Submitting events to The Des Moines Register
Frequently asked questions

Question: Who do I contact with questions or problems?
Answer: Questions or concerns should be e-mailed to calendars@dmreg.com. You may also call the Calendars desk at 515-284-8519 or 800-532-1455, ext. 8519.

Question: How do I see events I’ve already entered?
Answer: From the “Welcome” page, you can add a new event or view and work with other events and venues you have already added. To view events you’ve entered, click “Display what I’ve entered” or “Display what I’ve entered today” toward the bottom of the page. Alternately, “Search” allows you to search through all events you’ve entered using key words, date ranges and other options. Or use “Browse events” to look through events entered for a particular venue.

Q: How do I add an event?
A: To add an event, choose the type of event from the pull-down menu underneath “Add”. (Currently, only Vacation Iowa is listed). Click “Go” when you’re ready to create an event.  (For more information on the above, view the full documentation.

Q: What information is required to submit an event?
A: Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*) - “Select Venue”, “Venue County”, “Name of Event”, “Date and Time” and “Who Do We Contact to Verify This Information?” Please only fill out the fields that are applicable. If there’s no information that pertains to that field, please leave it blank.

Q: What information are you looking for in the "Place where event is being held" field?
A: We currently have more than 4,000 places in our database, so there’s a good chance we already have the information we need about the location of your event. To search for a venue from the “Welcome” or “Add event” pages, click the “Search for venue” button. A second window titled “Enter Search Terms” will open. Enter your search term in the text box and click “Submit” The search works better if you simply type “register” (the searching is not case-sensitive) instead of “Des Moines Register.” Type the keyword or city, then click “Submit.” The window will then display all the venues we have that include that keyword. If your venue is listed, please choose the corresponding “Select” button to the right of the venue.

What if my event is happening at several venues?
Please choose the venue that ONLY includes the name of the town. This is helpful with some Vacation Iowa events that are taking place “in town.” Once you’ve chosen a venue, click “Select.” The window will close and you’ll see the venue on the VACATION IOWA form.

Q: How do I create a new venue?
A: You’ll need to click the “Search for venue” button, then type in the keyword into the “Enter Search Terms” search form and execute the search. Once the search is complete, you’ll see a “Create venue” button. When you click that button, you’ll be asked to “Select venue type.” We have a variety of options, please choose the one that most closely applies to the venue you’re creating: Arts, Bars, Churches, Community, Golfcourses, Movies, Music, Parks/Outdoors, Racetracks, Recreation, Restaurants, Schools, Sports, Travel. Once you click on a choice from the list above, click the “Go” button to get to a venue form. The only fields that are necessary are Name of venue, Alias (a repeat of the Name of venue), Address, City, State, Zip, Phone number and Venue count. If you’ve got other information, that’s would be great. Business hours and websites would be among the most helpful, but please fill out any information you do have (leaving blank the fields for which you do not have accurate information). If you have no other information, then leave those fields blank. The picture below shows those required fields.

Q: How do I edit venue information?
A: Unfortunately, you cannot. Please send us an e-mail, using the address listed in the first entry above. To make it easier for us to make necessary changes, please be as detailed as possible – always include the name and address of the venue.

Q: What if my event is in more than one county?
A: List all counties, separated by a comma - “Polk, Dallas”. This field is critical because it helps us make sure we get your event listing in the right region.

Q: What should I enter for “Name of event”?
A: The name should be the official name of the event. It can be as simple as “Fourth of July Celebration.” Please limit to five words or less if possible.

Q: I don’t understand what to choose under  “What kind of event?”
A: This is a pulldown menu of event types.. If the event you’re entering fits one of these, please choose it from the menu, then click the “add” button so the choice is actually applied to the event. Once you’ve clicked the “add” button, you’ll see your choice appear between the “What kind of event?” label and the list of options. If none of the choices in the drop-down apply, leave on the default, “Select subcategory”.

Q: How do I use the “Date and time” field?
A: This field can handle a variety of dates and times entered in natural English, but takes some getting used to. The date needs to come first, then time if at all possible. After you’ve entered your information in this field, you’ll see it show up on a calendar which appears to the right. Watch the calendar to make sure that it’s showing the correct dates and times. Here are some examples:
         June 4 at 10 a.m.
         June 4 at 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
         June 4 at 10 a.m.-5 p.m., June 5 at noon-5 p.m., June 6 at noon-6 p.m.
         Mondays at 10 a.m.-5 p.m. from June 4 through July 30
         Saturdays at 7 a.m.-noon and Tuesdays at 8 a.m.-11 a.m. from June 4 through July 30 (this is an example of a Farmers Market schedule)
         First Monday of the month at 10 a.m. from June 4 through July 30 (this is the only example in which the system can recognize a day of the week)
         If you need to include Wednesdays but not the Fourth of July, please put “except July 4” in the date field to remove that date from the listings. For more detailed information, click the “tips” link above the date/time text box.

Q: What information do you want in the “Brief description” field?
A: We want a summary of the event, just highlights. If you’ve chosen a generic “city” for the venue, please try to include some specifics about where the events are being held. If you’ve chosen a specific venue, please do not repeat the venue information in the description. Please do not put the price, contact information, phone number or website information in this field. Each of those has a specific field for that purpose. Note: There is a 255-character limit to this field. You may continue typing beyond 255, but database will remove those extra characters before the information is saved.

Q: How do I use this “Target audience” or “Music genre” field?
A: If the event is for families, then go ahead and choose “All ages” and/or “Families” from the menu. To choose more than one, you’ll want to hold down the “control” button (PC users) or “Apple” button for Mac users. If there’s music available at your event and there’s a certain style or genre that this band will be playing, please choose that genre from the list.

Q: What information do you want in the “Name of contact person,” “E-mail address for more info” and “Phone number” fields?
A: If there’s a specific person that readers should contact to get more information about an event, please put the name in the first field. If there’s an e-mail address to get more information or to register, please place that in the e-mail field. The phone number field should be completed if the number is NOT the same number as the venue’s regular number. If the organization holding the event is independent of the venue,  please put the organization’s phone number in here. Bottom line: What phone number can the public call to get answers to questions about this event.

Q: Why isn’t my event saving?
A: Once you’ve completed the required fields and any others for which you’ve got information, please click the “Submit event” button. If you have filled out all required fields, the information you entered will be displayed. (If not, an error message will specify which required fields are missing.
To make changes, click the “Edit” button. To submit, click “OK.” NOTE: Your event will not be submitted until you click the “OK” button. You will be taken to the “Welcome” screen after the entry is successfully submitted.