Certain Software earlier this month continued to build its online attendee management offerings through a new partnership with online housing management provider Passkey, enabling Certain to provide desktop event management, registration and hotel booking solutions through a single tool.
Certain, based in San Francisco, has spent the past year and a half transforming its offerings from desktop software to online meeting management tools
(Meetings Today, April 22, 2002) since its acquisition of small online registration company Register123 in November 2001. This step allows users of that product to access Passkey's group hotel booking and room-block management solutions.
Certain will use Quincy, Mass.-based Passkey's RegLink application programming interface as a bridge between Register123 and Passkey's housing solutions for citywide events and single-property meetings, which have proved popular among hotels and convention and visitors bureaus. RegLink, which Passkey also has linked to StarCite's RegWeb attendee management tool and online association meeting management firm Cvent, allows for two-way exchange of all attendee information and reservation data.
"Certain and Passkey have created the ideal solution to manage the two attendee logistics problems that have plagued planners for years: housing and registration," said Passkey vice president of sales and marketing Paul Rantilla.
Benefits to attendees include the ability to book a hotel room at the point of meeting registration without re-entering personal information. Planners are able to track all attendee reservations and ensure attendees using the tool are credited to their negotiated room block.
Certain does not pay Passkey for integration with RegLink, said Passkey vice president of alliances Tom Walker, nor is RegLink designed to serve as a significant revenue generator for the firm. Passkey makes the bulk of its money selling subscriptions to its citywide and single-event housing management solutions primarily to CVBs, hotels and third-party planners.