20 Things You Didn’t Know About Evite

Have you heard about Evite yet? If not, you’re in the right place. Evite is becoming a popular tool for social planning. It’s a website that is dedicated to the creation of invitations. It’s really much more than that. It is also used for help in sending and managing invitations that are sent online. It’s a useful site for anyone who likes to throw parties but detests hand writing, addressing and mailing invitations. To show our sincere appreciation of this site, here are 20 things that you don’t know about Evite but will probably be glad to find out.

1. It’s been around for 20 years

Evite was first launched in 1998. It’s been around for two decades. During this time it’s changed the way that many people handle their social affairs. It makes creating, sending and managing invitations for special events much easier in most cases than the old traditional method of taking the time to shop for invitations, hand address each of them, purchase postage stamps and mail them out. Instead, they are created and sent online. This is a valuable service, especially for busy people who still lead active social lives and sponsor parties or events.

2. It’s simple to use

You don’t have to be a tech expert to use Evite’s program. It’s one of the most user friendly programs around. You can create your online invitations through the website by using a very simple interface. There isn’t anything special that you need to know or learn because all of the information that you need to create and send your invitations is right there on the website and there isn’t a big learning curve involved.

3. The company name describes the product

When you create an invitation online and send it to people via the internet it’s still technically an invitation. Having said this, the online format changes it and a new name has been coined for an online invitation. It is referred to as an evite which is the shortening of electronic invitation. It works on the same principle as an electronic email simply being referred to as an email. When you hear the term “evite” which is also the name of the company, it’s a real thing.

4. You can manage invitations through the Evite site

Through Evite you send invitations to the guests that you want to invite. Actually, you just enter the addresses into Evite and the system sends the out for you. Guests respond and they are placed in one of four categories. They are either placed in the attending group, the not attending, the maybe or the has not yet replied grouping. The guests that you invite move themselves from the category that says they haven’t replied into one of the other options and they can even write a few comments which you will be able to see.

5. You can create a fundraiser through Evite

This is one of the things about Evite that makes it so versatile. You can turn any event that you want into a fundraiser. This allows you to raise money for a charity as the host. There are a lot of really great things that you can do with Evite and it makes scheduling an event so easy that you’ll look forward to using this amazing service. It even allows you to track the amount of money that the event is raising in real time.

6. You can use Evite to send out reminders

Some guests are so busy and if you know that this is the case, you can send them friendly reminders of the event that you’ve scheduled through Evite. Your guests may appreciate receiving a friendly reminder from you and in addition to this, you may well have a better turn out of invited guests at your event.

7. Evite lets you know if your guest have read the invitation

One of the biggest drawbacks to sending an invitation, whether online or via snail mail is that you really have no way of knowing if your guest has even received the invite or read it. This can create a lot of unnecessary stress, especially if there could be misunderstandings or hurt feelings if the invitation hasn’t been received for some reason. Evite has a mechanism that lets you know when each guest reads their invitation, or at least when they open them up through their email. This confirmation system can relieve a lot of stress and it can also let you know if you need to follow up with the guest to ensure that they are aware of the event.

8. You choose the style

As the person who is doing the inviting, you have control over a variety of stylistic features available for designing your invitation. You an choose the setting, the layout, the color and much more. You can even change the headings that are used for the four guest categories if you don’t like the way they sound. You can customize the invitations that are sent to add your own personal wording and style. Thanks to the HTML page responsible for all of this on Evite, your invitations won’t look like everyone else’s and they won’t come across as being generic.

9. You can set up Updates

It’s nice to know what’s going on as you’re busily planning your event. It’s an option and you don’t have to do this, but if you want to, you can let your guest know about changes to the event. It’s a handy way to inform guests when other invited guests RSVP for your event.

10. Evite had a legal controversy

Evite was the first website of its kind. They went through the proper channels to establish their business and when a new San Francisco based startup used some of their ideas, Evite threatened to sue them. The competitor’s name is Socializr. Yes, we spelled that right. Evite made the allegation that they engaged in copyright infringement.

11. Evite has come under scrutiny

Evite provides some really cool services for people, but it’s not been without criticism. There was a blog post written in 2006 that paid the site a left handed compliment. The writer made the point that Evite was a business with tremendous potential, but it went on to complain about the fact that there had not been any improvements made to the site for a period of six years. The blog was rough and it even went so far as to have the title “Why I hate Evite.”

12. A second critique gave it another shot

There seemed to be a rash of haters that posted negative comments within a two year period. Evite was placed on a list of “Companies We Al Hate: Why it sucks. The rant went on to say that the emails that are sent to guest do not have any information about the event listed on them and that there were copious amounts of ads that would show up on just about every page that respondents would click. It’s worth noting that this critique was written by the owner of the company that Evite threatened to sue.

13. More reputable firms jumped on the negative review bandwagon

It’s one thing to have a competitor that you’ve had a fight with give you a bad review, but it’s quite another when Time Magazine names your company as one of the “5 Worst Websites” as well as “Sites to Avoid.” These reviews took the wind out of Evite’s sails and although the concept for the service that they offer is truly amazing, it seems that for as many positives they had going for them, there were also a slew of things that users didn’t like.

14. Evite was mentioned on The Simpsons

Proof that Evite is a popular site that is well-known is that it was brought up in a Simpsons scene. One character said to the other “E sent you an Evite. You never responded. Nice netiquette, jerk!” While this may seem humorous it sends a positive message that there are a lot of people who are aware of Evite and the services that they have to offer. The comment was more neutral than anything and it wasn’t taking a potshot at the company.

15. Evite was mentioned in “The Office”

The character Jim Halpert form the office even sends his coworkers Evites in one of the episodes. In fact, there were several mentions of Evites on this episode and we think that it made a positive statement about the service. It shows that even though there has been a lot of negative press sent their way, there are a lot of people who are pleased to use the service.

16. Evite is free to use

We’ve heard a lot of negative comments about the advertisements that users have to put up with. While this can be a pain in the neck, they are necessary. They are the only things that keep the service free for users. The company has to make money in some way and the sponsored ads make it possible for them to offer the Evite online invitations without a charge.

17. If you don’t like the ads you can pay the premium

The solution for users who don’t want to put up with the ads is to upgrade from the free services to premium. With the premium service you get a lot more options to choose from. This package gives you a totally ad free experience for both you and your guest who are invited. You have the ability to fully customize the templates for your invitations. You also have more than a thousand hand illustrated designs to choose from to make your invitations special. You also have the option for having the invitations sent by email, text message or by link. There are no up-charges with the premium package.

18. Evite offers some great party ideas

This is yet another service that Evite offers. If you’re planning to host an event but you’re not sure how to plan for it, Evite has a section on party ideas that might help to give you some directions to go when you’re planning your event. There are times when all of us need a little direction and at Evite they understand this. The next time that you want to plan a party and you think that you need a little direction, visit the site for some new ideas because it might help you to throw the best party for yourself and your guests ever.

19. They offer a section for specific event planning

Whether you’re planning to have a birthday party, a wedding, a holiday party or some other special type of event, Evite offers a diverse portfolio of party planning tools to help you out. It doesn’t matter what kind of event you’re sponsoring, you can find what you need to help get the show on the road with Evite. It’s really a versatile social event planning tool.

20. Evite isn’t for everyone but it definitely has a following

From the research that we’ve conducted on the Evite company it’s obvious that there are those who love the site and those who hate it. The site has had its problems and there are some people who will never use the services because they don’t like the ads and are not willing to pay the premium to upgrade to a service without them. It’s really a matter of personal choice, but there are two sides to the coin. Although not everyone has had a positive experience with Evite, there are those who appreciate the useful tools and services that they have to offer. There is no right or wrong. Either you love Evite or you hate it and this doesn’t make the haters wrong or the lovers right. It simply exists and it’s there if you choose to use it. There is a free version or you can upgrade to premium services. For better or worse, it looks like Evite is going to be around for a while.