{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"Tito Blog","home_page_url":"https://diva.pub/","feed_url":"/posts.json","icon":"https://uploads-cdn.vi.to/aa47f38e860440c1e4e9f88e2e3fd602.png","next_page":"https://diva.pub/posts.json?page=2","items":[{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/update-attendees","title":"New feature: Bulk update existing attendees in Tito","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eWe recently released a much-requested feature to Tito: the ability to update attendee details in bulk.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreviously, attendee data could only be edited one person at a time.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith this update, you can now download a CSV template, make changes to multiple attendees at once, and re-upload the file. Tito will match your changes to the correct attendees using their unique ticket references, and update their details automatically.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is especially handy for:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eCorrecting typos in names and emails.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpdating company or job titles.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eStandardising data for reporting.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe hope this helps save you time and makes managing attendees smoother.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo try it out, head to the \u003cstrong\u003eAttendees\u003c/strong\u003e page in your event dashboard, click the \u003cstrong\u003esettings gear\u003c/strong\u003e, and choose \u003cstrong\u003eUpdate\u003c/strong\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/COeXomsc8wv7mkmW2lZMai5r16zYSXsPRBakIVh6TGQ/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:update-attendees/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by80NzI4ZDBhYzA2/NjJlZjA5OTM0NGU5/YzgzNGRmZTNlZi5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2025-08-22T10:16:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/personalisation-niche-audiences","title":"Why we’re doubling down on personalisation","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eWe’re noticing a trend towards \u003cem\u003especificity\u003c/em\u003e in the events running on Tito.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTen years ago, the big-ticket, multi-track Annual Technology Conference™ was the one you couldn’t miss. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd those events still have their place. But more and more, the events doing especially well on our platforms are highly focused and designed for a specific audience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRather than trying to appeal to everyone, organisers are putting more effort into serving a well-defined group. From AI summits for marketers to wooden spoon carving festivals, we’re seeing tons of demand for events that centre around shared roles, interests and values, rather than gathering for gathering’s sake.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe pandemic likely played a big part in this shift. Without the possibility of mass get-togethers, people increasingly sought connection online, often around shared passions and values.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis sense of identity-based community, paired with a lingering sense of trepidation as the world started to reopen, made people reevaluate the purpose of attending in-person gatherings.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt needed to feel worth it.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\"The easiest thing is to react. The second easiest thing is to respond. But the hardest thing is to initiate.\"\u003c/blockquote\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e― Seth Godin,\u003cem\u003e \u003c/em\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3873014\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTribes: We Need You to Lead Us\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his 2008 book, Godin suggests that people naturally form groups around shared values and interests, and that these groups are just waiting for someone to lead them.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThanks to the way the internet has evolved (forums, subreddits, hashtags, [insert_topic]Tok, etc.), these interests are getting increasingly specific. We’re now in the era of the “microtribe”.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSide note: while the word “tribe” has been widely used in marketing, it carries important cultural meaning for Indigenous peoples, so I’ll be using “niche communities” instead.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the events industry has slowly recovered over the past few years, we’ve noticed that much of that recovery has come from people creating spaces for these niche communities. But that shift has brought new expectations with it. Generic event marketing doesn’t tend to fit the bill for this audience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs we’re building our new platform (\u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/un-introducing-io\"\u003ecurrent name IO, new name pending\u003c/a\u003e), we’re thinking about how every touchpoint, from the registration flow to confirmation emails, waitlist logic to the language on buttons, might need to be tailored by the event organiser to fit a niche audience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut we’re not stopping at event-level customisation. We’re making it possible for organisers to offer individual \u003cem\u003eattendees\u003c/em\u003e a completely custom experience as well. We loved to see one of our earliest customers leverage our custom fields to include personalised videos in invitations to their top VIPs, for instance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCrucially, for event organisers who know their people well, this level of flexibility means the registration experience can feel like a natural extension of the community itself. And when people feel like something was made for them, they’re much more likely to feel invested.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you’re creating events for a niche audience and want to make the experience feel more personal, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://io.rsvp/home#access\"\u003ebook a demo\u003c/a\u003e. We’d love to show you what’s possible.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2025-06-18T11:45:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/un-introducing-io","title":"Un-introducing IO","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the rules of being a small team running a small business is: choose your battles. Last week, one of the most famous product designers in the world, if not the most famous, announced a secretive product that he had sold to OpenAI for $6.5bn. The designer is of course Jony Ive, and the product is \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://openai.com/sam-and-jony/\"\u003eio\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s flattering that one of the most influential people in tech would land on a product name that we had chosen to label our new product. Realistically, though, the IO name felt a bit silly and whimsical. I’m not an absolute AI sceptic, and I do enjoy the hustle and bustle of tech hype cycles as much as the next, but I think there’s \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://sixcolors.com/post/2025/05/sam-and-jony-and-skepticism/\"\u003eroom for healthy scepticism\u003c/a\u003e around the OpenAI news.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eScepticism aside, I do think there’s no sense in Team Tito making use of the IO brand in any long-term plans.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“IO” in tech means “input-output”, so I see the sense of it in an AI-centric hardwear device. For us, it meant “invitation only”, which is where we put most of our effort in the early development of the new app.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the short-term, we’ll continue working on our next-generation platform. In some ways, for some use-cases, IO is far more capable than our classic app, and we’re taking that spirit along in building it: solving each use-case with care and attention derived from years of experience building our classic app.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile IO remains invitation only as an app, I see no reason to rush into making a change, simply because the sum total of people this affects is so small.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver the next few months, we’ll figure out a new name and brand that aligns with what we’re trying to do: building the most flexible and easy to use event platform out there.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the meantime, if Jony Ive wants a next-gen event registration platform built for people who care deeply about their brand—to invite all of the celebs to his inevitable swanky launch parties—well, I know a \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://io.rsvp\"\u003every cleverly-named app\u003c/a\u003e that will do just that.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2025-05-28T11:25:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/new-in-io-may-2025","title":"What's new in IO?","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eIt’s funny; we’ve got years of experience under our belts with Tito, yet launching \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/introducing-io\"\u003eIO\u003c/a\u003e has us feeling like a start-up again.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s both scary and energising!\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eScary because you never know for sure if you’re going to be able to find product market fit (though our early customers give us a lot of confidence we will). Energising because you can afford to be a bit more scrappy and experimental while working with early design partners who understand your vision and are motivated to help you improve the product.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd you can do it \u003cem\u003equickly.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’ve released more than 300 features, improvements and fixes on IO in just the past 6 months — all while continuing to improve and support Tito, which remains core to what we do.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCheck out the \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://help.io.rsvp/changelog\"\u003eIO changelog\u003c/a\u003e for a curated list, or read on for a closer look at three of the most noteworthy changes.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCustomisable templates\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery screen and email in every user flow has always been fully customisable in IO, but getting there used to require a fair bit of hand-holding. Our earliest customers hired us to do that part for them. At the start of this year, we took on a project to make it easier for anyone to take the reins.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst, we audited and standardised how we’re using Liquid, the popular open-source templating language created by the folks at Shopify to power their themes. We’ve made it easier to add variables, conditional logic, and loop through event and attendee data. This alone gives organisers a ton of power to personalise emails and pages for each guest.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur default theme also got a complete overhaul to make it more beautiful and modern straight out of the box, and super easy to customise by dropping in your own images and colours.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/DqtmSA-oBqoQOICuAvQ_vXcnzdTrXGQ-4Zweh9--D2Y/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:default-and-custom-template/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by84YmJkOGFmOGE0/ZjIzMjAxNTA4Mzg2/ODE1MDcwYjQyMi5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor a lot of users, this might be as much customisation as you need. For those who want more flexibility, each template can be edited at the HTML level and you can add your own CSS and even JavaScript if needed for advanced interactivity.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, as there’s so much you can customise, we introduced a new section to house all these templates with live thumbnail previews, letting organisers more easily visualise each user flow.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/mhYmeEzVVFo678CwXF9-dxteV6g-fSt8ExrA6GqQKZM/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:cleanshot-2025-05-13-at-09-53-42-2x/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by9jMWQ4MTU0YWYy/ZmQ2MjhmZDRiYzYx/NDdhY2M4OTJkNi5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis all paid off recently when we onboarded a major music and events company to send special gig invites to users directly in-app. Aside from a few questions and minor bug reports, their contractor was able to independently build a completely bespoke (and gorgeous!) invitation flow. We loved to see it!\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRoles and permissions\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn January, we introduced the ability for account owners to invite users in a read-only role, providing a way to share access to your account without allowing those users to make any changes to event or attendee data.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLast month we enhanced our permissions system to make it even easier to manage who can see and do what within specific events.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere’s not a whole lot more to say about these features, but it’s further evidence of how we’re aiming to give organisers granular control over every aspect of the experience, and how privacy and security are always top of our mind.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePublic registration and Stripe payments\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn February, we added the ability to generate public registration pages for events. Organisers can choose to either issue an immediate space to anyone who registers, or else have folks request an invite and go through an approval flow. You can also specify how many guests people are allowed to bring.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn April, we introduced Stripe payments. Ahead of time, we drew up a multi-stage plan of what payments in IO could look like, from a bare bones “Phase 0” implementation all the way up to full support for everything that Tito does and more. Naturally, we started with Phase 0!\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor now, you can set a price for a ticket and redirect to Stripe Checkout to take payment. There’s still a lot more to do, but this initial implementation covers the most basic use cases, and it’s already being used to great success by \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://randsinrepose.com/\"\u003eRands\u003c/a\u003e for his series of Slack 10th Anniversary events.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/RZA_9joO4doS5LaM0SCvLWy127tS6DVPzivZTD7gY8E/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:payments-in-io/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by9kNjFkYTNkMTQy/ZTIwMTUzNDY2YjZj/ZjAzMjc0NTk0ZS5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese updates definitely make IO a strong contender for some of our Tito customers to switch, particularly if they want more customisation options than Tito currently offers.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat’s next for IO?\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere’s so much we want to do that it can be hard to decide what we want to tackle next. More onboarding improvements, making it easier to create sharing links, next steps on payments, account-level themes, integrations, and rolling out proper subscription plans, to name a few.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’re really excited about what we’re building, sometimes so much so that we forget to tell anyone about it! I hope this brief update has whet your appetite, and if you’d like a demo or think your event might be a good fit for IO, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://io.rsvp/home\"\u003elet us know\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2025-05-13T14:36:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/who-we-are","title":"Who we are","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eI've held off writing on this blog in 2025 so far, mainly because I've been busy working on \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://io.rsvp/home\"\u003eIO\u003c/a\u003e. Admittedly, it’s also because of the new US administration and how difficult I’ve found it to see the descent into fascism.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince today is \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Transgender_Day_of_Visibility\"\u003eTrans day of visibility\u003c/a\u003e, I thought I should probably just write a post that I wanted to be the \u003cem\u003enext\u003c/em\u003e post on the blog, and it was going to be called \"Who we are\".\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI struggle with this question, because the Tito team is five cis white men and one cis white woman. We’re pretty similar. Most of us are married with kids and houses and mortgages.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike many (I think), I struggle with labels like \"left\", \"liberal\", and \"progressive\" because if I step back and take a look at who I am, it looks fairly right-wing, from a traditional conservative perspective: business and home owning, wife and two kids, stable income, largely a beneficiary of family privilege.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat said, when it comes for example to local politics, I don’t \u003cem\u003evote\u003c/em\u003e conservative. I celebrate wins for left-leaning candidates. I believe we need fewer cars and safer streets. I believe compassion ought to be the primary driver of leadership. I love my local library. I would support regulating the provision of public spaces by private companies. I'm largely pro-EU, pro-freedom-of-movement, pro-immigrant, and anti-racist. In time, once we’re in a position to hire more folks, we want to be a more diverse team. We intentionally bring in external consulting and listen to feedback from people from different backgrounds.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI don't often \u003cem\u003etalk\u003c/em\u003e about this stuff though, because based on the above, sometimes I worry that I'm \u003cem\u003enot left enough\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI recently came across \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288\"\u003ethis viral passage\u003c/a\u003e from composer Frank Wilhoit, where he claims that liberalism and progressivism don't exist. You may have seen his definition of conservatism:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"There must be in-groups whom the law protectes[sic] but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.\"\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(often confusingly misattributed to a different Francis Wilhoit, who even more confusingly was a political scientist)\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eElsewhere in the post, Wilhoit uses the above to define anti-conservatism:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"So this tells us what anti-conservatism must be: the proposition that the law cannot protect anyone unless it binds everyone, and cannot bind anyone unless it protects everyone.\"\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI feel like that sums up my political position pretty well. It’s probably an over-simplification, but I like how it maps pretty well to John Rawls’s \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_position\"\u003eveil of ignorance\u003c/a\u003e, a theory of justice rooted in empathy and making the case for true equality before the law.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNone of us in Tito live in the USA. For the time being, we’re governed by middle of the road administrations who mostly play things safe, and on the whole attempt to march slowly toward progress. There’s so much to legitimately criticise about our governments, but against what I'm reading about what's going in the US, we’re doing ok.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgainst that context, I am proud of the progress that we‘ve seen in Ireland during my lifetime, from being one of the most punishingly conservative in areas like abortion, divorce, and LGBTQ+ rights to being amongst the most progressive. None of that progress has (yet) applied to my lived experience, but I’m proud of it and will continue to cheer and support this progress.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpeaking on my own behalf:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo my transgender friends: I see you. I respect you. I believe in your right to exist and be your true selves.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo my queer, bi, gay, and lesbian friends: I see you. I respect you. I believe in your right to exist and be your true selves.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo my friends with disabilities, seen or unseen: I see you. I respect you. I believe in your right to exist and be your true selves.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd to all of my friends who are not white, or who don't conform, or who don't fit in to some arbitrary grouping: I see you all. I respect you, and I believe in your right to exist and be your true selves.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo that’s my attempt to sum up who we are are at Team Tito. I wish that it didn't need to be said, but inasmuch as it does, I believe I more or less represent the team in describing our perspective.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2025-03-31T18:02:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/event-led-content-marketing","title":"An introduction to event-led content marketing","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eIt feels like selling out an event is harder than it used to be.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe want to help.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on my master's in event management, years of event marketing experience, and helping Tito grow to over $1bn in ticket sales, I’ve devised a framework that combines elements of two proven approaches — the \u003cstrong\u003ehub-and-spoke\u003c/strong\u003e model of content marketing and \u003cstrong\u003eproduct-led growth\u003c/strong\u003e — with a specific focus on promoting your event.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a primer: the hub-and-spoke model drives traffic to central content through smaller pieces of related content shared across different channels, while product-led growth uses the product itself to generate demand instead of traditional sales and marketing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEssentially, event-led content marketing is simply turning existing content from your event into marketing material, and being smart about how you distribute it. You may already be doing this intuitively, but this post lays out a detailed, replicable process.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe beauty of this strategy is that it’s self-sustaining, highly customisable, and any event organiser can pull it off.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eWhy do event-led content marketing?\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003ePull tactics like content marketing are an organic way to drive traffic and interest, but they can be time-consuming and a long game. This framework allows you to work with whatever you already have and squeeze all the juice you can out of it so that a little goes a long way.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI don’t want to bury the lede, so I’ll outline the main stages of the framework first, and then we’ll dive into each one in more detail below with lots of practical examples:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnless it’s the first one, you should already have content from the previous event.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdapt this into a pillar piece of content that’s valuable and shareable.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eShare supporting morsels of content that point back to this main piece of content.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeasure what’s working and refine your approach.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost organisers already make video recordings publicly available following the event. This approach just involves taking a bit more of an active role in strategically selecting, adapting and sharing content, to make it work harder for you in promoting your event to new audiences.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1. Identify and organise your event content\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou’re sitting on a treasure trove of content right now.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYour first exercise is to categorise the types of sessions at your event, and the different formats of content arising from each. Below are some examples to get you started.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTypes of sessions:\u003c/strong\u003e talks (e.g. keynote, lecture, lightning talk); workshops and breakout sessions; group discussions (e.g. panel, roundtable, Q\u0026amp;A, fireside chat); interactive sessions (e.g. hackathon, town hall, networking).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContent formats:\u003c/strong\u003e video recordings; audio recordings (e.g. podcasts, interviews with speakers or guests); slides; transcripts; photos; handouts; session summaries; sketchnotes; output of whiteboard or interactive sessions; attendee-generated content (responses to industry-related questions on registration form, reviews, feedback, write-ups); behind the scenes content.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMixing and matching the relevant session types and content formats instantly gives you a whole bunch of starting points for step 2. If the content was interesting enough to engage attendees on the day, there’s a good chance you can repackage it to appeal to future audiences.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2. Create your pillar piece of content\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving audited what you already have, your next job is to select what you want to transform into a piece of pillar marketing content on which to base your smaller supporting content. This pillar piece of content should live on your website, as this is where we want to drive people to.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePillar content can take many forms including blog posts, tutorials, guides, documentation, reports, edited videos, podcast episodes and more. The defining feature is that it should feel like a substantial, polished resource that your audience will find valuable enough to engage with and share.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe formula is: \u003cstrong\u003e[content format]\u003c/strong\u003e from \u003cstrong\u003e[session type]\u003c/strong\u003e ⟶\u003cstrong\u003e [new marketing material]\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere are some specific examples, based on the formats listed in the previous section:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSlide deck from a practical workshop ⟶ Self-contained tutorial on a single aspect\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eVideo from a panel discussion ⟶ Edited compilation of key takeaways on a topic\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAttendee responses from registration form ⟶ Report or commentary on industry trends\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eTranscript from a keynote on a problem solved ⟶ Blog post detailing solution in depth\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eOutput of hackathon ⟶ Open source project with helpful README\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eIdeally, there shouldn’t be too much work involved transforming your existing content. You’re simply repackaging it in a way that makes sense outside of the context of your event. It should feel self-contained, so that someone with zero knowledge of your event understands what they’re seeing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeyond that, here are three tips for successful pillar content:\u003c/p\u003e\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eGet permission: Speak to anyone involved in creating the content (for instance the speaker), and get their permission to adapt it. You can present it as an effort to add value by creating a shareable format that helps them promote their work to their audience as well.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAim to meet a need: People gravitate towards content that offers solutions to problems they face, gives them opportunities for self development, allows them to feel seen or connected to others, or inspires and motivates them to take action. Your pillar content should meet one or more of these needs.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eInclude a call to action (CTA): Your pillar content should include a link for where to go next, ideally to your registration page, otherwise your mailing list. You could frame it as: “This content was adapted from [session at Event Name]. Get your 2025 ticket at [link]”.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou can obviously create multiple pieces of pillar content, but before you do that it’s a good idea to make the most of this one by moving on to step 3.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3. Generate smaller morsels of supporting content\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom your pillar content, the next job is to put together a handful of smaller, actionable pieces of content you can share across different platforms to extend your reach. These could be:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn image with an intriguing quote or statistic\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA social media carousel of bitesize lessons\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA short clip or soundbite from a longer video\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA listicle type post\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA single useful tip from a longer tutorial\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA thread summarising key points or takeaways\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA candid behind the scenes photo or moment\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA poll related to a topic debated in a panel discussion\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA teaser question answered in your pillar content\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeedback from someone who found your pillar content valuable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven a meme or a skit if that’s something that feels natural to you\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou can share these across whatever social networks you have a presence on, as well as in newsletters, Slack channels, or wherever you normally interact with your audience.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOf course you can — and should — also link to your pillar content directly, but morsel content allows you to post regularly without things feeling repetitive. It also gives people more opportunities to interact with you and therefore for the algorithm to show your content to other people who aren’t yet following you. You can significantly boost your discoverability without needing to go viral (although obviously that would be nice!)\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgain, we have three tips for success:\u003c/p\u003e\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eOptimise for each platform: Check what sizes, formats or lengths work best for wherever you’re planning to share each type of content. For instance, lots of people watch shorts or reels with the sound off, so you may want to include subtitles.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eLink back to your pillar content: Explain where people can find the full context of what they’re seeing and include the link in the best place according to each channel. You may find a shortlink is useful to include in graphics or descriptions where URLs aren’t hyperlinked (for instance, Instagram).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eDon’t overthink it: These morsels can be experimental, fun, and even silly if it suits your event’s brand. The important thing is that they’re easy to create, and that they capture people’s attention enough to want to check out the pillar content, and hopefully share your post.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4. Measure and iterate\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe final step is to track your content’s performance and do more of what works. It may be tricky to attribute ticket sales directly to individual pieces of content, but you should at least be able to see an increase in visitors and page views in your analytics dashboard.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShares, comments, clicks and views are worth keeping an eye on, but try not to get bogged down in them or disheartened if some morsel posts don’t do well. The idea is that you can generate these posts really rapidly, and even have a bit of fun with it.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you spot certain types of content that do really well, focus on those. And if you’re lucky enough to get comments and/or questions from your audience, responding will help build goodwill and turn fans into vocal advocates.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time you move on to creating your next piece of pillar content, you should have a clearer idea of how to get the most out of your efforts.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eBonus tips\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eKnow what you can get away with on each platform. Email marketing requires a considered approach that’s respectful of people’s time and attention, but on social media you can afford to share frequently and even recycle content in slightly different ways as most of your audience will miss a percentage of your posts anyway.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou’ve probably seen varying statistics touted about how many touchpoints it takes for a prospect to convert. Whatever the exact number, the more visible you are, the more opportunities you have to convince someone to buy a ticket. For this reason, you’ll probably want to keep the look and feel of your posts somewhat consistent (even if that’s just including your event logo), to reinforce brand awareness.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, it’s tempting to not want to give away too much for free with your pillar content, but be as generous as you can afford to be. The more value you can offer up front, the more you’ll convince people that it’s worth paying to see more.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn that note, I hope this first post in our event marketing series has proved valuable, even in just reminding you that the content you’ve already created has the potential to fuel your marketing and that you don’t need to start from scratch. You’re halfway there, and this post and our guide to the art of event marketing aim to help take you the rest of the way.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2025-01-23T10:24:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/self-care-for-event-managers","title":"Self-care for event managers","content_html":"\u003cp\u003e14 years ago, I studied a masters in Event and Festival Management.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI did my dissertation on employee engagement in the events sector, and guess what consistently emerged as a downside of the job:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e“Definitely I can say I feel stressed at work. Obviously it‘s not the technical sort of definition of stress. It‘s not sort of medical, but obviously it‘s a stressful industry.”\u003c/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat’s the double-edged sword of running events: it can be the best buzz ever, and it can also be really stressful. (I thought about putting a statistic here, but we all work in this industry — we don’t need a research paper to tell us how it feels!)\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the spirit of starting 2025 as we mean to go on, here are my top self-care tips from my time organising events and from talking to other organisers every day. Actual specific ones that aren’t just “take a bath” or “write in your journal”.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003ePrepare for a crisis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA month out from the event, take a quiet two hours and make a contingency plan for every single thing you can think of that could go wrong. From the mundane to the drastic:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe venue has a massive fire right before the event and is unusable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere’s a block-wide powercut in the middle of the event\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eYour star speaker has an emergency and pulls out on the morning of\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eYour right-hand person gets food poisoning and can’t make it in\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll the badge printers go offline during registration\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of your attendees is furious and trying to start trouble\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnother attendee has a life threatening medical emergency in the foyer\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eEveryone suddenly goes vegan and there’s a shortage of meals!\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eReally \u003cem\u003evisualise\u003c/em\u003e things going as badly as possible to help you focus on this exercise. It may feel stressful, but it’s a bit of stress now to save you more stress later.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNote down what you would do in each circumstance. Over the next month, do whatever tasks are needed to lay the groundwork for in case you have to implement your backup plan. A couple extra small todos per day should cover it.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHopefully everything will go without a hitch on the day, but just knowing that you have a plan for if it doesn’t should help ease your mind and minimise the dreaded sleepless nights.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eRehearse\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaybe it’s my background in theatre studies, but I think a rehearsal is the best way to ease your mind ahead of any type of performance — including running an event.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe higher the stakes, the more you need to rehearse.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe best case scenario is getting all the key people, including speakers, together at the venue and going through the running order. More realistically, it’ll be you and your immediate team going through logistics, and separately walking your speakers through their own setup individually (maybe even virtually if they can’t get to the venue ahead of time).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhatever people’s schedules will allow, try and get in as much rehearsal as close to how it’ll be on the day, as you can. It’ll highlight the things that worked on paper but don’t work in practice, and give you a last minute opportunity to plug any gaps in your plan.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat said, the most memorable moments often arise from serendipity, so you can still leave space in your plan to embrace the unplanned.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDress comfortably\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s show time and I better not see you in uncomfortable shoes! If I know two things about event day it’s that: a) I rack up more steps than I do in a typical \u003cem\u003eweek\u003c/em\u003e, and b) my temperature fluctuates wildly.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRunning around gets me all heated but then as soon as there’s a quiet moment, something about the dip in adrenaline makes me start to shiver. And there’s nothing like being too hot or cold and having sore feet to make the day feel more stressful than it needs to be.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf I could recommend the ideal event organiser’s outfit it’d be:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe comfiest jeans or smart trousers you own\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA t-shirt with your event’s branding on it (unless you want to be incognito, in which case any comfortable short-sleeved top)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA cardigan or branded hoodie that’s easy to throw on and pull off every few minutes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrainers or at the \u003cem\u003every least\u003c/em\u003e flat supportive footwear\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eOptional for long haired people: a hair tie\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eI’d also pack a spare top and shoes so you can feel somewhat fresh if you decide to live it up at the after party. On that note, don’t forget deodorant. Trust me.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003ePlan your meals\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven more critical than a comfy outfit is keeping your blood sugar level stable. Know in advance what and when you’re going to eat, and make sure it’s put aside for you.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDon’t let it just be salty or sugary snacks either. I know it’s just one day, and I’m not saying you need to hit your goals for every single nutrient, but you’ll feel vastly better if you are properly fueled.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChoose things that are quick and easy to eat on the go:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eBreakfast-style energy bars (like the kind with oats in them)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eHearty sandwiches, wraps or even burritos\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eBananas, apples and other portable fruit\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eHummus and crudites or crackers (pack mouthwash!)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrail mix or nuts (though be careful if you have staff or attendees with airborne allergies)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003ePackaged smoothies, protein shakes, or yoghurt drinks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd don’t forget to drink water, ideally\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven if you feel you can power through on a snatched bite of leftover cupcake and swig of warm Diet Coke, why risk dehydration, fatigue and dizziness, increased irritability, and reduced cognitive function? Today of all days!\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eHave a private HQ\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere should be somewhere, even if it’s just a storage cupboard, where you can go if you need a quiet moment; whether it’s to troubleshoot distraction-free or just to take a breath.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly authorised people should be allowed in this space. Ideally, it should also have:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSomewhere comfortable to sit (have you sat down yet today?)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA stash of the aforementioned snacks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSomewhere to charge your devices\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eA printer if possible\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eCopies of all your key documents, which brings me to…\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAsync checklists\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEverybody in the organising team who’s responsible for any task that impacts other people’s ability to do \u003cem\u003etheir\u003c/em\u003e job, should be able to check it off in a shared document that everyone can see.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis reduces the need for constant back and forth between team members, so you can focus on the vendors, speakers, sponsors and attendees who will undoubtedly be vying for your attention.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor this to work, make sure:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eEveryone has bookmarked the document somewhere they can access it easily\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe document is super simple to update, ideally just tapping a checkbox\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere’s network access to keep it synced across everyone’s devices\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eEveryone understands that this will be the central source of truth they will refer to\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eI also suggest you keep this document as succinct as possible. Just a list of tasks arranged roughly in chronological order, with the person responsible for each task listed, and a checkbox to mark the task as completed.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo be clear, this is a \u003cem\u003edigital\u003c/em\u003e checklist, so there doesn’t need to be a printed copy in your HQ, but separately, you should also have an “event handbook” — a reference manual with everything else you need to know, including:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eContact information\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eDetails of vendors and contracts\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSchedule and deadlines\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSponsor booth layouts\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWifi details\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmergency protocols\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eTech specs\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eCatering details\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eEtc.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eKeep a digital copy on your phone, but have a printed copy on hand at HQ just in case.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eOutsource social media\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou shouldn’t need to be checking ex-Twitter on top of everything else, so have someone else you trust keep an eye on your event’s social media accounts for the day. Tips for success:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eLet them know what important messages they need to send (thanking sponsors, announcing competition winners, etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSchedule whatever you can in advance, but make sure they have access to change or cancel scheduled posts in case of changes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eGive them access to the handbook so they know how to answer questions\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrief them on the tone of voice they should use when posting\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eHave a plan for how and what to escalate to you\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003ch2\u003eTake in the best bits\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’d be a shame to organise the event of the year and not get to experience any of it for yourself. Try and build time into your schedule to see the keynote presentation, if it interests you. Swap the clipboard in your hand for a beverage at the after party.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDelegate anything that doesn’t \u003cem\u003eneed\u003c/em\u003e to be done by you. This can be hard when the event feels like your baby, but you’ve done all the prep and put together a killer handbook — your team can pick it up from here.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd if you need an excuse to do this, call it research. How does the event feel from the attendees’ side? Knowing this will help you make next year even better.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eSchedule a decompression day (or week!)\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eOk, \u003cem\u003enow\u003c/em\u003e it’s time to take that bath.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTry to schedule at least one day immediately (or very soon) after the event to do as little as possible. A lot of event organisers I know feel uncomfortable being “unproductive”, but physical and mental rest will help you bounce back quicker, so really it’s the most productive thing you can do!\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe specifics can look however you want them to look: sleeping all day, watching back-to-back shows, playing video games, having a friend round. Just make sure it’s blocked out in your calendar.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd if you absolutely can’t get away with not checking your work phone or emails, try to timebox it so you can properly switch off for the rest of the day. Expense reports and thank you notes can wait 24 hours.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd then… it’s right into the next one, probably! But hopefully with no burn out in sight.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2025-01-08T14:05:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/closing-out-2024","title":"Closing out 2024","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eAs another year draws to a close, it’s a good time to take the foot off the gas, reflect and take a breath. Here are a few things that are currently top of my mind that I thought I’d share.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s been a busy few months with finalising and promoting IO, and by implementing Calm December we gave ourselves permission to ease off. \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/calm-december-again\"\u003ePaul wrote about it recently\u003c/a\u003e and it’s been a welcome break. I don’t think any of us realised quite how hard we’d been pushing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLooking back over 2024, I’ve been really proud of the team this year. With Vicky rejoining the fold after maternity leave, she quickly got back up to speed and helped us bring more structure and planning to our product roadmaps. Linear has been \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/switching-to-linear\"\u003ea great tool\u003c/a\u003e to support the work and leaning into their recommended 2-week cycles has been fantastic for our productivity.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur engineering team continues to outperform their small size and the pace and quality of updates speaks for itself. We’ll likely never get to the bottom of our backlog and that’s okay. I doubt any product team of any size could or even should.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSupport-wise I still believe we’re the best in the business. Our 99% customer satisfaction score speaks to that. The entire team regularly gets involved with replying to our customers. That helps us know what’s working, what isn’t and how to prioritise tasks going forward.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’ve released \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/categories/changelog\"\u003ea few chunky\u003c/a\u003e Tito features along with the neverending maintenance and upkeep required for the platform. People love Tito, but one thing we’ve heard from speaking to people at various conferences and trade shows is that we could improve on first party integrations. We have that firmly on the 2025 roadmap and already have a fledgling Hubspot integration to accompany our Salesforce integration.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs we gear up for an official February launch of IO, we have \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://io.rsvp/home\"\u003ea new marketing page\u003c/a\u003e to give a better sense of what’s on offer. I’m really excited about IO. It’s the culmination of years of experience in designing software for event organisers, but for one specific use case, RSVP events. Customisability is at its core and it’s amazing to be able to say “yes” to requirements around the customer experience flow.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur third platform—Vito—is still in a holding pattern. We’re all in agreement that the fundamental ideas around livestreaming and chat are something worth keeping within the Tito universe so next year we’re going to carve out some time to streamline the offering. Stay tuned.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’re on our way to becoming ISO27001 certified in 2025. It’ll be a heavy process for our small team but we believe it’s worth the effort. As we look to expand our customer base further, we want to be able to unequivocally prove our commitment to security.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd finally in 2025 our little company officially turns 10 years old. That’s a significant milestone and quite an achievement given where we started and the challenges we’ve seen along the way, including a global pandemic.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs with everything, whether it’s a conference or a company, it all comes down to the people.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHappy holidays from all of us at Team Tito. Here’s to 2025.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-12-18T16:44:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/smashing-meets","title":"Tito at Smashing Meets Product Design","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eLast week, Paul and I were invited to speak at Smashing Conference’s \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://smashingconf.com/meets-product-design\"\u003eMeets Product Design\u003c/a\u003e event.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe were interviewed by infectiously energetic host \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://geoffgraham.me/\"\u003eGeoff Graham\u003c/a\u003e, in what turned out to be a lovely, reflective moment on the inner workings of Tito and the ethos that drives our team.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this post, I recap our conversation about the product design process at Tito.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGrowing on our own terms\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePaul talked about how we’ve remained a small, focused team over the years. Our approach to growth isn’t about chasing vanity metrics or scaling for the sake of it. We’re always prioritising quality; crafting software that event organisers, from massive conferences to nonprofits and niche communities like spoon carvers or repair cafés, love to use. Commercial success feels close — we’ve \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/one-billion-dollars\"\u003eprocessed over $1 billion in ticket sales\u003c/a\u003e — but mostly we make choices rooted in a philosophy of creating value and joy rather than being driven by revenue alone.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eStaying close to our users\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a small team, we have no choice \u003cem\u003ebut\u003c/em\u003e to be close to our users. This is something we embrace. As everyone in the team \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/100-percent-customer-satisfaction\"\u003eshares responsibility for support\u003c/a\u003e, there’s no buffer between us and our customers to soften the blow of a poor user experience. As product manager, I get to hear customers describe their challenges directly to me via support, which is a huge motivator to solve problems. I recounted a small recent example of a customer suggesting we add anchor tags to the event homepage sections for better navigation, and by the next day, the feature was live. This nimbleness is our superpower.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFollowing \u003cs\u003ethe data\u003c/s\u003e our instincts\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith a constant stream of user feedback, we have to repeatedly apply our \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/defining-our-core-values\"\u003ecompany values\u003c/a\u003e to filter out noise. This has helped us develop strong instincts on how to figure out where to direct our limited resources. For example, we feel comfortable pushing back against certain requests around tracking and analytics that we feel compromise attendees’ privacy or degrade the user experience. It's a careful dance between listening to what people want and maintaining the integrity of our vision, and there are of course grey areas sometimes, but it helps that we’re all on the same page as a team.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRefining our processes\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/switching-to-linear\"\u003eSwitching to two-week development cycles\u003c/a\u003e has proven to be a great fit for the team — keeping us focused while allowing flexibility to work on multiple projects (and sometimes across multiple apps) at once. We use Linear to track progress, prioritise tasks, and maintain transparency across the team. But productivity is sometimes as much about slowing down as it is going fast, which is why we’ve brought back \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/calm-december-again\"\u003eCalm December\u003c/a\u003e this year. For one month, we eliminate meetings and deadlines, letting everyone work on what brings them joy.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eEmbracing opportunities\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause we’re not beholden to anyone’s vision but our own, sometimes we can turn a niche requirement into an opportunity to innovate. The best example of this is a customer request for a tailored invite system that led to the creation of an entirely new product, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://io.rsvp\"\u003eIO\u003c/a\u003e. A year on from that initial enquiry, IO has grown into a robust RSVP platform for high-end events, offering advanced customisation and personalisation options, and seamless and secure RSVP management and check-in. We can’t wait to get it into more people’s hands when we launch in February 2025.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eLooking ahead\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs we were wrapping up, Geoff referenced Robin Rendle’s article \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://robinrendle.com/notes/vibe-driven-development/\"\u003eVibe Driven Development\u003c/a\u003e, to which Paul replied:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"After being in software for 25 years of the game… it's craft, right?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s skill and it’s art. It’s deliberate and it sparks joy. We’re continuing to refine our products, make customers happy, and grow without compromising our values. It’s been quite a full-on year and we’re all glad of the break that Calm December brings, but we’re also excited about what comes next. More working on our craft, and lots more talking about what we’re doing!\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eThe rest of the event\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eI really enjoyed hearing from the two other speakers on the panel. UX Research \u0026amp; Product Design leader \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.kevinthecreator.com/\"\u003eKevin Hawkins\u003c/a\u003e shared his experience of scaling international user research on a lean budget, highlighting the importance of democratising research and fostering user communities. It resonated to hear how to do more with fewer resources while still maintaining a strong connection to diverse user bases.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWahnsinn Design co-founder \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://chris.wahnsinn.design/\"\u003eChris Kolb\u003c/a\u003e challenged the notion of users as \"stupid,\" reframing it as a matter of context and cognitive load, and demonstrating how distractions, poor design, and environmental factors often lead to user struggles, rather than any lack of intelligence. It was a great, empathetic talk that I think any product leader would benefit from listening to.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHuge thanks to Geoff, and the organisers — Amanda, Charis and Jarijn — for including Paul and me, and for all the care they put into the event. You can watch the session in full on the \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://vi.to/hubs/smashing-meets/pages/f0defdac-6377-43f4-9f10-0ea841e11acd?v=/videos/12239\"\u003eSmashing Meets hub on Vito\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCredit for bird illustration in banner image: \u003c/em\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://smashingconf.com/online-workshops\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSmashing Conference\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-12-09T15:14:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/calm-december-again","title":"Calm December Again","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2020, after a year of much turmoil (what was that again?), we did something called “Calm December” at the end of the year. The gist was:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo formal meetings\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo deadlines\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo pressure to work a full day\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrioritise self-care\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the time, we had cut salaries down to the absolute minimum, and we were doing daily meetings as every day seemed critical to the survival of the company.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThings are in a lot better of a place for us right now. We didn’t do Calm December last year. The thinking was that we’re doing far fewer meetings, our deadlines are much more structured and achievable these days, and we like to think that while we’re productive, we do prioritise things for the long-haul rather than short-term gains.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll that said, we have been pushing ourselves quite hard recently. After the switch to Linear, we’ve been able to see the shipping velocity that the team has hit. For a small team, it’s impressive. At least one or two of us has been travelling every other week to a conference or a trade-show, and then managing the follow-up from that in addition to keeping the products on-track. Not to mention our imminent new product launch.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn a call with Kim this week, when faced with three bleary-eyed company “leaders”, Kim asked why we weren’t doing Calm December again. I said that when we did it in 2020 we were very burnt out. “Well you look pretty burnt out to me”. I got a bit defensive at this, but looking back over the last couple of months, I haven’t stopped. My guitar has sat mostly unplayed, my journal only has the odd page, and—even though it’s all superficial pressure—everything seems urgent.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s time to slow down.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo, having given it some thought the last few days, we’re bringing Calm December back. This doesn’t mean \u003cem\u003estopping\u003c/em\u003e, but it means going back to those four points from 2020. No formal meetings. No deadlines. No pressure. Self-care.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBetween holidays accrued and the run up to Christmas, the impact on the business will be negligible. Calm December is simply a mindset shift. It’s permission to relax a little rather than pushing through. It’s taking a step back and saying “you need some perspective to enjoy the journey”.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’re an ambitious team, and we have loads to share, but for the next 4 weeks, we’re going to take a pause before roaring in to 2025.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-29T18:12:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/why-is-tito-the-best-conference-registration-software","title":"Why is Tito the best conference registration software?","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eTito recently crossed \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/one-billion-dollars\"\u003ea billion dollars worth of tickets sold\u003c/a\u003e (we’ll cross a billion euros in January), and along the way we’ve built a lot of software to support people running events of all kinds.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn our 10+ years of business, Tito has established itself as the registration software of choice for tech business, marketing, and programming conferences, but we’re still a bit of an industry secret in the wider events world.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo, for the many event organisers out there who have still never heard of us, here’s why Tito is the best event and conference registration platform, according to our customers.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirstly, we often hear that Tito’s checkout is the simplest and quickest to use for attendees. Our flow differs from a typical registration platform, in that we take payment first and collect customer data second. While some organisers prefer to capture as much data up front as possible, the people who value our approach \u003cem\u003erave\u003c/em\u003e about the simplicity of placing the order and then delegating filling ticket info in a separate step. We’ve had people express scepticism in the past only to be won over when they try it themselves, and that lets us know we’re onto a good thing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe other main thing that people love is the power and flexibility of our admin backend. Over the years we have packed it full of features, while keeping the user experience simple and manageable. As an event organiser myself, I’m always delighted when I come back to our dashboard as a user. It’s everything I want my day-to-day apps to be: fast, responsive, and functional. Our customers frequently report\u0026nbsp; how snappy the app is, whether they’re running a 10-person or 10,000-person event.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile the checkout and the dashboard are the two core pieces that make up Tito, the other reason Tito is the best conference registration software for so many happy customers is slightly harder to define. I’ve been describing it recently as “a collection of small boring things that make your life easier”. They’re thoughtfully designed settings and features that give organisers fine-grain control over their events: \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/announcing-triggers\"\u003eConditional questions\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/anonymise-delete-events\"\u003edata anonymisation\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/automated-invoice-reminders\"\u003einvoice reminders\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/domain-blocking\"\u003edomain restrictions\u003c/a\u003e. When prospects mention a feature they think is missing, I tell them to ask us about it — quite often we already have a solution to the exact problem they’re trying to solve.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis approach has served us well for years. We’ve built core features that most customers rely on, alongside power features demanded by customers with advanced requirements. Things like our best-in-class \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://vi.to/hubs/tito/pages/tito-widget-v2-google-tag-manager-mp4?v=%2Fvideos%2F4416\"\u003eGoogle Tag Manager\u003c/a\u003e integration. Or our “secret” \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/salesforce-integration\"\u003eSalesforce integration\u003c/a\u003e. To say it is a robust and flexible integration is an understatement. It’s an absolute workhorse and provides extreme flexibility in mapping Tito data to Salesforce.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut what sets Tito apart goes beyond features. It’s how passionate we are about helping our customers. Our best-effort support is to get back to folks within 24 hours, but most customers receive replies within minutes or hours. We read every single message and we have a tight feedback loop between frontline support and our engineering team. Our small team size enables this, but it could also mean we deprioritise support in favour of other tasks. We never do. And that’s how we’ve achieved 99% customer satisfaction on Intercom this year.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe care so much — about our product, about our customers, about our business. I can’t imagine working with a team more committed to product design, inclusivity, and doing a job where the effect of our work is a huge multiple of our tiny team size.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUltimately, that’s what makes Tito the best for our customers, and what they tell us: that we care about them more than anyone else.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-25T16:19:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/introducing-io","title":"Introducing IO","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eThis time last year, I started a new experimental project to re-implement some core Tito features using some modern web development techniques.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSoon after starting this new project, we got the chance to work with an exciting customer with very specific needs.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore long, the new project became a new product for that use-case: bespoke invitations for high-end events.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInternally, I code-named this product “Tito 2”, but when we took a step back, we realised we had built something new. The app took something we had built in Tito—RSVPs—reimagined it from scratch, and implemented everything you would need to build a great invitation and RSVP experience. It would be the perfect app for invitation-only events. Invitation Only. IO.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’ve spent the year since, in private beta, refining IO with some early customers:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.deutsche-filmakademie.de/\"\u003eDeutsche Filmakademie\u003c/a\u003e are sending bespoke, branded, personal invitations to the members, and managing the process in one app rather than multiple apps and spreadsheets.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor their \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://pioneer.intercom.com/\"\u003ePioneer\u003c/a\u003e event, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://intercom.com/\"\u003eIntercom\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://teamtito.com/intercom\"\u003esent invitations\u003c/a\u003e with full control over the design. Invitations were customised to particular invitees, and guests had access to customised attendee hubs on the day\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.productmarketingalliance.com/\"\u003eProduct Marketing Alliance\u003c/a\u003e are sending invitations to their various VIP dinners using IO, with custom branded invitations and different domain names and email addresses for their individual communities.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eIO is \u003cem\u003efull\u003c/em\u003e of useful features for invitation-only events. Here are just a few:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmails come from your address\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eRSVP links also use your own domain with SSL\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiquid allows custom email and HTML templates\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eLinks are single-use, with authorization required once they’ve been used\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou can control how many guests each attendee can bring\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eApple and Google Wallet passes are customizable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eImports are lightning quick. You can selectively export, bulk update, and then re-import all the updates\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eMessaging is built in (again with custom templates)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe list goes on. It’s been a delight how often we can say “yes” to features that are specific to this particular use-case: creating the best RSVP experiences possible.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThree weeks ago we took some time to refine the UI, and yesterday I went looking for a domain name to host the new product (it’s been living on 2.ti.to all year). After a bunch of searching, I found a two-letter domain that felt like it was exactly what we were looking for:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://io.rsvp/\"\u003eio.rsvp\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe put it live today, and it’s the perfect home and perfect domain name.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe're preparing for a full launch in February but we're eager to work with select partners now. It’s been gratifying to work closely with the customers above, refining and improving as we’ve solved real-world problems. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, please get in touch.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-20T19:46:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/announcing-triggers","title":"New feature: Triggers for setting conditional questions","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eWe’re constantly looking for ways to give event organisers more flexibility and control over the registration experience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTriggers allow you to specify logic for showing follow-up questions on the booking form dynamically, based on the attendee’s response to a previous question.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuilt right into Tito’s existing \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://help.tito.io/en/articles/2002826-questions-answers\"\u003eQuestions \u0026amp; Answers\u003c/a\u003e feature, each trigger you create is an “if this, then that” rule for when questions should be displayed to attendees. It’s extremely simple to set up, but its power is in allowing you to personalise the flow for each attendee, gathering relevant information efficiently without overwhelming them with unnecessary questions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/DaajovD8GlN2caQmCAD7VRP1s1DCSTNdIT7yoD4lC1Q/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:screenshot-2024-09-07-at-13-45-32/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by82ZjJlZDc2MGYw/NjFjMzFhN2UxNmU3/MTZmOWJmYmZjMi5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor example, if an attendee indicates that they have a dietary preference or access requirement, you can trigger follow-up questions to gather more information about their needs. You can show industry-specific questions based on their job role. Display communication channels to select from if they've already indicated they're happy to receive marketing updates. You get the idea.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere’s no limit to the number of ways event organisers can use triggers, but the end result for your customers should always be the same: a streamlined flow that feels intuitive and responsive to their needs.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFollow the instructions in our \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"http://help.tito.io/en/articles/9829016-can-i-create-conditional-questions\"\u003ehelp docs\u003c/a\u003e to get started. We’re excited to see what you do with triggers!\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-19T14:24:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/gen-z-reg","title":"Is Tito (accidentally) the best event platform for Gen Z?","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eWhile browsing LinkedIn the other day a post caught my eye sharing a graphic comparing event-related preferences across Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe bit that jumped out at me was that Gen Z favours a minimalist registration form that asks for just the essential details: name, email, and payment. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOverall, this demographic seems to have a preference for speed, convenience, and simplicity.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you ask us, keeping the registration form short and straightforward is the best user experience no matter what generation your attendees are.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe initial impetus to build Tito came from the fact that we couldn’t understand why you needed to fill in a long form just to secure your ticket. Really, all that’s required is a name and email address, and payment details if it’s a paid ticket. So that’s all our checkout asks for by default. In other words: exactly what Gen Z apparently wants.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNaturally, over time, organisers have asked us for a few more default fields, which we allow to be turned on if needed: the likes of company name, billing address, VAT number, and a data privacy checkbox. But we’ve pushed back as much as we can against adding tons of required fields before you can purchase your actual ticket.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInstead, organisers can ask any custom questions they like during the assign stage, \u003cem\u003eafter\u003c/em\u003e the customer has successfully secured their spot at the event. Folks usually fill this info in right away but, if they don’t, organisers can easily send reminders later. We find this approach minimises drop-off, reduces instances of people hurriedly entering rubbish data just to complete their booking, and makes for a more relaxed registration experience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe can’t say we specifically had Gen Z in mind when we designed Tito this way — they would have been in their teens at the time — but considering they apparently make spontaneous, last-minute event purchasing decisions, I can imagine our streamlined checkout may be pretty appealing to them.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe generations may not be able to agree on how to part your hair or what width of jeans to wear, but I think we can all get on board with efficiency over complexity!\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-18T12:35:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/switching-to-linear","title":"How switching to Linear changed the way our team works","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eI won’t name and shame our previous project management software, but Paul loathed it. So much so that he sometimes just wouldn’t even use it.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI personally didn’t see the problem.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYeah, it was a bit clunky and could be slow at times. But it was doing a decent enough job for what we needed, and I didn’t feel motivated to take on the admin of changing to something else.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo when he suggested a few months ago that we might move to \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://linear.app\"\u003eLinear\u003c/a\u003e, my reaction was lukewarm at best. I conceded that it looked nicer and that it seemed to have some cool features, but I was sceptical that it would make much of a difference to our productivity.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUp to this point, the best way of describing our product team’s approach was reactionary. Certainly not particularly strategic. We kept switching our focus to any fires that needed putting out, or to who was shouting the loudest at a given moment. My feeling was that we needed to change our \u003cem\u003eprocesses\u003c/em\u003e rather than our tools.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever, I’ve recently learnt that the latter can actually support the former, and I want to share that lesson with you today.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur team is small: three full-time engineers, two co-founders who occasionally work on the codebase, and me, Head of Product. We’re all spread pretty thin — working across several apps and wearing multiple hats. We can’t afford to be disorganised.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor a while we had been doing 6-weeks of “focus” followed by 2-weeks of “freestyle”. This cadence never really seemed to be quite right though and when I came back from having been on parental leave for a year, I saw that it had been ditched and I wasn’t surprised.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe defaulted to triaging and working on tasks on a week-by-week basis. Engineers took turns each day to be available for immediate technical support. There was a \u003cem\u003elot\u003c/em\u003e of context switching and it often felt like we were running without really going anywhere. We started projects only to abandon them when something more urgent came up.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSwitching to Linear felt like a good opportunity to try out their suggested 2-week cycle cadence. The idea is that you don’t necessarily have to ship something at the end of the period, but that you have a predefined workload to tackle during that time.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe decided it made sense for engineers to take on support duty for a cycle at a time, rather than alternating each day. The support engineer isn’t expected to make progress on long term projects, so they can be completely available to respond to anything urgent. Meanwhile, the non-support engineers are less likely to have to drop what they’re working on, and can focus on following through on high-impact work, like shipping new features.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePotential tasks to work on get added as issues to the triage queue. There’s a Linear setting to require a priority level to be set when moving something out of the triage queue and into the backlog. Turning this on has made us much more disciplined about assigning a priority level to tasks, something we’d never been very consistent about in the past.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s now much easier to see and filter by which tasks need doing right away versus those that are nice-to-haves. I’ve had feedback from the engineers that this is really helpful in managing their workload each cycle, because they know which ones they can afford to drop if they don’t manage to get everything done that’s assigned to them.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpeaking of which, moving to Linear has made plain something that I already knew: we’re a super productive team but we routinely take on too much. The charts show really clearly how much we’re achieving each cycle and, while we still tend to over-assign tasks compared to the benchmark of what we know is realistic, it’s pretty motivating when we beat our previous personal best.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy personal favourite outcome of moving to Linear though is having custom filtered views.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003eI’ve set up ones like “going stale” (tasks assigned to someone but that haven’t seen any action recently) and “needs assigning” (high-priority tasks that aren’t assigned to a person or cycle). I feel so much better at my job compared to previously when it felt like I would just lick my finger, stick it in the air, and then shrug and pick any old thing off the top of the pile.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese days, I’m more confident we’re working on the most high-impact tasks. And the results speak for themselves: our shipping velocity is way up! On Tito we’ve recently deployed \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/anonymise-delete-events\"\u003eself-serve event anonymisation and deletion\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/domain-blocking\"\u003eticket restrictions\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/new-feature-activity-groups\"\u003eActivity groups\u003c/a\u003e among lots of other improvements. And our new app, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://io.ti.to\"\u003eIO\u003c/a\u003e, has just had a major layout revamp as well as tons of new features. The positive feelings associated with getting this work out into the world are palpable across the team.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis experience has also proven to be a good reminder for me as a product manager of how the choices we make when building software impact the lives, processes and productivity of our users. The fact that Linear’s UI feels like it’s on my side is credit to the thought and work their team has put in. I hope our users have moments where they feel the same way about the products we’re building.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeedless to say, I’m now very glad we made the switch.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd for anyone wondering about the admin of changing tools, we actually managed to put the old one into read-only mode when we cancelled our subscription, rather than needing to migrate everything into Linear. This means we got the best of both worlds: a clean slate, plus a full history we can refer to and pull tasks over selectively as needed.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe best part: Paul actually uses the software now!\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-13T07:45:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/anonymise-delete-events","title":"New feature: Anonymise your event data","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eToday we’re introducing an update to support event organisers in meeting their data protection obligations more easily.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the bottom of the Settings menu, you’ll find two new options to request either the anonymisation or deletion of your event.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat can be deleted?\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou can fully delete any event without paid registrations. For events with paid registrations within our 6-year retention period, we will partially delete your event by anonymising as much data as possible. Irish law requires us to retain certain data pertaining to order receipts for auditing purposes until the end of this retention period. Once the period expires, all remaining data will be permanently deleted.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat does anonymised data look like?\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIdentifying information about individual attendees, such as their name, email address, and answers to questions, will be replaced with sample data. You’ll still be able to see how many people registered for the event.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat happens when I submit a request?\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen you submit either an event anonymisation or deletion request, it will be placed in a processing queue for seven days. You may cancel your request any time during this period. After the processing period is up, we will proceed with permanently anonymising or deleting the event. This action cannot be undone.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/jgzOzBkPg1C92RE9xLbZBOFA7RcyrX1hhh78uMP3-uA/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:screenshot-2024-11-12-at-13-59-36/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by8yM2VjOGE2M2Iw/Nzg5NGExMDA2MzA1/NzYxOWFmZDJjZC5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring the processing wait period, the event will be moved to a read-only mode, meaning attendees won’t be able to access tickets and you won’t be able to modify event details in the admin area. The event will also no longer appear in the “Upcoming” or “Past” events views on your dashboard. A banner at the top of your event will remind you that the event is due to be anonymised or deleted. You can click the link on this banner to view more details and see the option to cancel your request.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt account level, we’ve added new sections to show events scheduled for deletion and anonymisation. Events in the “Scheduled to be deleted” section include those paid events that have been partially deleted due to data retention requirements.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe're committed to making more of our data protection workflows transparent, and allowing for Tito customers to self-serve where possible. This change is just one way we're granting you enhanced control over your data. If you have any questions or need urgent help with a request, please reach out to us at \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"mailto:support@tito.io\"\u003esupport@tito.io\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-12T13:16:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/one-billion-dollars","title":"One billion dollars","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eWe don’t track all that many metrics at Tito, least of all vanity metrics. In fact, we don’t actually know when we crossed a billion dollars of tickets sold.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecently, we did just that.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDoc—with Vicky’s help—stumbled upon it after somebody asked him what the latest figure was. None of us knew!\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur dashboard reports in Euro, and as of this writing, the figure sits at €952,348,098.58, which is approximately $1.01bn.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/ykODQhgoI0TgNj_CgyXnJamQwdzRau-9hk_cMED_I08/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:cleanshot-2024-11-11-at-16-08-36-2x/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by8wMzFjNDRhYmY3/NmRmMTcyNWExM2Nl/NGFhMmU3YzJjYS5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s so easy to compare oneself to the wrong things. “Oh, well Stripe processes a billion dollars every nanosecond”. “Shopify does a billion dollars in the first utterance of Black Friday”.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI do fall into that trap sometimes, but no matter how you shake it, a billion dollars is a big number.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo a billion thank yous to anyone who has ever used Tito.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA billion gratitude tokens to everyone who has recommended that folks check us out.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA billion hugs to the folks who took a chance on us when we were just starting out.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd a hundred billion welcomes to anyone who has just learned about us and is about to become a customer.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere’s to the next billion. 🍻\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-11T16:32:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/a-roundup-of-our-meet-tito-dinners-over-the-past-few-months","title":"A roundup of our \"Meet Tito\" dinners over the past few months","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eIn September we put out a call to meet us in various cities, starting in Copenhagen when I visited to attend TechBBQ on the 10th September. What followed was a series of dinners that were fun and insightful, and will hopefully continue to be opportunities for us to meet existing and new customers and have a bit of fun along the way.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/B0bR-p1Bks-K6FCtvg8uunN45yPLVvmhdCZZ1Fy2UEQ/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:img_0407/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by84MDVkYTE4Y2Fl/ZjkyZDVhODcxMjdj/YTdjOTlhYzRjYS5q/cGVn.jpeg\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Copenhagen dinner was at \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://paulicph.dk/\"\u003ePauli\u003c/a\u003e, an award-winning restaurant in Sydhavnen. I won’t say that the name didn’t influence my choice, but it’s de-facto a really great restaurant, and was perfect for the informal vibe I was going for. It was great to hang out with Maria from \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://techbbq.dk/\"\u003eTechBBQ\u003c/a\u003e, as well as meeting \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/madskjer/\"\u003eMads Kjer\u003c/a\u003e from \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://ticketbutler.io/\"\u003eTicketbutler\u003c/a\u003e, a Tito “co-opetitor”. It was cool to hang with \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/florianmunz/\"\u003eFlorian\u003c/a\u003e from \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://depfu.com/\"\u003eDepFu\u003c/a\u003e (we’re happy customers), and \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/aron-allen-244946187/\"\u003eAron Allen\u003c/a\u003e who ran \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://cycle.js.org/\"\u003eCycleJS\u003c/a\u003e back in the day, not to mention my good friend \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinsheridan/\"\u003eGavin Sheridan\u003c/a\u003e from \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.vizlegal.com/\"\u003eVizLegal\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the end of the meal, Luka, our delightful host for the evening, mentioned that they would be doing a pop-up in London the week of the 7th October.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was perfect because I was going to be in town for Intercom’s \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://pioneer.intercom.com/\"\u003ePioneer\u003c/a\u003e event on the 10th. I immediately booked the Pauli popup in Carousel on the 9th, and we had another fantastic meal. Joining us was Tito investor and PMA CEO, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardking001/\"\u003eRich King\u003c/a\u003e, as well as \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/dletorey/\"\u003eDave LeTorey\u003c/a\u003e who organises \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://2024.stateofthebrowser.com/\"\u003eState of the Browser\u003c/a\u003e, along with \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/lazyatom/\"\u003eJames Adam\u003c/a\u003e, steward of \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://lrug.org/\"\u003eLondon’s Ruby User Group\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/TjxSqlDi8QeMBqgWP43ddyQoXtR6_ZcH6JE1szZFZOI/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:carousel/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by9lYmVjNjdhOWUz/OTZkMTFkMTA1YzMx/YzZiMTM0MWZiNi5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFast-forward a few weeks, and I attended \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://haggisruby.co.uk/\"\u003eHaggis Ruby\u003c/a\u003e, a regional Ruby event in Edinburgh, the first in 10 years since the last Scottish Ruby Conference, a conference dear to me as one of my earliest speaking opportunities. Haggis Ruby was relatively small, but full of spirit, excellent talks and an all-round good vibe.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur Edinburgh dinner was at \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://tipoedinburgh.co.uk/\"\u003etipo\u003c/a\u003e, and since we had slightly higher numbers, we booked “The Pasta Room”, a private room with a sharing style menu. Of all the dinners, this was probably my favourite.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/ls56wXYtaGlGETbndFSB7zJANdNni9RXkwHGRc0JRLU/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:img_1026/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by9jODI5YzkxNjY3/MTcxODVjODQ4YjA3/MmQwMWJiYTNjYy5q/cGVn.jpeg\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving learned about “Jeffersonian-style” dinners from \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/mojombo/\"\u003eTom Preston-Werner\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/fowlerchad/\"\u003eChad Fowler\u003c/a\u003e earlier this year at \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://blog.tito.io/posts/this-last-this-next-thing\"\u003eThis Next Thing\u003c/a\u003e, I was eager to try the format. It’s safe to say that everyone around the table loved it, none of whom had tried it before. It’s a relatively simple contrivance: at various points during the meal, we would pose a question that would be answered by one person talking at a time. It gave everyone a chance to share a bit of themselves with the whole group, and conversely, it gave everyone in the group a chance to hear from everyone round the table.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoining us in Edinburgh was Tito engineer Bill, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/briandcorcoran/\"\u003eBrian Corcoran\u003c/a\u003e from TuringFest, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmeline-caines-gooby-9579195/\"\u003eEmmeline Caines-Gooby\u003c/a\u003e who was at BrightonSEO, \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://mikemcquaid.com/\"\u003eMike McQuaid\u003c/a\u003e from \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://brew.sh/\"\u003eHomeBrew\u003c/a\u003e / \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://workbrew.com/\"\u003eWorkBrew\u003c/a\u003e, and a bunch of other new friends from the conference.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, at \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"http://smashingconf.com/\"\u003eSmashingConf\u003c/a\u003e Antwerp last week, we hosted a small group at \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://v.restaurant/fashiondistrict/\"\u003eV Modern Italian\u003c/a\u003e, including Tito founding customer Marc Thiele from \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://beyondtellerrand.com/\"\u003eBeyond Tellerrand\u003c/a\u003e, Mariona from Smashing, and \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://www.timvandamme.com/\"\u003eTim Van Damme\u003c/a\u003e, a once-or-twice contributor to some of Tito’s designs (Tim designed the \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://vi.to/home\"\u003eVito\u003c/a\u003e logo). Alas, it was too loud to do Jeffersonian, but we had a very pleasant meal.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSmashingConf Antwerp was our first time ever hosting a sponsor stand at a conference. We had a really good time: we did a run of t-shirts and all of them got taken, so if you see one in the wild, say hello! We also gave away a few prizes: we hosted a small “guess the number of marbles” competition, but instead of marbles, we asked folks to guess how many events in our events database table in the last 7 years (which is the number of years SmashingConf has been using Tito for). Congratulations to (coincidentally) Irish-woman Shaun MacGabhann who was probably the person who was most excited about the Zelda Game and Watch. It couldn’t have gone to a better home. And if anyone’s curious, the correct answer was 82,645, with the nearest guess being 75,010.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/XN8V-FS6UHKrsboLq7aGGKkGpk-PsfDU3PtEe5lLPsA/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:ab313f09-837f-4024-9472-17e0eaacf0d8_1_105_c/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by9kZTIwMDljNzE5/NjRjNjMyNDdmZGI5/NDdmN2RhMDY3MC5q/cGVn.jpeg\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, thanks to Smashing for their warm welcome of my 8 year old son who joined me on the trip. Smashing had a remarkably child-friendly Lego table (given there was only one child at the event). Doc sent him over to “do something Tito”, and I warned that my kid would take that literally. Not 15 minutes later did he come back with this Tito logo in Lego blocks. A proud father moment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/oPULoqZrfea3cNhQkLBHPchPjrdqM5RNhnk1OEsx3xg/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:img_1131/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by9kYTc5NzgyNjlk/ZDllNmQwNDBhNWUx/NGJhNDNjZmJkYy5q/cGVn.jpeg\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCatch you at the next thing!\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-11-07T12:48:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/domain-blocking","title":"New feature: Restrict tickets to specific domains or email addresses","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eOrganisers often ask us if they can specify domains and email addresses that can or can’t register for an event.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe answer up to now has always been no (more about why, later). But from today, it's yes!\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’ve added a new \u003cstrong\u003eRestrictions\u003c/strong\u003e section under the Settings menu. Type or paste in a list of domains or individual addresses — Tito can differentiate between them — to block and/or allow, and these rules will apply immediately to both registering and assigning tickets.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUse the Block list to disallow registrations from certain domains or organisations (such as \u003ccode\u003egmail.com\u003c/code\u003e or \u003ccode\u003eevil.corp\u003c/code\u003e). You can also block individual email addresses, for instance those of previously banned attendees.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor events that require a high level of security or exclusivity, the Allow list enables you to specify trusted email addresses or domains that are the \u003cem\u003eonly\u003c/em\u003e ones permitted to register. For instance, for an internal event you might restrict registrations to your organisation’s domain. Or if you have a guestlist of people you’re planning to invite, you can add their email addresses to the Allow list before sharing the registration link, and only folks on the list will be able to sign up.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou can also combine the Block and Allow list for greater control. In this case, the Allow list will be considered \u003cem\u003eexceptions\u003c/em\u003e to the people on your Block list, rather than the only domains or addresses that can register. This is useful if you want to block a particular domain but allow specific addresses from within that domain.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://images.vi.to/TRy0KAklvN7jYEWsA0xg4-d0FO503UW7PZF4OJZNUtI/rs:fit:3000:3000/fn:screenshot-2024-10-17-at-11-08-52/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxv/YWRzLWNkbi52aS50/by83ZTNkYjAxZjNm/YWNhMzdlZTU5YTRh/YTVkNjM3NjdkYi5w/bmc.png\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen trying to register or assign a ticket with a restricted email address or domain, users will see a warning that the email address is not authorised, and will not be able to proceed.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOf course, we’re aware there’s nothing to prevent someone from using a different email address to get around the rules you’ve set up. In fact, this is one of the reasons it’s taken us so long to prioritise this feature, despite it being requested so much. In the end though, we decided there was enough merit in deterring casual would-be registrants, and especially in enforcing registration to specific domains. We hope these new Restriction settings will reduce the admin burden associated with keeping an eye out for unwanted registrations or unpermitted email addresses, and having to cancel or edit them respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a bonus, we’ve also taken this opportunity to publicly release our \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https://help.tito.io/en/articles/9027417-unique-emails\"\u003eUnique Emails\u003c/a\u003e feature, previously only available on request. This allows you to limit the assigning of tickets to one per unique email address, which is useful when working with our API to pull data into third-party apps that require attendees to have a unique email address.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShipping these features is part of our ongoing commitment to making Tito more secure and customisable. We always appreciate our customers letting us know what they want to see next, so if you have any feedback, suggestions or questions, drop us a line anytime at \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"mailto:support@tito.io\"\u003esupport@tito.io\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","date_published":"2024-10-21T13:26:00Z"},{"id":"https://diva.pub/posts/break-things-like-an-engineer","title":"Being an engineer means I can break things in my spare time too","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eLast Sunday morning I was emptying the ash from our wood pellet furnace — something I've done around 100 times.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA small mistake\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt takes about 15 minutes including the 10 minutes it takes for the machine to switch off and on. This time, 10 seconds after switching it on, I realised that I'd forgotten to put the ash trays back in. That's a silly mistake but the consequences aren't too bad. The correct resolution is to switch it off, put the trays back in and then switch it on again.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe quick fix\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat would take between 5 and 10 minutes though and I thought that if I was quick then I could just open the door, pop the ash trays in, close the door and be done in a few seconds.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe bigger mistake\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat actually happened was that as I opened the door, a mechanism to clean the burner started to operate and a metal tray slid out blocking the door from closing again. Now I couldn't close the door and the cleaning mechanism was stuck mid-clean because the door was open.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe longer fix that didn't work\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo problem, I thought. There's a service menu to allow you to operate various mechanisms manually. But that's protected by a password to stop idiots like me messing with it. I'm pretty sure it's a factory password so I searched the Internet to see what it is. Sure enough, it is the furnace temperature plus the letters \"EST\". I wasn't sure what that temperature was so guess 70°, then 60° and finally 65° which does work. After 30 minutes of poking around in the settings I'm not supposed to touch I gave up and resigned myself to calling an actual, qualified engineer the following day.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSolution appears from nowhere\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI went out for a bike ride but this problem was niggling away in the back of my mind. On the way home it occurred to me that if I could fool the furnace into thinking the door was closed, it might reset itself.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs soon as I'm home I take a closer look and eventually find a little micro-switch. As soon as I press it, the furnace starts its switch-on sequence and after ten seconds, it retracts the tray and I can finally close the door properly.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOff and on again\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTen minutes later, and it was whirring away but still not heating any water. I switched it off and on again. This time it worked and our water started getting hot again.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDay job\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe parallels with my day job as an engineer at Team Tito are strong:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrying to do something trivial and making a simple mistake that isn't actually very serious\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn attempt to fix it quickly that causes a much bigger one\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrawling the Internet for answers\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrying things I don't really understand\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eComing up with the solution while thinking of something else entirely\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eHave you tried switching it off and on again?\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e","date_published":"2024-09-30T15:47:00Z"}]}