Tag Archives: private meeting

Featured Event Booker: Liz King – Liz King Events

Posted on October 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Pogby is honored to have Bookers who support our mission to make it easy for people to find, communicate with, and book locations for their event. In this weekly series, we want to share our supporters that are helping us transform the way events are booked.

Name: Liz King

Current Position: Owner, Social Media/Technology Event Specialist at Liz King Events

What are your three favorite types of locations for events?
Rooftops, Terraces and outdoor spaces!

Where is the most unique location you’ve event attended an event?
I once attended an outdoor wedding in the woods – with tree stumps as our chairs. Definitely unique – especially given that it rained all day!

What is the most challenging part of planning an event?
I would say the most challenging part of planning an event is keeping my events a top priority for vendors who have many other priorities.

What is your favorite food?
Noodles of any sort!

What is your favorite color?
Black

What hobbies do you enjoy most?
Travel, blogging, photography

For more information on Liz King Events visit their website, blog, on twitter @LizKingEvents and facebook.

Soon it will be even easier to connect with Liz and learn more. Stay tuned! Pogby 2.0 is coming! 

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Pogby 2.0 Event Marketplace – A Whole New Way to Get Booked

Posted on September 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

Coming in Q4 2011 is the launch of the new Pogby.com – Pogby 2.0 as we like to call it. Expect a whole new look, feel, and experience. In fact, you can expect a new name!  What does this mean for you?

For our founding venue members, you will get early access to check it out, test it out, and contribute to features and functionality that make it easy to sell and manage your event spaces and packages – as key partners of ours, we will listen carefully to your needs.  Your information will automatically be transferred over by our support team, so just sit back and relax. We will let you know when your information is ready to be viewed and when you can start merchandising. Not to mention, but our founding venues will receive a few other perks including being the first to get promoted in the new marketplace and a whole bunch more.

For bookers, we know what you want – An easier way to discover and book locations and packages for your events. The new Pogby system will have amazing search features to help you narrow down and compare your options, see upfront costs and policies, and checkout who you will be working with and what others say about the location and packages as well. As with all good things, this is definitely worth waiting for. For those that can’t wait, make sure to sign up for an invite to get early access!

For new venues, you gotta get involved asap. The Venue Marketplace is THE place to promote and sell your event offerings. Never before have you been able to reach more planners, market your offerings and manage your spaces online like this. With Pogby you will have the tools available for FREE to grow your business. All new venues must qualify to be listed in the marketplace. Join today in less than 3 minutes and be part of the next big thing to hit the events and meetings industry.

We truly believe what were doing is going to make a huge, positive impact to the industry and happy to have all of our supporters out there helping us turn our dream into a reality. Lets get bookin’!

- The Pogby Team

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Posted in Announcements, imbookin News

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New Online Search to Find Private Event & Meeting Venues

Posted on February 9, 2011 | 1 Comment

Traditionally finding a location for a private event or meeting is a time consuming process. Now with the new online search from Pogby, finding a location, seeing how much it costs, and determining if its available for your next private event and/or meeting can be done from the comfort of your own computer. No more wasting time trying to search through directory listings or sending out calls and emails into outer space.

The online search tool for private event and meeting venues is FREE for planners to use and is available ONLY on pogby.com and through our premier partners – NYCgo.com and VenuesOnline.com.

  • NYCgo.com is  the official site of NYC&Co, the New York City Convention Bureau which is the largest convention bureau in the United States. The online search for private events and venues is accessible on nycgo.com through their Meeting Planners page.
  • VenuesOnline.com is part of the Red 7 Media / Best Events family, formerly AgendaOnline. Planners can access the search tool directly from the Venuesonline.com homepage.

Searching for your next private event or meeting venue can be narrowed down by the following components:

  • Capacity - One of the key details of any event is how many guests which you will normally ha. Its important to start your search with capacity as you will normally have an idea of the number of guests you will expect so drilling down to only those venues that are of appropriate size.
  • Package Type – Depending on the type of event you are having there are specific package types that will apply. Package types include space rentals, minimum guarantees, beverage packages, cocktail receptions, fixed price meals/banquets, meeting packages, and specialty packages (ie. wedding, etc.). For more details on specifics of packages and what events they can apply to please check back for next week’s post on blogby.
  • Venue Type – Locations for private events and meetings does not have to be limited to just restaurants and hotels. Unique locations to hold your next event or meeting will not only make it a more memorable occasion but will help to increase attendance and guest count. For your next event, consider all the possibilities of venues – Restaurants, Bars/Lounges, Hotels, Loft Spaces, Independent Event Spaces, Retail Spaces, Rooftops/Outdoor Spaces, Ballrooms, Art Galleries, Museums/Cultural Institutions, Activity Venues (bowling alleys, arenas, zoos, botanical gardens, boats/yachts, etc) and more. For a complete listing of all venues available to book online by venue type – check out the Pogby Venue Directory.
  • Neighborhood – Currently available only for New York City, searching by neighborhood allows you to key in to locations that are most convenient for you and your guests.

Click HERE to SEARCH FOR A PRIVATE EVENT OR MEETING VENUE.

Still can’t find what you are looking for? The Pogby Concierge is here to help through LIVE CHAT, Email and Phone Support. Visit pogby.com for more details.

In the coming months Pogby will be ramping up the search capabilities so that planners will be able to search by even more factors including availability, price, and amenities. Please stay tuned for news on future enhancements. Sign up to receive updates on Pogby.com.

Pogby is dedicated to enhancing the community of planners and venues and are always listening to feedback from the industry. Our focus is to make the online booking of private events and meetings as simple and most efficient as possible. We are all about getting people out of their homes and offices and into some great and new locations for private events and meetings. Submit feedback to us by email (support@pogby.com) or online here.

Venues interested in being involved and reaching more people online through Pogby, check out more information here. To get started today, visit our online registration. Special FREE TRIAL OFFER available. Contact us at support@pogby.com to find out more information.

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Venue Review: B. Smith’s

Posted on February 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

One of the most famous avenues in New York City is Restaurant Row.  On this famous avenue sits B. Smith’s, a well known traditional american restaurant with a southern kick added to most of their dishes.   Located on West 46th Street, the near by attractions are endless and with good reason too.  Just blocks away from the heart of Time Square and positioned in the Theatre District, B. Smith’s understands the fast-pace style of New York by getting you to all of your favorite destinations on time, as well as the relaxed style of the south providing the time needed to enjoy a great meal.  The restaurant itself is as versatile as the dishes they serve.  With private events able to be held at the Front Bar, the Intimate Dining Room, the Upper Level, as well as Full Restaurant Buy-Outs, B. Smith’s can accommodate all occasions and party goers alike. Now with pricing and availability online through imbookin.

Great for a casual cocktail party or post-performance drinks with friends, the front bar is always fully stocked and is a warm welcoming area to chit-chat amongst guests over the previously seen show. The Front Bar area of B. Smith’s can hold up to 50 guests and is a great space to relax with co-workers after a long day at the office or bring friends together to network. The beautiful elevated wooden bar area keeps you right in the thick of things, yet eliminates the constant maneuvering from incoming patrons, satisfied exiting customers and fast moving waiters.  Planning a more private event is easy at B. Smiths with their Intimate Dining Room which can hold up to 25 guests. Located in the rear of the restaurant, this semi-private dining room is perfect for special celebrations such as anniversaries and graduations but also great for corporate events and dinners.

B. Smiths is also able to accommodate larger parties. The Upper Level space is available to be rented out and fit up to 125 people standing.  Over looking the entire restaurant, the upper level will feel like an entirely different restaurant but you can rest assured it has the same great taste B. Smith’s is known for.   If you are holding an even larger event or meeting,  215 people are easily accomodated in the Entire Restaurant giving plenty of room to mix, mingle and dance the night away.

Hosting private events for up to 215 of your closest friends and family, B. Smith’s will make you feel right at home… in the heart of New York City.

For more details on the private events spaces at the B. Smith’s including pricing and availability for events, click here.

Book your event. Today

 

(Contributing Writer, Kevin Ginty)

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Transparency in Booking Private Event and Meeting Venues

Posted on January 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

Transparency is one of the core principals of Pogby. Defined as implying openness and accountability, free of pretense or deceit, providing full availability of information, with a lack of hidden agendas and conditions, we believe that transparency is a necessity in business and is a main component of creating efficiency in processes. Transparency is also the key to building meaningful and life-long relationships established around trust. Our mission is to bring transparency to the private event and meeting industry. We require all venues we work with to be transparent with their information; Show upfront and clear pricing with no hidden fees. This is what event and meeting planners want to see. Planners are now demanding this change in the private events and meeting industry and Pogby is happy to be on the forefront of this revolution. By providing upfront information on venue availability and price, we allow planners to find new locations for their event or meeting and save valuable time in the site sourcing or location scouting process.

Let’s look at the hotel industry and the change they underwent with technology that eventually created an industry based around transparency and upfront information. Remember back in the day when you were going out of town and needed to book a hotel room. Before the internet, you would call a hotel chain you were familiar with and hope they had a location in the city you were traveling to. Or you would call a travel agent. But you would be very hard pressed to find that unique, boutique hotel or flash sale on room rates from the Marriott or the hotel with fitness centers and breakfast included.  This process was inefficient. Then came the internet. Now you could search for hotels in various locations. Similar to a directory or yellow pages, you could atleast get the address, phone number and name of new hotels. But you still had to call to compare pricing and availability. Then came the online travel sites. The rest is history. Now even my grandparents (aged 91 and 90) are using online travel sites to search hotels, see rates and amenities, make a booking and confirming through email. Welcome to the future. Thank you hotels for making the whole process easier through being open with information.

We hope all will eventually see the value in the technology we are offering to the world of event and meeting planning sooner rather than later. Thank you to all those who are already on board. Venue by venue, planner by planner its happening. Hello change. Glad you could finally make it.

-Liz Mazzei

The definitions used in this blog post can be found online at Merriam-Webster.com, BusinessDictionary.com, and Wikipedia.com.

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Venue Review: Jack Demsey’s

Posted on January 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

Whether it is the Wildcats or wine, the Celtic Club or captain-n-cokes, boxing fans or bud lights, Jack Demseys has it all.   The full length bar fills up quickly for most Kentucky Wildcat games as well as any F.A. Premier League games.  The location draws in an assorted crowd of tourists, business professionals, and die-hard sport fans.  Sitting on West 33rd Street between 5th and 6th Avenue, the landmarks surrounding the 3 level sports bar are endless – Herald Square, the Empire State Building, and Madison Square Garden are all within a couple blocks! Seeing as the Jack Demseys brings in a steady crowd of regulars and first-timers, looking into booking a private event through imbookin to secure one of their private rooms which includes seating, clear paths to the T.V.’s, and a private bar is a great idea.

The classic New York bar feel of dark wooden floors and trimming runs throughout Jack Demsey’s and down the stairs to one of the two private event spaces. With an old saloon feel, the downstairs party room is equipped with a pool table, at no extra cost, and four flat screens positioned strategically along the walls. Able to accommodate from 25 to 100 guests, the possible event types are endless.  Tables jut out from the wall accompanied by four bar stools each.  More may be requested for larger parties.  With a full private bar, the downstairs party room will feel as if it were attached to your apartment when filled with friends and family to celebrate any event.

Planners looking for a bigger space to watch their favorite sporting events or professionals looking to have a relaxed meeting atmosphere can both find comfort in Jack Demseys upstairs party room, with capacity for 25 to 150 guests. Equipped with an eight foot drop down projection screen, the event space can provide equipment to hook up lap-tops or other business presentations,  family slide shows and home movies, or just enhance your viewing experience of the game.  With three other flat screen t.v.’s, hung sporadically through out the room you  can enjoy every moment.  Similar to the room’s counter-part two floors below, the second party room is also equipped with a private bar and is masked with hardwood flooring and wooden trimming following the theme of the NYC sports bar.

Booking your private event at Jack Demseys in Midtown Manhattan is sure to please all of your guest and ensure you have a great time celebrating your big day or your wednesday. Available through imbookin check out package pricing and availability and book your event. Today.

(Kevin Ginty, Contributing Writer)

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Venue Review: Caedmon Spaces

Posted on January 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

From hundreds of kids roaming the halls during the day, to a New York City hotspot at night?  CaedmonSpaces, a school by day, transforms into a multi-purpose venue on weekends and nights.  Pulling the various awards and school artwork off the walls and removing the children size seating, leaves the main room to really show its true potential as a great space for all events .  Adding LED lighting and wooden partitions with a few other key decorations, an average cafeteria can come to look just as good, if not better than a NYC nightclub. On the flip side, leaving the gym as is keeps a great activity room and perfect for any children’s birthday party. The out-door courtyard is also great for those occasions during warmer months. CaedmonSpaces knows how to alter their space to satisfy any party-goers needs.

 

Located on East 80th Street between 1st and York Avenue, is the entrance to CaedmonSpaces.   Walking up the quick six or seven steps shows the covered porch area of one of imbookin’s newest venues available for bookings online.  Immediately setting the tone for the decor, the covered porch can be easily draped to the planners needs.  Entering the lobby of CaedmonSpaces wooden partitions can be used to cover any unwanted space while other areas of the lobby can be configured for a coat check and/or event registration.  Through the double-doors of the lobby, hard wood floors run the length of the space while painted green wooden trimmings give a refined accent to the room.   A classic SteinwayPiano adds to the atmosphere and is available for use during events for no extra charge.  Tuning is also available.  Wooden or black fold up chairs are included in the rental fee when booking through imbookin.com as the Caedmon Hall can accommodate up to 75 seated guests.  A beautiful stainedwooden table can be removed to create more space for a seated party, and is great to be left in for formal Cocktail Reception which holds 125 people comfortably standing and mingling.  Whether you are meeting the needs for 1 to 125 people, the Caedmon Hall is a beautiful space which lends itself to most any event.
LED lighting and a stellar DJ can transform the Caedmon Dining Hall, making the space have a true nightclub feel.  The blank white walls give a great backdrop for any color lighting and/or visual projection, and partitions and draping block off all remaining indications the space is actually part of a school. With a standing capacity of 250 and seated capacity of 200, the Dining Hall at CaedmonSpaces is able to accommodate a number of different types of private events and meeting. Like the Caedmon Hall event space on the floor above, the Dining Hall is able to provide wooden and/or black fold up chairs as well as plenty of multi-purpose tables to be set up in a variety of ways.   Staying true to their principles of flexibility Caedmon has a number of  recommended caterers to refer, but also allow outside catering, both which have full access to the full caterer’s kitchen, equipped with two ovens, refrigerators and more, is supplied with no extra cost. You no longer have to travel downtown for a NYC nightclub, Caedmon Spaces can provide you the location and the feel on the Upper East Side.

Although CaedmonSpaces can be transformed into almost anything, nothing needs to be changed to have a great kid’s birthday party.  The outdoor courtyard is set up with a jungle gym and other children’s equipment to keep them occupied for more than the usual twenty minutes and the fourth floor gym will keep them active for hours.  The gym, considered as full service but not full size, is 900 square feet and has two retractable basketball hoops and a rock climbing wall.  Located on the forth floor, the staircase to access is perfect to combat the sugar rush of a child’s birthday party.

Whether you are in need of a Children’s birthday space, dining hall or a nightclub, CaedmonSpaces, available for bookings through Pogby.com, accommodates any party needs and with easy access from the M15 or subway lines 4,5 and 6 is a great place for your next private event!

For more details on the private events spaces at CaedmonSpaces, click here or visit www.Pogby.com

Book your event. Today

(Kevin Ginty – Contributing Writer)

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Venue Review: Zanger Hall

Posted on December 31, 2010 | Leave a comment

Built in 1924 the historic WSJ building, which houses Zanger Hall, is conveniently located in Midtown West, the garment district of Manhattan. Important to all New Yorkers and those who live in the surrounding area is simply convenience.  Zanger Hall is located within walking distance from Penn Station making it accessible from not only most NYC subways, but most surrounding areas of New York as well.  Other landmarks include the Javits Center and Madison Square Garden. Additionally making it even more convenient for private events or meetings is the ability to book Zanger Hall, online through imbookin.

Walking in through the sizable wooden doors on West 34th street between 8th and 9th avenue you immediately enter the foyer of Zanger Hall.   Hanging from the 15 foot ceilings in the foyer are twin crystal chandeliers which illuminate the marble floors.  Within the foyer you will also find three individual co-ed restrooms. Stepping through the lobby and into the multi-purpose room of Zanger Hall you will notice six additional crystal chandeliers matching the previous two and also hanging from 15 foot ceilings.  Drawing your attention next is the moderately sized stage positioned at the far end of the multi-purpose room and is an added perk commonly used for smaller music performances,  lectures, and continuing education seminars.   Entrance level and lined with hardwood floors through out, the multi-purpose room of Zanger Hall is just that, available for multiple different events.  Usually considered as a ball room or social hall the event possibilities are endless, ranging from sample sales, fashion and art showings, corporate events or private parties.  Able to accommodate 200 guests seated and 300 standing, Zanger Hall is extremely flexible with most any set-up and decorations needed.  Available for all events are Gold chivary chairs and/or classic white fold up chairs as well as round or rectangular tables. The dedicated event staff is available to help with any type of recommendation. The gold draperies hanging from ceiling to floor and the stain glass window are the finishing touches giving the space a truly elegant feel.

Also available to be booked online via imbookin is the multi-purpose room, is Zanger Hall’s downstairs raw or gym space.  Newly renovated, the space is able to fit between 150  people for a variety of events.  Equipped with hardwood floors through out, the space is easily transformed by draping the walls and/or colored lighting to create the perfect atmosphere for your event.  Leaving the space as is still lends itself to array of events including classes such as karate, exercise, or instructional lessons.  With two bathrooms downstairs and a separate entrance also on West 34th street,  the downstairs space, similar to the social hall above, is perfect for any private event.Meeting all needs and remaining extremely flexible Zanger Hall is a great venue to book your next event.

For more details on the private events spaces at Zanger Hall, click here or visit
www.Pogby.com

Book your event. Today

(Kevin Ginty, Contributing Writer)

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Stress Free Event Planning

Posted on December 28, 2010 | Leave a comment

It happens every year. Multiple times a year. As referenced online, a holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government or a religious group have deemed that observation is warranted. Eating, drinking, taking pictures, talking, joking, laughing, reminiscing about the past, making memories – this is what holidays are to me; A time to be spent with those that are important to you – family, friends, significant others, co-workers, neighbors, event pets.

Hands down my favorite holiday of the year is Christmas. Why? One word – Cioppino.

A family tradition that happens every year on Christmas Eve, Cioppino is truly an event unlike any other. It involved lots of people, lots of launghter, singing and toasting, and lots of crab. Cioppino has been celebrated by my family for over 100 years. Each year due to a growing number of guests, the pots of sauce and noodles get bigger and loaves of garlic bread double. Unknown to the more recent attendees, and due to the increase in numbers, Cioppino has had to transfer from house to house in order to contain the festivities. But alas, we have outgrown all. By next year, we will either have to make some new friends and convince them to host or look elsewhere for options.

Gratefully, one of the core members in the clan has the insight to help find a location to host a private event such as Cioppino. With the ability to now find locations online at Pogby.com through a simple three step process, planning and setting up for next years Cioppino will be a breeze. So glad we wont have to call and email each individual facility just to find out if they are available and how much it costs to rent the space. This means more time for shopping!

My family sure knows how to get down, if you know what I mean. What can I say? We’re Italian! So get ready all you private event and private dining facilities, Cioppino 2011 is right around the corner.

-Liz Mazzei

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Your Very Own Pogby VME (aka Venue Merchandising Expert)

Posted on December 15, 2010 | 2 Comments

Make that venue live! Get the capacities. How many hours can it be booked? These were a few of the many new things I had to learn when starting at Pogby three months ago. Jumping right in to my new position as a VME ( Venue Merchandising Expert ) there were about a million things I needed to grasp, and quickly too. Luckily, I have a great cast of characters, I mean co-workers, around the office that have helped me, just as it is now part of my responsibilities to help Venue Managers with their registration for Pogby.com.

Something I always encourage Venue Managers to take advantage of is the Pogby VME – we are here to help! There are many ways to keep contact between the VME and Venue Manager. Some of the best are though e-mail, phone,in person and live chat, but anyway to keep the contact lines open is acceptable including smoke signals or carrier pigeons! Our goal at Pogby is to make is easy for people to book your spaces for private events and meetings, which is why uploading the correct and up-to-date package information is so important. Venues can take a while to get up and running, but some venue managers are rock stars from the start such as the Heartland Breweries, Caedmon Spaces the 21 Club. Having their information and images ready to go we were able to speed through registration and get their venues posted on Pogby.com.

Registration through Pogby is an easy three step process. When signing up, you will fill out basic information pertaining to your venue, including venue name, email address and creating your password . Once the initial information is filled out, the venue manager will receive an e-mail with instructions for Step 1. These instructions consist of uploading contact and booking information as well as additional venue details. Pogby has come up with some recommendations for these figures if your venue does not have set data. Dont forget to read out tips found throughout registration! Finally for Step 1, would be to upload you spaces. When creating spaces be sure to have information at hand due to the fact Pogby has space requirements so that we may promote your space correctly after registration. Pictures and floor plans are also encouraged.

After, these areas are completed it is on to Step 2, packages. These can range from a flat fee, minimum guarantees, cocktail receptions, meeting packages or pre-fixed meals and many more! Depending on your type of venue you may have one to one hundred different packages. At Pogby, we recommend uploading your best sellers aka the most popular packages to be booked in the past. We also come across many venues with very flexible packages and pricing, in this case we recommended uploading your basic packages with the starting price and then encourage the venue manager to up-sell or cross-sell. As the venue manager you may also apply different packages to different spaces, capacities and event day of the week and time of the day. Remember its all about letting the planner know how much it costs to just get in the door. And just like that Step 2 is finished!

Time for Step 3, the review, the final step. Your Pogby VME will send over a link so that you, the venue manger, can look through your venue’s page before it is launched on Pogby.com. Once we have the “OK” we can start going after the goal of Pogby, getting the venue some more bookings! Remember nothing is set in stone either. As the venue manager you have full access to log-in and update, change, add, delete any information 24/7. So lets get your venue launched!

As stated earlier, I am a Pogby VME ( Venue Merchandising Expert), here to help every step of the way.

-Kevin Ginty

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