Let’s take a glimpse inside the mind of a modern
event planner. On any given day, they’re likely consumed with thoughts of budgets, guest lists, event size, space requirements,
locations, venue options, amenity requirements, contracts, confirmations and, of
course, steadily shrinking timelines. Cue the check-lists that never end, and
clients’ complete reliance that the meeting, event, or party they’ve imagine
will come to life in a few weeks’ time. No pressure, right?
Perhaps contrary to popular belief, event planning isn’t all glitz,
glamour and Hollywood-esq parties. Sure, it might be some of that, but mostly
it requires a lot of work, meticulous planning and attention to detail, a
collaborative approach, and a little (or a lot) of help from technology. Rewarding?
Absolutely. But the modern event landscape, especially with the continued rise
of small meetings and corporate events, provides a long list of demands for
event planners and venue spaces alike.
Finding the Perfect Venue
Arguably one of the most important items on that
list of demands? The venue. In our world, an event can only exist when a venue
has been secured. Oftentimes, the venue will make or break the event, helping
to curate the perfect backdrop to the gathering, meeting, celebration or party
in question. In the case of a wedding, the bride and groom might have dreamed
about their ideal venue space for years, with no detail spared. In the case of
a corporate meeting or conference, the venue will play a critical role in
ensuring attendees are comfortable, supported, engaged, and leave the event
feeling inspired and connected to their company.
In the past, this pivotal step was also a notoriously difficult one. Event
planners were tasked with vetting and booking the perfect venue, while hotels
and venues were tasked with marketing their space to prospective planners.
Supply and demand — sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it wasn’t. Burdened by
the limitations of manual processes, the time required to identify, tour, and
book a potential venue for an event simply took too long, while venues’ sales
teams struggled to keep up with RFPs and basic inquiries. Both parties were
subject to the arduous process of email catch-up and phone-tag, repetitive
questions, and a far too complicated path to booking. Within a landscape that
is oftentimes ruled by tight deadlines, this way of doing things simply wasn’t
cutting it for planners or venue spaces.
A Better Way of Doing Things
Fortunately, venue management technology is changing the game. Closing the gap between planners and venues/hotels, management technology acts as an integral central platform to ensure the process of securing a venue is, dare we say it, easy.
Planners: picture a virtual, one-stop-shop marketplace. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can find everything you need that relates to a prospective venue. First, you search by location and date. From there, you scan the list of available venues, gauging their aesthetic, capacity details, and price. Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few options, you delve a little deeper, taking a 3D virtual tour of the grounds and floor plans, viewing options for customized packages, detailed descriptions of amenities, FAQs, and more. The information doesn’t stop there, though. Without having to send a single email-borne RFP, you can generate an instant quote, capitalize on a last-minute booking opportunity, send (and receive a reply to) an automated RFP in minutes, book, and pay online. No missed phone calls, no days lost between correspondence; ultimately, no headaches at all. With floor plans, 3D tours, packages, real-time rates and availability all displayed online within a user-friendly platform, booking becomes entirely painless. Those tight deadlines we spoke of? No problem. You’ve got this under control.
From the perspective of the hotel or venue, we
realize a similar benefit. Freeing their sales staff from the confines of
manual RFP follow-up, each member of the team can better serve prospective
clients, answer questions in a timely fashion and provide personalized,
attentive service. The function space receives real-time, global visibility and
the platform can be accessed from anywhere, 24/7. Staff are able to easily manage
the sales pipeline and compare budgets to actuals while ditching spreadsheets
in favor of instant, automated reports and built-in resource management. This
ensures space is yielded effectively, and venues can spend time cultivating
meaningful, memorable relationships with event planners that encourages future
partnerships (and glowing reviews).
Let’s face it, from planning the event itself to managing budgets, getting
permits, confirming transportation and catering, booking security and/or
entertainment, and ensuring attendees have everything they need; event planners
have enough to worry about. Venue
management technology makes it
easier for event managers to organize great conferences, events and meetings, whilst ensuring hotels and
venue spaces can effectively market and yield their space any time of the year.
Suddenly, venue management technology becomes the middle-man that venues and
planners didn’t know they needed, and that middle man is very good at
his job.
About the Author
Lauren Hall is the award-winning Founder and Chief Executive Officer of iVvy. Lauren is a passionate entrepreneur with more than 25 years’ business management experience at Executive and Board level, successfully building multiple companies from startup to strategic and financial exit. With a background in programming, accounting and marketing, Lauren’s expertise spans manufacturing, retail, advertising and technology industries in both South Africa and Australia.
She co-founded iVvy in 2009, overseeing our growth to 1,000 clients in 13 countries and expansion to New Zealand, Asia, Europe and North America.
Ernst & Young recognized Lauren as a future global leader of industry through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Asia-Pacific program for 2016. Lauren won three International Silver Stevie Awards for Entrepreneur of the Year Globally 2016, Innovator of the Year 2016 and Entrepreneur of the Year Asia Pacific 2016 and recently was named Gold Coast Business Woman of the Year 2016.
About iVvy
iVvy offers meeting planners the ability to search, compare, book and pay for function space, catering and group accommodations online, 24/7. By providing conference centers, hotels, restaurants and cruise lines with an integrated revenue management and distribution platform, iVvy equips Venue Operators with the tools they need to manage inquiries on any device, anywhere. With enhanced reporting and analytics, Venues are provided with greater visibility over their business so they can yield their meetings & event spaces to maximize revenue.
With offices in 5 countries and a global team providing support 24 hours a day, iVvy’s groundbreaking, cloud-based software offers scalable solutions that tackle core issues faced by the travel, MICE and events industry, and continues to service the world’s leading hospitality groups, major corporations, travel companies, government offices, associations, universities and nonprofits.
