From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich. source

In the fast-paced world of innovation, every breakthrough carries the risk of missteps, miscalculations, or under-delivering promises. The biggest tech story of 2024 — the CrowdStrike outage that affected businesses and consumers nationwide — was also one of the year’s most notable failures. But the CrowdStrike story is more than just a tale of failure — it’s also a testament to resilience and recovery. TechRepublic has compiled the most significant tech flops of the year, exploring how they were addressed — or left unresolved. SEE: These are the hottest cybersecurity news stories of 2024. CrowdStrike bug strands travelers amid mass blue screens of death On the morning of Friday, July 19, the CrowdStrike cloud security platform released a content configuration update for Windows. A bug in the Content Validator used in the update caused a cascade of errors that spread across CrowdStrike’s customers. That customer group included about 8.5 million Windows devices in businesses, airports, and emergency services departments. CrowdStrike fixed the problem on their end 78 minutes after the update. However, affected machines needed to be rebooted manually, which created ample work for their team over the weekend. Major data breaches hit communications networks and personal data Two major data breaches reminded cybersecurity professionals to stay on their toes. In August, the U.K.’s National Public Data — a consumer background check service — suffered a breach that exposed Social Security numbers among 2.7 billion data records. The exploitation sparked conversations about legal protections for personal data. In September, the Wall Street Journal reported a group of threat actors associated with China had gained access to U.S. broadband networks, specifically through Cisco routers. Both American and international cybersecurity agencies have issued warnings about the threat group known as Salt Typhoon. More must-read AI coverage Google AI Overviews faced a ‘rocky’ launch Google introduced its AI-powered answers in search this year, with mixed success. In May, the AI’s responses went viral as Google seemingly recommended “eating at least one small rock per day” and confidently repeated a political conspiracy theory. The comment about rocks was taken from a satirical site, and the conspiracy theory came from Reddit. In response, Google restricted user-generated content in AI Overviews and worked on detecting “nonsensical queries.” The situation highlighted the limits of how generative AI pulls information from the internet. Privacy concerns cloud Microsoft’s Recall 2024 was the year of the AI PC, with many different tech companies racing to identify which AI features would gain the most traction. Microsoft bet on the appeal of using AI to control PCs or search files using natural language. Its Recall feature promised to intuitively answer questions like “Where’d I put the confirmation email for the restaurant for Saturday?” However, this convenience came at a cost:  Recall captured screenshots of active windows every few seconds, saving them as a timeline, raising concerns about privacy and data usage. Microsoft delayed Recall’s public appearance. As of Dec. 6, Recall is available in preview to Windows Insiders. Wearable AI rises — and falls Two novel AI products experimented with form factor this year. The Humane pin was designed as an AI assistant clipped to clothing, while the makers of the Rabbit R1 pitched it as a replacement for a smartphone. The pin received generally negative reviews and a fraction of the expected sales. Rabbit R1 followed a similar path. These devices are clever because generative AI could open new possibilities for form factors. Both Humane and Rabbit devices are still on sale. But the wide adoption of those form factors — including smart glasses — has been an uphill road even for the tech giants. Ultimately, wearable, AI-first devices were a dead end in 2024. Intel has had a difficult year Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors saw widespread instability and crashes for years. Intel discovered a faulty microcode algorithm that caused problems this summer. They eventually delivered a patch. Intel stock and market share have fallen as rivals NVIDIA and AMD take advantage of the generative AI boom. Intel may recover if CPU sales improve next year, but for now, they missed the boat on the AI hardware boom despite a portfolio of reliable products. Tesla autonomous products are on shaky ground Tesla’s ambitious self-driving mode has faced several setbacks since mass recalls last year, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigating the automaker about four specific accidents. Another investigation linked the self-driving mode to dozens of deaths. Tesla’s Q4 vehicle safety report claimed Autopilot had fewer accidents per million miles than the average U.S. vehicle. Meanwhile, further reports revealed that many humanoid Tesla robots were operated by humans. Tesla doubled down, releasing a video of an Optimus robot operating “by myself” in a factory. Sales of the electric cars fell in 2024 as other automakers matured in the “green” market, although Tesla remains a strong contender. source

The next step for OpenAI’s reasoning models is o3, a model previewed on Dec. 20. o3 and its smaller cousin, o3-mini, outperformed o1 in coding, math, science, and ‘conceptual reasoning’ tests designed to assess human-like intelligence and research applications.  ‘Reasoning’ includes a safety feature called deliberative alignment, in which the model uses a “chain of thought” to prevent users from jailbreaking or tricking it into bypassing safety measures. Meanwhile, Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental model treads similar ground to OpenAI o1’s reasoning capabilities. More must-read AI coverage ‘12 Days of OpenAI’ brings new tools and new generative AI functionality The o3 announcement came at the close of OpenAI’s “12 Days of OpenAI” campaign, a holiday season series of product updates. These announcements, from Dec. 5 to Dec 20 (excluding weekends), showcased new features for OpenAI’s generative AI tools, with some available now and others still in testing. Day 1: The $200 ChatGPT Pro and o1 updates On Dec. 5, OpenAI introduced a new subscription tier for ChatGPT: the Pro plan. For $200 per month, the Pro subscription brings OpenAI o1, o1-mini, GPT-4o, and Advanced Voice to ChatGPT. It also allows access to o1 pro mode, a more compute-intensive version designed for difficult problems professional engineers and researchers face. On the same day, OpenAI announced an updated, more detailed system card for the hotly-anticipated o1 model. Day 2: The Reinforcement Fine-Tuning Research Program With the Reinforcement Fine-Tuning Research Program, OpenAI introduced a new tool for developers and machine learning engineers to create customized models for specific tasks. It is expected to launch publicly in alpha testing in early 2025. Day 3: Sora video generator OpenAI’s photorealistic video generator, announced early last year, is now available for ChatGPT Pro users. While AI video creation is easier than ever, models like Sora still struggle with complex, fast-moving subjects and can often be identified by a too-perfect glossiness. Sora videos will be watermarked according to C2PA standards to identify them as AI-generated. SEE: Learn the basics of generative AI with some of the many free courses available from Microsoft and LinkedIn, updated for 2024. Day 4: Canvas Canvas, a coding interface introduced in beta in October, became generally available in December. The current version of Canvas understands and writes Python and integrates with custom GPTs, allowing developers to connect to their apps. It also allows users to view prompts and outputs side-by-side for easier reference. Day 5: Apple on-device AI with ChatGPT Apple Intelligence received its expected ChatGPT update during the 12 days of OpenAI. The on-device Apple Intelligence can now access ChatGPT servers for more complex queries that the onboard chip cannot handle. Day 6: Advanced Voice with Video Advanced Voice mode, available to ChatGPT subscribers, can now converse about images on your computer screen or through your camera. The mode brings more natural speech and flexible responses to the audio version of the chatbot. Day 7: Projects As of Dec. 13, ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users can organize their chats into Projects, or separate instances. Projects let users assign specific instructions that apply only within Project, and relevant resources can be stored with it. This feature will be available to Enterprise and Edu users in January. Day 8: ChatGPT search upgrades ChatGPT search received several tweaks after the December release, including a new maps interface, speedier response times on mobile, and more functionality for Advanced Voice to bring search up to speed with the rest of the paid-tier voice offerings. Search is now available to users at the free tier, as long as they log in with an email address. Day 9: New features, options, and upgrades for developers Day nine was all about developers, with a variety of announcements: Developers can now access OpenAI o1 in the API. Various upgrades for the API were released, including a simpler WebRTC integration, a 60% price reduction for GPT-4o audio, and support for GPT-4o mini at one-tenth of previous audio rates. Preference fine-tuning allows for improved customization. Go and Java SDKs are now out in beta. Day 10: 1-800-CHATGPT Taking a cue from Google’s classic Voice Search, OpenAI has opened a phone and WhatsApp line for its generative AI. Users can ask natural-language questions, and the chatbot will respond for free. OpenAI considers this feature experimental, noting that its availability and limitations may change. Day 11: More options for apps Day 11 brought a long list of connections from ChatGPT to more coding apps and tools, including VS Code forks, Jetbrains IDEs, additional Terminal apps, and more. (Initially, it supported iTerm 2, Terminal, TextEdit, VS Code, and Xcode.)  Three new app integrations arrived, connecting ChatGPT to Apple Notes, Notion, and Quip. Advanced Voice Mode can now work with various other desktop apps of the user’s choosing. OpenAI notes that ChatGPT won’t interact with desktop apps without the user’s permission. Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users can use the new app integrations. Day 12: o3 and o3-mini OpenAI saved the biggest news for last: o1 is no longer the company’s foremost model. Instead, o3 – now in early access for safety and security researchers – improves coding, math, and science performance. The company also pioneered a new technique called deliberative alignment, used to keep o3 on-mission. Safety researchers can apply to test o3 here. source

In today’s interconnected world, the software supply chain is a vast network of fragile connections that has become a prime target for cybercriminals. The complex nature of the software supply chain, with its numerous components and dependencies, makes it vulnerable to exploitation. Organizations rely on software from numerous vendors, each with its own security posture, which can expose them to risk if not properly managed.   The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently published a comprehensive “Secure by Demand Guide: How Software Customers Can Drive a Secure Technology Ecosystem” to help organizations understand how to secure their software supply chains effectively. With both vendors and threat actors increasingly leveraging AI, this guide is a timely resource for organizations seeking to more effectively navigate their software vendor relationships.  Importance of Securing the Software Supply Chain  Supply chain attacks, such as the infamous Change Healthcare and CDK Global breaches, highlight the critical importance of securing the software supply chain. It represents a significant risk to every organization given that a single vulnerability can have a domino effect that compromises the entire chain. These attacks can have devastating consequences, including data breaches, operational disruptions, regulatory penalties, and irreparable reputational damage.  Related:How to Create an Enterprise-Wide Cybersecurity Culture CISA’s guide serves as an excellent foundation for organizations needing to implement a robust software supply chain security strategy. These best practices are particularly valuable for public companies required to report material cyberattacks to the SEC. The top three takeaways for organizations are:   1. Embracing radical transparency: CISA urges vendors to embrace radical transparency, providing a comprehensive and open view of their security practices, vulnerabilities, methodologies, data, and guiding principles.  2. Taking ownership of security outcomes: Vendors must be accountable for the security outcomes of their software. By having visibility into both their own security posture and that of their vendors, organizations can identify vulnerabilities and take corrective actions.  3. Make security a team effort: Ensure that the organization’s security objectives are clearly defined and communicated to all employees. Cybersecurity should not be treated as an individual responsibility but rather as a company-wide priority, just like other critical business functions.  Mastering Vendor Assessments   Related:The Importance of Empowering CFOs Against Cyber Threats Recent research from SecurityScorecard found that 99% of Global 2000 companies have been directly connected to a supply chain breach. These incidents can be extremely costly, with remediation and management costs 17 times higher than first-party breaches. To mitigate these risks, organizations must prioritize thorough vendor assessments. Vendor assessments can be time-consuming, but they are just as important as ensuring your own company’s security. Several key processes to consider include:   Conducting regular vendor assessments: First and foremost, a vendor assessment doesn’t work if you only do it once in a blue moon. Continuously assess the security postures of your vendors to ensure that they comply with industry security standards and that their software does not expose your organization to vulnerabilities. This includes conducting regular security audits, reviewing vendor security practices, and assessing their incident response capabilities.  Demand secure-by-design products: Make “secure by design” a non-negotiable. Prioritize vendors who embed security into every phase of the product life cycle, ensuring it’s a core consideration from development to deployment, not an afterthought. Implement strong vendor management policies: Develop a comprehensive vendor management policy that includes onboarding procedures, continuous monitoring, and guidelines for security expectations throughout the vendor relationship. This policy should outline the security requirements that vendors must meet and establish clear communication channels for reporting and addressing security issues.  Related:5 Questions Your Data Protection Vendor Hopes You Don’t Ask Ensure limited access and privileges: Operate on a principle of least privilege with vendors. Grant them only the minimum access and permissions needed to fulfill their tasks. Overprovisioning access can widen your attack surface significantly. Implement robust access controls and conduct regular reviews to ensure only authorized personnel have access to sensitive systems and data.  Monitor for vulnerabilities and weaknesses: Actively monitor for new vulnerabilities in software provided by your vendors. Utilize automated tools to detect vulnerabilities and respond swiftly to reduce exposure. Stay informed about emerging threats and industry best practices to ensure your organization is prepared to address new challenges.  Securing the Future of the Supply Chain   The supply chain breaches at Change Healthcare and CDK Global demonstrate the devastating consequences of neglecting software supply chain security. These attacks can result in billions of dollars in losses, months of operational disruption, irreparable damage to reputation, legal ramifications, regulatory fines, and loss of customer trust. Moreover, recovery efforts, such as forensic investigations and system restorations, require substantial resources.  Collaboration is important in any industry, but in today’s age of increasing nation-state threat actors and even individual hackers in their parent’s garage, collaboration and information sharing among cybersecurity professionals is vital. By aligning with Secure by Demand principles, utilizing continuous monitoring, and implementing a culture of transparency, organizations can strengthen their defenses and significantly reduce the risk of supply chain attacks.  source

The workplace is disengaged and drowning in distraction. AI is the answer, not the threat. Learn how to flow with AI to unlock human potential and dominate the future of work. source

As the threat landscape grows, investment in cybersecurity training and awareness programs is expanding rapidly. The reason is simple — cybersecurity’s weak link is people and how they behave. It’s a challenge that many experts now believe can only be resolved through an enterprise-wide culture change.  Prioritizing cybersecurity and building an enterprise-wide cybersecurity culture is essential, says Jennifer Sullivan, a principal in Deloitte’s cyber strategy practice. In an era of rapid technological evolution, cyber threats pose significant risks to organizations’ operations, reputation, and financial stability. “Cultivating a culture of continuous education and awareness empowers every employee to take ownership of cybersecurity, supporting sustainable growth and innovation,” she states in an email interview. “By prioritizing cybersecurity, potential vulnerabilities can be transformed into strategic strengths, ensuring a long-term culture of resilience and trust both inside and outside the organization.”  Getting Started  The first step in creating an enterprise-wide cybersecurity culture is building a comprehensive policy that establishes what’s considered right and wrong. “This policy should be clear, well-documented, and easily accessible to everyone in the organization,” advises Erez Tadmor, field CTO at security policy management company Tufin, in an online interview. The policy should outline network security rules, such as access controls and data communication standards, setting the foundation for expected behaviors, he explains. “When all security teams align with these guidelines, it fosters a sense of unity and responsibility that becomes ingrained in the company’s culture.”  Related:Secure By Demand: Key Principles for Vendor Assessments Promote ownership in cybersecurity functions, recommends Amanda Satterwhite, Accenture Federal Services’ managing director of cyber mission and enablement. This goal can be most effectively achieved by assigning security roles and responsibilities across various levels or teams within the organization, she notes via email. Rewards and recognition are also important. “Reward employees who demonstrate strong cybersecurity practices and who willingly take the time to report potential threats through vigilance.”  Make cybersecurity a factor in each employee’s annual performance, Satterwhite advises. “This ensures that individuals clearly understand what’s personally expected from them,” she says. “Setting minimum security performance goals for each individual fosters a culture of accountability and shared responsibility.”  Related:The Importance of Empowering CFOs Against Cyber Threats Cybersecurity culture planning requires a cross-organizational effort. While the CISO or CSO typically leads, the tone must be set from the top with active board involvement, Sullivan says. “The C-suite should integrate cybersecurity into business strategy, and key stakeholders from IT, legal, HR, finance, and operations must collaborate to address an ever-evolving threat landscape.” She adds that engaging employees at all levels through continuous education will ensure that cybersecurity becomes everyone’s responsibility.  Culture Building  Liberty Mutual Insurance builds its cybersecurity culture with “Responsible Defenders,” a culture-based awareness initiative that’s designed to educate the firm’s 45,000 global employees about their role as frontline guardians against cyberattacks. “The program aims to educate employees about their responsibility to keep sensitive customer, employee, and company information secure,” says Jill Areson-Perkins, a cybersecurity manager at Liberty Mutual Insurance, in an online interview. The program’s goal is to keep employees engaged throughout the year with social engineering exercises, gamification tactics, blog posts, videos, and online training and events. “As the cyber threat landscape continues to evolve, we regularly update and enhance our training and education.”  Related:5 Questions Your Data Protection Vendor Hopes You Don’t Ask Liberty Mutual also fosters a cybersecurity environment by deploying exercises that use real phishing emails as templates. Employees that fail the exercise are given real-time training that highlights the rogue emails’ suspicious components. “We also provide a ‘Friends and Family Cyber Guide’ for employees to share externally.” The guide offers tips on topics such as ‘phishy’ emails, password management, and social media privacy, Areson-Perkins says. “By actively engaging every employee, as well as senior leaders and business partners across the company, we cultivate a culture where everyone feels empowered to safeguard the company.”  Final Thoughts  A big mistake many organizations make is treating cybersecurity as a separate initiative that’s disconnected from the organization’s core mission, Sullivan says. “Cybersecurity should be recognized as a critical business imperative that requires board and C-suite-level attention and strategic oversight.”  Creating a healthy network security culture is an ongoing process that involves continuous learning, adaptation, and collaboration among teams, Tadmor says. This requires more thought than just setting policies — it’s also about integrating security practices into daily routines and workflows. “Regular training, open communication, and real-time monitoring are essential components to keep the culture alive and responsive to emerging network threats,” he says. “By making network security a shared responsibility across the organization, companies can build a resilient and adaptive security posture.”  Seek clarity and openness, Satterwhite suggests. “One of the biggest mistakes in building a cybersecurity culture is adopting industry buzzwords that don’t resonate with employees,” she explains. Use company-aligned terms in internal campaigns that promote the importance of securing the company’s mission. “Make sure that the messaging is clear and understandable at every level of the organization.”  source

By Tracey Read ( December 23, 2024, 1:08 PM EST) — A Kansas federal judge has awarded counsel one-third of a $1.3 million settlement in a class action against data and professional services company UnitedLex Corp. that allegedly exposed 200 gigabytes of sensitive information during a March 2023 data breach…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

Skoda and Volkswagen are the latest vehicle manufacturers that have had vulnerabilities discovered in their cars that could allow malicious actors to execute code remotely. The exploits can range from tracking GPS coordinates and speed data to recording conversations in the car via the in-cabin microphone and, if skilled enough, even control functions such as stopping and starting the vehicle. These incidents confirm that security vulnerabilities with connected vehicles are ongoing. In my recent connected vehicle security report, I discuss how modern cars are just a rolling network of internet-of-things devices connected through a gateway to the internet to communicate with the vehicle manufacturer. Depending on the car’s age, the car’s internal components can be brand-new (likely meaning that security considerations went into the programming) or a decade-plus old, so there’s no telling how many security vulnerabilities are inside a given vehicle. Along with that, modern conveniences like mobile apps for the infotainment system or remote start/stop allow owners to interact remotely with the vehicle through the internet, and like all internet-connected devices, hackers just love to discover new vulnerabilities that give them control of a device or vehicle, giving new meaning to the term “crashing the computer.” The other issue with modern connected cars is that they collect a lot of data, from the car itself as well as from the devices connected to it. In 2023, a federal judge in the US ruled in a class-action suit that vehicle manufacturers have a right to use the data they collect from the car they sold you, including the phone logs and text messages you send through the infotainment system. This is a serious privacy issue, but considering that many employees will connect their business or personal smartphones to their car, or to a rental, this now means that business data can be collected by these cars, shared with the manufacturer, and the automaker is then free to use that data as they see fit. If that doesn’t concern you enough, Ford is now seeking a patent to record conversations that happen within its vehicles in order to serve you ads. Ads within a browser on your PC are bad enough, but in a car? This would mean that Ford (and possibly other automakers) could have access to any conversation you have in your car, which could potentially compromise business secrets or even national security secrets. So what can be done about this? From a technological perspective, not much. Yes, as a business leader, you can utilize unified endpoint management solutions to gain better control of the mobile devices that are used for business within your enterprise and mobile threat defense offerings to secure this endpoint. But once that device is communicating with the connected car, you have little control over what info is shared with the car, outside of just not allowing that to happen. From a business policy perspective, you need to institute policies that inform employees about how certain vehicles (especially newer ones) could be collecting business data and how to mitigate those risks. This is the same as existing policies that many organizations have implemented to educate employees on proper BYOD usage, such as not connecting to open Wi-Fi at the coffee shop. There are a lot of privacy risks with modern cars, and more people are becoming aware of them. If you are interested in discussing how to improve the security posture of your connected vehicles, reach out and schedule an inquiry or guidance session with me today. source

Whether you’re a professional event planner, putting together an important conference for work, or just throwing a big party, event planning templates can help you stay organized. From tracking costs to vendor contact information and guest RSVPs, the right system can ensure everything goes according to plan while saving your sanity along the way. monday.com: An event planning dashboard for managing multiple events, projects, and employees Planning an event is a lot like managing a project, especially if you’re juggling multiple events alongside other projects and a team at the same time. Since monday.com is one of the best project management solutions on the market today, it’s perfect for managing all three within the same platform. It comes with everything you need (and then some) to stay organized, plus there’s a free plan for up to two users if you want to try it before upgrading to a paid plan. More on monday.com: monday.com Review | monday.com vs Wrike | monday.com vs. Pipedrive. Use monday.com to plan multiple events and projects in one place. Image: monday.com Aside from being able to handle just about any type of project or item you need to keep track of, my favorite part of this event planning template is the built-in budget tracking features. It allows you to set a budget for an entire quarter or year and allocate that money across all of your events. Alternatively, you can set a unique budget for each event, and track spending by category. Regardless of how you approach this, you can keep an eye on your numbers and ensure you stay within your budget constraints. I also like that monday.com helps you streamline the RSVP process. You can easily send out an RSVP form to automatically track attendees without having to deal with manual inputs that are time-consuming and prone to human error. Each RSVP will show up in your system with all the details the user provided. ClickUp: Event planning templates for collaborative teams ClickUp’s project management system is built for collaboration out of the box, including team chat, document building, nested comment threads, and more. This makes it a great option for teams planning events together. ClickUp also makes it easy to track progress and understand everyone’s responsibilities. You can get started with ClickUp for free and work with an unlimited number of users at no cost. However, most teams will get the most out of it by upgrading to a paid plan. More on ClickUp: ClickUp Review | ClickUp vs Asana | ClickUp vs Notion. Template 1: Best for delegating responsibilities and tracking priorities This first ClickUp event planning template works well for small-to-mid-sized events. I think it safely supports events with up to 250 participants, and it works equally well for smaller events with 50 to 100-person guest lists. Your entire team can use this to align event resources, visualize what needs to happen, and ensure everything gets done on time and under budget. Collaborate with your entire team on small to midsize events using this free template from ClickUp. Image: Clickup.com The default template comes with six views, including lists, calendars, and more. My favorite part is that you can set priority levels once and use color coded flags to visually understand priority in any view at a glance. On top of that, there’s a separate prioritization board that groups everything by priority. You can easily drag and drop tasks to different sections to ensure your team’s always working on what’s most important. ClickUp’s built in commenting and mentions feature lets you alert the assignee of priority changes so everyone’s always in the loop. Users can look at all of their assigned work, sort it by priority, and work down their list. This alone can help you avoid repetitive meetings since everything’s easily visible. I also like that project or event managers can look at each person’s workload and rebalance everything as needed by dragging tasks to someone else. Template 2: Best for large corporate events and conferences If you need to plan and host larger events, like conferences or corporate offsites, you’ll need something with a bit more power. This second ClickUp template offers just that — it’s more advanced than the first and takes a bit more time to set up, but it’s worth it for complex vents that have a lot of moving parts. It works particularly well if you have sponsors, exhibitors, guests, and a lot of different elements you need to stay on top of. Manage sponsors, exhibitors, registrants, expenses, and vendor lists at scale with this free template from ClickUp. Image: Clickup.com The best part is that it comes with a pre-built expense intake form, allowing your team to track their expenses towards your budget. Each expense can be categorized, so it works just as well for reimbursements too. You could even set up a separate form for sponsors, guests, or vendors if you need to gather additional information from them. The sponsor area lets you group them by tier (if you’d like). For example, you could have different statuses based on donation amounts. You can also keep track of payments and donations, their attendance at your event, and even various activities to fulfill sponsor promises. For RSVPs, there’s a robust registration tracker set up for managing different types of tickets. You can simplify if you don’t need all that, but it’s nice to have it already built out. Another standout feature of this template is that it can help you gather feedback after the event is over. Wrike: An event planning template for ongoing internal events Wrike is a highly structured project management tool that accommodates teams of all sizes. Unlike other project management platforms that restrict the number of users on  the free tier, Wrike’s free plan lets you onboard as many users as you’d like. It also has a range of built in views that can help manage recurring events plus all the work required to make them happen. More on