Start from a template
Advance, rider, labor call, and schedule templates set the structure once, so every date in the run asks the same questions the same way. New show, same standard.
Tour advancing software
The advance is the product here, not a feature.
Advancing is the highest-stakes paperwork in touring: every missed detail becomes a show-day problem. Advance with Me is advancing software first. Each date gets a structured advance, venues work inside it through a link, AI intake reads the tech pack, and statuses show exactly what is still missing three weeks out.
- One structured advance per show, not a folder of PDFs
- Venues answer inside the advance, not in your inbox
- Templates keep a 30-date run consistent
The workflow
How the advance runs when it has a system.
The advance is a conversation with a deadline. The software's job is to make sure nothing said in that conversation gets lost, retyped, or forgotten between the first email and doors.
Let the documents do the typing
Upload the venue tech pack, the routing sheet, or last year's advance. AI autopopulate fills the matching fields automatically, ready to fine-tune. Intake in minutes, not afternoons.
Send the venue one link
The venue's production contact edits only the sections you assign: labor, rider, schedule, production fields. Their answers land in the advance, attributed and current.
Chase only what is actually missing
Statuses and categories show what is confirmed, what is pending, and who owes the next answer. Your follow-up email lists three open items, not "circling back on everything."
Build show-day documents from the same record
Daysheets, labor calls, and riders export as clean PDFs from the advance itself. When an answer changes upstream, the documents stop being wrong.
Why it beats email
Email was never built to hold an advance.
- The venue's answers live in a thread from three weeks ago
- The tech pack is a PDF in someone's downloads folder
- Each detail gets retyped into the day sheet by hand
- Nobody can see what is still unconfirmed without rereading everything
- When you are asleep, the answers are too
- Every answer lives in the show record, attributed and dated
- The tech pack becomes data you can build documents from
- Daysheets and labor calls pull from the advance automatically
- Open items are visible at a glance across the whole run
- The whole team can find the answer without asking you
Learn the craft, then keep it
The software enforces what the guides teach.
We publish free, practical guides to advancing because better advances make better shows, whatever tool you use. The software exists so the process survives a 30-date run without depending on anyone's memory.
How to advance a show
The cornerstone guide: timeline, an 8-category checklist you can print, and a copyable advance email. Read the guide →
How to advance a festival
The same discipline from the festival office side, where the volume is higher and the deadlines are harder. Read the guide →
The rest of the system
Advancing feeds day sheets, itineraries, and guest lists in the same record. See tour management software for the full picture.
Common questions
Advancing software: FAQ
What is advancing software?
Advancing software manages the advance: the pre-show exchange between a touring party and a venue that confirms schedules, technical requirements, labor, hospitality, and logistics before show day. Instead of running that exchange through email threads and PDF attachments, advancing software gives each show a structured record both sides work in, with statuses that show what is confirmed, what is missing, and who owes the next answer.
How is advancing software different from an itinerary app?
An itinerary app organizes what your touring party already knows: dates, times, travel. Advancing software manages the work of finding out: collecting venue specs, confirming labor calls, chasing missing details, and turning venue documents into usable data. Advance with Me does both, but it starts with the advance, because the itinerary is only as accurate as the advance behind it.
Can venues fill in the advance themselves?
Yes. You invite a venue rep, promoter rep, or local production contact into a single advance through a link. They see and edit only the sections you assign, and their answers land directly in the advance. Venues never need a paid seat or a full account. See how it works for venues.
Can software really read a venue tech pack?
AI autopopulate reads uploaded tech packs, PDFs, and images and fills the matching advance fields automatically. Every value stays editable, so your team can fine-tune anything afterward. Teams use it to turn a 40-page venue pack into structured data in minutes instead of an afternoon of retyping.
How do I learn to advance a show properly?
Start with the free guide How to Advance a Show: the timeline, an 8-category checklist, and a copyable advance email, based on real touring experience. The software then keeps that process consistent across a whole run.
See it on a real advance
Watch an advance get built end to end.
Join a demo with someone who has advanced shows for a living, or head to pricing when you are ready to choose a plan.