Cvent

Happy New Year! If you haven't made a resolution yet, don't worry. We've looked through some of this year's past blogs to create a list of great resolutions for meeting and event planners that will save time and money in 2009.

This year, why not resolve to...

• Go green. Obviously going green is a major step in the right direction for saving our environment, but it's also a great way for you to save money on your meetings and events. Whether cutting back on pricey paper invitations, sourcing local and/or organic food, or distributing event hand-outs online, going green is going to save in the long run—in more ways than one.

• Get online. Taking your events online is definitely an eco-friendly step, but it's also a practical move to make if you're looking to save time and money on your events (and who isn't?).

With features such as event calendars and budget management, Cvent's event management system makes it easy to create, launch and manage events online. Plus, thanks to the improvements HTML editors over the years, even planners with little web experience can create professional, appealing events.

• Be automatic. Meeting and event planners devote a lot of time—too much, in our opinion—to manual processes that can be more quickly and efficiently done with event management software.

Are you still manually sending event invitations and reminders? How are you collecting payments, or setting up housing and travel arrangements? Stop wasting time. With event management software, roommate matching, event registration and other tasks are quick and easy.

• Make the most of the market. In today's buyer's market, there's never been a better time to take advantage of value adds and low rates. But how do you find them?

Using Request-for-Proposal (RFP) management software, it's easy to search for venues, craft RFPs detailing all your event needs and budget expectations, and compare quotes from multiple suppliers. Make suppliers work for your business, and you can guarantee you'll be getting the best rates around.