Case Studies – JE Dunn Construction
Appreciation events play an integral role for the growth of companies. From encouraging networking and boosting employee retention, to building client relationships, successful company outings and holiday parties can be an essential tool for organizational growth.
For major companies, the quantity of appreciation events can create significant logistical challenges. Securing venues, vendor coordination, attendee experience – each element offers a list of headaches for corporate event planners, which is why finding a dynamic and customizable event management software platform can make a break the internal event calendar.
Recently, RSVPify sat down with Rilie Barnes (Event Planner for JE Dunn Construction), to learn how the company leverages RSVPify to host employee and client appreciation events large and small, from summer outings to the annual company holiday party.
About JE Dunn Construction
JE Dunn Construction is a century-old general contractor headquartered in Kansas City, responsible for iconic builds like CPKC Stadium, the Whitaker Courthouse, and projects for Cerner. With 17 offices nationwide, the Kansas City headquarters also serves as the company’s hub for large-scale employee, client, and community events.
Rilie Barnes, JE Dunn’s sole corporate event planner in Kansas City, manages both internal and external events, from employee appreciation days at the zoo to trade partner recognition events and the company’s flagship annual holiday party. RSVPify has become the cornerstone tool for capturing registrations, managing logistics, and ensuring a seamless guest experience across events that can draw up to 1,500 attendees
Major Challenges Before Using RSVPify
JE Dunn needed a reliable and professional event management platform to handle a wide range of event types—employee outings, client appreciation gatherings, department summits, and a high-profile holiday party.
Each event required capturing details such as:
Dietary restrictions
Hotel needs for traveling staff
Personalized engagement questions (e.g., “What’s your favorite song?”)
Other challenges included:
Creating a professional, branded guest experience (avoiding the “$0.00 ticket” look from other platforms)
Managing different registration flows for executives, VIPs, and employees
Generating data-driven insights to forecast attendance and budgets year-over-year
Scaling events from dozens to more than a thousand guests
The RSVPify Solution
Since adopting RSVPify, JE Dunn has scaled from an initial subscription to the Enterprise plan, driven by the growing success of its events and the array of features Rilie uses for every corporate event on the annual calendar:
Customizable Event Registration Pages
“We can customize that webpage and have it ask exactly what we need it to ask, and it doesn’t need to ask what we don’t want it to.”
Seamless Guest Experience
Guests receive confirmation emails and calendar invites instantly and easily.
“It’s really come in handy on the organizer side for me to say, ‘Do you have your confirmation?’ and if they don’t, I know they didn’t register.”
Elevated Event Feel
“When we’re inviting people, I don’t want it to look discounted—it’s a privilege, a benefit as an employee.”
Data-Driven Planning Tools
Rilie cited RSVPify’s easy on-site guest check-in, with the ability to export attendance lists.
“It’s been massive for shaping budgets and metrics. I can project growth based on consistent RSVP patterns.”
The RSVPify Factor
RSVPify has become integral to JE Dunn’s event operations:
Scaled holiday parties to 1,200–1,500 attendees while capturing dietary needs, seating preferences, and custom requests
Boosted employee engagement with simple, professional invitations and confirmations
Streamlined client and trade partner appreciation events that reinforce business relationships
Delivered year-over-year data to justify budgets and measure growth
Improved efficiency for a single planner managing dozens of events annually
“RSVPify definitely makes the user experience as easy as possible. Some platforms overcomplicate it. Sometimes it just needs to be, who are you, and are you coming?”
“It enables me to do my job better as one person, streamlining what can be automated, so I can focus on the human element of events—the part that data can’t predict.”
Partner with RSVPify for your ticketed events
Are you looking for powerful and scaleable event software that keeps the tools of control and customization in your hands? Curious to learn more about our full feature suite, including advanced branding options, event check-in support, event communications tools, and more?
Contact our Sales team to book a demo and learn more about features, pricing tiers, and tools specifically designed for users hosting frequent corporate events.
RSVPify is proud to partner with hundreds of companies like JE Dunn Construction from around the world, to help them continue to host meaningful and unique event experiences that foster human connection. We’re excited to meet you and help tailor a solution to fit your organization.
Adam Hausman co-founded RSVPify in 2013 and has been passionate about event tech and ticketing software ever since. Also founder of Greenlight Growth Marketing, he holds degrees from Indiana University (BA English/Psychology 2008) and the University of Illinois-Chicago (M.Ed. Secondary Education 2012). He lives in Maine with his wife, 2 kids, and 2 annoying cats.
Adam Hausman