Punchbowl Blog

This post written by Sean Conta, Founder & CXO

Our approach to building the website has always been to solve real problems surrounding planning an event. We have developed a full suite of awesome features using this strategy. I’d like to take you through one of the purest examples of this on the site - a feature we call “Relationships”.

Here’s the scenario:

- You’re planning a birthday party.

- On your guest list you have a mix of friends, including the following families and couples:

• Smith family of 4:
  • Parents Carl & Jenna
  • Kids Molly and Finn
• Married couple Jimmy and Kendra Barksdale
• Your friend Colin and his date Liz

- You want to keep an accurate guest count while making it clear to each guest which of their significant others or family members are invited.

***Enter the Relationships feature!***

It all starts on your Add Guests page.

1 - First, add all the guests who you have email addresses for using one of our many import or entry methods. The guests are queued up in your Guests to Invite list on the right side of the Add Guests page:

2 - Click the Relationships tab above the Guests to Invite list:

Here you can “connect” anyone in your guest list with another guest.

3 - I’ll connect Jimmy and Kendra since they are married. To do this, I just click “Add a relationship” under Jimmy and choose Kendra:

Jimmy and Kendra are now connected in my guest list:

4 - Next I want to connect the Smith family. I have emails for the parents Carl & Jenna but I don’t have emails for their kids. First, I connect Carl to Jenna:

Now I add another relationship to Jenna, but this time I choose “New person” since the kids are not in my guest list:

I add Finn the same way and the Smith family is complete:

I can do the same for Colin and Liz and now I’m ready to send invitations.

___________________________________________________________________

Now, how does this all play out for your guests?

1 - When Jimmy receives his invitation he is informed that his wife Kendra is also invited:

2 - Jimmy responds Yes and then has the option to respond for Kendra:

When Kendra opens her invitation she will have the same ability to respond for Jimmy (or view his response if he has already RSVP’d)

I hope you’re starting to see the beauty of this feature. Without it, Jimmy would not have known if Kendra was invited. He might have responded Yes and then added a “+1″ for Kendra. Kendra might have done the same thing. Then the host would have 4 Yes RSVPs when it should really be 2.

3 - Carl Smith receives an invitation and sees that his family is also invited:

4 - Carl can RSVP for everyone in his family, even though the kids never received an invitation:

5 - As the host, all of this is laid out clearly on your manage Guests page:

I hope it’s clear the level of thought and design that went into our Relationships feature. Use it for your next event and let us know what you think!

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

The Indianapolis 500 is just a few short days away on Sunday, May 30. If you’re a huge racing fan, you know that the Indy 500 race is one of the largest sporting events in the world. In fact, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the world’s largest spectator sporting facility!

MyPunchbowl is excited to partner with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to offer Indy 500 party invitations. Use one of these branded invites to spread the word about your Indy 500 party.

Once you’ve sent your invites, move on to the decorations. Checkered flags are a must if you want to make guests feel like they’re at the Indy Speedway. Cross two checkered flags together on the front door to get guests revved up for the big race!

One of the Indy 500 traditions is to release multi-colored balloons at the start of the race. This is something you can easily accomplish at home to make guests forget that they don’t have Indy 500 tickets. Instead of releasing balloons outside, blow up red, white and blue balloons and have them drop down from the ceiling onto guests just as the race begins!

Enjoy the race!

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

As May comes to a close, there are some great Reasons to Celebrate and get together with friends and family. Tomorrow, for example, is National Wine Day (Tuesday, May 25). Grab some friends and head to a neighborhood wine bar or just pick up a new bottle to try with dinner.

This Friday (May 28) is National Hamburger Day. It’s a great excuse to kickoff Memorial Day weekend with a Friday night cookout! Keep it simple with burgers on the grill and a fresh salad.

Another highlight of Memorial Day weekend is the Indianapolis 500. Did you know that the Indy 500 always takes place on the Sunday before Memorial Day? There’s still time to plan your Indy 500 party so get started today!

Since Memorial Day is considered the unofficial kickoff to summer, Sun Screen Day on Thursday, May 27 is a great reminder to be safe and protected while having fun in the sun.

Here’s a look at all of this week’s holidays:

• May 24: National Escargot Day
• May 25: National Wine Day
• May 26: National Blueberry Cheesecake Day
• May 27: Sun Screen Day
• May 28: National Hamburger Day
• May 29: International Jazz Day
• May 30: Indianapolis 500

Looking for a way to cool off from the heat? It’s also National Frozen Yogurt Week. Enjoy a large cone of your favorite flavor to celebrate!

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

It’s official: graduation season is in full swing! We’re seeing graduation parties planned every day on MyPunchbowl as well as graduation eCards sent to graduates all over the country.

To celebrate and get in on the graduation fun, we’re giving away the perfect graduation gift—a brand new iPad! First, we need to graduate to 20,000 fans on Facebook. The sooner we graduate to 20,000 fans, the sooner we’ll give away the iPad.

It’s easy to enter to win. Just go to the Punchbowl contest page on Facebook and enter the sweepstakes. If you’re not already a Facebook fan, don’t forget to “Like” us to help us reach our 20,000 goal!

Another way you can help us graduate to 20,000 fans is to invite all of your Facebook friends. It’s easy to invite them to participate in the contest. In fact, invite them now (it will take less than 2 minutes!).

Thanks for participating & good luck!

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

As we move further along into spring, there are many great reasons to host parties or family gatherings. If you’re a fan of beer, for example, today kicks off American Craft Beer Week! I have a feeling we’ll celebrate this one at Punchbowl. After all, last year we spent our “Summer Day” brewing our own beer! You can celebrate American Craft Beer Week too. Check out the events happening all over the country.

Tuesday, May 18 is Visit Your Relatives Day. It’s a great excuse to get together for a picnic lunch or impromptu cookout after work. Send out a picnic or cookout-themed invite to get everyone excited to celebrate!

If you’re looking for a great way to stay healthy, protect the environment, and avoid the morning commute, participate in National Bike to Work Day on May 21! If you’re feeling really ambitious, this whole week is Bike to Work Week. The League of American Bicyclists has all kinds of information to help you get on your bike this week.

Here’s all of the Reasons to Celebrate this week:

• May 17: National Cherry Cobbler Day
• May 18: Visit Your Relatives Day
• May 19: National Devil’s Foodcake Day
• May 20: Be a Millionaire Day
• May 21: National Bike to Work Day
• May 22: National Wig Out Day
• May 23: National Turtle Day

Also, Memorial Day is two weeks from today. Start planning your Memorial Day cookout!

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

There are a bunch of delicious dessert holidays this week that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time! First, Tuesday, May 11 is Eat What You Want Day. Yes, that’s right, a whole day dedicated to throwing your diet out the window and enjoying whatever you want. One day can’t hurt, right? But, you may need to extend that holiday to the whole week because this week features Nutty Fudge Day (May 12), National Apple Pie Day (May 13), and National Chocolate Chip Day (May 15).

Another fun holiday this week is National Chicken Dance Day (May 14)! When that chicken dance song starts to play, I think all of us have flashbacks to flapping our wings and clapping to the beat. The chicken dance is still a favorite at weddings, bar mitzvahs, and birthday parties. We think National Chicken Dance Day is a great occasion to have a dance-off with your friends to see who has the best chicken dance moves. Maybe even schedule a dance-a-thon for charity?

Here’s a look at the rest of the Reasons to Celebrate this week:

• May 10: Clean Up Your Room Day
• May 11: Eat What Your Want Day
• May 12: Nutty Fudge Day
• May 13: National Apple Pie Day
• May 14: National Chicken Dance Day
• May 15: National Chocolate Chip Day
• May 16: National Sea Monkey Day

Saturday, May 15 is also National Armed Forces Day. It’s a great reminder to thank our armed forces for their service to our country!

Have a wonderful week!

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

This is a busy week with lots of terrific reasons to celebrate! Tuesday, for example, is National Teacher Day (also known as Teacher Appreciation Day). It’s a great day for parents and students to acknowledge their teachers and the difference that they make in the lives of our children every day. While some parents give small tokens of appreciation, like a coffee gift card, it is not always necessary. A simple thank you is much appreciated. Wish the teachers in your life a happy Teacher Day with one of our National Teacher Day eCards!

Midweek we have Cinco de Mayo to look forward to celebrating. What a great excuse to head to your favorite Mexican restaurant for some chips and salsa, guacamole, and margaritas! Hosting a Cinco de Mayo party? Check out these festive decorating ideas for your fiesta!

Mother’s Day is also coming up on Sunday, May 9. That means you have less than a week to figure out how you’re going to show your mom that you appreciate everything she’s done for you. We have a great selection of beautiful, Mother’s Day eCards that you can send to mom or other moms in your life (friends, sisters, grandmothers, etc). Schedule your eCard today to arrive in her inbox on Sunday (this way you’ll be sure you won’t forget!).

Here’s a look at the rest of the holidays this week:

• May 3: National Two Different Colored Shoes Day
• May 4: National Teacher Day
• May 5: Cinco de Mayo
• May 6: Nurses’ Day
• May 7: National Roast Leg of Lamb Day
• May 8: National Miniature Golf Day
• May 9: Mother’s Day

Have a great week!