Abstract
A method and system for replacing advertising is provided herein, whereby users are selected to participate in events based on user attributes and event sponsor criteria. Accordingly, event sponsors may target intended audiences by sponsoring and then populating or casting an event with participants meeting desired criteria. Once assembled, the sponsor may exchange information with the participants and participants may exchange information with one another. Participant criteria may include personality and appearance attributes, popularity, reputation, number of social media followers, tastemaker status and overall ability to influence the opinions, perceptions or actions of other potential participants. Event sponsors may focus spending to assemble the largest, relevant cast desired, efficiently, through the use of geo-located devices associated with participants under control of software associated with the present invention. As opposed to broadcast advertising, the present invention enables spending money only to engage desired participants.
Claims
1. A method for replacing advertising comprising the steps of: selecting users for participation at a live event; comparing a user attribute database with a desired user attribute for attendance at said live event as selected by an event sponsor; deriving from said comparison a guest list for said live event representative of the user attributes selected by said event sponsor; notifying said guest list of users of their selection for participation of said live event; recording qualitative and quantitative data indicative of said selected guest list of users actually in attendance at said live event, and recording which of said selected guest list of users who decline to or otherwise fail to attend said live event; deriving a payment process by which each of said users in attendance at said live event are paid for their attendance, in an amount sufficiently high to populate said event, but efficiently calculated to not over pay for said attendance; and annotating said user attribute database with criteria indicative of user's performance at said live event so that future live events may be more effectively populated with the most advantageous users possible.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0053] FIG. 1 is the Overall View of the present invention;
[0054] FIG. 2 is a block diagram describing the Administrative Dashboard used to control access to the present invention by sponsors and or users and event participant;
[0055] FIG. 3 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Participant account sign-up interface;
[0056] FIG. 4 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Sponsor account sign-up interface;
[0057] FIG. 5 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Participant Dashboard/Participant Profile mobile application interface;
[0058] FIG. 6 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Participant Message mobile application interface;
[0059] FIG. 7 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Sponsor Location Dashboard accessed via the mobile application interface;
[0060] FIG. 8 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Sponsor Marketing Dashboard accessed via the mobile application interface;
[0061] FIG. 9 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Sponsor Casting Administrative control panel;
[0062] FIG. 10 is a block diagram, which describes the Additional Mobile Application Interface for Event Sponsors;
[0063] FIG. 11 is a block diagram, which describes the External Network server and Data Aggregation Processor;
[0064] FIG. 12 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Participant Profile registration information input interface;
[0065] FIG. 13 is a block diagram, which describes the Event Participant Attendance monitoring data mechanism used according to the present invention;
[0066] FIG. 14 is a block diagram, which describes an Event Request Input Interface containing administrator provided event details and guidelines;
[0067] FIG. 15 is a block diagram, which describes the Participant Casting Database used by the Administrator to select participants according to the present invention;
[0068] FIG. 16 is a System Overview of the Casting mechanism utilized according to the present invention;
[0069] FIG. 17 is a System Overview of the Administrator Control mechanism according to the present invention for participant casting criteria management set forth by the administrator;
[0070] FIG. 18 describes the member feature for event preference detection and management;
[0071] FIG. 19 describes the administrative feature for the pricing prediction algorithm;
[0072] FIG. 20 describes administrative features pertaining to filtering participants by implementing several key participant-related data aggregators.
[0073] FIG. 21 is a diagram of the pricing and fulfillment engine feature of the present invention.
[0074] FIG. 22 is a graph model showing how offer waves are formed by the pricing and fulfillment engine.
[0075] APPENDIX, Pages 1-27 describe a working embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0076] FIG. 1 is an overall view of a system according to the present invention. The present invention brings together a multitude of event sponsors with event participants. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, event producers are screened by a system administrator so that the quality of events associated with the administrator are insured. Event producers may be associated with events such as movie premiers, nightlife activities, restaurants, television or movie castings, sporting events, concerts, promotional modeling, experiential events or any other situation where an event sponsor wants to assemble the desired crowd of people. Such a process may be known as CROWDCASTING. According to the present invention, a mobile platform is configured to connect business interests with their respective target audiences, to form or cast the ideal crowd. Through the use of the present invention, promoters, public relations or marketing firms, casting agencies and public emailing may be augmented, focused and optimized, if not in some cases obviated.
[0077] Event producers may use the present invention as sponsors, providing invitations to prospective event attendees, even supplementing the most desirable attendees' invitations with incentives in the form of monetary payment or equivalent mechanisms. In turn, invitees may decide whether to accept or decline an invitation, depending upon the quality of the event, who else may have decided to attend, incentives offered and any of a multitude of criteria. The system draws in potential attendee qualifications from social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but may draw in any of a multitude of criteria, so that potential invitees may be scored. Likewise, with attendance history, the present invention may be used to create a historical perspective as to event attendees, so that event sponsors know in advance which invitees tend to actually show up on time or at all, how their attitude and appearance are displayed at events attended, and so forth, so that in the future, event sponsors can ascertain who best to cast for specific events.
[0078] Event sponsors and event participants 104 with mobile devices can participate via a mobile application server 102. A mobile application interface 100 links the mobile application server 102 with the marketing server 106. An administrative control interface 108 allows the marketing server 106 to accomplish the objectives of the present invention. Likewise, the marketing server 106 interfaces with: social network servers 110; photo network servers 112; blogging servers 114; email and messaging servers 116 via the internet; geo-location services 118 and mapping servers; payment servers; and can also link up with any other servers to facilitate use of the present invention.
[0079] FIG. 2 provides an administrative dashboard for use with the present invention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the administrative dashboard 200 is used to control the marketing system provided by the present invention. An administrator can only access the system by logging in 202 through the marketing server 204 on the mobile application interface 206, which permits access to various administrative functions such as: customer service 208; accounting and financial statements 210; the addition and deletion of administrative accounts 212; the addition and deletion of approved event participants 214; the addition and deletion of pending event participants 216 and the vetting process 218; the approval and declining of pending event sponsors 220; the addition and deletion of approved event sponsors 222; and the assembly of events created by event sponsors 224 with various match attributes 226 and availability filters 228.
[0080] An event participant is anyone who likes to have fun and wants to receive incentives to experience amazing events. Becoming an event participant is simple and it can end up compensating the attendee. With a simple instruction, an invitee can receive incentives, by downloading a computer application on their respective smart-phones, and register to become approved with the system administrator. Next, the users can receive availability requests with an incentive, and then the user can decide whether to accept or decline the invitation. Based on availability, the administrator and the event sponsor will cast various events and can in turn attend, have fun and even receive incentives.
[0081] Event producers are responsible for running local events and have the ability to cast events. Event producers must sign up in advance to be producers under the marketing system according to the present invention, and seek approval of the system administrator. Once approved, event producers can past crowds and fill venues with crowds they deem perfect. One administrator called SURKUS has referred to this process as CROWDCASTING. Various matching techniques, and administrator control processes may be used, by various administrators, so that event sponsors or event users can reach out to precisely the preferred crowd. This mechanism is akin to the way actors are cast for parts in movies. By utilizing a combination of push and pull strategies to connect to a large audience with specific brands, events and experiences and then utilizes the network to engage target customers.
[0082] By way of example, the objectives of the event producer may be optimized. Social media influencers are drawn from the roster of many individuals for a given event. On site data includes that the users check in to a given event, and are rated as to their appearance and the impression or engagement score they make overall. Accordingly, ratings can be developed as to event attendees. In addition, prospective attendees may be scored and rated based on tangible qualities. Events may have leaders or ambassadors. Criteria such as hair color, eye color, physical appearance, body type, ethnicity, and other typical matching criteria may be assessed and lead to an overall score, along with the number of followers you have in social media. In that manner, social media influencer status may be ascertained.
[0083] Event details are very important to define according to the present invention. The event may be assigned a title, and event details as detailed as desired. Parking and transportation may be provided, and various incentives may apply as to various event attendees.
[0084] FIG. 3 describes the new event participant account sign-up interface. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, external verification is done through external social media servers. An event participant begins by setting up a new account through the sign in interface 302 through the mobile application 300. The data entered by the participant is verified through an external social media server 304, permitting the participant to sign up for an account 306. The participant completes the sign up process through the registration interface 308 and a welcome email 310 is sent to confirm the new account. The account status remains as pending 312 with links to the new participant's social media account servers 314. The pending account is then reviewed by the administrator 316 to complete verification and activate the account.
[0085] FIG. 4 describes the new event sponsor account sign-up interface. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, sponsors are responsible for providing events. A potential event sponsor can sign up for a new account on the sign in interface 402 on the mobile application interface 400. The potential event sponsor is then verified through an external social media server 404, whereby the event sponsor completes the account sign up process 406 by registering as a place event sponsor 408 or product event sponsor 410. The account remains pending until reviewed and approved by the system marketing administrator 412. The administrator of the event organizing system or marketing system according to the present invention, such as the company SURKUS, must be careful to screen event producers as their universe of event attendees or invitees or so-called SURKUSgoers are essentially a valuable asset, and exposing attendees to poorly organized events will diminish the effectiveness of the marketing system in the future. Accordingly, the administrator according to the present invention, such as SURKUS, may introduce stringent quality control standards upon people or entities seeking to become event producers or event sponsors.
[0086] FIG. 5 describes the event participant dashboard 500, and references the participant profile 506 accessed by signing in 502 to the participant account dashboard 500 via the mobile application 504. The event participant profile 506 interface allows the participant to: access the payment portal 508; share information on external social media accounts 510; review past events 512; view pending invites 514; view confirmed events 516; check in or promote a current event 518; view information about the mobile application 520 and view legal information 522. Event attendees undergo a vetting and selection process, so that they may choose to attend events they feel they will enjoy, have fun at, profit from via incentives and professional networking and other career motivated criteria. For the first time with the present invention, social media influencers may automatically gain and monetize value from being attractive and engaging. Indeed, social media influencers reach that status by being so engaging, and so, the present invention enables them to receive incentives for having achieved that status.
[0087] FIG. 6 describes the event participant message interface 600 accessed by signing in 604 to the participant account 602 via the mobile application interface 606. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, event participants are located via GPS 608 and venue map locations 610 are provided, with directions and a we're expecting you message, to facilitate attendance by event participants. A participant may be required to check in 614 when they have arrived at an event, and sent an arrival confirmation message 616. Also, during the course of the event, a participant may be scored according to his or her engagement, that is, how they interact with other event participants and sponsors. Reviews of the events are taken by both event sponsors and event attendees or participants 618. Accordingly, event sponsors may find that they have an easier time filling future events with lower incentives by producing events that are deemed desirable by attendees. Attendees may be communicated with by event sponsors in order to stimulate various actions or qualities among event attendees attending pursuant to the system according to the present invention.
[0088] FIG. 7 describes the event sponsor site for location-based events. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Event Sponsor place dashboard 700 is accessed by signing in 702 to the sponsor account via the mobile application interface 704. The event sponsor has a place dashboard it may use to control an event. The dashboard permits the event sponsor to access: the sponsor profile 706; venues 708; the payment portal 710; casting requests 712 including casting confirmations 716 and event cost estimates 714; sharing status updates 718 on external social media servers 720; promotions 722; upcoming events 724 including cancelled events 726, event status tracking 728 and attending event participants 730; casting for current events 732 as well as previous casting history 734; review of event participants 736 and other pertinent information available to event sponsors or event producers.
[0089] FIG. 8 describes the event sponsor product (marketing product or service) dashboard accessed by signing in to the sponsor account via the mobile application. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Event Sponsor product dashboard 800 is accessed by signing in 802 to the sponsor account via the mobile application interface 804. The event sponsor has a place dashboard it may use to control an event. The dashboard permits the event sponsor to access: the sponsor profile 806; list of products and services 808; the payment portal 810; casting requests 812 including casting confirmations 816 and event cost estimates 814; sharing status updates 818 on external social media servers 820; promotions 822; upcoming events 824 including cancelled events 826, event status tracking 828 and attending event participants 830; casting for current events 832 as well as previous casting history 834; review of event participants 836 and other pertinent information available to event sponsors or event producers.
[0090] FIG. 9 describes the event sponsor casting overview and administrative casting request control panel overview. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the event sponsor accesses the dashboard 900 by signing in 902 through the mobile application interface 904 and completing a casting request 906 for an event. Once the casting request information is complete, a cost estimate 908 is provided to the event sponsor and the casting request is submitted to administrator for review to the administrator 910. The administrator reviews the request 912 and selects potential attendees 914, filtered based on the availability of the attendees 916. Once the event participant verifies that they are able to attend the event, they are sent verification notices and reminders via email 918.
[0091] After the event participants have been verified, a notification 920 is sent to the event sponsor that allows the sponsor to view the event participants 922. An event reminder notification is also sent to the event sponsor prior to the event 924. The event sponsor then processes payment 926 and a percentage of that payment is then allocated to the attending event participant 928. The event participant is notified that they have been paid for attending the event 930. The event sponsor submits a review 932 of the event participant and the event participant submits a review 934 of the venue and event. The review information serves as analytical data stored on the application server.
[0092] FIG. 10 describes the additional mobile application interface 1000 for event sponsors to market to a select group of event participants. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, event participants are filtered and selected based on a specific set of criteria through the event participant interface 1002. The event participant is considered a first time customer 1004 if they have not attended a previous event held by the event sponsor. Based on prior attendance and review data, the application interface can determine how likely the participant will spend beyond the offered event sponsor incentive 1006, how likely the participant will refer others to the event 1008 and how likely the participant will return to future event sponsor events 1010. The application interface also uses prior aggregated data to determine the event participant's brand loyalty relative to an event sponsor 1012.
[0093] The event sponsor can use the event sponsor interface 1014 to offer deals and incentives to event participants 1016 as a means of promoting the event sponsor's business. This allows the event sponsor to fill a venue during non-peak hours by submitting an event request to select event participants 1018. Event participants are filtered using specific criteria that allows the event sponsor to narrowly define the type of event participant for the event based on factors such as geolocation and proximity, known as hyper-targeting 1020. The event sponsor can generate increased revenue based on having access to specific event participants 1022 and the event participant is only required to pay for event participants who will attend the event via the application interface 1024.
[0094] FIG. 11 describes the external network server verification and data aggregation processor from the event participant's social networks that are utilized as a component of the AUTOCASTING administrator controlled process. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, through the initial sign-up interface 1102, an event participant provides external social network information that allows the application to verify the new participant and access data in the external social network server 1100. This data is aggregated and applied to the event participant profile to facilitate the automatic casting process. Demographic information 1104 such as interests, preferences, activity level and participation are collected from the external social network server 1000. The participant is verified by the external social network server based on username, location and contact information 1106. The participant's external social network influence data is collected, including the amount and quality of subscribers, level of subscriber engagement and level of participant influence 1108.
[0095] By the term AUTOCASTING, the inventor is referring to a trademark utilized by the company SURKUS. AUTOCASTING refers to optimizing the audience mix for events. Venues have a desire to attract desirable new customers and brand representatives to their locations, simultaneously maximizing on-site spending by customers and minimizing the overall marketing expenditure to achieve increased brand awareness. Venues to-date have been limited to traditional advertising mediums to target users, with the inherent limitations in targeting criteria and accuracy in achieving ideal results. According to the present invention, an administrator may utilize a well-developed, metadata-rich, geo-centric database of opt-in consumers who provide a cross section of socio-graphic, demographic and behavioral characteristics. When venues seek to cast an event, a platform according to the present invention allows for filtering a target audience list with specific MUST HAVE criteria such as age range, gender, and affinities for specific complementary brands. After creating a subsection of a desired audience that is both geographically desirable for an event, and meets all of the MUST HAVE criteria, a desired target list may be derived, and the target list may end up much larger than the desired attendee count. In that case, the system according to the present invention may be used to apply additional optimization criteria specific to the business desires. For example, a business can choose to maximize first-time attendees, maximize social media influencers, or minimize cost. Based on this objective, the platform can assign appropriate weights to individual users in the system, then automatically invite a random selection of higher weighted users until enough target attendees have indicated availability for the event. Accordingly, the crowd may be assembled in various orders to fill an event in any desired manner. This process of automatically casting events is a significant improvement over traditional audience generation techniques in many ways. Namely, on several fronts: 1. It supports micro-targeting customers based on socio-graphic, demographic, and behavioral attributes previously only accessible to online marketing platforms; 2. It is highly automated, requiring only configuration of the requirements, at which time the system completely automates the selection of audience and identifying user availability; 3. It requires and leverages a metadata-rich user database, which removes human-bias from traditional casting or invite-only based event management; and 4. It provides an increasing amount of internally generated metadata, which can be used to further improve the performance of the platform as a whole.
[0096] FIG. 12 describes the event participant profile registration information input interface whereby profile data is used as a component of the automatic casting process. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, external social network information is aggregated and verified 1200 by the mobile application interface 1202, the event participant registers for a participant profile by entering relevant data 1204. In the first panel, the event participant enters a username, email address, full name, phone number and location 1206. The second panel requires the event participant to submit basic physical characteristics such as the hair color, eye color, body type and personality 1208. The third registration panel allows the participant to select the preferred event categories that they wish to attend 1210. The fourth registration panel requires that the participant submits a payment account, a profile picture and additional external social network accounts that are confirmed by the mobile application 1212.
[0097] FIG. 13 describes the event participant activity level or event attendance at various events. Monitoring said data is a way for the present invention to implement its automatic casting process. Within the application marketing server 1300, the administrator can access the administrator control dashboard 1302 and the event participant database 1304. Once an event participant is selected, an invite is sent 1306 whereby the participant must confirm if they will attend the event 1308. If the event participant declines the invitation 1310, no credit is received 1312. If the event participant confirms the invitation and attend the event, attendance is confirmed and the participant is credited 1314. By sharing the event information on external social media servers and reviewing the event 1316, the participant is then considered an active participant 1318 in the automatic casting process and becomes more visible in the event participant database. The increased visibility creates an increase in the frequency of invites and incentives for the event participant 1320. To be credited as an active participant 1318, the participant is required to have a consistent record of event attendance, fulfill sponsor requested requirements, use geo-location to check in and check out of the event, share the event on external social media servers, invite other participants and review attended events.
[0098] FIG. 14 describes an event request input interface containing the event sponsor's event details and guidelines that are submitted to the administrator and user as a component of the automatic casting process. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the event sponsor accesses the sponsor dashboard 1400 by signing in 1402 to the mobile application interface 1404. Once the event sponsor has signed in, they are able to complete an event casting request 1406. The event sponsor is required to complete the following event details 1408: the venue, event name and description 1410; the time, date and duration 1412; the amount of male and female participants requested 1414; the budget, participant cost and total cost of the event 1416; and the age of participants, dress code and other instructions 1418. This data is used to filter specific participants in the automatic casting process. The casting request is then sent to the administrator for review.
[0099] FIG. 15 describes the participant casting database 1500 used by the administrator to select participants to be invited to an administrator reviewed and approved event. According to the present invention, an administrator 1502 may use data compiled from the event sponsor and participant profile as a filtering module within the automatic casting process. Once the administrator reviews and approves the event request 1504, the administrator uses the event detail information to filter specific participants in the participant casting database 1500. Male and female attributes are filtered based on the event category, sub-category and rank of the participant based on aggregated profile data 1506. Filters 1508 are applied to the event participant casting database that include: distance and proximity to the event; gender, ethnicity and body type of the participant; hair and eye color; and the participant personality and style. The participant casting database also displays relevant casting information 1510 including: the total amount of participants; the number of currently invited participants; the number of available participants; the number of casted participants; the number of not available participants; the number of popular or high-ranking participants; and the number of new participants. Once event participants are selected and sent event request invitations, the database also displays: the number of requested male and female participants 1512; the number of confirmed male and female participants 1514; the number of available male and female participants 1516; and the number of pending male and female participants 1518. The automatic casting process is complete once a certain number of event participants have been confirmed to attend the event, and the event participant information is send to the event sponsor.
[0100] FIG. 16 is a system overview of the automatic casting process. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the process may be embodied as an administrator controlled process 1600 whereby data is aggregated from event sponsors and event participants and utilized in the administrator controlled participant casting database. The event sponsor submits an event casting request 1602 containing event details 1612 to the administrator. The administrator reviews the event details 1604 and approves the event 1606 to select event participants 1608. The administrator implements the automatic casting process in the participant casting database 1610, whereby event detail data 1612 is entered to filter event participants based on data from each participant profile 1614.
[0101] FIG. 17 is an administrator overview as an administrator applies specific filters to the participant casting database that enables the automatic casting process according to the present invention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, that process is used to select optimal participants for a given event. Through the administrator dashboard 1700, the administrator approves the event request 1702 and uses the participant casting database 1704 to select participants using the filtering algorithm 1706. The selected participants are then sent an invitation to the event 1708 and their response 1710 is used by the administrator to complete the event casting process. The participant response to the invitation is then submitted to the administrator participant casting database and the data 1712 is implemented into the total amount of confirmed male and female participants 1714. This process continues until the specified amount of event participants have confirmed that they will be attending the event.
[0102] FIG. 18 describes the member feature for event preference detection and management.
[0103] In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, an event participant logs in to his or her participant profile 1800 to review all pending invites 1802 that require a response. If the participant chooses to decline an invite 1804, the participant must provide a reason for the decline through the decline dialog screen 1806. Options for declining an invite include: participant dislikes venue category; participant dislikes venue; participant dislikes the event type; the participant is not available; or the offer presented to the participant is too low to attend. The reason for decline chosen by the participant is then transmitted to the administrator portal as data to be used in the pricing analytics engine algorithm 1808.
[0104] FIG. 19 describes the administrative feature for the pricing prediction algorithm. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pricing prediction algorithm 1900 is used to provide an accurate estimate of how much an event will cost, providing a cost estimate 1908 for a specific event casting request 1906. The pricing prediction algorithm 1900 can be accessed through the admin interface dashboard 1904 located on the application marketing server 1902. The pricing prediction algorithm 1900 consists of a data-based model 1910 that aggregates event history and attendance data. This data includes but is not limited to: attendance data; amount paid per attendee; the venue and venue location; the lead time before an event starts; the event day of the week; the event start time and the average attendee rating. Using the resulting model, one can enter speculative values for a new event, including the venue; start time; and desired attendee rating to obtain the cost that should be offered to fill the event with the provided requirements. The target cost includes a specific value and a variance factor that represents the confidence of a result. The person generating the predicted cost may adjust values to see how they affect the target cost, and use the information to negotiate with clients in order to optimize the cost for an event.
[0105] FIG. 20 describes administrative features pertaining to filtering participants by implementing several key participant-related data aggregators. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the administrator uses the admin interface dashboard 2000 to view event casting requests 2002 in order to cast each event. The administrator implements a series of filters, starting with Filter 1 2004, consisting of sponsor requirements for casting the event. Filter 2 2006 is then implemented to further narrow the participant casting database, consisting of participant profile attributes; participation data and ratio of declined invitations per participant. Filter 2 2006 implements the enhanced Autocasting feature 2008. Casting active members allows for the system to reach casting targets more efficiently, while filtering out non-active members to be re-engaged by the system marketing department. The enhanced
[0106] Autocasting 2008 feature takes member event preferences into account, ensuring that users who have demonstrated a dis-interest in certain types of events will not receive off-target or undesirable event requests. Filter 2 2006 also implements the use of a member reliability score system 2010. This system provides a sorting option for the casting administrator by leveraging a beta distribution based on attendance at prior events to estimate reliability for upcoming events. The beta distribution allows for members who have not yet attended to be fairly considered while converging on consistent reliability scores as more attendance data points are collected for each member. Filter 3 2012 implements participant profile analytics data and external social media analytics data. Background geo-tracking 2014 contributes to participant analytics data by periodically capturing the physical location of participant's phones to accurately calculate the distance between a participant and an upcoming event. Distance to venue is the single most relevant factor for event casting. Geo-tracking 2014 also allows for the application to detect when a participant is traveling, opening up opportunities for the marketing administrator to offer special event attending promotions and incentives. Referral casting 2016 is used within Filter 3 2012 to filter the participants that are more likely to invite or recommend events to others. From the administrative dashboard 2000, the casting system has access to the micro-networks of referrals for a particular event, enabling the administrator to use this data to cast clusters of participants for an event. Attending with friends has improves the attendance rate and lower the cost requirements to get participants to attend an event.
[0107] FIG. 21 is a diagram of the pricing and fulfillment engine feature of the present invention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pricing and fulfillment engine 2100 analyses data input by the client 2102 in order to determine the ideal offer and optimal invite targets to fill the client's desired attendance quota. The client 2102 creates an event 2104 through data entry into the application.
[0108] The client 2102 enters an initial cost offer package and desired attendance quota that is analyzed by the pricing and fulfillment engine 2100, whereby the cost, made up of the expected monetary offer amount and desired margin, is transmitted back to the client 2102 for acceptance. The pricing and fulfillment engine 2100 can predict fulfillment in real time, learning and adapting over time based on historical evidence, with a bias towards recent data over older data. Once the cost is accepted by the client 2102, the pricing and fulfillment 2100 engine analyses the event data 2104 to determine the ideal members with the highest probability of accepting and attending the event. The member casting process is executed in three waves: the first offer wave 2106 sends out an invite to the most ideal members, determined by financial incentive and member points, whereby a majority of the attendance quota is filled; the second wave 2108 sends out more invites to the next tier of members, determined by financial incentive and member points; the third invite wave 2110 is sent to the third group of members who are determined to be good matches for the event, in order to fill the remaining attendance quota. Within the third wave, a member rating bonus is also added to provide additional incentive for good matches to earn more points by attending.
[0109] FIG. 22 is a graph model showing how offer waves are formed by the pricing and fulfillment engine. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, offer wave initiatives sent to members to fulfill attendance to an event are formed by the pricing and fulfillment engine identifying and prioritizing important traits of the client's event request. The invite candidates are auto-grouped in clusters according to their relative ratings of those traits, and offers are sent out in segmented waves at a pre-determined pace until the event is subsequently cast. The candidates in the first wave 2200 meet the highest ratings criteria for the determined factors. The candidates in the second wave 2202 rate lower on the determined criteria than the first wave, however they still have good ratings in at least two of the three determined factors. The third wave of candidates 2204 have a a high rating in at least one of the determined event categories.
APPENDIX
[0110] Pages 1-27 illustrate a working embodiment of the present invention. Pages 1-10 illustrate the administrator dashboard for event casting and payments. Pages 11-13 illustrate the event invite and casting screens. Pages 14-19 illustrate the event sponsor dashboards for event requests, event payment and attending participants. Pages 20-22 illustrate the event participant dashboard for viewing, accepting or declining event requests. Pages 23-27 illustrate email incentives and reminders sent to event participants from the marketing administrator.
[0111] While various embodiments of the disclosed technology have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration for the disclosed technology, which is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that may be included in the disclosed technology. The disclosed technology is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desired features may be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning and configurations may be implemented to implement the desired features of the technology disclosed herein. Also, a multitude of different constituent module names other than those depicted herein may be applied to the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams, operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform the recited functionality in the same order unless the context dictates otherwise.
[0112] Although the disclosed technology is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead may be applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the other embodiments of the disclosed technology, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scope of the technology disclosed herein should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.
[0113] Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term including should be read as meaning including, without limitation or the like; the term example is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms a or an should be read as meaning at least one, one or more or the like; and adjectives such as conventional, traditional, normal, standard, known and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to cover all such obvious alterations and modifications.
