MEETING EVOLUTION (M.E.)

http://www.meetingsnet.com - 2009 SMMP Software Buyers Guide

The Story: Launched in February, Meeting Evolution grew out of an internal sourcing system developed by meeting management firm Meeting Sites Resource beginning in 2001. “We’ve been refining strategic capabilities over the past seven years, with feedback from account executives, planners, and hotel partners,” says Rob Wilson (who was also EVP at Meeting Sites Resource).

Read More

The following article was published on askbte.com on September 1, 2009.

Meeting Evolution Unveils Consolidated Global RFP Software

Meeting Evolution (ME) has launched an RFP and meeting consolidation software system designed to manage all facets of the global hotel database, strategic RFP process, e-proposal and function space evaluation. It also includes a custom hotel contract template and is able to deliver meeting and management reports, including spend and cost savings analysis for each meeting. The system also features a variety of planning tools and resources including meeting budgets (downloaded from e-proposals), sleeping room pick-ups / revenues, meeting room matrix, international currency converter and air cost analysis.

All meeting activity and data is consolidated for 24/7 planner / management access and reporting. Meeting Evolution has been operating the global day to day business of Meeting Sites Resource (a global specialist in meeting site research and hotel contract negotiations.) for eight years. 

http://www.askbte.com/redline.asp#7866

The following article was published August 12, 2009 on meetingsnet.com

By the end of the month, Meeting Evolution plans to launch the Professional version of its request for proposal and meeting management software.

The 10-month-old Overland Park, Kan.–based company released the standard version of its product, also called Meeting Evolution, in February, but the roots of the software go back more than seven years.

It was developed at Meeting Sites Resource, an Irvine, Calif.-based site selection and meeting planning company, by MSR’s executive vice president Rob Wilson, MCSE, and company partner Jennifer Brown, CMP. Brown has been with MSR since 1996 when she left her post as director of the Meeting Services Department at what was then Price Waterhouse LLP.

Read the rest of the article

Topic: Technology to Reduce Housing Costs

Where: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington, D.C.

When: September 9, 2009

Time: 4:45 - 5:45 PM 

You will learn about getting the most out of your event management software and meetings management technology to save costs on your housing. Learn from the two best experts in technology and meeting planning about how to save real costs, and gain true savings in housing. Rick Borry was the founder of Register123 software and has worked with meeting planners since 1998. Rob Wilson has been involved in the site selection and contract negotiations for the past 10 years and knows the ins and outs of real savings in sourcing & RFP management. This is a can’t miss session.

·          Finding the right hotel (Sourcing)

o    Flexible dates, locations, requirements

o    APEX Compliant RFP

·          Concessions

o    Meeting Space

o    Staff Rooms

·          Contract Clauses

o    Cancellation

o    Food and Beverage Minimums

·          Housing Management:

o    Registration: Use internal online registration systems or hybrid systems(eg: Passkey)

o    Managing multiple hotels - overflow

o    Roommate-matching

o    Managing attrition

o    Collecting credit card guarantees (PCI)

o    Accessibility (ADA / Section 508)

o    Reporting

o    On-site: Arrival, Departure, staffing  peak loads, oversell situations

o    APEX and the future of housing system integration