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Archives
2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
StarCite has an impressive history. Scan our Archives of past press releases to see our milestones.
News Coverage 2006
What Could Put You Over the Edge?
Corporate Meetings and Incentives, December, 2006
Buyers Expect International Mtg. Costs To Rise
Business Travel News, December 4, 2006
2006 Motivation Show Highlights: Time to Re-Think Peru
Corporate Meetings and Incentives, November, 2006
ING Meetings: Strength in Numbers
Finance and Insurance Meetings, November, 2006
StarCite's operations goes global
Travel Daily News, November 22, 2006
Managing Meetings At The Timken Co.: Procurement Methods Save Time...
Business Travel News, November 6, 2006
Mtg. Space Via GDS Near
Business Travel News - November 6, 2006
3 Views You Can Use - To run more efficient meetings, take a page from
the playbooks of Hewlett-Packard, Pfizer, and American Standard
Successful Meetings, October, 2006
Procurement Permeates Corp. Meetings Decisions
Business Travel News, October 9, 2006
Buyers Deploy Internal Meeting Portals As Compliance, Education Tools,
Business Travel News, October 9, 2006
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
New York Times, September 18, 2006
End is Nigh for the Cheese Sandwich
Financial Times, September 18, 2006
New Challenges, New Opportunities For Incentive Travel
Workforce Management Magazine, September, 2006
StarCite and OnVantage in Stunning Merger
Business Travel News, August 14, 2006
Managing Meetings At PricewaterhouseCoopers: Adding Staff To Save Millions
Meetings Today, 8/14/2006
Pharma Cos. Seek Specialized Meetings Vendors
Meetings Today, 8/14/2006
Web-based StarCite, OnVantage to merge
The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 9, 2006
OnVantage, StarCite To Merge
Management Travel, August 09, 2006
Meeting News names John Pino as one of its Top Doers
& Movers
Meetings News, July 17, 2006
TMCs Standardize Globally
Business Travel News, July 17, 2006
Pharma Co. Finds Policy Cure
Business Travel News, July 17, 2006
Best Meetings Practitioners Of 2006: Decentralized
HP's Matarazzo Turns Tech Rollout Into Huge Savings
Business Travel News , July 17, 2006
Best Meetings Practitioners of 2006: Pfizer's Shillam
Unifies Meetings Programs Worldwide, Deploys Tech
Business Travel News, July 17, 2006
OnVantage Tests Room Block Booking Tool: Debuts Tool
To Book Small Events Without meeting Space, Using Standard Hotel Contract
Business Travel News, July 17, 2006
OnVantage Launches Small-Meetings Booking Service
MeetingNews, July 7, 2006
OnVantage Builds Small Meeting Product
Corporate Meetings & Incentives, June 29, 2006
OnVantage Releases Booking Tool For Small Meetings
Business Travel News, June 26, 2006
Buyers Keep Site Control
Business Travel News, June 5, 2006
Boom for Meeting e-RFPs
Corporate Meetings & Incentives, June 1, 2006
As Tech Job Cuts Decline, Employers Chafe
at Demands of Workers
E-Commerce Times, May 18, 2006
Web Sites of the Month: Online RFPs
Successful Meetings, May 13, 2006
Boom for Meetings
e-RFPs
MeetingsNet Extra, May 4, 2006
Malinchok Courts StarCite Partners
Business Travel News, May 1, 2006
Small Mtg. Space Scarce: Buyers Trying Techniques
To Address Tight Hotel
Availability In The Short Term
BTN Online, April 3, 2006
Meetings Beat: StarCite Rolls Out Budget Estimator
Business Travel News, April 3, 2006
RFP Cos. Add Integration For ‘07 Bids
Business Travel News, April 3, 2006
Small Mtg. Space Scarce: Buyers Trying Techniques To Address Tight
Hotel Availability In The Short Term
Business Travel
News, April 3, 2006
McCormick Place Receives Cardiac Emergency-Response Certification
Successful Meetings, March 30, 2006
Smaller cities roll out red
carpet for big conventions
An analysis by StarCite, a website where corporations
book meetings in hotels and convention centers, shows that smaller cities dominate
the list of places with the fastest growth in inquiries.
WTMI Pulls Tech Plug
Business Travel News, February 6, 2006
Hotels Further E-Booking Story Highlights Hyatt's Real-time Response
to RFPs Through StarCite Technology
BTNonline.com, January 23, 2006
CEO Charts Course: One-On-One With StarCite's Michael Boult
BTNonline.com, January 23, 2006
The 26 Most Influential Executives Of the Business Travel Industry,
2005
BTNonline.com, January 23, 2006
Tricks and Tips For More Effective Meetings
Purchasing.com, January 12, 2006
News Coverage 2005
Cisco Does A 360
MeetingsNet, December 1, 2005
Tracking the Small Ones
Corporate Meetings and Incentives, December 1, 2005
Carlson Hotels Worldwide Deploys MeetingBroker Across All Properties
Hospitality Net, November 17, 2005
The Embattled Swipe-Card Hotel Key
The New York Times, November 8, 2005
A Foreign Foray For StarCite
Meeting News, November 7, 2005
StarCite Reports Results For Q3 2005
Hotels Magazine, November 7, 2005
Hyatt.com Enhances Meetings Options
Internet Travel News, November 1, 2005
StarCite and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Offering Real-Time
Booking Data to Meeting Planners
Travel Daily News.com, November 1, 2005
Pharma Meeting Pro Becomes Consultant for Tech Co.
MeetingsNet, November 1, 2005
StarCite and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Are First To Offer
Real-Time Booking Data to Meeting Planners
Hotels Magazine, October 31, 2005
Co. To See Returns On Online Tool Investment
BTN Online, October 17, 2005
StarCite Founder Relinquishes CEO Title
Meeting News, October 13, 2005
OnVantage
Search Engine to Identify Cardiac-Certified Venues
Successful Meetings, October 11, 2005
New Directions in Technology, StarCite GMS Leading The Way
Smartmeetings Magazine, Techno Files Feature, October 2005 Issue
Tech Partnership Aggregates Meetings, Transient Travel
Meeting News, September 20, 2005
Policy, Standard Contract Saves Millions
BTN Online, September 19, 2005
OnVantage Taps Corp. Buyer For New Consulting Service
BTN Online, September 19, 2005
Tech Firms Go Strategic
Meeting News, September 12, 2005
wma.
Audio File
Chubb's Sherri Bonsal Deploys End-To-End Meeting Process
Business Travel News, August 15, 2005
StarCite Integrates All Tools
Business Travel News, August 15, 2005
Mtgs. Consolidation On The Rise
BTN Online, August 15, 2005
StarCite, HelmsBriscoe Offer Marketing Package to CVBs
MeetingNews.com, August 4, 2005
Online Booking Expands Beyond U.S., Individual Travel
BTN Online, August 1, 2005
Gaining Control Over the Planning
Process (PDF)
Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine, August 2005
StarCite Aiming For The Stars
Philadelphia Business Journal, July 29, 2005
The
25 Most Influential People In The Meetings Industry
MeetingNews.com, July 25, 2005
Delphi Developer, StarCite Partner On New RFP Response
Tool
MeetingNews.com, July 25, 2005
Hewlett-Packard Plans $23M Savings Through Tech Rollout
Business Travel News, July 18, 2005
TQ3Navigant Selects StarCite
Business Travel News, July 18, 2005
Pharmaceutical Cos. Increase Mtgs., Global Management
BTN Online, July 18, 2005
Mtg. Euro Tech Demand: Two Supplier Alliances Capitalize On
Burgeoning Overseas Market
BTN Online, June 6, 2005
OnVantage's European Division Partners With American Express
Ask BTE, May 12, 2005
Meeting trend: end-to-end
TravelMole, May 12, 2005
Amex Aligns Meeting Card W/ Expense System For European Offering
BTN Online, May 11, 2005
Software Upgrade Promises Faster Hotel RFP Response
MeetingNews.com, May 4, 2005
OnVantage Executives Envision Transactional Frontier
BTN Online, April 18, 2005
The 25 Most Influential Executives, 2004
BTN Online, January 17, 2005
Buyers Drive Maturation Of Attendee Management Tech
BTN Online, January 17, 2005
Policy Points
M&C Online, January 2005
News Coverage 2004
PlanSoft is new Radisson meeting service
(PDF)
Travel Mole, December 15, 2004
Hilton
Eases Buying Process Via Package Of Web Enhancements
Meeting News, December 13, 2004
Allergan: Pharm. Co. Smooths Contracts
BTN Online, December 6, 2004
Radisson Launches Inventory Search Engine
BTN Online, December 6, 2004
Group Air Management Technology Yet To Tackle Booking
BTN Online, December 6, 2004
Merger
Creates Mega Provider Of Meetings Tech
Meeting News, September 20, 2004
Mtgs. Tech Rivals Unite: PlanSoft, SeeUthere Merge; Tech Industry Consolidation
Peaks
BTN Online, September 20, 2004
PlanSoft and seeUthere Mega-Merger: OnVantage
MeetingsNet, September 3, 2004
PlanSoft and seeUthere Merge to Create OnVantage, Delivering the Largest, Most
Comprehensive Marketplace for Meetings
Forbes, September 3, 2004
Meetings Today Names Top Practitioners of 2004: Lilly,
Intel, ING, Lockheed Martin
Business Travel News Meetings Today, August 2, 2004
Intel Rolls Out Single Meetings Tech Platform
Business Travel News Meetings Today, August 2, 2004
Eli Lilly Mandates Preferred Hotel Program For Meetings
Business Travel News Meetings Today, August 2, 2004
Veterans' Day: Highly Valued Planners Remain Committed
for the Long Haul
Meetings And Conventions, July 2004
Prepare for the Inquisition: Corporate Planners Can Expect
More Scrutiny In the Wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Successful Meetings, April 1, 2004
News Coverage 2003
Register This: StarCite Buys b-there
Corporate Meetings & Incentives, Sept. 1, 2003
StarCite Acquires Online Reg Competitor b-there
Trade Show Week, August 18, 2003
Crusade for Consolidation
Medical Meetings, July 1, 2003
21st Century Site Selection
Convene, June 2003
Big-Market Hotels Check In With Greater Losses in Sept.
Washington Business Journal, October 22, 2001
Hyatt RFP Tool Now On StarCite
Meeting News, February 17, 2003
Role Of Purchasing Departments Widens
Meeting News, May 5, 2003
News Coverage 2001
StarCite Tops $10M In Financing
Philadelphia Business Journal, May 28, 2001
Web Sites Make It Easy To Organize Conference Online
San Antonio Business Journal, March 5, 2001
News Coverage Articles 2005
OnVantage’s European Division Partners With American Express
May 12, 2005 — Travent, a division of OnVantage that provides meetings-management technology, has teamed up with American Express to launch MeetingView Express, an expense-management solution. The tool enables European clients that use the American Express Corporate Meeting Card to track and manage their meetings and events spending.
May 12, 2005 — Meeting travel businesses are apt more than ever to want end-to-end solutions, says Dan Ortega, who has 23 years of experience in marketing.
“As technology gets stronger, the ability to offer end-to-end solutions is becoming more compelling,” said Mr Ortega, vice president of marketing, OnVantage.
Another trend is to buy the expertise rather than try to do it in-house, he said.
“They (companies) are more likely to end up buying it rather than building it themselves,” he said.
Companies are also increasingly merging to combine their efforts to offer complete service.
Mr Ortega’s own company is an example.
It is a merger between seeUthere Technologies and PlanSoft Corporation, which happened about six months ago.
For meeting suppliers, OnVantage provides technology solutions for managing leads for meetings and events.
For corporations, OnVantage offers planning and spend management solutions for meetings and events.
The merger gives OnVantage the chance to broaden its marketing efforts towards small, medium and large companies.
The Santa Clara, Calif.,-based company connects over 400 of the Fortune 500 companies and thousands of other corporations and associations to a global network of over 40,000 hotel rooms and 30,000 meeting suppliers.
Report by David Wilkening
2006 Press Releases
Click on headlines for full story
Orbitz Worldwide, StarCite Integrate Online Travel Booking Functionality to Meetings Management Application
July 24, 2007
StarCite completes merger with OnVantage
January, 2007
StarCite-OnVantage Announce Third Quarter 2006 Results
November 20, 2006
StarCite and OnVantage Merge, Creating
The Largest Global On-Demand Meetings Management Company
(PDF)
August 9, 2006
Onvantage Introduces EasyBook: The Industry's
First Solution For Efficiently Booking Small Meetings
June 26th, 2006
StarCite Marketplace Reaches Key Milestone - 1 Million
RFPs (PDF)
May 2, 2006
StarCite Kicks Off 2006 With Strong Momentum
(PDF)
April 24, 2006
StarCite Launches Meeting Estimator™
(PDF)
April 4, 2006
StarCite and HelmsBrisco Renew Partnership With
Five-Year Deal (PDF)
February 22, 2006
StarCite Announces Exceptional 2005 Performance
(PDF)
February 13, 2006
StarCite and WorldTravel Meetings and Incentives
Partnership (PDF)
February 6, 2006
Corporate Meeting Suppliers Use StarCite Online
Marketplace By Two To One Margin Over Alternatives (PDF)
January 18 , 2006
American Express Business Travel Launches First Electronic
Arena For Negotiating Corporate Meeting Venues (PDF)
January 17, 2006
OnVantage Secures $18M in Series
B Financing to Accelerate Growth
January 17th, 2006
2005 Press Releases
Click on headlines for full story
StarCite Reports Results For Q3 2005
November 7 , 2005
StarCite and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Are First
to Offer Real-Time Booking Data to Meeting Planners
October 31, 2005
StarCite Names Michael Boult as Chief Executive Officer
October 13, 2005
StarCite and Uversa Announce Partnership to Integrate
Meetings and Transient Travel Data
September 20, 2005
StarCite To Preview StarCite GMS™ Technology, Next
Generation On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™
August 15, 2005
HelmsBriscoe, StarCite Announce CVB Marketing Solution That
Combines Competitive Insight, Marketing, Ads
August 4, 2005
StarCite Reports Results For Q2 2005
August 2, 2005
TQ3Navigant Selects StarCite As Online Meeting Management
Technology Provider
July 11, 2005
StarCite Names Michael Boult President and Chief Operating
Officer
June 7, 2005
Maritz Europa, StarCite Announce Partnership
May 10, 2005
Morgans Hotel Group First To Integrate Daylight, StarCite
To Speed Group Meeting Response
May 9, 2005
StarCite Results for Q1 2005
May 9, 2005
Newmarket International Teams With StarCite For An
Integrated RFP Solution
May 2, 2005
Tiburon Hospitality Sees 400% Growth With StarCite
April 18, 2005
Pyramid Advisors Offers StarCite Reg Tools
April 12, 2005
StarCite Reports Record Results For 2004
March 22, 2005
Press Releases 2006
StarCite and OnVantage Merge,
Creating The Largest Global On-Demand Meetings Management Company
August 9, 2006
New Company Greatly Increases Capacity To Apply On-Demand Software Approach
To Largely Unmanaged $300 Billion Global Meetings Market
PHILADELPHIA, PA and SANTA CLARA, CA – August 9, 2006 – StarCite, Inc. and OnVantage, Inc. today announced a merger that creates the largest on-demand meetings management company in the $300 billion global marketplace for corporate meetings and events and positions the company for accelerated future growth.
"On-demand global meetings management is the future of the meetings industry," said Michael Boult, President and Chief Executive Officer of StarCite. "With only about three percent of meetings spending currently under management, this business is a virtually untouched frontier of corporate spending. The new StarCite has the opportunity to bring buyers and suppliers together electronically on an unprecedented scale, saving millions for corporations and delivering lucrative meetings business directly to hotels. We have doubled the resources we can devote to continuously improving our solutions, expanding our global footprint and broadening our ability to promote best practices in meetings management."
The new company, which will operate under the StarCite name, plans to provide substantial documented cost-savings for corporations and over $5 billion in revenue opportunities for the new company's supplier community. The new StarCite expects to:
- Work with leading global corporations across industries, including Amgen, Caterpillar, Cisco, Motorola, Nestle, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Shell.
- Deliver over $5 billion in revenue opportunities to its supplier database, up 50 percent from 2005.
- Operate a greatly expanded global meetings marketplace that links buyers with 93,000 hotel properties and meetings suppliers in every key market around the world.
- Work with all major hotel chains including Accor, Fairmont, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Marriott, Omni, Starwood, and Wyndham.
- Process over 2.5 million attendee registrations per year, an increase of 50 percent over 2005.
"Implementing a strategic meetings management program is critical to a corporation that wants to maximize the value of the dollars it spends on enterprise-wide meetings, as well as increase its visibility into that spend in an efficient and scalable way," said Michele Snock, Global Manager, Meeting Services, Cisco Systems, Inc. "With its global reach via the Internet, on-demand solutions, and unmatched supplier database, the new StarCite enables a company to do just that."
"The time is right for this merger," said John Chang, Chief Executive Officer of OnVantage. "OnVantage and StarCite have long shared a vision of reshaping the meetings business through on-demand meetings management solutions. Together, we will clarify the choice for buyers when selecting a meetings management partner and significantly accelerate adoption of this technology around the world."
The new StarCite will continue to offer best-in-class technology to power lead management and RFP traffic for "private label" hotel websites - historically an area of strength for both OnVantage and StarCite. The combined company's technology will power private label meetings sites for hotel brands such as Adams Mark, Aramark, Carlson, Destination Hotels, Fairmont, Hilton, Hyatt, LXR, Morgans, Omni, Starwood, and Wyndham.
"StarCite will directly deliver over $5 billion in meeting revenue opportunities to hotels that would be almost impossible to identify, aggregate and capture otherwise," said Fred Shea, Vice President of Sales for Global Hyatt. "By significantly increasing the number of potential opportunities flowing through their combined online marketplace solutions, we believe the new StarCite will become an even more valuable partner in the future."
Another area of continued growth for the new StarCite is its strong partner relationships with many of the world's leading travel agencies and meetings management companies. These worldclass partners include American Express Business Travel, BCD Meetings and Incentives, Conference Direct, Conferon Global Services, HelmsBriscoe, Maritz Travel Company, and Navigant Performance Group. The new StarCite is backed by leading investors that include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE), Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), Texas Pacific Group, and TL Ventures.
The new company will be headquartered in Philadelphia and will retain offices in Santa Clara, CA. Michael Boult will serve as President and CEO of the new StarCite. John Chang will serve as Chairman and drive integration efforts, and John Pino, StarCite's founder, will serve as President, StarCite International, with a focus on international growth and partner strategies. The company will have offices around the world, including the U.S., London, Dusseldorf, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
The company expects to move forward rapidly with business integration, bringing
together best-of-breed technology and business practices from both organizations.
Customers of both companies will proceed under the current terms of their contracts,
using their respective OnVantage or StarCite technology and service solutions, through
December 2007. The transaction is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of
2006. Terms of the merger were not disclosed.
About StarCite, Inc.
StarCite, Inc. is a provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™. StarCite
optimizes global investments in corporate meetings and events delivering visibility,
savings and control. StarCite provides process efficiency, enabling technology and
proven adoption management support to drive significant cost reduction to buyers
and enhanced revenues to suppliers. StarCite is based in Philadelphia. Investors
in StarCite include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE); Maritz Travel Company;
Seaport Capital; and TL Ventures. For more information about StarCite, or its technologies
and services, please visit www.starcite.com.
About OnVantage, Inc.
OnVantage™, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is a technology provider
for the $300 billion global market for the professional meetings and events industry.
OnVantage offers flexible solutions to help corporations save time and money by
automating the planning and procurement of large and small meetings with unprecedented
cost control and spend visibility. OnVantage also makes it easy for meeting suppliers
to grow their groups and meetings business by offering increased visibility with
Fortune 1000 meeting planners as well as helping them efficiently manage and track
the RFP process. A global corporation, OnVantage has sales and customer service
operations in the U.S., UK, Germany and Hong Kong. OnVantage and OnVantage Marketplace
for Meetings are trademarks of OnVantage, Inc. All other names, brands, or products
may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
StarCite Media Contact:
John Hartz
Sloane & Company
212-446-1872
jhartz@sloanepr.com
Onvantage Introduces EasyBook: The Industry's First Solution For Efficiently Booking Small Meetings
Comprehensive Product Addresses Corporations' Dissatisfaction with the
Lack of Information, Efficiency and Compliance Around Small Meetings
Santa Clara, Calif. — June 26, 2006 — OnVantage™, Inc., the leading provider of technology solutions for meetings and events, today introduced EasyBook – the first solution for empowering end-users to book small meetings quickly and efficiently. With the addition of EasyBook, OnVantage now provides a comprehensive solution for gaining visibility and control over meetings of all sizes.
Increasingly, corporations are realizing the need to address inefficiencies associated with planning small meetings (under 50 attendees) which make up 80 percent of company meetings overall. Today’s market offerings target users with specialized meeting planning experience and do little to ensure that non-professional coordinators comply with corporate policies when booking small meetings. EasyBook provides a flexible solution that fills the current technology gap and addresses the industry demand.
Fortune 1000 companies already rely on OnVantage MeetingView™ to more efficiently manage larger meetings and their associated spend. With EasyBook, these corporations can gain visibility into small meetings and tap industry best practices in the procurement process. Over the last several months, OnVantage worked with both corporations and hotels to reach a consensus and create a standardized contract that applies to EasyBook transactions. Previously, corporations and hotels spent endless amounts of time negotiating contracts. For corporations, the standardized contract saves tremendous time, and it addresses certain risks missed by inexperienced meeting coordinators. For hotels, the contract offers fair terms that allows them to focus on offering the best price and service to customers.
EasyBook helps professional planners and administrative staff save both time and money, while benefiting from features such as search, availability, and instant rate quotes. Corporate users search for group hotel rates and availability, and book online through a search-and-book user interface that resembles current tools for booking individual travel – all without picking up the phone or sending a fax. In addition, this one stop solution enables companies to capture data on the frequency and expenses of these generally untracked small meetings.
Typically, the booking process for small meetings requires just as much time and effort as large meetings. With EasyBook, both corporations and suppliers benefit from a standardized booking process that alleviates the need for complex negotiation cycles. Increased visibility into small meeting spend will provide corporations with additional negotiating leverage for future contracts. In addition, EasyBook allows corporations to steer demand to preferred providers benefiting both suppliers and corporations.
“Currently, corporations that have invested in the creation and on-going management of corporate travel policies and facility sourcing agreements have little visibility and control over the frequency, costs and compliance associated with small meetings,” said John Chang, chief executive officer at OnVantage. “Based on customer input, we are confident that corporations – from procurement executives and corporate travel managers to administrative staff – will be pleased with their increased ability to make more strategic decisions that positively impact their company’s bottom line.”
About OnVantage, Inc.
OnVantage™, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is the leading technology
provider for the $300 billion global market for the professional meetings and events
industry. OnVantage offers flexible solutions to help corporations save time and
money by automating the planning and procurement of large and small meetings with
unprecedented cost control and spend visibility. Unlike any solution available on
the market today, OnVantage provides tools for actionable analysis and enables professionals
to manage meetings of all sizes in alignment with corporate policies. OnVantage
makes it easy for meeting suppliers to grow their groups and meetings business by
offering increased visibility with Fortune 1000 meeting planners as well as helping
them efficiently manage and track the RFP process. A global corporation, OnVantage
has sales and customer service operations in the U.S., UK, Germany and Hong Kong.
More information on OnVantage can be found at www.onvantage.com.
###
OnVantage and OnVantage Marketplace for Meetings are trademarks of OnVantage, Inc.
All other names, brands, or products may be trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective owners.
StarCite Marketplace Reaches Key Milestone of One MIllion RFPs
Marketplace Provides Buyers with Connectivity, Access, and Rapid Response to a Database that Exceeds 80,000 Listings and 40,000 Properties
StarCite Expects to Marketplace to Reach Two Million RFPs by 2008
PHILADELPHIA , PA – May 2, 2006 – StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™, announced today that its StarCite Marketplace has successfully processed its one-millionth Request for Proposal (RFP). Si nce its inception in 1999 StarCite’s Marketplace has revolutionized the way corporate meeting planners and hotels conduct business, by providing an efficient, reliable and convenient platform for meeting managers and suppliers to connect.
The StarCite Marketplace was created with the goal of lending organization and accountability to the meeting planning process. The Marketplace allows meetings professionals to access StarCite’s database and quickly send and receive electronic RFPs, with the confidence that comes from StarCite’s industry leading technology. After six years in operation the StarCite Marketplace reached the 500,000 RFP threshold. From this point it took a mere eighteen months for Marketplace to reach its one-millionth RFP. Amazingly, 150,000 RFPs were processed through its Marketplace in the first quarter of 2006 alone.
“Starwood, and more specifically the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, are honored to be the recipient of the one-millionth lead from the StarCite Marketplace. Because of our strong partnership with StarCite over the years, we have been able to see continued growth in our business and more leads delivered to our hotels,” said Carol Lynch, Starwood’s V.P. Global Sales Group North America Division, who successfully sourced the one-millionth RFP.
“The StarCite Online Marketplace is a critically important business channel for our Meeting Services department,” said Susan Owens, Manager, Travel & Meeting Services, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., who placed the one-millionth RFP. “We have adopted this process and now conduct our meetings business using StarCite exclusively. It is the only meeting service channel we utilize for centralized eRFP management, and we are thrilled to be a part of such a significant milestone.”
“We could not be more pleased about reaching 1,000,000 RFPs,” said Michael Boult, President and CEO of StarCite. “The Marketplace has always been at the heart of our business, and this very significant milestone serves as validation that StarCite’s business model works! The Marketplace allows our corporate clients to source their meetings more efficiently, while saving money and gaining valuable insight into their meetings program. Simultaneously, our supplier community of over 40,000 hotels is receiving substantive leads which translate into more
business. It is important to note that these RFPs are exclusive to our Marketplace and do not take into account the private label electronic platforms which StarCite also supports for many of the leading hotel chains, such as Fairmont, Omni, Hyatt, and Morgans.”
“The exceptional growth of the StarCite Marketplace is testament to its tremendous value proposition and indicative of a significant shift in how meetings professionals and suppliers conduct business,” said John Pino, Executive Chairman and Founder of StarCite. “Everyday more and more meeting managers and hotels are bridging the gap between customer and supplier and discovering the tangible benefits of utilizing StarCite’s Marketplace. For the past seven years the Marketplace has demonstrated the viability, and inherent value, of a properly managed Business to Business marketplace and proven that ‘B to B’ is alive and well.”
About StarCite, Inc.
StarCite, Inc. is the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™. StarCite optimizes global investments in corporate meetings and events delivering visibility, savings and control. StarCite provides process efficiency, enabling technology and proven adoption management support to drive significant cost reduction to buyers and enhanced revenues to suppliers. StarCite is based in Philadelphia. Investors in StarCite include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE); Maritz Travel Company; Seaport Capital; and TL Ventures. For more information about StarCite, or its technologies and services, please visit www.starcite.com .
Products and services include:
- StarCite GMS™ – the integrated platform that powers StarCite’s Global Meeting Solutions approach and five steps to guaranteed success – Plan, Budget, Buy, Attend and Measure.
- StarCite Marketplace – the world’s largest online meetings marketplace with $2 billion in revenue opportunities.
- StarCite Adoption Management – proven implementation, training, benchmarking, customer support, account management and outsourced services that help you target achievable savings and improve overall results.
StarCite Media Contact:
John Hartz
Sloane & Company
212-446-1872
jhartz@sloanepr.com
StarCite Kicks Off 2006 With Strong Momentum
Launch of Innovative Services, New Hires and Continued Global Expansion
Close Out Excellent First Quarter
PHILADELPHIA, PA – April 24, 2006 – StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™, today announced that the firm closed out the first quarter of 2006 with record-breaking growth for the StarCite Marketplace, driving 47% more commerce through the Marketplace as compared to the same quarter in 2005. In addition, during the quarter the firm launched its new Supplier Response Center and Meeting Estimator™ tool and announced two new executive appointments in support of its continued growth.
“2006 has started off with a bang,” said Michael Boult, president and CEO of StarCite. “In addition to a 47% increase in commerce through our Online Marketplace this quarter compared to 2005, we have experienced tremendous growth in sales and registration activity, which has paved the way for a year of continued success. We are thrilled with our momentum as our growing client base looks to us for help managing their meeting spend with innovative technology tools, strong customer service and the most comprehensive online marketplace available.”
New Product Launches
In the first quarter of 2006, StarCite officially launched its Supplier Response
Center, which is the first module of its GMS platform. The Supplier
Response Center helps suppliers manage and respond to electronic RFPs with more
efficiency. The firm also launched Meeting Estimator™,
a tool that lets meeting planners make more informed decisions by quickly comparing
the potential costs of holding a meeting in different locations. In a simple three-step
process, meeting planners can enter the basic departure and destination information
for attendees and get estimates for holding a meeting in various locations before
having to make a financial commitment.
New Hires
StarCite recently named Michael Malinchok as vice president of
Partner Development and Jason Atlas as vice president of Product
Development. Mr. Malinchok has joined StarCite to lead the firm’s Strategic
Partners Program. With 22 years of experience in the meetings industry, he
is responsible for forging industry alliances, identifying new areas of opportunity
and driving increased value for both StarCite and its strategic partners.
Previously, Mr. Malinchok was vice president for WTMI’s meetings technology
operations in which he spearheaded the development of a strategic partnership with
StarCite.
As vice president of product development, Mr. Atlas brings 15 years of leadership experience in Internet and core server software product design as well as enterprise service management. He is responsible for all phases of StarCite’s technology development including product specification, engineering, quality assurance and documentation as well as leading the firm’s offshore initiatives. Prior to joining StarCite, Mr. Atlas was director of Media Technologies at Bloomberg LP and held positions at Microsoft where he pioneered several product developments.
Relationship Building
During the first quarter, StarCite added new marquee clients for its technology
platform including two large financial and investment services companies, a major
food and beverage manufacturer, and a leading incentive and event planning company.
StarCite acquired significant new business with several other major corporations
through collaborative business wins with its strategic partners. The firm closed
a new strategic partnership with WorldTravel Meetings & Incentives and renewed
its 5-year contract with HelmsBriscoe.
StarCite’s global solutions continue to expand within its existing client base. In the first quarter, StarCite began providing Cisco Systems with strategic sourcing in Asia-Pacific and expanded its deployment with Motorola to the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). StarCite also expanded its relationships with HP, Virtual Meeting Strategies and the American Cancer Society.
Supplier and Destination Marketing
The marketing consortiums in Peru and Austria were expanded in the first quarter
to include agreements with both nations’ tourism offices and new local destination
partners. StarCite also signed new marketing partnerships with Barcelo Hotels, Hilton
Garden Inn, LXR Luxury Resorts, Palace Resorts and Leading Hotels of the World.
Crowne Plaza, Embassy Suites, NH Hotels and the Remington Hotel Management Company
expanded their existing marketing partnerships.
Marketplace Growth
StarCite showed exceptional growth within its Online Marketplace, as commerce flowing
through the Marketplace grew a total of 47% in the first quarter of 2006 compared
to the same quarter in 2005, reaching new company highs. StarCite delivered more
than 150,000 gross RFPs in the quarter to hotels, providing $681 million in meeting
RFP opportunities. These RFPs supplied more than 2 million room night leads to hotels,
an average of 144 nights per lead. On a daily basis, the Marketplace provided more
than $10 million worth of lead opportunities to hotels.
About StarCite, Inc.
StarCite, Inc. is the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™.
StarCite optimizes global investments in corporate meetings and events delivering
visibility, savings and control. StarCite provides process efficiency, enabling
technology and proven adoption management support to drive significant cost reduction
to buyers and enhanced revenues to suppliers. StarCite is based in Philadelphia.
Investors in StarCite include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE); Maritz Travel
Company; Seaport Capital; and TL Ventures. For more information about StarCite,
or its technologies and services, please visit www.starcite.com.
Products and services include:
- StarCite GMS™ – the integrated platform that powers StarCite’s Global Meeting Solutions approach and five steps to guaranteed success – Plan, Budget, Buy, Attend and Measure.
- StarCite Marketplace – the world’s largest online meetings marketplace with $2 billion in revenue opportunities.
- StarCite Adoption Management – proven implementation, training, benchmarking, customer support, account management and outsourced services that help you target achievable savings and improve overall results.
StarCite Media Contact:
John Hartz, Sloane & Company
212-446-1872
StarCite Launches Meeting Estimator
New Instrument Lets Customers Compare Costs of Planning a Meeting in Various Locations with Simplicity and Speed
PHILADELPHIA, PA – April 4,
2006 – StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of On Demand Global
Meeting Solutions™, today announced the launch of Meeting Estimator™,
a tool that lets meeting planners make more informed decisions by quickly comparing
the potential costs of holding a meeting in different locations. The first of its
kind in the meetings management industry, Meeting Estimator™ was created to
provide customers with a simple, high-speed, online method to compare air and hotel
rates for different destinations before they make a financial commitment.
The estimates are provided automatically, with totals and average per-person costs
calculated through the StarCite Online Marketplace, the industry’s most efficient
marketplace with more than 50,000 eRFPs and $2 Billion worth of meeting opportunities
this year.
“The complexity of comparing different locations and estimating potential
air and hotel costs has traditionally been daunting for meeting planners,”
said Michael Boult, President and Chief Executive Officer of StarCite. “We
developed the Meeting Estimator to help cut through the clutter and enable planners
to make better, more informed decisions. This product provides another way
for our customers to work with StarCite to better manage their meeting spend and
invest their meetings dollars more effectively.”
In addition to calculating the total and average per-person costs for a potential meeting in each location, the Meeting Estimator™ has a built-in support system that allows planners to include day-only attendees that don’t require transportation or hotel rooms within their estimates. Other features include the ability to tailor cost assumptions to match companies’ typical event profiles and the capability to export data generated by the tool directly to Excel programs, enabling more streamlined communication amongst team members.
The three-step process to use the Meeting Estimator™ includes:
- Step 1 – Identifying the potential locations for
the meeting: The meeting planner enters the city (or cities) in
which he/she is considering holding a meeting as well as the airport (or airports)
where he/she plan on having attendees arrive;
- Step 2 – Entering the origin cities of impending
attendees: The meeting planner enters the airports from which attendees
will be arriving, and the number of people flying from each location;
- Step 3 – Retrieving the estimate:
Meeting Estimator™ will automatically calculate total and average-per-person
costs for the meeting in each location.
. Investors in StarCite include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE); Maritz Travel Company; Seaport Capital; and TL Ventures. For more information about StarCite, or its technologies and services, please visit www.starcite.com.
Products and services include:
StarCite Marketplace – the world’s largest online meetings marketplace with $2 billion in revenue opportunities and 50,000 eRFPs.
StarCite Adoption Management
– proven implementation, training, benchmarking, customer support, account
management and outsourced services that help you target achievable savings and improve
overall results.
Sloane & Company
212-446-1877
StarCite and HelmsBriscoe Renew Partnership With Five-Year Deal
StarCite’s Industry-leading Online Marketplace Supports Outstanding Company Growth and Enhanced Quality of RFPs for HelmsBriscoe
PHILADELPHIA, PA – February 22, 2006 – StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™, today announced that HelmsBriscoe, the world’s largest meetings and conference resource firm, has renewed a five-year contract to incorporate StarCite’s Online Marketplace into its ‘HB Express’ tool. By integrating the StarCite Marketplace into its offering, HelmsBriscoe associates have been able to source meetings to suppliers with increased efficiency and enhanced speed since 2002. As the world’s largest online meetings marketplace with $2 billion in revenue opportunities, the StarCite Marketplace helps streamline the request for proposal process for HelmsBriscoe clients.
“StarCite’s pioneering technology has directly contributed to our success over the last three years and we are confident that our partnership will continue to enhance our business for the next five years,” said Roger Helms, Founder and CEO of HelmsBriscoe. “Their new Supplier Response Center offers even more technological capabilities to better serve our clients, and helps our hotels manage electronic RFPs almost immediately by offering clients instant information, including space availability and pricing.”
“We have also been very impressed with StarCite’s database, particularly its international growth,” added Greg Malark, Executive Vice President of HelmsBriscoe.
Since the beginning of its relationship with StarCite in 2002, HelmsBriscoe has grown 30% per year. Each year, the company sources more than 15,000 requests for proposals through the StarCite Online Marketplace and books well over 2.7 million room nights a year with over $500 million in room spend. Today HelmsBriscoe works with 740 sales associates throughout North America to service over 7,000 clients, while continuing to build its international presence with over 120 associates in 23 countries around the world. HelmsBriscoe and StarCite have trained thousands of hotels on executing StarCite’s unique technology to give them access to faster and more accurate RFP information.
“We are very proud to be working side by side with the fastest growing international meetings sourcing firm in the world for another five years,” said Michael Boult, President and Chief Executive Officer of StarCite, Inc. “StarCite and HelmsBriscoe are focused on growing our businesses domestically and internationally by implementing the most effective and advanced technology to improve client services. Together, we have enhanced one another’s global success and we are very excited about what’s to come.”
In addition to the co-developed version of the StarCite Marketplace listed on the HelmsBriscoe platform, the companies will continue to collaborate on a technology platform that combines HelmsBriscoe’s account management and back office systems with StarCite to improve the tracking of business and internal operations flow. HelmsBriscoe also continues to gain access to comprehensive reporting that details its company spend by meeting, supplier, chain or spend category, vastly increasing efficiencies, reducing costs and improving customer service.
About StarCite, Inc.
StarCite, Inc. is the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™.
StarCite optimizes global investments in corporate meetings and events delivering
visibility, savings and control. StarCite provides process efficiency, enabling
technology and proven adoption management support to drive significant cost reduction
to buyers and enhanced revenues to suppliers. StarCite is based in Philadelphia.
Investors in StarCite include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE); Maritz Travel
Company; Seaport Capital; and TL Ventures. For more information about StarCite,
or its technologies and services, please visit www.starcite.com
.
Products and services include:
- StarCite GMS™ – the integrated platform that powers StarCite’s Global Meeting Solutions approach and five steps to guaranteed success – Plan, Budget, Buy, Attend and Measure.
- StarCite Marketplace – the world’s largest online meetings marketplace with $2 billion in revenue opportunities and 50,000 eRFPs.
- StarCite Adoption Management – proven implementation, training, benchmarking, customer support, account management and outsourced services that help you target achievable savings and improve overall results.
About HelmsBriscoe
HelmsBriscoe (www.helmsbriscoe.com) is
the meeting industry’s leading conference resource firm. 740 associates
in 23 countries serve corporate, associate, and government clients in planning meetings
around the world. Its subsidiary, ResourceOne, is a full-service meeting management,
cruise, and air company. Founded in 1992, HelmsBriscoe is headquartered in
Scottsdale, Arizona.
StarCite Media Contact:
John Hartz
Sloane & Company
212-446-1872
jhartz@sloanepr.com
HelmsBriscoe Media Contact:
Kristy McCloud
HelmsBriscoe
480-718-1124
kmccloud@helmsbriscoe.com
StarCite Announces Exceptional 2005 Performance
Marquee Customer Wins, Increased Globalization, Enhanced Supplier Relationships and Strong Marketplace RFP Expansion, Drive Company Success
Excellent Fourth Quarter Results Round Out Groundbreaking Year
PHILADELPHIA , PA – February 13, 2006 – StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™, today announced that its corporate user base had provided a groundbreaking $2 billion in unique revenue opportunities for hotels in 2005 and a company high of over $551 million in meeting RFP opportunities in the fourth quarter alone. StarCite continued to show exceptional growth within its Online Marketplace, as commerce flowing through the marketplace grew a total of 42% in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to the same quarter in 2004 and a total of 49% from the year-end of 2004 to 2005. For the second consecutive quarter, StarCite delivered more than 100,000 gross RFPs to hotels. At the close of the fourth quarter, StarCite was providing over $8.7 million worth of lead opportunities to its hotels in its database on a daily basis, up 69% from 2004.
“The success that StarCite has seen in 2005 demonstrates the great value we are delivering to our corporate customers and to the supplier community,” said Michael Boult, president and CEO of StarCite, Inc., Philadelphia. “As corporations increasingly recognize the power of strategic meetings management, we believe this is just the beginning. Meetings remain one of the great untapped areas of corporate spend management. With $300 billion spent annually on meetings, we expect 2006 to be a year of continued growth and expansion.”
StarCite added a number of new corporate customers in the fourth quarter, including Proctor & Gamble, Limited Brands and The Timken Company. The fourth quarter also saw the growth of existing corporate relationships. StarCite provided technology enhancements or expanded services with a number of major clients, including the American Cancer Society, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, The Chubb Group and Gap, Inc. In the fall of 2005, the company also achieved an industry first when it announced a partnership with Uversa International, Inc., that gave clients the ability to aggregate corporate meetings and transient travel spend data together into one combined category.
Increased Globalization of Corporate Deployments and International Development
StarCite continues to build its presence around the world by providing its solutions to international clients and suppliers. In 2005, StarCite expanded its global technology and adoption management contract with Cisco Systems and its global management to the AsiaPacific with Motorola in 2005. In the fourth quarter, StarCite signed a new contract with John Deere Europe. These relationships further develop StarCite’s prominence within the global meetings management industry.
Enhanced Supplier Relationships
In the fourth quarter, Carlson Hotels Worldwide properties announced a full deployment of MeetingBroker™ throughout all of its 905 properties in 69 countries leveraging StarCite’s partnership with NewMarket International providing full two-way web services integration with Meeting Broker™ . StarCite also finalized an enhanced marketing agreement with a number of hotels within the Hilton Group PLC (Hilton International).
StarCite sold its marketing solutions to the following convention and visitors bureaus: Atlantic City, Meet Aruba and the Emerald Coast. New destination marketing partners included: Welcome Touristic Praha (Czech Republic); Welcome Touristic Budapest (Hungary); Wallace Travel Group (Ireland); Eshet Incoming (Israel); JW Marriott Lima(Peru); Swedish Travel & Tourism Council (Sweden); Windsor Barra Hotel, Sheraton Barra Hotel & Suites (Rio de Janeiro); and, Sterling Travel Associates (United Kingdom).
StarCite Marketplace RFP Growth
2005 closed as a record-breaking year for StarCite’s Online Marketplace with the number of gross RFP’s facilitated rising 43% from the fourth quarter 2004 and the total for the year rose 47%. These RFPs provided nearly 1.78 million room night leads to hotels, resulting in an average of 150 nights per lead. For the year 2005, StarCite provided 6.5 million room night leads to suppliers in RFPs alone with an average of 152 nights per lead.
About StarCite, Inc.
StarCite, Inc. is the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™. StarCite optimizes global investments in corporate meetings and events delivering visibility, savings and control. StarCite provides process efficiency, enabling technology and proven adoption management support to drive significant cost reduction to buyers and enhanced revenues to suppliers. StarCite is based in Philadelphia. Investors in StarCite include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE); Maritz Travel Company; Seaport Capital; and TL Ventures. For more information about StarCite, or its technologies and services, please visit www.starcite.com .
Products and services include:
- StarCite GMS™ – the integrated platform that powers StarCite’s Global Meeting Solutions approach and five steps to guaranteed success – Plan, Budget, Buy, Attend and Measure.
- StarCite Marketplace – the world’s largest online meetings marketplace with $2 billion in revenue opportunities and 50,000 eRFPs.
- StarCite Adoption Management – proven implementation, training, benchmarking, customer support, account management and outsourced services that help you target achievable savings and improve overall results.
StarCite Media Contact:
Cindy Stoller
Sloane & Company
212-446-1877
cstoller@sloanepr.com
StarCite and WorldTravel Meetings & Incentives (WTMI) Announce Strategic Partnership
WTMI Customers Gain Full Access to StarCite Technologies
For End-to-End Meetings Management, Driving Increased Customer ROI
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 6, 2006 – StarCite, Inc., the provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions™, today announced a strategic partnership with WorldTravel Meetings & Incentives (WTMI), the meetings management division of WorldTravel BTI. This partnership aims to assist corporations in achieving greater return on investment from their meetings spend.
Through the partnership, WTMI will implement StarCite’s meetings management technology for its own internal use, as well as distribute the technology to its customers. StarCite technologies will ultimately replace WTMI’s proprietary Plan2Attend meetings management tool. WTMI and its cli