With 800 other planners and event industry professionals in Chicago, I attended the launch event for PartySlate, a new website that is the professional event planning industry’s much needed answer to internet searching and image sites like Pinterest. I spoke with Julie Roth Novack who co-founded PartySlate with John Haro, and she gave me the down and dirty about what PartySlate is, why you need and why it’s a game changer.
PartySlate Launch Party at Moon Light Studios
CPM: How did you come up with the idea of PartySlate?
JRN: I worked in the digital agency world for over 20 years, but always loved planning. I did a lot of pro bono work in fundraising – assisting in creating a lot of galas and other fundraising events. Like most people, I would go online but couldn’t find the ideas that I was looking for to make each event stand out. I might find a few photos, but they would often lead to dead ends, making it hard to find additional room photos or the creators of the beautiful event. Later, I came across Houzz which is for the home design industry. I used their site when designing my own home. That’s when I thought “This is what the events industry needs!”
CPM: What is the major difference between PartySlate and other sites like Pinterest?
JRN: On Pinterest, anyone can create a profile and post a photo of anything. PartySlate is specifically for the events industry with high resolution photos attributed directly to the people created the event. Every photo is posted by pros — but equally important, credited to their team – every vendor who worked on an event is credited on every photo. The photo says, ‘Love this event? Contact these people.’
Interactive Set Up – PartySlate Launch Party
CPM: I love that everyone gets credit for their work. Can you give us more detail on how to use PartySlate?
JRN: PartySlate is a space to share new ideas with access to best local event planners, caterers, venues, decor & design professionals. One of the best things about PartySlate is that you can create a collection for an entire event. This means that people are able to picture a story – the beginning, middle and end of your event – which showcases the full development of the event through photos. This gives a much better sense of event creation and design when bringing your idea to an event professional.
There are two types of people that use PartySlate. One is the primary user who is a party host or bride. They sign up for free and and instantly have access to new event resources. The other is a professional membership for design companies, florists, photographers, etc. They create profiles and upload photos of all of their events. So far we have more than 40,000 professional event photos uploaded. And that’s only in three short months.
PartySlate is powered by event professionals. All of their events and ideas are uploaded for brides, gala creators and other every day users — anyone who needs event inspiration. Event professionals use PartySlate to network among themselves, too.
Blue Plate Booth, PartySlate Launch Party
Lounge Space, Party Slate Launch Party
JRN: PartySlate has a professional, photo rich directory so you can find the service you need directly with a quick search. Collections also can easily be shared on social media.
Our end goal is to feature the top 20 cities in the US in next 18 months with smaller launch events in each city. We want to be a global platform and the go-to source of inspiration for the events industry and for party hosts. We want to have the top destinations results for your wedding, featuring resorts from all over the world. We want to be part of meaningful events and help create incredible experiences.
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