B-there.com Partners With McGettigan, Confirms CEO

Attendee management portal B-there.com last month announced a partnership with Philadelphia-based meetings consolidation firm McGettigan Partners to offer B-there capabilities to its corporate clients, and confirmed Christine Berthet as its permanent CEO.

Berthet has served as the Westport, Conn.-based company's interim CEO since April, when former CEO and B-there founder Peggy Lee assumed the role of chairman. Berthet has more than 25 years of experience in technology and financial services, though little direct meetings industry experience. She was most recently a venture partner at Wayne, Pa.-based TL Ventures, one of B-there's first and leading financial supporters, and held prior posts as president of Thomson Global Markets and senior vice president and general manager of strategic investments for Automatic Data Processing.

The partnership between B-there and McGettigan is the latest in a string of alliances between meeting management firms and online attendee management Web sites. "We'll be using the application's complete functionality, including registration, housing, transportation and e-marketing services," said McGettigan senior vice president of marketing and chief technology officer Danamichele Brennen.

Berthet said the partnership gives B-there insight into corporate meeting buyers' needs. "For instance," she said, "they worked with us in outlining features, such as air reporting integration and overnight mailing label capabilities that many of McGettigan's customers request."