Company’s Technology to Streamline Site Selection for Government Groups and Meetings
Cvent, the world’s largest provider of online event management, meeting site selection andweb survey solutions, today announced it was selected by FedRooms®, the official government-wide, General Services Administration (GSA)-managed hotel program for federal and military travelers, as the sole technology provider for FedRooms® Groups and Meetings. FedRooms Groups and Meetings is a free venue site selection and electronic Request for Proposal (eRFP) solution that simplifies the government meeting and event planning process for tens of thousands of government planners by enabling fast and convenient venue comparison and selection in compliance with government lodging policies.
“Estimates indicate that of the approximately $15 billion in federal travel spending for FY2010, $5 billion will be spent on lodging, and of this, a significant portion will be spent on group hotel lodging specifically,” said Anil Punyapu, Cvent’s Vice President of Enterprise Sales. “We recognized the time- and cost-saving benefits of streamlining the group booking process in all industries when we developed our venue sourcing software, and we are excited to partner with FedRooms to help government and military meeting planners quickly and easily find the best venues for their groups’ unique specifications.”
FedRooms Groups & Meetings is an extension of the FedRooms program, which since 2004 has provided government travelers negotiated hotel rates — guaranteed to be at or below government per diem — at quality, FEMA-certified hotels. Government meeting planners can visit FedRooms.gov to submit meeting requirements for groups of 10 or more. Using Cvent’s sourcing technology, these requirements are sent to FedRooms-participating properties in an eRFP. In return, the government meeting planner receives from FedRooms comprehensive, side-by-side comparison reports of the venue responses for use in making site selection decisions.
“The process of identifying and communicating with all potential hoteliers in a given city can be time consuming and tedious, especially for the many individuals for whom meeting planning is not part of their actual job description,” said Tracy Shook, Director of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Contractor Support for FedRooms. “This offering takes the weight off the client’s shoulders, because FedRooms and Cvent handle all the legwork involved in identifying the hotels in a given city that can fulfill their meeting needs.”
About Cvent:
Founded in 1999, Cvent is the world’s largest meetings management technology company and has over 625 employees worldwide. Cvent offers web-based software with features including meeting site selection, online event registration, event management, e-mail marketing, and web surveys. Cvent helps over 35,000 users in 29 countries manage hundreds of thousands of events, surveys and e-mail campaigns. Cvent has processed over $1 billion in online payments and has managed over 18 million event registrations for its clients. For more information, please visit www.cvent.com.
About FedRooms®
FedRooms is the official government-wide, government-sponsored hotel program for federal and military travelers, with negotiated rates at more than 11,000 hotels in more than 2,000 cities around the world. FedRooms rates are guaranteed to be at or below government per diem, and all participating properties are FEMA certified. Since 2004, the FedRooms program has been supported by CWTSatoTravel, the military and government division of Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) and the nation’s leading provider of travel management and fulfillment services to the U.S. government. For more information, visit www.fedrooms.gov.
Media Contacts:
Jamie Rismiller
Public Relations, Cvent
+1 571-830-2466
jrismiller(at)cvent(dot)com
Stefanie Tschida
Public Relations Manager, CWT
+1 763-212-1404
stschida(at)carlsonwagonlit(dot)com
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