<B>StarCite, Maritz Partner</B>
By Chris Davis
Maritz Travel Co. has partnered with StarCite to develop a Web-enabled tool to consolidate data and allow for real-time attendee registration management that also will incorporate StarCite's property search functionalities. The product, dubbed MeetingHQ, can be used by any corporation. Maritz is not restricting the tool to its own meeting or travel clients.
"It can be a Maritz-less process," said Mike Tenholder, Maritz vice president of alternative distribution. Maritz will charge an initial set-up fee, including training and the integration of preferred supplier parameters into search and booking engines, of between $2,500 and $7,000 and a per-registrant transaction fee of $5 to $15. MeetingHQ can be accessed over the Web or through an intranet, and allows planners to aggregate spending data in a number of categories, including amounts spent with specific vendors, theoretically leading to more accurate volume levels with which to negotiate.
MeetingHQ also is integrated with Impact, Maritz's proprietary meetings management database (Meetings Today, Feb. 23, 1998). "The Impact database ability supports MeetingHQ, so planners can track every aspect of meetings management, and brings the power of Impact tools into the Web interface," Tenholder said. "We began Web-enabling registration six years ago, but primarily for larger meetings. This will help the largely untapped consolidation market."
Maritz is not the first to enter this sphere. Carlson Wagonlit Travel, McGettigan Partners and Rosenbluth International all have entered into partnerships with online meeting portals--GetThere DirectMeetings, StarCite and PlanSoft, respectively--to bring online consolidation tools to the market. Portal EventSource has done the same on its own.
The desire to introduce the product quickly was key in the decision to partner with StarCite, even though Maritz is well known for its technological aptitude, Tenholder said. Maritz also recently participated in StarCite's $10 million round of financing, easing concerns about the portal's future viability.
Despite the crowded field, Tenholder said Maritz's extensive meeting experience, and its ability to offer full-service meetings management offline, will enable the company to stand out. "We've been doing meeting planning for decades," Tenholder said. "This takes the essentials and packages them into an easy-to-use system. We built this technology to improve the product and to save our customers money, not just for the sake of building new technology." Plus, the ability of non-Maritz clients to access the system affords the company the opportunity to make them clients.
"This allows very small companies to use this technology to reduce the cost of their meetings," Tenholder said, "even if they can't afford a full offline meetings management program.