Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Use Evite along with a high quality embrossed printed invitation (mentioning that you are also sending an invite via evite) or you will seem like a cheapskate.

The evite will work. Or, you could have an eflyer created and send that through constant contact. I would recommend that you also have someone from your office follow up with those who have not rsvp'd to ensure that everyone received and opened the evite.

If you are a pioneer in using technology, I wouldn't use evite for a business gathering. Rather, have a digital invite designed and deploy it thru your email service provider -- Constant Contact, or whichever company you use to send your company email marketing messages/newsletter/whatever.

MUCH more professional and customized, IMHO!

I think that if you have the time, using Constant Contact (or some other type of email marketing service) and then following up would be the best approach. We use Constant Contact for almost all of our announcements now. An evite will work if you don't have any other option. (Just don't cheese it up with cutsy graphics).

I definitely agree with Ann H. and mbrand. Evite.com is simply not professional. I believe it is 100% fine to send an email invitation, but it needs to be designed nicely, with a more personal RSVP.

Evite has several professional templates. This is a social event of sorts-- its perfectly appropriate and festive. Its a celebration so festive is how it should be. Save constant contact for newsletters.

As a PR professional, I don't like e-vites. I think it shows a lack of thoughtful preparation for an important event. If you want to showcase your company as professional, competent, trustworthy and all the other attributes folks ascribe to CPA's, definitely send a well-designed invitation. And, please use a graphic designer who can creatively interpret your intent for the event. Print it on nice paper and hand address the envelopes.

If you want to show your clients how technologically savvy you are, set up a demo during the event.

I think you are asking the wrong question. You probably joined the Chamber to promote your company and hopefully get additional clients through this venue, or at the very least raise your corporate stature. So the correct question is "How can I get as many Members of the Chamber to my event as possible to promote my company"? With the secondary question once I get them there how do I give them the WOW experience?

Here's my response...since this is an event that you want to get people to attend, it is not a one-time invitation request. It requires multiple contacts through multiple media. People respond differently to each, some don't read e-mails from inknown sources, some don't read mail or have their assistants screen it first and some don't take phone calls.

Sending an invitation through e-vite lacks professionalism for a CPA and consulting company, especially since the average transaction value, I would guess, is not on the cheap side. If you know the average lifetime value of a single client (in your particular niche it could easily be in the tens of thousands of dollars) this will tell you how much you can spend to get one.

Sending an e-mail is part of the sequence, and what you should be saying is for them to watch for the invitation in the mail or by courier and give them some of the details of time and place and how to reply.

As for the invitation, you should definitely have one printed as it shows the importance of the event. There are several resources that you could use to get a customized invitation done that will take less than a couple of days leaving you plenty of time to hit your deadline of October 9th.

Once the invitation is done, courier it to the Chamber members. That way you will make sure they open and read it. Second option is first class mail. Delivering it by courier will let you know the delivery date so you can make a follow-up personal call asking if they received it and can they confirm their attendance.

Once attendance is confirmed it requires an additional e-mail sent the day before, and the day of the event, along with a telephone reminder the day before. Don't assume that just because they said they'd be there that they will actuallly show up.

Also list what you are planning to do at this ribbon cutting ceremony. If your Chamber has a newsletter make sure you have a photographer to take pictures and let the attendees know that they should be there for this photo opportunity...and contact the local community newspaper as well. As well, have someone from your office take pictures.

If you do all of these steps (your cost will be approximately $10 - $15 per Member), you might get 50%-75% attendance, just sending an e-vite invitation will lead to less than desired results. This is not something that you can cheap out on, it'll send the wrong message. This is a Marketing opportunity, take advantage of it to position yourself as the professional expert in your field...Ron Romano