The Problem

City event management is still a mess.

Most cities handle special event requests the same way they did 20 years ago — buried in inboxes, tracked in spreadsheets, and relying on one person who knows where everything is.

  • ✕
    Coordinators email PDFs and wait weeks with no update
  • ✕
    Staff manually chase insurance certs and signed permits
  • ✕
    No single view of all active events and their status
  • ✕
    Location conflicts discovered the day before the event
  • ✕
    Citizens have no way to track where their request stands
Before CivicEvent
📧
RE: RE: RE: Event Application — Seafood Fest
Inbox · 3 attachments · Last replied 12 days ago
Waiting
📋
Event_Tracker_v7_FINAL_use_this.xlsx
Shared Drive · Last edited by 3 different people
Outdated
📄
Insurance_cert_MARTINEZ_events.pdf
Downloads folder · Expired 4 months ago
Expired
📍
Waterfront Park — double booked July 4th
Conflict found during setup · No backup plan
Unknown
Use Cases

Built for how
cities actually work.

Every city has different needs. CivicEvent flexes to your department structure, your review process, and your event types.

↗ Most Common
SERT-Style Event Review

Replicate your Special Events Review Team process digitally. Coordinators submit, your team reviews in stages, and every decision is logged with a full audit trail.

  • Multi-department sign-off pipeline
  • Conditional routing by event size or type
  • Automatic SERT meeting scheduling triggers
  • Coordinator notified at every stage
📍 Parks & Rec
Location & Park Reservations

Define all city venues and parks. Coordinators request specific locations, staff see availability in real time, and conflicts are caught before they happen.

  • Venue availability calendar
  • Conflict detection across events
  • Capacity and setup requirements
📁 Compliance
Vendor & Coordinator Compliance

Collect insurance certs, permits, health licenses, and signed agreements — all requested inside the event record, versioned and never lost in an inbox.

  • Auto-request docs from vendors
  • Expiry tracking & renewal alerts
  • One-click compliance review
⚡ Automation
Custom Approval Pipelines

Build any approval flow without code. Set who reviews what, when they're notified, and what happens next — for every event type your city handles.

  • Drag-and-drop pipeline builder
  • Conditional stage routing
  • Auto-notifications at each step
🌐 Public
Auto-Generated Public Portal

Your city gets a live, public-facing event portal the moment you sign up — showing upcoming events, open applications, statuses, and approved vendors. No web team required.

  • Live at CivicEvent.com/your-city
  • Custom domain mapping available
  • Citizens can track application status
  • Open event applications visible publicly
  • Auto-updated as events are approved
  • Branded with your organization's name
👥 Teams
Multi-Department Access

Parks, Public Safety, City Clerk, Fire — each department gets their own role, their own tasks, with city-wide oversight from one admin dashboard.

  • Role-based access per department
  • Staff only see their assigned steps
  • Admin oversight across all events
🎬 Permits
Film & Production Permits

Manage film permit applications with custom intake forms, location requests, crew size limits, and sign-off from Communications, Parks, and Public Safety.

  • Film-specific intake templates
  • Multi-location permit support
  • City logo use approval workflow
Department Scenarios

See how each
team uses it.

CivicEvent adapts to how your departments actually operate — not the other way around.

Parks & Recreation
Park Reservation Requests

Coordinators request Waterfront Park for a 3-day festival. Staff see it on the location calendar, check for conflicts, approve the dates, and request a site plan — all inside CivicEvent.

  1. 1
    Coordinator submits request with dates & attendance
  2. 2
    Parks staff reviews availability, no conflict found
  3. 3
    Site plan requested and uploaded by coordinator
  4. 4
    Approved — event published to public portal
Public Safety & Fire
Safety Plan Review

For events over 500 attendees, CivicEvent automatically routes the application to Public Safety and Fire for safety plan review before any other approval can proceed.

  1. 1
    Application triggers safety review pipeline stage
  2. 2
    Fire Marshal and PD receive tasks in their inbox
  3. 3
    Safety plan uploaded, EMS staffing requirements noted
  4. 4
    Both departments sign off — pipeline continues
City Clerk
Vendor Compliance & Licensing

The City Clerk's office needs vendor permits, business tax receipts, and health permits from every food vendor. CivicEvent auto-requests these and tracks expiry dates.

  1. 1
    Vendor added to event — compliance docs requested
  2. 2
    Vendor uploads docs directly via their portal link
  3. 3
    City Clerk reviews and marks compliant
  4. 4
    Expiry dates tracked — alerts sent before renewal
Communications & Marketing
Film Permit Approvals

A production company applies for a 3-day film permit in Town Center. Communications reviews city logo use, Parks approves the location, and the permit is issued digitally.

  1. 1
    Production company fills film permit intake form
  2. 2
    Comms reviews city logo and brand usage requests
  3. 3
    Parks approves location and shoot days
  4. 4
    Digital permit issued — all parties notified
Before vs. After

What changes when
cities use CivicEvent.

Task Without CivicEvent With CivicEvent
Event application intake✕Email PDF, wait days for reply✓Structured form, instant confirmation
Department reviews✕Forward emails manually to each dept✓Auto-routed pipeline, each dept has tasks
Compliance documents✕Chase via email, lost in downloads✓Requested, uploaded & tracked in record
Location availability✕Call Parks, check a shared spreadsheet✓Live calendar, instant conflict detection
Coordinator status updates✕"Just checking in" emails every week✓Live status visible on public portal
Public visibility✕Static webpage updated manually✓Auto-published when event is approved
Vendor compliance tracking✕Expiry dates tracked in a spreadsheet✓Auto-alerts before docs expire
Audit trail✕No record of who approved what, when✓Full history on every event record
"

Before CivicEvent, our SERT process was entirely email-based. We had no single place to see all events, no way for coordinators to track their status, and staff were constantly chasing documents. It was a real operational gap for a city our size.

Maria Gonzalez
Special Events Coordinator,
85%
Reduction in back-and-forth emails between staff and event coordinators
3x
Faster application processing from submission to final approval
100%
Of compliance documents tracked and version-controlled in one place
0
Location conflicts since switching to CivicEvent's availability calendar
Built for Cities

Your city deserves a better way to manage events.

Set up your public portal, configure your workflows, and start processing event applications the right way — in under an hour, no IT team needed.