The City of Santa Cruz Economic Development Department, in partnership with Arts Council Santa Cruz County and our local arts and culture non-profits, has just launched a new Arts & Culture Calendar for Santa Cruz – www.CruzCal.org !

It is FREE to submit events and so EASY to use!

There are so many awesome features that it’s hard to put it all in email, but here are just a few:

At least three local websites are pulling and posting content from CruzCal.org –automatically expanding your event reach when you post on CruzCal! Arts Council Santa Cruz County at www.ArtsCouncilSC.org/calendar, Santa Cruz City Arts page www.SantaCruzCityArts.com and Choose Santa Cruz at www.ChooseSantaCruz.com webpage are automatically pulling events on CruzCal that are categorized as “Arts or Culture” or a subcategory – such as concert, dance, film, gallery, theater etc. When you add your event to the site you can choose one or more event types, ensuring that these calendars grab your event. It’s so easy!

You get your very own group or place landing page! If your organization isn’t already on the Calendar as a “group” let us know and we can add you! We can create your own landing page so that patrons can easily find your upcoming events on CruzCal. We have pre-populated many groups and if you want to make edits to your landing page please just let us know!

All events link back to your website and/or ticketing page. When you post your event on CruzCal you can include a link to your website or the ticketing page you’re using to ensure people see your site and any extra information you want them to know.

Adding multiple events – even repeating events – takes less than two minutes. You can also easily add more than one date for an event at a time – for example, you are a theater group that has a show running for two weeks and two weekends. You can add all of them at the same time! Put in the date, start time and end time and click the “Include Above in Schedule” button. Then enter the next date/time and click the “include in Above Schedule” button and repeat this step to add all or your dates. You can see that it will populate a list below under CONFIRMED DATES. There are also options for easily entering repeating events – such as every First Friday – using the Repeat option. See the screen shot below:

Power users can add in bulk. If you are a true “power user” – say a venue, group, or organization that has dozens of events a month or hundreds of events a year, contact us about the Bulk Event template (an Excel/CVS file) or coordinating other ways to pull events from your own calendar onto CruzCal. Easily edit your event – even after it has been submitted. The original creator can always edit directly from the event page or via the link sent over email, which you will receive when your event is approved. Integrates with social media. Patrons can “like” an event or share it on social media and so can you!Remind potential attendees. What’s better than reminding forgetful RSVPs or gathering feedback? Doing it without any extra work, of course! Any calendar users who use the “I’m Interested” feature will receive automatic event reminders before the event and review requests after the event. If they provide feedback after the event you’ll receive an email. There are SO many other features that you will discover if you go to the site and create a login and then hit the SUBMIT AN EVENT button in orange on the home page.

We think you’ll find it really easy to use – and if you do, please help us promote the calendar! PLEASE- TELL YOUR FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES, GRANDMA… you get the idea.

If you have any questions email us through the website www.CruzCal.org or call the City’s Economic Development Department at 831-420-5150.