The first hundred days.

It's real now.

A little over a hundred days ago, Everbook was signatures on formation papers and a lot of conviction. Today, event professionals are running their businesses on it: sending proposals, signing contracts, collecting payments and delivering events for real clients.

Welcome to the first issue of Behind the Book. Every other Tuesday, I'll share what we're building, why we're building it, and what we're learning along the way. It's for event pros, for people planning something that matters to them, and for anyone who cares about where this industry is headed.

Where we started

Close to a decade in live events taught me one thing above everything else. The people who make events happen are running real money, real deadlines and real emotions across a patchwork of tools that were never built to talk to each other. The inquiry lives in one inbox, the proposal in another app, the contract somewhere else, payments in a fourth place, and the timeline lives in someone's head. Every handoff between those tools is a chance for something to slip, and in this industry, things that slip show up on the day.

We started Everbook to end that.

What we built

Everbook is an operating system built for event professionals from the very first line of code. We didn't take a generic tool and adapt it after spotting an opportunity. We built it from the inside of this industry, for the way this work actually gets done.

Instead of ten fragmented tools, Everbook gives a business one nucleus of information that everything else runs from. A new inquiry becomes a proposal. The proposal becomes a signed agreement. The agreement drives the payment schedule, and every detail flows into the event itself. The team, the timeline and the client all work from the same source of truth. Nothing gets re-typed, nothing gets lost between apps, and everyone knows where things stand.

It's built for every trade. Planners, venues, caterers, florists, photographers, rentals and more all work from the same foundation, shaped to how each trade really operates.

• Planners
• Venues
• Caterers
• Florists
• Photographers
• Rentals
• And more

Introducing the Everbook directory

We're excited to announce the next chapter. Alongside our core operating system for pros, we listened closely to the people using it, and one thing came through again and again: pros grow and prosper when the right client finds them. So we built that front door.

The Everbook directory is rolling out across major U.S. metros this fall, beginning with Dallas. We can't wait for clients and operators alike to experience the Everbook effect. It's designed to connect people with vendors who share their goals and fit their needs, without a pay-to-play model. Placement is earned on quality, not bought.

It's also more than a place to find your team. We want it to be a home base for support, guidance and inspiration, whether you're planning the most important day of your life or your company's annual celebration.

What we're building toward

For pros, we're building a network of the best people in every category, from the planner who holds the whole day together to the florist, the caterer and the team that breaks down the room at midnight. Every pro on Everbook strengthens the network for every other pro. Clients find better teams, and teams that work well together keep finding each other.

We're staying flexible as we grow. The best ideas in Everbook so far came from pros telling us exactly what was slowing them down, and that's how we'll keep building. If something in your business takes three tools and a spreadsheet today, we want to hear about it. That's the roadmap.

Our goal is simple. We want every person who touches an event, whether they're running it, planning it or showing up to work it, to feel the difference Everbook makes.

Thank you

To every pro who took our call, tested an early build, told us honestly what wasn't working, or trusted us with their business this quarter: you built this with us. To the people planning their events who will meet Everbook in the weeks ahead: we built this for you, too.

A hundred days in, we're more certain than ever that this industry deserves tools as thoughtful as the people in it. We're just getting started, and we're glad you're here for it.

If you know someone in events who should be reading this, send it their way. See you in two weeks.