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Could you save money on your conference and event spend? 22 Oct 2019

Could you save money on your conference and event spend? 

Finding the right system to manage your conferences and events can be difficult, one system may have some of the benefits that you need, but not all. No one has the time to sift through various platforms and systems, to then find out it doesn’t fit all your requirements. Especially in a time where budgets are being reduced, clients are more demanding and we are used to having accurate data at your fingertips is essential. 

To help save money on conference and event spend we’ve outlined a few of the features our clients tell us they benefit from most. Here we share more details on specific elements of our system that has helped our clients achieve significant savings on their conference and event spend. 

System user Sam Edwards from Babcock recognised this financial saving saying: “Hospitality Guaranteed worked with us to set-up ConferenceStop a dedicated system to support conference and event management. Having appointed Hospitality Guaranteed as our provider to manage and book our conference and events we have achieved over a 15% saving on our spend.” 

All in one dashboard

HG One Stop system is a digitally supported system for conferences, accommodation and events that provides the latest technology all in one place, to help clients save time and reduce annual expenditure. Not only is the dashboard available 24/7, it provides live accurate data and provides users with every tool they require. 

Sam was having issues with invoicing prior to using the HG One system, after speaking with our team of experts we quickly came up with a solution. 

“We worked with the team at Hospitality Guaranteed to set-up our company structure for invoicing in-line with our requirements. This streamlined and resolved a lot of issues we had with the previous system that created a bottleneck, and heavy administration and confusion around invoicing. The service and system is proving to show great feedback from bookers across the company.” 

Finding the right venue

Trying to find the right venue to fit your criteria can be a timely exercise, our system can search 1000s of UK and European venues based on your key criteria using our innovative ‘map it’ tool. Meaning, those countless hours spent searching for the right venue can be solved within minutes. 

Sam and his team have benefited from the experts at Hospitality Guaranteed who are specialists in the hospitality sector who negotiate on his behalf. 

“The system supports the booking from the venue finding right through to invoicing. Having everything in once place, on one system has been vastly improved our efficiency.” 

Automated reports

A key benefit to the HG One system is our automated reports feature, Management Information can be broken down into specific details to enable you to review overall company spend, allocate departmental and individual budgets. This then gives vital information to assist negotiations for future rates and budget setting. 

Accessing this data has allowed Sam to make informed decisions quickly and supported effective budgeting. 

“I benefit from automated reports that I can access 24/7 that show the current spend, forecasted spend and cost savings made.”

 Experts on hand 

What sets us apart is our experienced team, each one of our clients has a dedicated account manager, who will review your enquiry, hotel options, packages, costs, contracts, terms and conditions and will check that your invoice is accurate. 

Our dedicated experts negotiate where possible, such as room upgrades, refreshments, parking, free Wi-Fi and other additional cost savings. Sam shares how this supports him: 

“What we get from the system is second to none. We have used other platforms and find this is much more aligned to our needs. Having an account manager and the option to pick up the phone and speak to someone who understands our requirements creates a responsive service that ticks all the boxes for us.”

“We would recommend Hospitality Guaranteed and have found the implementation of the service smooth and seen great benefits which we are continuing to build upon,” 

HG One Stop is an online service designed to save time, money and confidence managing all aspects of your event, accommodation, conference and apprentice programme bookings in one easy to use system, it combines the latest online technology with a knowledgeable and experienced team.

If you’re looking to reduce costs and save time, or if you have any questions about our system, get in touch with one of our expert team members here at Hospitality Guaranteed.

0344 822 3227

Conference@hospitalityguaranteed.co.uk

Ben Gash

 

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How can training providers benefit from using a dedicated event system? 22 Oct 2019

How can training providers benefit from using a dedicated event system?

Planning an event is a multifaceted task. Creating content to ensure the objective is delivered alongside trained facilitators to ensure delegates retain the information should be the main focus. However, many organisations find themselves spending valuable time researching venues to find suitable space within the perfect location; time that could be spent elsewhere.

Paul Copper from a leading global company has been using ConferenceStop for more than seven years and explains how working with Hospitality Guaranteed and their combination of advanced technology and industry experts has helped with productivity whilst giving him the confidence he is receiving the best value from his venue choices.

As a global partner of a leading motor vehicle organisation, they are responsible for all retailer training, delivering the UK Training Programme for the following qualifications.

  • Vehicle Maintenance and Repair
  • Vehicle Parts Operations
  • Vehicle Sales
  • Customer Service

Paul explained how ConferenceStop has supported him in his role: “When the system was first introduced, we didn’t know what to expect. You don’t know what you don’t know, and change is difficult. The team at Hospitality Guaranteed guided us through this process. They supported us throughout the set up, so we were able to get the most out of the system moving forward. The templates are now set up and we can reuse these whenever we have a new training session.”

ConferenceStop provides Paul’s organisation with a specialist on-line system ensuring all the required information is captured and complies with safeguarding requirements; essential in the apprentice arena. The dashboard provides accurate management data and allows the team to make informed decisions. Paul explained: “The system is simple to use, and the dashboard speeds up the whole process for us. The simple drop-down boxes mean we can operate on auto pilot. We are more efficient and have definitely saved administration time since using ConferenceStop.” 

In addition to the technology, Hospitality Guaranteed pride themselves on their customer service and although the system provides a simple solution, industry experts are on hand to offer support.  

“The team at Hospitality Guaranteed are great. They are experts in their field, keep abreast of industry updates and, more importantly, know our requirements. We have a dedicated account manager who will make suggestions to us before we have to ask, and we are confident they are negotiating hard for us behind the scenes. We have been able to reduce the number of hotels we are working with, leading to better supplier relations and an improved repeat service.”

Paul concluded: “In short the support we receive from the ConferenceStop system and the team at Hospitality Guaranteed is integral to our operation; it’s like having an additional project manager on the team!”

Ben Gash

 

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Local company calls out for national beach clean help! 02 Sep 2019

Over the weekend of the 20th September, the team at Hospitality Guaranteed will be heading to beaches across the north east. Swapping fish and chips for gloves and litter picks, it will be all hands-on deck as the team take part in the national ‘Great British Beach Clean’ across Redcar, Hartlepool and Seaham beaches.

Volunteers across the country will be taking part in the national beach clean supported by The Marine Conservation Society. The yearly event not only cleans our beaches, but provides important data for The Marine Conservation Society. Over the last 25 years, volunteers have helped make some of the most significant impacts on beach litter -  the plastic bag charge, microplastics banned in personal care products, better wet wipe labelling, and massive support for a tax on 'on the go' plastic single use items.

Victoria Brunton, owner of accommodation, conference and event management specialist, Hospitality Guaranteed said: “After reading such startling statistics in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation report - The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics, we have all tried to reduce our plastic consumption. We have made a conscious effort to get involved with our local communities and after researching what we can do to help, we came across the Great British Beach Clean.

“We have been operating nationally from the region for 13 years and the whole team is eager to help make a difference to their local beach. We would love as many of you to come and join us to make a small difference.”

Amanda Jackson, owner added: “We are all seeing the horrendous effects of plastic in our daily lives via the media and around our local areas. For our team and supporters to be involved with The Great British Beach Clean is amazing, we all need to take some responsibility and try and make even a small change as this can make a huge difference” 

Hospitality Guaranteed are calling out for as many people to get involved to not only help gather important data and to clean the beach, but to see the effects of litter first-hand. There’s no cost to attend, but they ask you to book in advance so they are aware of numbers. If you are available and would like to get involved, you can get further details and register at www.eventstop.co.uk.

James Daley

 

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Prepare for event success with the right tools for the task! 29 May 2019

In life things go wrong, nothing is always exactly as we plan it and as much as we try and foresee what will happen, it can often turn out differently. Never is this truer than when planning an event. It is live communication after all and as it involves people and various outside influences, even the most complex spreadsheet or planning document won’t tackle every possible eventuality.

That said, considering every eventuality is a must. Take the time to plan how you envisage the day, decide what you want from it and prepare. Things that are out of your control are one thing, not considering it in the first place is something altogether different.

Organisations need and host events for various reasons: from product launches, team building or information sharing. These events are very different, but they all have one common goal – they must work first time round and deliver. Put simply, you don’t get a second chance and great events don’t just happen; they take detailed planning, a network of expert suppliers and tried and tested methods.

You should think of your event as a piece of live communication and treat it like any other marketing activity. Every day experienced individuals are asked to dilute their contribution to their actual professional role by organising the AGM, managing director’s meeting or even the staff Christmas party without any support. It’s not their area of expertise, so no wonder the results aren’t fully effective and successful. Executed correctly events can be extremely lucrative to an organisation on many levels.

Using a specialist team of experts to work alongside your team provides a collaborative solution that utilises industry expertise and organisational knowledge.

HG OneStop, is a digitally supported system for conferences, accommodation and events. Combining an on-line platform, individual service and long-term quality, and provide an all-encompassing service which creates a simpler, more informed booking process for their clients. 

The benefits of HG OneStop include:

Ø  FREE venue finding service

Ø  Knowledgeable team helping clients save time and reduce annual expenditure

Ø  The latest online technology for conference, accommodation and events, all in one place, available 24/7

Ø  Rate negotiation and identifying added value extras on behalf of the client

Ø  Flexible personal service, tailored to clients

Ø  In-depth reporting dashboard to track objectives

We love to hear our clients talk passionately about their businesses and products, you know your business and your audience and we know how to provide the tools to ensure your message is remembered long after your event has finished. Equally we love what we do and our experienced team works hard at being the best. Attending various trade shows, supplier updates, product launches and webinars to stay ahead of the industry and top of our game. In short, we are experts.

An event should have clear objectives, it should offer a return to the organisation and these should be measurable. Experts offer added value in all areas of business and the same applies to your events.

Doesn’t your event deserve to be great?

James Daley

 

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2019’s most advanced tech used in event planning! 23 Jan 2019

Technology has made the world such a small place; what was once the impossible, is now possible with the use of advanced technology now available so freely and is widely accessible to the many.

Advanced technologies are providing event planners with solutions for saving time, reducing costs and increasing efficiency with ease. Many event tools have been around for quite some time, but with constant updates and the ability to integrate with new platforms the event industry has benefitted hugely from technology to not only please today’s customer demands, but their clients too.  

Event planners can now view venues across the world without having to step on a plane or even leave their workplace, they can literally be in two places at once. Technology has re-shaped the event industry; in this blog we discuss the most advanced tech used in event planning in 2019!

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality has impacted the construction industry, as well as architecture, the healthcare industry and many more. One of the latest industries to benefit from VR is event planning, knowing what your event is going to look like is crucial and VR makes it so simple.

To understand the venue, a site visit is required, but time, money and distance can be problematic. VR makes venues more accessible than ever before, allowing anyone in the world to view a venue anywhere across the globe, meaning more venues can be viewed saving a lot of time and budget.

VR can also be great for tradeshows, demonstrating products that are too difficult to transport, or are too expensive.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence opens a wide range of opportunities for the event industry. From automated customer service, which aims to save employees time, to face recognition for attendees, enabling AI to be able to authenticate attendees single-handedly. Another tool that will improve efficiency and time are chatbots, they are a great tool to provide information to your attendees and answer their questions and queries, improving customer service and efficiency without disturbing staff.

Multi-Use Apps

Mobile event apps have been around for a long time, but with technology advancing, mobile apps can now do so much more. Creating a mobile app for your event, ensures attendees can access information on the go, at a click of a button.

Your own event mobile app can provide an array of information; the options are endless. Mobile apps can now integrate with AR and AI technology which will improve event communication, as well as make your event more memorable!

Event Diagramming

Event diagramming has become very popular; it is now even easier to envision your event in the venue. Event diagramming allows users to develop a mock-up of an event and turn it into a 3D diagram, all parties involved have access, improving communication and enables a more collaborative approach. Event planners receive dozens of special requests on the daily, and with the use of event diagramming they can easily arrange any special requirement and scenarios can be planned for if they were to happen. It’s extremely thorough, leaving nothing to chance.

Trusting a machine, rather than a human can be daunting. But, if you’re ready to take the plunge, the above technologies are a great place to start to improve service, efficiency and save time.

But even as technology advances, interaction with another human is what gives your event the personal touch. Hospitality Guaranteed appoints an event manager to provide the best possible product and service. HG One Stop is an online service designed to save time, money and confidence managing all aspects of your event, accommodation, conference and apprentice programme bookings in one easy to use system, it combines the latest online technology with a knowledgeable and experienced team.

James Daley