Here's a situation every host knows.
You're three weeks out from your event. You need a photographer. Maybe a DJ. You go to Google and type "event photographer near me" and get a page of ads, a few Yelp listings, and an Instagram account that was last updated in 2022.
You have no idea if any of these people have ever worked a birthday party, a quinceañera, a backyard graduation. You don't know if they show up on time. You don't know if the host who hired them would hire them again.
That's the vendor problem. And it's not a Google problem. It's a context problem.
The list nobody built yet
When you ask around (actually ask, in a Facebook group or a family chat) you get a completely different experience. "Oh, that DJ? He did my nephew's graduation. On time, read the room perfectly, nobody wanted to leave." That kind of recommendation is worth ten five-star Yelp reviews.
The problem is that list has never been centralized anywhere. It lives in group chats and text threads and word-of-mouth that doesn't scale beyond your immediate circle.
That's what we're building with the Kapwa Vendor Directory.
Every vendor on Kapwa has been tagged on a real event by a real host. When you search for a photographer in Los Angeles, you're not getting a list of people who paid for SEO. You're getting people who actually showed up to someone's party and did a good enough job that the host listed them by name.
What the directory actually is
Kapwa is an event platform. Hosts use it to run RSVPs, manage photo sharing, coordinate potlucks and gift registries, and keep everything about their event in one place. We have hundreds of events running on the platform.
The vendor directory is built into that ecosystem. When a host tags a vendor on their event (their photographer, their DJ, their caterer) that vendor gets a profile in the directory. Hosts searching for vendors see real people with real event history, not anonymous listings.
The directory covers 17 categories:
Photographers · Videographers · DJs · Caterers · Florists · Venues · Hair & Makeup · Decor · Cake & Desserts · Performers · Photo Booths · Ice Cream Trucks · Bounce House Rentals · Party Favors · Balloon Artists · Face Painting · Other
You can filter by category, search by name, or sort by newest. If you're a featured vendor, you also show up on the event creation page when a host enters your city, meaning they see your name before they've even finished setting up their event.
What a vendor profile includes
When you set up your profile on Kapwa, you're not filling out a generic business listing. You're building something that speaks directly to event hosts.
Your business information Your business name, bio, website, Instagram handle, and contact details. Hosts can reach you directly. No middleman, no lead-gen form, no waiting.
Categories and specialties You can list up to five categories. A vendor who does both photography and videography appears in both searches. A caterer who also handles desserts shows up in both those results. Your profile reflects what you actually do, not just your primary label.
Your portfolio Upload photos of your work directly to your profile. This is where the Kapwa ecosystem becomes something no other directory offers.
Real event photos from your clients
Here's the part that's different.
When a host uses Kapwa for their event and tags you as a vendor, the photos their guests take at that event can be connected to your profile. Your clients are already sharing photos: photos from inside the events where you worked. A caterer gets photos of their spread at a real table with real guests. A DJ gets photos of a real dance floor at 11pm. A photo booth gets shots of every group that walked through.
This isn't a portfolio you curated. It's documentation from the people who hired you.
Reviews from real hosts After an event, hosts can leave a review on your profile. Not a star rating from a random person. A review from someone who hired you for a specific type of event and can speak to exactly what it was like to work with you.
Your event history Your profile shows which Kapwa events you've been tagged at. A host considering you can see the kinds of events you work, the size, the vibe. Experience is visible, not just claimed.
What it looks like for a host
You're creating a new event on Kapwa. You type in your city. If there are featured vendors in that area, they appear in a section right there on the creation page: photographers, DJs, caterers, whoever has featured placement in your city. You see them before you've even finished setting up the event.
No separate tab. No separate search. The vendors come to you while you're already planning.
When you click through to a profile, you see the full picture: categories, bio, portfolio, event history, and reviews from other hosts. When you're ready, you reach out directly. Your contact information is on your profile and you handle it from there.
That's it. No lead-gen forms. No "request a quote and wait five business days." Direct contact, real event context.
Why local matters
There's a reason the best vendor recommendations come from your community.
A photographer who's shot twenty quinceañeras in the San Gabriel Valley knows how to handle a waltz reveal, an hora loca, and a family of 300 people who all want to be in the same photo. That context doesn't show up on a generic portfolio site.
A DJ who's worked Filipino parties in the Bay Area knows the difference between what plays at 6pm versus what plays at midnight. That kind of experience isn't captured in a Yelp star rating from someone who hired them for a corporate happy hour.
The Kapwa directory is built by hosts who plan the same kinds of events you plan, in the same neighborhoods. The more hosts who tag their vendors, the more specific and useful it gets, not just for strangers on the internet, but for the people a few zip codes away planning the same type of gathering next month.
For vendors: your first year is free
Most vendor marketing is expensive and generates the wrong kind of attention. You pay for Google ads that reach people who are just browsing. You pay for directory listings that put you next to fifteen competitors with no context. You post on Instagram and hope someone who's actually planning an event happens to see it at the right moment.
The Kapwa directory is different because of intent. Everyone who finds your profile is already planning an event. They're not window shopping. They're looking for someone to book.
If you join now, during our founding period, your first full year is completely free.
That means twelve months of full featured placement: showing up at the top of search results, appearing on event creation pages when hosts in your city are setting up, getting your name in front of people who are actively looking to hire someone like you, at no cost.
After your founding year, your featured placement locks in at $19/month, permanently, regardless of what we charge anyone else going forward. Vendors who join after the founding period closes will pay $49/month for the same placement.
A basic listing on Kapwa is always free. No time limit, no credit card, no catch. Your profile, your categories, your portfolio, and your contact info, permanently in the directory at zero cost.
Featured placement is the upgrade. During the founding period, that upgrade costs nothing for a year.
First mover's advantage is real here
The directory is new. There are not yet hundreds of photographers in every city, dozens of DJs competing for the same search terms. The vendors who join now are building history: event tags, reviews, portfolio photos from real events, before anyone else in their category shows up.
A photographer who joins today and gets tagged on ten events over the next year has a profile that looks completely different from someone who joins next year with zero history. Same city, same category, but one of them has been to real parties that real hosts can vouch for.
That reputation compounds. The early vendor in a market isn't just first. They're first with a head start that's visible to every host who searches after them.
The founding period closes on June 29, 2027. After that, the price for new vendors goes up and the head start disappears.
Setting up your profile takes about ten minutes
You go to your vendor dashboard, fill in your business name, pick your categories, write a short bio, add your contact info and any links you want hosts to see. You're in the directory.
From there you can upload portfolio photos, and as hosts start tagging you on events, your profile fills in with real event history.
Add your business to the directory →
If you're planning an event
Browse what's already in the directory. Filter by category and city. When you find someone you want to work with, reach out directly from their profile.
After the event, tag your vendors on Kapwa and leave a review. That tag is what builds their profile, and the next time a host searches for a vendor in your area, the people you've worked with show up, with your event in their history.
The directory only gets better as more hosts use it. Every tag, every review, every event connection makes the next search more useful for everyone.