Social Media

Friending Eventbrite

Facebook and the online events company Eventbrite apparently are testing a feature that would allow users to create events and collect attendee fees, via Eventbrite, right from their Facebook pages.

Facebook and the online events company Eventbrite apparently are testing a feature that would allow users to create events and collect attendee fees, via Eventbrite, right from their Facebook pages. Eventbrite would send users a check after the event, minus a service charge.

The rapidly growing Eventbrite could be a game-changer, particularly for smaller meetings and events. The online events company doesn’t charge a fee to list free events, and offers a wide range of high-octane marketing and communication tools. And, as Eventbrite co-founder and president Julia Hartz told Wired last December, their focus is very broad:


“We’re not afraid of [the larger venue market], but it’s just a slice of the pie … There’s so much else in the pie — classes, conferences, trainings, and those smaller venues, fairs and festivals that are directly in our wheelhouse right now, and we’re also really excited about the enabling and the empowering of those who aren’t [currently] using anything [to ticket their events]. You asked about our competition — it’s actually ‘nothing,’ because it’s people who are still using Excel and e-mail, with invites and checks.”

 

The move also would knit the San Francisco-based Eventbrite and Facebook more closely together: Eventbrite already offers attendees the ability to send messages to social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter, when they register for an event.

Barbara Palmer

Barbara Palmer is senior editor and director of digital content.