Eventuosity: app from family team aims to make event planning easier

Eventuosity decentralizes event planning logistics so groups can organize multiple social gatherings simultaneously and with little coordination beyond a few clicks.

“There is virtually no end to the types of activity you can create with this,” said cofounder Justin Panzer at February’s Philadelphia Tech Breakfast.

Initially, brothers Justin and Doug Panzer developed the University City-based Eventuosity to make planning an annual hockey tournament trip to Wisconsin less onerous.

In 2009, Justin booked housing and travel for one team, his team. The team lost all three of their games but Panzer learned a lesson about event planning in the process. In 2010, more teammates attended from different states, requiring a more complex level of organization. This year the group grew to its largest size yet with 52 people. This left Panzer in charge of coordinating 17 car rentals and 15 hotel room assignments before he suited up for his first of four games.

The affable Panzer explained the company’s simple approach.

“We want to make sure we have all the information you need,” he said.

After weeks of planning the most complex events, coordinators can continue making updates through a “unified inbox” feature. This lets users alter the current status of items and notify other team members in real time.

In addition, users have access to schedules and lists for standard event coordination needs. Eventuosity is currently developing an additional feature that will allow users to export data to “marketing automation platforms,” such as Salesforce.

The Brothers Panzer have a technical and sales background however their president represents the average Joe, or in this case Jane. President and mother Marcy Panzer is the “voice of non-techie reason” as her sons expand beyond the App Store and beta test an Android version of their application.

Eventuosity’s cofounder sees its brightest business prospects in two market segments. First, Justin explained the opportunity to grow its clientele among those who attend trade shows. The sheer number of attendees, Panzer asserted, lends itself to decentralized coordination. Second, sports teams can use the application for tournaments, small team events or gatherings across large geographical distances.

Ultimately, Eventuosity is positioning itself as a simple answer to planning in a growing Internet of Things.

“We want to take all the things we are going to us for [planning], and go with the ideal model,” Panzer said. “We want to give the planner, or group leader one tool.”

Also at February’s Philadelphia Tech Breakfast:

Inwiter (pronounced in-wy-ter), a D.C.-based company, allows users to change photos and videos into unique video greetings & event invitations.

The app’s simple design and user-friendly interface are two of Inwiter’s best qualities. With just a few clicks users can send a recorded video to friends, family members, and their social network.

“You want to show that you spent a lot of time making [a gift],” said founder Prabhakar Bellamkonda. “Instead of buying a Hallmark card, a card which is made by somebody [else]…you can create [and share] photos.”

In other words, personalized content is more attractive to creators and recipients.

Inwiter circumvents the walled garden effect, a frustration Apple and PC users know all too well. A walled garden develops when a user must buy-in to a system to access the benefits of a service. Those who watch videos or see the photos from Inwiter users do not need to download the app.

However, Bellamkonda conceded, “If you have the app, you will have a much better experience.”

The app is currently available in the App Store but the company is exploring opportunities to develop an Android version.

Inwiter intends to generate revenue from premium video and audio theme sales. “For example, Birthday will provide a beautiful theme where you can plug in your videos and clips…We will provide you the music, which you can buy,” he explained.