
Super Bowl is synonymous with parties. Sports fans and social butterflies unite; this is one of the best excuses all year long to have an all-day party that both of you will love. Count me in!
pingg Designer Series: Jessica Gonacha’s Whimsical Illustrations
We just added the MOST amazing new artist to our Designer Series, Jessica Gonacha. Her illustrations are incredible. Her designs scream fabulous with their quirky individuality and vibrant use of color.
Inaugural Entertaining
It’s been 8 years in the making…. Now it’s finally upon us, Inauguration Day 2009. Yes we did, and now its time to celebrate. In honor of this momentous occasion, pingg has designed an amazing collection of cards and invitations.
pingg Designer Series: Ashley Mills
We’re always really excited about our Designer Series. In it we feature some of today’s best and brightest artists. Some well-known and others up-and-coming. We love the idea of enabling people to incorporate original art into their invitations and cards and spend a lot of time figuring out what sorts of designs to add to our collection.
Don’t Miss the December clip-pingg!
We’ve been really busy over the past few months, adding lots of features and functionality to pingg. Of course we want to make sure that all our hosts are aware of all the great developments. Hence, our first newsletter! We’d like to invite everyone to take take an exclusive look at our first edition of the clip-pingg.
Holiday Cards the Easy (& Stylish) Way
Why do I love the holidays in New York City? It’s not the tourists, or the extra long lines, or the overpriced souvenirs. It’s, delivery. Anything I want can be brought right to my front door. I don’t ever have to worry about bundling up to trek through cold, overcrowded streets. I love pingg for the same exact reason.
pingg Your Holiday Cards
Do you find that this time of year your hand seems to be constantly cramping and ink-stained? Your tongue is dry from licking stamps and you can’t even begin to count the paper cuts….ohhhh the joys of sending Holiday cards. I propose an alternative to the boring old way of doing things. This year use pingg to design and send your holiday Greetings.
Survivor Africa Winner Ethan Zohn pinggs for Charity:
We created pingg so that hosts could use it for planning everything from dinner parties to business function, even charity events, which is exactly what Ethan Zohn, winner of Survivor Africa, and his Grassroot Soccer Charity did.
A pingg Thanksgiving
Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce …Oh, the treasures of Thanksgiving. But not everything is as sweet as pumpkin pie. If you have ever hosted Thanksgiving, you know the stress we are referring to.
Martha Loves pingg - - Stewart That Is.
And pingg loves her too. We are thrilled to announce that pingg has partnered with none other than the Domestic Goddess herself, Martha Stewart.
pingg Designer Series
Good news. We’ve just added two extremely talented artists to the pingg Designer Series, Dallas Shaw and Leigh. We started the Designer Series so that we could give people the opportunity to incorporate original artwork into their pingg invitations. From illustrators to painters and photographers, the pingg Designer Series features the work of established, as well as up-and-coming artists.
New Features!
We’re happy to announce that pingg put a number of shiny new features into service yesterday morning!
Black Tie Affair, Eco Entertaining? pingg’s Got You Covered.
Wow what a whirlwind… big thanks to Caroline McCarthy (The Social on Cnet), Celia Chen (notesonaparty.com for the Huffington Post) and Marissa Belger (Green Contributor to the todayshow.com) all of who recently wrote great entertaining pieces referencing pingg. Each of the stories touches upon topics that are always top of mind here at pingg.
pingg Is Hiring!
It’s been a very busy summer at pingg. Lots of exciting things going on including the new features we continue to launch (pingg is now Twittering), the incredible feedback we continue to get from our users and the exciting things we’re getting ready for fall (stay tuned). Even more exciting, we’re growing. You got it, we’re hiring.
pingg & Heavy D
We love getting user feedback, it’s what helps us to get better. We try to read everything that is emailed to us as quickly as possible and of course try to keep on top of what people are writing/twittering/blogging/posting. It’s the best way for us to keep a pulse on what’s happening and to respond to user requests.
pingg Is Now Twittering!
Invitation creation and event management site, which allows hosts to easily send stylish invitations to their guests using surroundSend technology (via Facebook, email, SMS, print and the web), now expands to include Twitter.
New Features Launched!
Today we launched a group of new features, mostly focused on giving our hosts more ability to customize their invitations. The new features make it easy to crop photos and choose fonts, colors, and layouts.
The Today Show Throws a Wedding
Every May, tens of millions of people tune in to The Today Show to watch as couples compete for their dream wedding on Today Throws A Wedding: Race to the Altar. Not only is the winning couple married live at Rockefeller Plaza in an elegant ceremony, the couple is then thrown a luxurious reception at the world famous Rainbow Room followed by a 5-star tropical honeymoon. It’s truly the wedding of a lifetime for the winning couple, as no expense is spared.
The Age of The Digital Wedding Invitation
This past Thursday, pingg was featured on the front page of USA Today’s Life Section in a story by Olivia Barker entitled: “You Are Not So Formally Invited With An Electronic Wedding Invitation.” We were thrilled to have been such a large part of the feature and to have had the chance for two of our consumers to share their wedding invitation stories.
Great Invitation Design
We here at pingg appreciate all of the bloggers that have taken the time to review our site - from mom blogs, designer blogs, eco-friendly blogs, tech blogs and more. We always appreciate when a design/fashion blog singles out pingg as the most design-conscience and artistically-oriented online invitation site.
New Features, New User Interface
Since we launched pingg a few months ago, we’ve received hundreds of emails with questions, comments and suggestions. We always love to receive feedback from our hosts, since real world experience from our customers is truly an invaluable way for us to find and solve problems which otherwise we couldn’t find just by theorizing in the office.
The New York Times Writes About Online Invitations
Last week in The New York Times Magazine, Virginia Heffernan wrote about online invitation sites, and she does not like what she sees. Virginia pulls no punches in her analysis of the failure of past digital invitation web sites to deliver a positive user experience.
Design Matters!
Don’t get me wrong, the majority of the team’s time has been painstakingly spent building a better platform and developing features and functionality that we know consumers are looking for, even asking for. That said, design was always at the forefront of the dialog, and never an after thought.
Eco-chic Entertaining
Conscious about the environment? Want to entertain in style but want to have as little an impact as possible? Just in time for Earth Day, we’ve partnered with two of our favorites, Celia Chen, Editor in Chief of notesonaparty.com and Danielle Venokur, Founder of DV Green (sustainable event design), for “A Night of Eco-Chic Entertaining.”
Making Invitations Look Good
One of the philosophies that guides pingg is that aesthetics matter. When our hosts send invitations to an event, whether the event is personal or professional, casual or formal, the style and presentation of the actual invitation matters. From the start, pingg has focused on creating a system that would let us design invitations that stand out from the rest of the online crowd. For us, that means that the email invitations we send need to look their best, but also be highly functional.
First Consumer Press Release
I’m excited to say that we officially put our first consumer press release out. Although we’ve been live for the past few months, for all intents and purposes we’ve been flying under the radar. This release was our chance to officially let everyone know that the online invitation and event management tools that they’ve been looking for and asking for are finally here.
