According to the Global Business Travel Association, 80 percent of all meeting savings is realized during the venue sourcing process. To address this issue, cloud event management software provider etouches has developed etouches Venue Sourcing, which integrates sourcing and booking with meeting registration and approval, and an enterprise calendar.

etouches Venue Sourcing combines the features and functionality of the venue sourcing and booking platform Zentila, acquired by the company in 2016, with etouches’ event management software (EMS) solution.

“Meeting professionals must validate their success to senior management and stakeholders, making quick access to meetings data vital,” said Mike Tenholder, etouches’ vice president, channel and partner management.

He continued, “They can drive millions and even tens of millions of dollars in savings through strategic venue sourcing. We make strategic sourcing simple, so our customers can focus on creating incredible meetings and events, while we handle the data and analytics to maximize success.”

The platform provides access to 225,000 venues worldwide and automates the entire booking path, including venue search and negotiations, stakeholder communication and contracting. Meetings are routed automatically to decision-makers for approval through a standard registration process.

etouches ensures all planner-related information is instantly available, all in one place, making it easy to align events with corporate goals.

“The solution enables corporate event profs to centralize meetings and events data without centralizing teams,” Tenholder said.

He continued, “Meeting details flow seamlessly through the platform providing instant visibility. (Customers) can see at a glance vital details (such as the) number of meetings in the works companywide; exact status of each meeting; departments planning those meetings; budget details; compliance with corporate protocols; negotiated savings and spend by user, business unit and region, and more.”

etouches claims that Venue Sourcing captures 10 times more data while reducing sourcing and booking time by up to 70 percent, enabling organizations to handle more meetings with the same size staff.

The platform is easy to deploy, requiring minimal-to-no training, allowing meetings and events professionals to immediately start leveraging brand spend and driving more value.

etouches has assisted over 25,000 event professionals in planning, executing and measuring their events. With a focus on event sourcing, registration, marketing, logistics, engagement, mobile and data analytics, the company serves more than 1,300 customers including leading corporations, associations, agencies and educational institutions globally.

Within the past 12 months, etouches has executed 46,000 events with a total of 5.8 million registrations.

Earlier this year, etouches announced it was acquired by HGGC, a middle-market private equity firm. HGGC’s investment will help etouches expand its business and further invest in its market-leading cloud platform.

For more information on etouches, go HERE.

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