January 23, 2006
Some pharmaceutical companies have cut back on secondary expenses for events in the face of higher hotel and air costs. Audiovisual, food and beverage services and attendee gifts all have been targeted for cuts to offset travel expenses, buyers said.
January 23, 2006
Corporate and government meeting planners expect both the number of and expenditures on events held by their organizations to increase by 7 percent this year, according to the fourth annual FutureWatch survey, released this month by Meeting Professionals International and American Express. However, concerns over travel costs and the economy make 2006 a year of "cautious optimism," said MPI's president.
January 23, 2006
Meetings management technology provider OnVantage Inc. on Jan. 17 announced it has secured $18 million venture financing, co-led by Norwest Venture Partners and Texas Pacific Group Ventures. John Chang, CEO of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, said he had expected to raise $3 million to $5 million through the offer. "It turned into something much bigger," Chang said. "Our plan is to take some of the money and accelerate our sales and marketing and continue product development." The funds also will be used to further the company's transition from a matchmaker to a transaction processor, he said. "We're leveraging the assets we have and building new capabilities." Chang said the company nearly doubled its volume of transactions in 2005. "There's going to be significant investment in our technology to support all the new customers that we've brought on board." OnVantage continues to eye an initial public offering, with a listing "a very real possibility" within three years, Chang said. "It depends on the technology market." Jim Lussier, venture partner at NVP, and Bill McGlashan, managing director at Texas Pacific Group Ventures, joined the OnVantage board of directors. OnVantage was formed in September 2004 through a merger of former meetings technology rivals PlanSoft and SeeUthere Technologies. Chang said 2005 was a transition year for the company, and this year customers can expect new developments and products. "There's always going to be rough spots as you try to merge two organizations, because it's like bringing together two extended families. We did the merger in 2004, so 2005 was our painful year of bringing together the two companies 2006 is when you're going to see the fruits of that labor really start to shine," he said.
January 23, 2006
Hilton Hotels Corp. last month announced new online group room block booking technology and said it plans to extend the tool to meeting space and services this year. Hilton is the third hotel chain in the past year to announce new online capabilities to book or compare group room blocks and meeting space. However, buyer reaction to booking a meeting entirely online has been lukewarm, said hotel executives, leading one chain to shift away from booking in favor of providing more efficient response capabilities for requests submitted through their Web site.
January 23, 2006
Meetings management technology provider StarCite Inc. in 2005 launched an aggressive growth strategy with expansion into Europe, enhanced hotel partnerships and new products. StarCite CEO Michael Boult last month spoke with Meetings Today editor Corrie Dosh about rethinking how corporations negotiate with hotels, the Philadelphia-based company's initiatives for growth and the growing interest of online-originating travel management companies in the meetings industry.
January 23, 2006
Companies remain split over whether to implement formal corporate meeting management policies to save money and control risks, according to an exclusive Meetings Monitor survey. While some buyers said their corporate culture does not support strict policies and mandates, others said a clear policy is key to streamlining the meetings management process.
January 23, 2006
The adoption of a meetings management technology tool has helped Santa Clara, Calif.-based Extreme Networks Inc. save 15 percent of its meetings spend during the past three years through reduced outsourcing costs, improved data consolidation and increased senior management involvement in expense monitoring, according to the company's travel manager. Since adopting the tool, all meetings at the company have stayed under budget, she said.
December 05, 2005
Meeting planners must adapt to new business models that value the development of close partnerships within companies and with outside vendors to be considered a vital part of their organizations' long-term goals and not just a commodity, a new white paper from Meeting Professionals International concluded.
December 05, 2005
Aggressive, flat discounts offered by low-cost carriers for corporate meetings have proved popular with travel buyers, but they continue to place the majority of corporate group volume on legacy carriers, according to a survey by Business Travel News and ACNielsen. After a tumultuous year of fare reforms and restructuring, major domestic airlines scored lower rankings for group pricing flexibility, but claimed they maintained edges in experience, capacity and zone fares, upgrades and earned ticket offerings.
December 05, 2005
Ground transportation provider BostonCoach last month announced the purchase of destination management company The Best of Boston, an unusual pairing driven by BostonCoach's desire to grab a larger share of what their executives see as a burgeoning meetings market.