Top 9 Reasons to Add Your Event to McHenry Life

Events are tough! You compete for people’s time and interest. You are at the mercy of the unpredictability of the weather. You battle the unexpected leading up to and often during the event. And even when everything else goes right, the greatest events may fail simply because the message got lost in the noise.

I’ve been involved in events before, so I already know all too well that we can’t help you with the weather or the unexpected hurdles that come up. Sorry. But we can help with getting your message out and maybe even grabbing people’s interest! And it won’t cost you a penny.

We’ve pulled together the top 9 reasons why we think you should add your event to our McHenry County events calendar.

It’s Free

I don’t know if it is the most important reason, but again, as one who has been involved with events before myself, it may be one of the most compelling reasons! No matter what your budget is…or isn’t, the more opportunity you have to put your message in front of someone, the better. And if all it takes is a few minutes of time, all the better.

We do have paid subscriptions that offer even more features, but our free event subscription may be more than plenty for many events.

Full Access to Manage & Update Your Event Listing

After we approve your listing initially (which we can usually do within minutes or hours of your submission), you have full access to manage your own event listing. Events are fluid. Often details are being worked out and sponsors confirmed in the run up to the event, which means you don’t want to wait until all of that is determined to start publicizing your event…but you also don’t want your event listing to be out of date or inaccurate.

When your event is listed on McHenry Life, you have your own login and the ability to add or change details at any time, as often as you need to. You are not reliant on us “getting around” to make the changes you want and need on your listing.

Sponsors change…no problem. Times change…no problem. Unexpected pricing changes…no problem. Extended or added another day…Hurray, and no problem.

Share Extensive Event Details

And it’s a good thing we give you access to manage your own event listing because I believe we also give you an unprecedented opportunity to communicate more details about your event than any other event listing service. This is true for the free listing option as well as the paid ones.

Why do we do this? Because it’s the right thing to do.

Events carry all sorts of questions, and more times than not, we believe they go unanswered. This means that you may spend valuable time answering emails, messages, or phone calls answering the same questions over and over again. Or worse…some people may just pass on your event altogether because they incorrectly assume the answers to their questions.

Just like you can’t predict all of the challenges that may come up with your event, you can’t predict all of the questions people may have either. But we’ve done our darndest to come up with as many as we could.

Demo event listing key details.
Here’s just a small sample of how quickly and easily you can communicate a lot of key event details.

We have over 30 different information details at your disposal. Here are just a few: kid or pet friendly; whether alcohol is available, allowed, can be carried in, etc.; WiFi availability; whether food is available, allowed, can be carried in, etc.; what type of parking is available; fees and payment types accepted; type of entertainment, etc.

Get Listed

Are you a McHenry County business, nonprofit, or organization?

Be sure to claim your McHenry Life Directory listing and start making the most of your McHenry Life!

Demo business listing card.

Send People to Your Website or Ticketing Site

We are not a replacement to your own website, unless you don’t have a website, in which case, maybe you want us to be. Our goal is to help you message and publicize your event, get it on the radar–and hopefully calendars–of your audience, and help get them to your website. That’s why, just like every directory listing, every event listing (free and paid) can include a link to your website.

Demo event listing contact and address information.
Link to your website, public email if you want, and click-to-call are just three ways we help connect your audience with you.

And if your event doesn’t have its own website, you can use that link for a different destination…perhaps your event has a Facebook page, or maybe a booking or ticketing page, or a helpful page on the website for the venue where the event will take place. Either way, you have the option to make McHenry Life the destination, or the vehicle to help get your audience to wherever you want them to go.

Upload High-Quality, Large Images

A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words. So large, high-quality pictures should be worth several thousand words! Regardless how many words your pictures are worth, we want to make sure they help tell your story. That’s why we allow and even encourage you to submit images that are high-quality and up to 1500 pixels wide. And with the photo power available just on the average smartphone now, there’s no reason to settle for uploading tiny, low-quality photos.

How big is a 1500px wide image? Right-click to open in new tab, and then left-click to magnify to full size!

Every event listing subscription includes at least one image upload, even the Basic free subscription. While uploading multiple images does require a paid subscription, there’s no reason you can’t upload at least one photo that helps deliver your message and promotes your event…whether that’s a photo from previous events or an image of your event flyer.

Upload Logo for Brand Building

Because brand building is a 24/7 job, we also encourage you to upload an image of your logo as well. We want to help boost your web presence and reinforce your messaging, for both this event and everything you do beyond it.

And to that end, you control the main images on your listing through the photos or the logo you upload. Anyone who shares their experience on your event listing can also upload images, but their images are kept separate and below your primary listing space.

Demo event logo upload.
Your logo here!

Complex Event Schedule? No Problem

Some events are simple…they happen once, on a certain day at a certain time. Some events span a few days. Other events are simply recurring…they happen ongoing, at the same time, on the same day every period…weekly, monthly, etc.

And then there’s the real world. Events that happen on various dates, at various times, or even recurring…every weekend, well, except for this weekend and that weekend there. Anyway, no matter how convoluted your event schedule is, we think we have you covered.

Demo of selecting custom dates for events in the add event form.
Our event form allows you to add custom, complex multi-day events.
Demo of setting different start and end times by day in the add event form.
Including the ability to have different start and end times by day!

We Help Amplify Your Message

If we can help spread the word and play some part in making your event a success, we succeed. While we make no guarantees, in addition to your listing on our site, we may post and share your event across our social media channels when we can to help spread your message.

Hyperlocal Focus

We are hyper-focused on McHenry County and require any event listings on McHenry Life to have a McHenry County address. This means that your event doesn’t get lost among events outside McHenry County. Your event doesn’t get lost in a sea of Chicago listings or surrounding counties.

And people can easily look up events by city or even within a few miles of their location, as well as search and filter by upcoming dates, features, etc.

5 Minutes or Less!

It might sound too hard to believe, but most listings can be added in 5 minutes or less, especially if you have a brief write-up, images, and logo at hand already!

President and Founder of Identity Developments, LLC, the parent company of the McHenry Life website. My hope for McHenry Life is to create a resource and destination for the residents and businesses of McHenry County alike. A place where residents can discover new places to explore, fun events and ways to spend time, and then share those experiences with others. A place where businesses can connect with existing and potential customers, and not simply market their businesses, but share their own unique stories.

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