The Systems That Power Clover Events & Productions
What COVID-19 Taught Us About Technology
We can remember our first client-facing Zoom call like it was yesterday. Before the pandemic, we had a feeling that video calls were too informal and intrusive to use as a regular tool. Allowing a client into your “home,” and having a disruption from a kid or significant other did not allow for the curated experience we were hoping to create for our clients. It seems somewhat laughable now to think back to meeting hopping all over town filling multiple hours of the day with travel to get from consults and planning meetings to vendor appointments and site visits.
Now, as we reacclimate to life after COVID-19, we of course know there will be no virtual substitute for venue tours, tastings, and floral and décor samples, however for many of the operational meetings of our planning process we are now equipped with tools to help create a truly custom experience using a combination of technology and in-person experiences.
We wanted to highlight a few of the platforms that power Clover Events and invite you to share some of the tools you love to use in the comments below!
Using Basecamp for Event Planning
What We Love
Templates, Templates, Templates: Having the ability to think strategically about the pillars of the Clover experience and translate those into usable and customizable templates has been life-changing. We are able to easily customize our planning commitments and the order in which we are accomplishing with drag-and-drop functionality that is easy to manage.
Client-facing Experience: We tried other project-management/event-planning software in the past, but Basecamp was the first platform we found that gave us an elevated and easy way to share documents, questionnaires, and a “planning” portal with clients.
Less Email, More Basecamp: While there is no replacement for emails when coordinating with photographers, venues, caterers and an extended vendor team, we love that if the client is enjoying the Basecamp experience we can keep the majority of our communication in the platform, allowing us to reference back to details and questions that we’ve had along the way.
What We Wish We Could Do
Chat-style Communication: As more and more of our clients are using Microsoft Teams, Slack, or some instant messaging system for quick work communications, we wish Basecamp had a built-in chat-style communication portal with clients. While you are able to use Campfire and comments attached to specific documents, there is not an easy “home-base” for quick messages.
Contracting & Client Management With Dubsado
What We Love
Opportunity Tracking: Long gone are the days of spreadsheet trackers for the Clover Team. Dubsado allows us to easily track opportunities that are in various stages of the planning process. The “funnel-style” dashboard allows us to quickly and easily see what opportunities need follow-up, proposals, to final payments, and post-event check-ins.
Integrated Payments: Contracting, deposits, and payments are a breeze with Dubsado. Having a platform that understands how events are structured and allows us to easily schedule final payments keeps us on top of billing and paid-in-full before event day.
Contract Templates: As much of the events industry learned with the COVID-19 Pandemic, contracts are more than just a piece of paper. Dubsado allows us to have multiple contracts and addendums to plug into opportunities that allows us to easily match our contracts to the services we are providing.
What We Wish We Could Do
Dubsado as a Collaborative Tool: While Dubsado makes sense for us on the contracting side, we do think that the client-facing experience they offer does not provide the elevated experience we are able to achieve with Basecamp. We tried to use the client-facing portal early on, and ultimately did not have the buy-in from our clients.
Drag & Drop Timelines with Timeline Genius
What We Love
Templates Specific To The Clover Approach: Weddings and events are not one-size-fits-all. Sure there are going to be some key points throughout the day that may be found from event to event, but Timeline Genius allows us to create multiple templates for multiple event styles. Dance Sets? Ceremony Off-site? Room Flip? We have been able to curate our templates to make the timeline planning process a breeze.
Client Access and Collaboration: Timeline Genius allows us to provide client access to timelines, but also provide access that focuses on a specific task, instead of the entire flow of the day. This allows our team to provide the general steps of the day and allows the client to fill in some of the missing blanks with ease.
Export For Vendors: Having the ability to export timelines with vendor-specific information, without having to create a redundant document or manage a cumbersome Excel spreadsheet allows us to stay on track with our vendor team on-site while managing one master timeline.
What We Wish We Could Do
Integrations: Unfortunately Timeline Genius does not provide integrations into other software (like Basecamp) which does require us to layer on an independent system into our process, however the user experience for Timeline Genius is intuitive and allows us to achieve a streamlined approach to any event.
Right-sizing Technology To Our Clients
We understand that a technology-forward approach may not be the right fit for every client. And although there is no replacement for in-person meetings to establish a working rapport with clients and vendors, having the same technology infrastructure for each event has allowed us to streamline our operations and remain on top of all cascading deliverables. Knowing what has been accomplished, what is coming next, and having the tools to stay on top of payments and timelines, gives us the ability to spend more on the special moments throughout the experience and less time scrolling through email archives.
