The present invention generally relates to events planning. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computer–implemented system and method for planning and managing events involving multiple service providers or stakeholders by means of a single portal that can be configurable according to the user requirement.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Event planner needs to organize wide variety of occasions including wedding, birthday parties, other family functions and all types of corporate functions. They plan and manage the events including budgeting, scheduling, site selection, acquiring necessary permits, coordinating transportation and parking, arranging for speakers or entertainers, arranging decor, event security, catering and emergency plans etc. Traditional way of event planning is exhausting which requires a lot of efforts like travelling physically to individual vendors and/or fax, e-mail, and phoning them to check their availability and deciding which vendors to be selected. After selecting one or more vendors, the next tedious process is to make payment to each individual vendor. It is difficult to manage the large number of tasks, guest lists, invitations, gifts and vendor selection while wedding or any other events. So, people spend more time to manage the event rather than enjoying. Also, in the vendors side, to manage and track the multiple events they depend on excel spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and word documents.
Nowadays, people are comfort in dealing with vendors/ service providers from all around the world in online. Also, people depend on online to research about planning event, procurement of products, special offers, tips & advices etc. However, individual needs to connect each web page respective to the category of the event. This requires the user to open a new browser each time which is not efficient and time consuming too. Hence, there exists a need

of a method or a system that allows event planners and vendors to interactively plan and manage the events.
Many systems and methods are known in the existing art that puts an effort in addressing the above stated drawbacks. United States Patent Number 7,685,025 to Islam, entitled “Web-based integrated event planning and management system and method’’ relates to a web based wedding planning and managing system that involves multiple service providers by means of a single website or portal. The system includes online payment tracker and provides a vendors directory for searching vendors information. The system comprises the step of presenting performance photos and videos, and testimonials on the web site and searching venues based on the availability criteria.
United States Patent Application Number 2006/0271381 to Pui, entitled “Internet-based wedding planning device with multiple-interactive capabilities and method of use’’ relates to an Internet-based wedding planning and management program device with multiple-interactive capabilities between user guest and planner. The system includes a budget calculator, wedding item organiser, task list, calendar function, wedding day scheduler and wedding check list. The system categorizes the guests into different groups. The system sends timeline notification to the user bride.
United States Patent Application Number 2009/0055207 to Suarez ET AL., entitled “Interactive bridal planner’’ relates to an on-line system for planning and managing wedding. The system includes number of interactive tabs to keep track of schedules, guest list, budget and vendor information. The system allows communication between users and provides e-mail support. The system provides reminder and report of how the user is doing compared to their personal plan. The system includes an interface for vendors tab to track information of different vendor and also includes gift registry.
United States Patent Number 8,510,145 to Rowland, entitled “Method and system for event planning” deals with a computer implemented method for planning and managing wedding event and synergistically enhancing the overall functioning of the system. The system includes guest list and seating management, task planning, vendor selection, budget control

and gift recordation and tracking. The system enables the user to customise the scheduled events based on their priority. The task illustrated with the time line feature. Notification information is set through the account management application and send to the user.
United States Patent Application Number 2011/0191222 to Mashiach ET AL., entitled “Systems and methods for managing events” relates to a software system and method for wedding event planning and management portal. The system enables communication between vendor nodes to other planner nodes or user nodes or any other nodes. The system includes budget information and tracks the payment information as well as guest information. The portal includes calendar of activity and sends notification to the user for the fee payment or registration. The user/planner may privately share comments about a particular vendor with other user/planners. The vendors can also update their information such as change in listed products and services. The system enables the business partnership between the vendors.
United States Patent Number 7,832,633 to Gordon ET AL., entitled “System for providing wedding management’’ relates to an internet based wedding management system for providing services that assist couples and third parties in organizing and planning the couple's wedding. The system sets a budget and tracks the expenses of an account using a database. The system prepares the timeline for event activity. The wedding planner provides the list of contact information for, suppliers in the selected region. The system allows users to share their moments. The system enables user to provide cash gift to the couple through the website by crediting the wedding card. Video recordings posted to the site during the event so that family and friends who could not come can participate remotely.
United States Patent Application Number 2002/0156787 to Jameson ET AL., entitled “Method and system for internet based event planning and event management’’ relates to an internet-based interactive system and method for planning and managing a wedding event. The system includes the budget information and tracks the payment. The system enables the portal for consolidating and categorizing the guest list. The system comprises a calendar of activity and includes guest management tool for managing the guest. The planner can upload detailed event information including text, graphics, and images to the event web site.

Though the existing prior art disclose online portals for events management, none of them provide a single, collaborative web-based system enabling the users to plan and manage all kind of tasks including but not limited to: budget management, track payments/receipts, consolidate and categorize the guests, calendar for activities to be performed for each event and trigger notification on due of activity, collaborates with social media for research suppliers and select items, connect with communities of peer groups to share their experiences, updating profiles of stakeholders, maintaining the venue / accommodation calendar for stake holders to search on their availability, stakeholders partnering with other stakeholders, individuals are facilitated to create virtual wish list of gifts from which others can order/contribute for the event and setup bank accounts to receive cash gifts.
Therefore, the present invention is aimed to provide an effective interactive events planning and management system for collectively managing all the above mentioned tasks via a single portal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
An object of the present invention is to provide a single portal for individual users and stakeholders/vendors to plan, organize and track activities with respect to their scope of work.
The present invention relates to a computer implemented system and methods for planning and managing a wide variety of events including but not limited to wedding, reception, birthday parties and all types of family and corporate functions.
The computer implemented system is a collaborative events planning portal for individual users and stakeholders (like vendors, service providers, suppliers, etc.) which enables communication between everyone involved in the event planning on a single platform. The portal combines collaboration and integrated tools to define budget & track payments, consolidate & categorize the guests (friends, family & social network), a calendar of activities to be performed for each event & its notification on due of activity and adds the ability to invite friends, family and the stakeholders to collaborate together.

In accordance with the present invention, the individual user is enabled to invite their guests including friends, family and colleagues etc. to help in planning every detail of his/her event with shared tasks assignments. The portal collaborates with social media and establishes a platform for individual users, family & friends to explore and discover ideas for event planning, procurement of products and services for the events.
The portal enables to connect with communities of peer groups, social network groups to share their experiences with friends and family. The individual users are facilitated to chat (video, text) for asking recommendations, reviews from family & friends to help with the event planning.
Also, the portal enables individual users to create virtual wishlist of gifts from available online shopping portals. Further, it enables friends and families to order items for the user directly to be delivered to their door step and also setup dedicated bank accounts / e-commerce wallets to receive gifts in cash.
Further, the portal is user configurable (i.e) based on client’s interests such as type of event. Also, the portal can receive feedback from the client to improve user experience and website features.
Personalised website can be created for the event/occasion to post online invitations, share current happenings, photos & videos. Separate social media accounts & hashtags are created for each event to collect & share inspiration, reviews, comments on each step they performing for the preparation of event.
Guests are enabled to send their own pictures via various streams (such as social media & email) to gather a complete collection of moments throughout the day. Provision to upstream the event happenings (both live & recorded) allowing distant friends and other members to feel a part of the event, even though they are not physically present.

The stakeholders can manage multiple tasks like budgets, contract commitments and track payment/receipts online from one interface. The portal offers shared tasks and timelines, and triggers notifications whenever the scheduled activity is due or an event needs immediate attention by the stakeholder.
The portal enables stakeholders to consistently update their profiles with images of new products & services, special offers, tips and advices on each service streams. The stakeholders can maintain their calendar listing their venue, accommodation, programs for the individual user to search on their availability. The portal helps stakeholders in partnering, collaborating with other stakeholders, sharing information on the event, marketing and task assignments. The stakeholders have the provision to be reviewed by the individual users on their services, increasing awareness and helping to gain brand value in the industry.
These and other features will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
The objective of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram explaining the complete scope of event management system of the present invention; and
Fig. 2 illustrates individual user, stakeholder and portal administrator modules of the event management system.

Described herein, a web based computer-implemented system and method for planning and managing events involving multiple service providers or stakeholders by means of a single website or portal that can be configurable according to the user requirement.
Referring to Fig. 1 in detail, the system facilitates individual user and stakeholders to plan, organize, track activities with respect to their scope of work, wherein the events including but not limited to wedding, reception, birthday parties, all types of family functions, business and corporate functions. The scope includes an end-to-end solution of managing events, budgets, tasks, invitees, expense management, stakeholder management for the big day like marriage and also post marriage facilitation like honeymoon planning etc. It also integrates the stake holders with social media such as facebook, twitter, and google plus etc.
The system includes three modules (I.E.) individual user, stakeholder/vendor and portal administrator.
In the registration process, the user can choose paid registration or free registration. If the user choose paid registration, he/she will have access levels based on the plan opted. If the user chooses free registration, he/she will be able to feel the strength of the package but will face certain restriction like trial period or plan for only one event etc. Registration can be using facebook ID or google plus ID or email ID. Registering as individual or stakeholder also been received during the registration.
Once the user is registered, he/she can be able to sign-in using the ID and password used for registration. The user can sign-in as an individual user or a stakeholder. If the user sign-in as an individual user, he/she will get a workspace where the individual user can start creating various events and perform various activities like budgeting, inspiration / collecting ideas, guest management, task management, stakeholder management, itinerary management, and collaborations so on and so forth for the defined events.
If the user sign-in as a stakeholder, he/she needs to enter their business name, company name, location of the business and category of the business like venue, caterer and photographer etc. Upon submitting these information, the stakeholder needs to create their profile. The profile

information should be captured are (i) about us, where stakeholder needs to describe about their business operations in five hundred words; (ii) gallery to upload their favourite project photographs for their business promotion; (iii) videos to upload their favourite project video graphs for their business promotion; (iv) amenities to specify facilities or services of their business; (v) contact information; and (vi) location map to project their location of their business using google maps.
The individual user module of the portal, as shown in Fig. 2, includes: (i) event creation; (ii) ideas / inspirations boards; (iii) guest management; (iv)task management; (v) stakeholder management (vi) budget management; and (vii) custom website. The portal also includes features like itinerary, checklist, notebooks, documents, customize settings, E-invitations, peer groups communication, gift pooling, dashboard, website, mobile apps, alerts, collaboration tools, user suggestion and live video streaming.
The individual user module enables to include event related information such as event name, event date, event location and celebrant information. The celebrant information includes name and his/her details of social pages like facebook, google plus and pinterest etc.
An event creation allows the individual user to create multiple events towards the event. For each event, the following information are captured: (i) event name; (ii) event date; (iii) event start and end time; (iv) location of the event; (v) facility to choose guest list pertaining to the event from master guest list; (vi) itinerary; (vii) stakeholders contributed for the event with the detail; (viii) documents and notebook related to the event; and (ix) tracking of gifts, accommodation, sending SMS to guests to “Save the Dates” and sending invitations to the guests etc.
Using the present invention, firstly, standard business categories are identified and pre-defined in the module which covers all the items related to the event. Secondly, based on these categories, event boards otherwise called as idea boards are created one per category for the individual user to pool their preferences for selection. For example, there will be a venue board, attire board or band board etc. Provision to add new boards also will be available in the module. The ideas can be pooled into the boards using the following ways: (i) through

stakeholder surfing, when the individual user finds a particular stakeholder service is impressive, that image can be allocated against the respective event board. In this case, the stakeholder references will be available to finalize and placing the order; and (ii) the individual user themselves can take their self preferences from their local computer folder / social media. In this case, no stakeholder reference will be there as it is uploaded from the local folder.
Once the images are pooled, it is made available for public view where likes can be given by the guests. Based on the number of likes by the guests or self-preference, the individual user can mark the preferred images as favorites which will be get collected on a board called “Favorites”. This favorite board is the final wish list of the individual user to the stakeholders for arranging the specific event. The populated favorites will be attached with respective category and event for execution.
The guest management includes master guest list, accommodation and guest list for events with RSVP.
The individual user module is allowed to create the master guest list which accommodates all the invitees across events and provision to add / import / export of invitees are also available. Information such as guest’s first and last names, number of guests accompanied with the primary guest count and their names, tags to identify the type of guests whether family, relatives, friends etc., their address, phone, email and notes specific to the guest etc. to be captured.
Accommodation feature allows the individual user to input the list finalized along with guest allotment like which guest in which hotel along with room numbers, number of members, stay period and contact person, etc.
The guest list for events with RSVP feature allows the individual user to pick guest for every event from the master guest list. Any new guest should be first part of the master guest list. For the selected guests, invitation is sent via email for that event. Provision for guest to

acknowledge the mail and mark accept or decline for them and their family members to provide RSVP.
The check list feature which is the most important area of any events allows the individual users / stakeholders to define the entire To-Do list with dates to complete and assign the resources responsible wherever applicable to ensure successful completion of the event. Check list information such as task name, task completion date (due date) and assigned to (owner of the task) and checklist tags (member who performs task say friends, relatives, family, bride, groom etc).
The stakeholder management feature allows the individual user to select and finalize the stakeholder based on the event category. It also allows to create multiple stakeholders for the same category. In the stakeholder area, all finalized stakeholders will be made available based on the category.
The itinerary feature allows individual user to create itinerary and maintained for every event. When the guests are invited, the invitation go along with this itinerary.
The budget management feature includes pre-defined list of main activities and its sub activities in the system with respect to the event, based on the industry. Based on the experience, the allocation of funds are pre-defined as percentages. Provision to capture budget amount is also provided. The funds are apportioned to each main activities further to sub activities using the pre-defined percentages for the budget amount defined. Provision for altering the allocation is also available in the budget management along with tracking of budget such as how much allocated, committed, paid and pending against each category of expense.
The chat room feature allows to connect individual user, guests, stakeholders through web chatting for finalizing any activity / items with respective stakeholders to get concurrence. Discussions and chat rooms include general discussion, event discussion, stakeholder discussion and many more. General discussion allows all the members of the event circle can participate to decide on any activity or activities. Event discussion allows members part of

the event execution / task owners can participate to decide on any activity or activities. Stakeholder discussion allows individual users and stakeholder to discuss and finalize the preferences. More discussion is like general discussion which allows the event circle members to discuss and finalize such as itinerary, catering menus, ideas and task list etc.
The notebook feature is like a small note maintained by the individual user to guide the execution of tasks pertaining to the events / daily activities. Likewise, the individual user can maintain notes for itinerary, budgets so on and so forth.
The documents feature allows to have any general documents with respect to the event. Likewise, the individual user can maintain documents for itinerary, budgets, checklists, so on and so forth.
Under the event setting, firstly, the system allows the individual user to change the event name and location but not the date. If any website for event been created by the individual user, that can be specified with the URL in the event management. While sending e-mails to the invitees, the event website URL also sent along, for invitees to visit the event website. Secondly, the individual user can create the event circle. The circle can constitute of celebrants, family, relatives, friends and stakeholders. Members who are part of this circle will be part of collaboration. Third, tags can be created under various pre-defined heads such as event, celebrant’s family, celebrant, stakeholders, checklist, so on and so forth. New heads can be created by the portal administrator only. The individual user can create new tags or modify the existing pre-defined tags under pre-defined heads. Fourth, all the billing plans of the application will be shown for the individual user along with the billing plan he is currently opted. Billing details and billing operations can be done here. Also, if the individual user wish to upgrade his/her plan it can be done through customize settings.
The e-invitation feature includes standard invitation templates for the individual user to design their own e-invitation and to circulate to event invitees.
The peer groups communication feature allows individual user to connect with communities of peer groups and social network groups to share their experiences with friends and family.

The individual users are facilitated to chat (video, text) for asking recommendations, reviews from family & friends to help with event planning.
The gift pooling feature is provisioned to post preferred gifts by celebrants with its price. The visibility can be given to all the invitees for contribution against the gift. This avoids much confusion for the invitees and contributes for what the celebrants prefer to have as gift. Tracking of who contribute what and against what should be maintained in the system.
The individual user’s dashboard feature is configured to display the following information: (i) big day and days left; (ii) event circle members and provision to add from dashboard; (iii) list of events and provision to add from dashboard; (iv) shows the guest count and provision to add guests from dashboard; (v) latest inspiration and upon click, invoke chat room with stakeholder if it is selected from stakeholder surfing or chat room with event circle if it is self preference; (vi) latest notes and provision to go to notebook page from dashboard; (vii) budget snapshot of estimated, committed, and paid and provide drilldown for details; and (viii) checklist that are over due to take immediate note from dashboard.
The standard website of every event is provisioned where the contents are managed by the individual user. The website can be accessed by all the invitees to know about the progress / happenings of the event. The website includes following information such as event related information, inspirations / ideas for likes, photos, albums, gift contribution, itinerary and invitation.
The event planner can be configurable according to current market technical standards (i.e) it works on mobile, tab etc., and the user will be able to perform all the activities in the mobile like they do it on desktops / laptops. Using URL, the application will be invoked and signed-in to perform / monitor the activities.
The notification alert feature provides alerts based on various trigger points handled in the module.

The portal enables the collaboration tools to share event related information such as photos, videos and articles etc., through social media such as facebook, twitter, google plus, youtube, instagram and pinterest to/from the known friends circle which further can be placed in the event website as memorable moments.
The live video streaming feature allows the big day’s moments to video streamed live to all those members who are unable to come for event but wish to watch live from their respective remote location.
The system also includes notification feature which is aimed to have effective notification among the stakeholders prompting on any occasion or item to complete or delays. It also enables the users, and stakeholders to receive SMS through the system with respect to their area of interest in order to keep them alive and agile towards the events.
The social network integration feature allows the system to integrate with social network to share the information between the system and social networks and vice versa.
Under the stakeholder module, as shown in FIG. 2, the system includes (i) multiple events; (ii) business profile; (iii) team management; (iv) promotions; and (vi) custom website. The stakeholder module also includes stakeholder calendar, business plan, billing, customer questionnaire, checklist, stakeholder’s dashboard, testimonials, visits, requests & responses, feedback request, notebooks and documents.
The stakeholder calendar feature allows the stakeholder to maintain their calendar which in turn help the surfers to know their availability. Also, whenever they are booked through the system, auto update of the stakeholder calendar is done.
Team management feature allows stakeholders to create a team of staff working for him to carryout various tasks assigned to them across various events. To create a team member, the stakeholder needs to invite him / her in the system. Then, the stakeholder needs to enter the following information of the team members including first and last names, email address, role

and business location where the member is working. Upon inviting, the system sends a mail request to the member to accept the invite to become active member in the application and he/she can login and perform/update progress on tasks and collaborate.
The task management feature allows to manage tasks pertaining to the event. The stakeholder can select the respective event and then create and assign tasks to the member using checklist. If the task is not pertaining to the event and it is at planner or stakeholder level, provision is available to create task at stakeholder level and assign to member and to update progress. Also, the task calendar is available for stakeholder as well as team members to know count of tasks by dates against each member and upon drilldown list of tasks along with status can be seen and the stakeholder can change the status based on its completion.
The stakeholder business contact feature allows to create and maintain contacts for communication like a contact diary for stakeholders.
The system shows all available business plans along with the current plan opted by the stakeholder. It also allows to upgrade his plan in case needed. Payment gateway is provided for purchasing the business plan and provisions to purchase monthly or for a specific period the plan should be available. For submitting payment information such as name of the account (first and last), card number (show list of bank cards accepted) or net banking, expiration date in case of card, 3 digit CVV number are needed.
The billing feature allows to perform current billing by the vendor and also to see past billing history.
The customer questionnaire collects everything, the stakeholder needs for the event. With easy access to all the general information (such as who’s attending the ceremony and where the event is held), the stakeholder is able to create a custom questionnaire for the individual to respond to ensure proper understanding of the scope and for proper execution.

The checklist feature allows stakeholder to create the checklist templates to present to the clients. Also, it allows stakeholder to create custom template in case the client needs totally different or varieties across templates.
The event creation feature allows the stakeholder to create multiple events. Creation of event requests need inputs such as event name, event date, event location, celebrant information, and their email IDs and adding their social pages like face book, google plus and pinterest etc. Upon creating the event, the stakeholder can start creating events, ideas, task management etc. for the event.
The stakeholder’s dashboard feature is configured to display the following information: (i) list of events and provision to add new event from dashboard; (ii) checklist that are over due to take immediate note from dashboard; (iii) list of stakeholders payment details like committed, paid for event wise in dashboard with due date as well as pending payments; and (vi) menu containing business profile, team management, marriages, stakeholder contacts, tasks, questionnaire templates and checklist templates etc.
The testimonials feature allows stakeholder to obtain post service testimonials from client to place on their website for public view.
The visits feature shows visit count of whoever visited the website to the stakeholder.
The requests and responses feature allows to place any request to stakeholder and their responses can be viewed at stakeholder pages like frequently asked questions.
The feedback request feature allows stakeholder to obtain feedback from client like 5 star rating. The feedback occurs after the stakeholder has provided the services.
The notebook feature is like a small note maintained by the stakeholder to guide the execution of tasks pertaining to the events / daily activities. Likewise, the stakeholder can maintain notes for itinerary, budgets so on and so forth.

The document feature allow to have any general documents with respect to the event. Likewise, the stakeholder can maintain documents for itinerary, budgets, checklists, so on and so forth.
The event planner of the present invention requires minimum software. With respect to software upgradation, notification will be enabled to instruct the user whether any additional software or requirement needed. Further, the portal is configurable according to clients (individual users and stakeholders) interest depending on the factors such as size and type of event.
Under the portal administration module, as shown in FIG. 2, the system includes: (i) portal website; (ii) article / white papers; (iii) account management; and (iv) configuration / master data management.
Articles about the web application and white paper on the application also be available through the portal website for viewers to view.
The master maintenance enables validation of information by the decision of portal administrator. Such information will be validated and in case needed will be created by the portal administrator for stakeholders or individuals to use it thereafter. Example, category of event as the application has accommodated all possible category, in future if any new category due to trend change getting popular that will be created by the portal administrator for the stake holders to use.
The portal administration also includes event wiki and blogs. The event wiki includes complete database of event related information. Blogs will be created for the event planner application where all the event related on-going information / trends will be presented for public to view. This will be administered by the portal administrator (Moderator) who periodically manage and maintain the contents. Public viewer will have provision to comment and share their views. Authors (Employed Portal Managers) will review public

posts and will create posts as well. To post such views by public, application will expect registration through social media or email address. This will also help in digital marketing for the event portal. Further, the portal is configurable according to market trends like Digital marketing; Accessible/Share social media tools. Also, the portal can receive the feedback from the client which will be utilized to improve user experience and website features.

A web-based interactive events management system for planning and collectively managing a plurality of tasks relating to said events, wherein the system comprising:
(i) a processor for executing computer programs;
(ii) a memory for storing data;
(iii)an individual user module, wherein said individual user module is configured to: (a) register a user as an individual; (b) create multiple events; (c) create idea boards; (d) create guest list; (e) create checklist; (f) select stakeholder; (g) create itinerary; (h) define budget; (i) manage and track payment; (j) collaborate said individual user, guest, planner and stakeholder through social media; (k) design e-invitation; (l) create personalized website for said event; (m) connect with communities of peer groups; and (n) post preferred gifts by said individual user.
(iv) a stakeholder module, wherein said stakeholder module is configured to: (a) register a user as a stakeholder; (b) create and update said stakeholder profile; (c) create multiple events; (d) create a team; (e) create checklist; (f) assign tasks to said team; (g) manage and track budget, contract commitments and payments; (h) collaborate said individual user, said stakeholder and other stakeholder through social media; (i) maintain calendar; and (j) send alert or notification about due of events and task.
(v) a portal administrator module wherein said module is configured to validate and create certain features based on the recent trends/updates for the event, include control over said individual and stakeholder access, a database for event related information, blogs and articles.
The system according to claim 01, wherein said events including but not limited to wedding, reception, birthday parties, family events, business and corporate functions.

The system according to claim 01, wherein said individual user module and stakeholder module are further configured to create and manage notebooks and documents related to said events.
The system according to claim 01, wherein said individual user module and stakeholder module are further configured to create dashboard.