Punchbowl Blog

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Memorial Day is coming up this Monday. Officially, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died serving our country. Unofficially, the holiday marks the kickoff to summer.

Many people feel that traditional observances of the day have diminished over the years. However, we found a variety of traditional celebrations that you can enjoy that honor the great men and women who’ve served our country.

Here are a few of the larger Memorial Day events happening around the country this weekend:

• The National Memorial Day Parade, Washington, DC on Monday, May 30 at 2pm — This annual parade in our nation’s capital draws over 250,000 spectators and features marching bands, parade floats, youth groups, as well as hundreds of veterans from World War II through Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, Little Neck-Douglaston, NY on Monday, May 30 at 2pm — This annual parade is billed as one of the largest Memorial Day parades in the country. With nearly 10,000 people marching in the parade, the sidewalks along the route are filled every year. Make sure to get there early to get a great spot to watch the festivities!

• Chicago’s Memorial Day Parade, Chicago, IL on Saturday, May 28 at 12pm — One of the largest parades of its kind, Chicago’s Memorial Day Parade begins with a Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Eternal Flame on Daley Plaza at 11am. The parade itself features marching bands, veterans’ groups, and more.

• Fleet Week, New York, NY, May 25 to June 1 — Fleet Week is a celebration of the sea services — Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard — that has been held every year since 1984. Fleet Week includes a parade of ships, ship tours, air and water displays, and the opportunity for the public to meet the men and women who serve in those military branches. The highlight of the week is a ceremony on Memorial Day that includes a wreath laying, Three Volley Salute, unfurling of a 100-ft American flag, and military fly-over.

• Myrtle Beach MayFest, Myrtle Beach, SC, May 27 & 28 — Myrtle Beach has a bunch of activities planned to celebrate Memorial Day, including the Memorial Day Weekend Parade featuring Grand Marshall, John McCain. The parade begins at 9:30am. Additional highlights include free military concerts on Friday and parachute jump shows on Saturday.

If you plan to attend a Memorial Day parade in your area or want to get friends and family together for a cookout, rally your troops with a Memorial Day party invitation.

Enjoy the long weekend!

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

This spring millions of students will don caps and gowns and walk in commencement ceremonies around the country. After the graduation parties are over, these high school and college graduates will have their whole lives ahead of them. What do they need to know as they embark on the next chapter in their journey? We posed the following question to our Facebook and Twitter fans to help point these new graduates in the right direction:

“What’s your best piece of advice for this year’s high school and college graduates? What was the best advice you got when you graduated?”

Our wise and caring community responded with some great advice for the class of 2011. Here are some of their suggestions:

“Don’t give up…n sweat the small stuff. 5 years from now all the things that seem so big won’t matter…”

“It’s a new beginning…enjoy”

“Monitor your social media usage if you want a good job. Employers are on the look-out!”

“You can be what you want to be, just takes a lot of hard work and effort, and always looking forward!”

“Go forth and conquer! U live in the greatest times for doing anything u want, don’t let the naysayers slay u and keep u stuck.” 

“Take a year off and travel…then get a job.” 

“Listen to your elders. I didn’t upon graduation, but did later in life.”

“Stay focused on UR goals! Don’t let anything or anyone stop U!”

And on the lighter side…

“Remember to smile on grad day. Everyone takes photos and you want to look good.”

“Stay in school as long as possible. School is wonderful. Work sucks.” 

“Keep the photos clean.”

Want to be part of the conversation? Join our engaged Facebook and Twitter communities as we discuss everything from the best party you’ve ever attended to your most embarrassing party moments! Become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Milestone birthday parties are some of the most popular events planned on Punchbowl, especially for 30th, 40th, and 50th birthdays. And, they’re often a surprise.

Nancy S. from British Columbia recently used Punchbowl to plan her best friend’s 50th birthday party — a “Gal’s Getaway Weekend” — and found the site to be a tremendous help as she coordinated this milestone event.

Of the utmost importance to Nancy was the ability to send invites, track RSVPs, and organize her potluck all while keeping the party a surprise from the guest of honor. Additionally, with nearly 60 guests invited from all over British Columbia, Nancy was happy that Punchbowl gave her the ability to include trip details with her invitation so that guests could make informed decisions about travel arrangements.

Nancy isn’t the only one who likes Punchbowl — she says her guests found the site “very intuitive and easy to navigate.” In fact, they used the message board to discuss car pool options and Nancy’s potluck list filled up fast!

Overall, Nancy says, “I appreciate the flexibility of the site…and I intend to use Punchbowl for all of my upcoming party needs.” Nancy knows what it’s like to plan a larger party using Punchbowl but can see the value in using Punchbowl to plan smaller events too and says it will be perfect for planning her neighborhood BBQs!

Thanks for your feedback, Nancy!

Do you have stories about your experience planning a party on Punchbowl? Send us an email or post a comment on our Facebook page.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

It’s graduation season and that means lots of graduation parties are being planned right now on Punchbowl for graduation events big and small. While students finish final exams, celebrate Grad Week, and plan for the next phase of their lives, families are making travel arrangements and planning for the all-important graduation celebration.

They’re probably also wondering who will be the commencement speaker at their child’s graduation. A former President, perhaps? Maybe an Academy Award winner? How about a CEO or entrepreneur?

Class of 2011 commencement speakers run the gamut from Saturday Night Live alum to consumer-internet co-founder. Here’s a list of a few of this year’s commencement speakers:

• President Obama, United States Coast Guard Academy & Miami-Dade College
• First Lady Michelle Obama, University of Northern Iowa
• Former President Bill Clinton, New York University
• Denzel Washington, University of Pennsylvania
• Amy Poehler, Harvard University
• Tom Hanks, Yale University
• Brooke Shields, Princeton University
• Tom Brokaw, University of Montana

The list of commencement speakers goes beyond politicians and celebrities. This year, it’s nice to see a number of tech folks giving commencement addresses, including:

• Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak, Michigan State University
• Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Barnard College
• Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone, Babson College

Who was your commencement speaker? If you could choose a commencement speaker for an upcoming graduation, who would you choose and why?

If you have a graduation event to plan Punchbowl can help you pull it all together—from the invites to the venue to the decorations. Start planning your graduation event!

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Every day Punchbowl users share feedback with us about their experience using the site, often for the first time. They send emails, post to our Facebook page, and tweet about us. We love hearing from our users and thought others might be interested in what they have to say about Punchbowl.

Today the spotlight is on Lori V. from Vancouver Island. Lori had heard about Punchbowl from a few teachers at the elementary school where she works. She thought it would be the perfect solution for planning her daughter’s wedding shower!

Of the utmost importance to Lori was the ability to keep her guest list and RSVPs organized and to receive responses from as many guests as possible. Not to mention, she wanted to make sure her daughter’s special day went off without a hitch.

Lori found Punchbowl to be “very easy to navigate” and also says it was fun and easy to “create a beautiful and professional looking invitation.” She loved finding out which guests viewed the invitation as well as when they viewed it. And, she appreciated the ability to send reminders to guests who did not respond in a timely fashion.

Ultimately, Lori’s guests thought the invitation was beautiful and they had fun making comments on the message board leading up to the shower. Most importantly, Lori’s daughter was “very impressed” that she used Punchbowl to plan the event.

Thanks for your feedback, Lori!

Do you have stories about your experience planning a party on Punchbowl? Send us an email!

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

One of our partners got a new look this week! Celebrations.com relaunched their site with a whole new look that includes a new user friendly interface. Punchbowl partnered with Celebrations to introduce the Celebrations Party Planner last fall, which also has a new look as part of the relaunch.

To promote the relaunch of the site, Celebrations is running the “Celebrations New Look Sweepstakes.” Visit the sweepstakes page to enter to win one of more than 70 prizes, including gift cards to 1-800-FLOWERS.COM and SpaWeek, gift baskets from Fannie May and WineTasting.com, and much more!

We know what it’s like to get a brand new look! When MyPunchbowl became Punchbowl in September 2010, we got a whole new look that included new colors and a new logo.

Congrats to our friends at Celebrations and good luck to you on the sweepstakes!

This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO, @mattdouglas

I’m very excited to announce that Punchbowl has acquired Socializr — a site for party planning and event management. The acquisition of Socializr will accelerate Punchbowl’s growth in the party planning market. We are excited to welcome Socializr customers to Punchbowl just in time for the holiday party planning season. 

Here’s the full announcement:

Punchbowl Acquires Event Management Site Socializr.com

Acquisition of Socialzr accelerates Punchbowl’s growth in party planning market

Framingham, MA (PRWEB), November 12, 2010 — Punchbowl.com, the one-stop site for start to finish party planning, today announced the acquisition of Socializr.com, a site for party planning and event management. With the transaction, Punchbowl has acquired key assets and technology from Socializr Inc. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The announcement comes on the heels of the company’s acquisition of the domain Punchbowl.com and a fresh, new look for the site. In addition, the company recently unwrapped the unparalleled Digital Invitation Studio—a beautiful collection of free, pre-packaged online stationery sets for events and celebrations, complete with invitations, envelopes, liners, rubber stamps, and postage.

Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams, a pioneer in social networking, launched Socializr as an event management platform that combined customized event invitations with a social networking component. Socializr customers have embraced the site for its ease of use and social media integration.

“Joining forces with Punchbowl allows us to provide Socializr customers with a more comprehensive event management solution,” said Jonathan Abrams, Founder, Socializr. “We’re thrilled to help Punchbowl grow and accelerate the business.”

With more than one million registered users, Punchbowl is the leader in start to finish party planning. Punchbowl offers a modern, effortless way to plan an unforgettable celebration with party planning features including customizable online invitations, potluck organization, gift registries, local party vendors, and much more. The site is ideal for planning birthday parties, baby showers, Christmas parties, and even Thanksgiving dinner.

“Expanding our reach with the acquisition of Socializr will accelerate the growth of our company,” said Matt Douglas, CEO, Punchbowl. “We are excited to welcome Socializr customers to Punchbowl just in time for the holiday party planning season.”

This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO, @mattdouglas

I’m pleased to announce that Punchbowl has partnered with Cozi.com to bring our party planning platform to busy families this holiday season.  Cozi is a free web and mobile service that helps keep families organized with an online calendar, to-do lists and more. We’re excited to launch the Cozi Party Planner powered by Punchbowl just in time to help Cozi families to plan all of their holiday parties and celebrations.

Here’s the full announcement:

Punchbowl Partners with Cozi to Bring Award-Winning Party Planning Platform to Busy Families

Framingham, MA (PRWEB) November 10, 2010 — Punchbowl.com, the one-stop site for start to finish party planning, today announced a partnership with Cozi.com, the world’s leading family communications and organizational platform. The new Cozi Party Planner is launching in time for the busy holiday season.

Cozi is a free web and mobile service that simplifies busy family life with an online calendar, the ability to track shopping and to do lists, organize household chores, and share family moments with relatives and friends. The Cozi Party Planner powered by Punchbowl complements the communication and organization features already available on Cozi and includes the award-winning features found on Punchbowl.

“The Cozi customer is a busy mom who embraces time-saving solutions to keep their family organized,” Robbie Cape, CEO and co-Founder of Cozi. “Punchbowl is a great partner to help us deliver party planning to Cozi families this holiday season.”

The start to finish party planning features of the Cozi Party Planner make it ideal for planning Christmas parties, New Year’s parties, birthday parties, and even Thanksgiving dinner. The Date Decider helps hosts get group consensus on the ideal party date—one of the biggest challenges during the holiday season. Digital Invitation Studio offers hundreds of beautiful, digital invitations and save the dates, each with companion envelopes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and stunning color palettes. Organized families will enjoy the Potluck feature, which allows guests to easily sign up to bring items and allows hosts to effortlessly manage who’s bringing what. Hosts can also keep track of their RSVP list with ease and share party details with their social networks.

“Punchbowl is excited to bring our party planning service to Cozi,” said Matt Douglas, CEO, Punchbowl Software. “We’re thrilled to help even more families plan unforgettable events this holiday season.”

This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO, @mattdouglas

Last month, we announced our partnership with 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. This month, I’m pleased to announce another new partnership: we’ve partnered with Lifetime Moms to launch the Lifetime Moms Party Planner. We’re excited to bring our party planning suite to Lifetime Moms in time for the holiday season.

Here’s the full announcement from AETN Digital, the content provider for Lifetime Moms:

AETN Digital Partners with Punchbowl to Offer Party Planning Service to Moms

New York, N.Y., October 19, 2010 – AETN Digital and Punchbowl today announced the launch of the Lifetime Moms Party Planner, a free party-planning service that moms can use to effortlessly plan all of their holiday celebrations.

The Lifetime Moms Party Planner powered by Punchbowl is available on LifetimeMoms.com, an online resource for moms, by moms, offering original content in 10 verticals including parenting, health, pregnancy, food, home, beauty & style, and product reviews. The Lifetime Moms Party Planner includes all of the core party planning features of Punchbowl.com.

“Lifetime Moms is for real moms who have busy lives and face real challenges,” said Kim Dobson, VP, Lifetime Moms. “We chose Punchbowl because of their ability to provide a high-quality party planning solution that will make life a little easier for the Lifetime Moms audience.”

The innovative features of the Lifetime Moms Party Planner make it ideal for planning Halloween parties, Christmas parties, New Year’s parties, and even Thanksgiving dinner. The Date Decider helps hosts get group consensus on the ideal party date—one of the biggest challenges during the busy holiday season. Digital Invitation Studio offers hundreds of stylish and modern invitations and save the dates, each with companion envelopes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and stunning color palettes. The Potluck allows guests to easily sign up to bring items and allows hosts to effortlessly manage who’s bringing what. Hosts can also keep track of their RSVP list with ease and share party details with their social networks.

“Savvy moms love to use Punchbowl’s start to finish party planning platform to plan birthdays, holiday parties and other family events,” said Matt Douglas, CEO, Punchbowl Software. “Punchbowl is excited to bring our party planning suite to Lifetime Moms this holiday season.”

To create a free account, visit the Lifetime Moms Party Planner: http://lifetimemoms.punchbowl.com

This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO, @mattdouglas

I am excited to announce that Punchbowl will host the first ever Punchbowl “Mixer” event. This exclusive event will bring together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, social media marketers, and others who help make Boston a great place to build a web company. Punchbowl Mixer will be held on Thursday, November 11, 2010, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at The Estate in Boston, MA.

Punchbowl Mixer is an exclusive event and attendees must be on the RSVP list to be admitted. Guests will enjoy free drinks, special giveaways, and other exciting surprises. Punchbowl Mixer is a ‘can’t miss’ event for anyone connected to the Boston web community.

Click on the envelope below to view the invitation and RSVP.

Punchbowl Mixer comes on the heels of our acquisition of the Punchbowl.com domain and a fresh, new look for the site. In addition, we recently unwrapped the unparalleled Digital Invitation Studio—a beautiful collection of free, pre-packaged online stationery sets for events and celebrations, complete with invitations, envelopes, liners, rubber stamps, and postage.

Punchbowl is proud to be a pioneer in the web community of Boston and we’re excited to host Punchbowl Mixer to celebrate the accomplishments of those who help make Boston and the surrounding areas a great place to build a web company.

I hope to see you there!