Can you rely on a committee to keep track of it all? Yes — but you can streamline even further by using event-planning software as your right-hand assistant. Here's why:

1. The software works like a roomful of assistants. It helps you locate vendors, store data about them, check out music and numerous other Web-related tasks at the touch of a keyboard. It also tracks registrations, creates badges, generates letters and gives you an event-end report on attendance and budget.
2. It eliminates the need for hard-to-track printouts and bulky binders.
3. Most planning software includes a journaling feature that lets you pour out your thoughts on the event the way you might not be able to do with a committee — what you want to accomplish, how you want the event to look, sound and feel, and what you want attendees to remember most about it.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Simple software costs less than $100. For high-end, enterprise applications, software involving company-wide data flow and accounting can cost from a few thousand dollars to more than $100,000.
• Choose a vendor offering a help desk or other support to handle your questions as you install and use your software.
• Insist on trying a demonstration version before buying.