There are 4 ways of telling the group about your event.
(1) Show up at the monthly meeting. This is still our most well attended event and is the best way. During the announcements introduce yourself and tell the membership about your event. Nothing beats a direct appeal and members are more likely to respond if they know who your are.
(2) Send a notice in to the monthly newsletter by the end of the month. Usually the newsletter can have more event details and every member and prospective member receives the newsletter.
(3) Email notices. Two weeks after the newsletter is mailed, a newsletter addendum is emailed out with reminders and event notices that couldn't make it into the newsletter in time.
(4) Evites and to a lesser extent SeeUThere, our two email invitation systems.

Hint: Event planners who want that 20 plus attendance to their events should use all or a combination of the above methods to get the biggest responses. Witness Paintball or the 510 dinners.

Who sends out Evites and emails
Three board members have access to the Evite account, Mike Schaefer, Big Chris and Caesar so Evites must go through one of them. Mike updates the online address books and the email list so if you want your email to reach the new members and not former members ask Mike to forward your email.

Why can't I just send out my own Evite?
If everyone could send an Evite then everyone would and your email box would have Evites for garage sales, political rallies, cats for sale, rides to the airport and events that would appeal to a very small number of members. Plus, there is a learning curve to using the Evite system and quite frankly Caesar doesn't you messing up stuff online or calling him for tech support :-)!

What do I have to supply to get an Evite sent?
Event time and exact street location (for the map), event details and description, questions to be asked, how many spaces, who to contact for further info, cost if any, carpool or driving instructions if needed and optionally any web links.

What type of events qualify for Evite use?
Events sponsored by the group (e.g., meetings, BBQs) or by a member on behalf of the group (e.g., Cirque de Soleil, rafting). In order:

(1) Events where the sponsor actually needs to have an RSVP. Parties, theater, sports, events where food or tickets have to be bought or space is limited.
(2) Events where the sponsor likes to know who is expected to show up before starting the event. Hikes where we like to wait for everyone to show up, and movies where we save seats, for example.
(3) Events that are brand new or haven't been done in a while. Evites can be used to kick them off. There is a jumping-on-the-bandwagon effect created by Evite. If members check the Evite and they see 10 already signed up then they might get excited about the event themselves.

What doesn't qualify?
Outside projects that members are involved in ("I'm playing sax at Slim's Friday nite" or "My photos are being exhibited at..."). These are announcements that belong in the newsletter or e-mail addendum. Also remember that anything that gets the Regular Guys stamp should be a fairly mass-appeal "guy stuff" event.

Why is it important that I remove myself from the Evite if I can't make it?
Here's an example. Batting cages can be paid for in advance by the hour or individuals can buy tokens. If 12 guys sign up for batting cages then paying by the hour is a lot cheaper. If only a few guys sign up then it is cheaper to buy tokens. If a lot of people sign up and we pay by the hour in advance it winds up being way more expensive when fewer guys actually show up. Also, if you reply, you don't get all those reminders clogging your box.

How come I don't get all the Evites?
Most Evites are sent to all the members. However, sports evites are only sent to people who are interested in sport events and are on the sports evite list. As more and more events are Evited we may have in the future other specialty lists that only include people who are only interested in particular types of events.