- What is AP Planner?
AP Planner is a comprehensive future events database that aggregates a year’s worth of events, conferences, meetings,
and announcements to power your forward-looking business intelligence planning. With AP Planner, PR and marketing communications
professionals can accurately anticipate media events and then develop story ideas and strategy based on this intelligence.
- What does AP Planner do?
AP Planner consolidates in one place significant events occurring during the next 12 months.
Events are screened for significance and interest, then categorized and coded by event type. Data on
the events is assembled and slotted into a consistent structure. Multiple search methods enable users
to sort through a huge amount of data to retrieve the information that will help them manage their businesses more intelligently.
- What information does it contain?
AP Planner is broad in scope. It contains information concerning finance and economics, government and politics, science and
healthcare, information technology and telecommunications, media and entertainment, international events and much, much more.
There are more than 125 categories of events included … from anniversaries and awareness days to trade conferences and exhibitions
to IPO announcements and shareholder meetings. AP Planner does not contain AP news in any form.
- Who uses AP Planner?
Anyone with a business need to anticipate upcoming events, think ahead, and plan proactively needs AP Planner.
People who will find this service most useful include public relations professionals, investor relations professionals,
media agency teams, journalists, researchers, corporate marketers, strategic planners, financial analysts and traders,
government planners as well as many others.
- Why do people use AP Planner?
People use AP Planner for a variety of reasons. Public relations executives use AP Planner to develop and schedule client
campaigns for optimal timing and media exposure. Media agencies can maximize marketing and advertising impact by scheduling
events and campaigns to coincide with the news cycle, boosting their client return on marketing dollars spent.
Corporate marketers and planners can gain advance knowledge of customers, markets and competitors, thereby gaining an important
competitive advantage. Journalists use AP Planner to generate story ideas, financial analysts and traders can stay abreast of
market-moving events, and government staffers can plan calendars around events with political and economic significance.
The uses of AP Planner multiply with your business creativity.
- Where does the information come from?
AP Planner aggregates content from tens of thousands of organizations worldwide. A dedicated team of researchers is
supplemented by a wide variety of secondary sources, including newspapers, trade magazines, scientific journals,
corporate announcements, company and research Web sites, and more.
- I don’t need all of the content. Do I have to purchase all of it?
You have a number of choices concerning the breadth of content you have access to. All subscribers receive a Basic package of U.S.
general interest events. You may optionally subscribe to one or more Industry Packages or to one or more Categories covering specific
types of events. For users who want to take advantage of the full contents of the service, a Complete Access option is also available.
- How can I be confident of the data’s quality and accuracy?
The AP Planner research staff employs data verification and updating processes designed to provide you with completely reliable
and up-to-date information. All new events are verified back to the original source, and current events are continuously
monitored for changes and revised as necessary.
- How will I know when an event has been changed?
AP Planner employs best practices in the utilization of both its highly skilled editorial team and its advanced technology
research tools to ensure that changes to listed events are discovered, validated, and made available to users. Whenever a
previously listed event is changed on AP Planner, an “Update” icon appears near the upper right corner of the listing.
- What makes AP Planner excel as a forward planning tool?
AP Planner is:
- Comprehensive – includes tens of thousands of events covering a broad spectrum of categories;
- Flexible – permits users to employ numerous search variables, including time, event type, category and organization name;
- Dynamic – updated daily;
- Interactive – allowing users to stay updated on changing event schedules through unlimited email alerts; and
- Accurate – ensured by a dedicated editorial team committed to providing the best possible data.
- What kinds of events are included in AP Planner?
AP Planner contains a wide range of events from the worlds of news and current affairs, politics, entertainment, lifestyle,
business and financial, and many other areas of interest. Events are coded into more than 125 categories and more than 60 event
types.
- How far into the future will I be able to research?
AP Planner includes events from today through 12 months into the future. AP Planner’s coverage rolls forward with your subscription,
ensuring that you are always able to plan a full year ahead.
- I don’t have time to sift through such a large database. How do I get to just the information that I need?
The ability to quickly access the events of interest to you is one of AP Planner’s greatest strengths. AP Planner includes extensive
search capabilities that allow you to search by time, event type, category, and organization name. All search criteria can be
employed in combination providing you with highly-filtered results that include only the data which interests you.
- I am only interested in my industry. Can I get just the relevant information quickly?
Subscribers to one or more of the Industry Packages, as well as anyone with complete AP Planner access, will obtain the
most comprehensive industry information.
- Are events outside the United States included?
Subscribers may elect the International package that includes a wide variety of events occurring outside the United States,
focused on the UK and Western Europe, but definitely providing a global perspective.
- How do I get more information about events of interest to me?
At any time during the search process you may click on the “More Info” button to obtain additional information.
This button, which appears near the lower right hand corner of each listing, generates a popup screen providing active
links to the sponsoring organization’s Web site as well as e-mail addresses for the event contacts.
- What if I need help using the product?
If you are having trouble and cannot find a solution using the FAQs and help materials on our Web site,
please contact us by e-mail.
- My marketing communications firm will be using AP Planner to help a number of our clients. Is there a way to track our usage for billing purposes?
Users have the option of saving their searches in the My Searches section of AP Planner. Here you can keep track of the
searches you have run and the number of times each search has been executed. This information can be incorporated into your
billing processes in whatever manner you deem appropriate.
- Can I export AP Planner data into my other applications?
Yes, AP Planner data can be easily and quickly exported and saved in either Excel or Outlook formats. It’s as simple as
selecting the file format, clicking the Export button and choosing whether to open or save your newly created file
- I repeat the same searches periodically. Do I have to start over each time?
AP Planner allows you to define a customized search, assign it a meaningful name, save it, and then re-run the same search
whenever you want. You can do this for as many searches as you wish and save them all for future use in the My Searches section.
There is no need to recreate what you have already spent valuable time developing.
- Do I need to login to AP Planner to stay current with the results of My Searches?
As a subscriber you may login and execute saved and new searches as often as you wish. However, you can stay current with
your saved searches by setting up Email Alerts. You can request Email Alerts be e-mailed to you daily for any or all of your
saved searches. E-mail alerts can be turned on and off at your discretion.
- How is access to AP Planner sold?
Access to AP Planner is sold on a subscription basis. An annual contract is required. The subscription price depends upon
your specific needs - an AP Planner sales representative will work with you to determine your best option and price.
- Do you offer any training?
We consider client training a necessary and essential part of the AP Planner service. All new subscribers will be contacted by a
Help Desk associate to schedule a time to take you through the basic functions and features of the service. We plan to offer future
web-based seminars dealing with more focused and advanced topics.
- Is there more than one version of AP Planner?
Yes, AP Planner is available in two versions. You may subscribe to AP Planner in conjunction with a suite of PR and marketing
communications services through a single integrated platform. Or, you may subscribe to a standalone version of AP Planner – AP
Planner Enterprise – that includes collaboration functionality. AP Planner Enterprise allows you to add your personal events to
a private, dedicated section of the application and to share events, notes, and activities with your colleagues. Your sales
representative can help you decide which version is right for you.
- Can I combine events I am personally tracking with AP Planner events?
Custom Planner, available in AP Planner Enterprise, provides subscribers the ability to add their own private events to their
own private section of the application.
- Can I personalize the event information I save?
AP Planner Enterprise allows users to personalize both saved and user-added events.
- Can I share the results of my research with my colleagues?
Subscribers to AP Planner Enterprise benefit from the extra functionality that collaboration features provide.
Saved events and user-added events can be shared with your colleagues, and comments and links are accessible to all.
- Can I commission content to be built for me? Can I arrange for in-house training for my company’s group of users? Can you add functionality to AP Planner to address my unique needs?
All requests for special services should be directed to AP Planner Sales. Please contact us by e-mail