Event411, Inc., a developer of Web-based software used to plan and manage events, has partnered with Shangri-La Hotels' 38 hotels throughout Asia to offer its PremierPlanner online application to Shangri-La's meeting planner clients. The deal also involves EventClicks, a Hong Kong-based corporate event management company, which is Event411's distributor in Asia, a partnership announced last month.
Meeting organizers, based in North America or anywhere, can now opt to use the Event411 electronic registration, housing, or meeting management applications for any event at a Shangri-La property. According to Lawrence P. Howorth, chief operating officer for Event411, planners who need online registration, for example, can now purchase that application through the hotel, which in turn licenses the Event411 software through EventClicks. It's just an addition to the hotel's full menu of meeting services, says Howorth, such as onsite audiovisual services. It's up to the Shangri-La, and the meeting client, to decide how the electronic application is priced, whether it is bundled into the hotel/conference package rate or is priced separately.
Marina Del Rey, Calif.-based Event411 announced last month that it had appointed EventClicks to distribute and service its meeting management product throughout Asia. Because EventClicks is also a full-service meeting management firm, planners booking meetings at a Shangri-La can also opt to use EventClick's off-line services.
"We have decided that it is absolutely essential to have people 'on the ground' and in the same time zones," where the meeting is taking place, said Howorth. "So we're 'training the trainers' at EventClicks to service our clients in Asia. PremierPlanner is designed for those hotel meeting clients who may not have professional planners on staff."
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