For our Q2 2025 Life Sciences Community Conversation, meeting organizers in the Life Sciences industry, came together to network, collaborate, and share best practices and tips with others. This quarter’s focus was on optimizing sourcing practices and strategizing on the adoption of the Cvent Supplier Network across various regions. The conversation also touched on personalizing RFPs, meeting compliance requirements, and justifying venue choices, while also considering sustainability concerns and carbon footprint tracking in meeting planning. Let’s dive into what was discussed in more detail!
What is the Cvent Supplier Network?
The Cvent Supplier Network (CSN) is like a matchmaker for planners and venues. It's an online platform that connects meeting organizers with a massive directory of venues and suppliers around the world, making the process of planning meetings, conferences, and other events a breeze.
Imagine you're planning a big event and need to find the perfect venue. Instead of spending hours searching individually, CSN lets you browse thousands of options in one place. You can filter by location, capacity, type of event, and more, which means you can quickly find a venue that fits your needs. Plus, you get to see detailed profiles, photos, floor plans, and even reviews from other planners, helping you make informed decisions.
CSN also streamlines the request for proposal (RFP) process. You can send out RFPs to multiple venues at once, compare their responses side by side, and negotiate terms without the usual back-and-forth hassle. This efficiency saves you time and helps you secure the best deals.
In essence, the Cvent Supplier Network is like your personal meeting planning assistant, simplifying and enhancing the venue sourcing process so you can focus on crafting unforgettable experiences. It's a go-to tool for anyone in the meeting planning world who wants to make their job easier and more enjoyable.
Personalizing RFPs and Working with NSOs
Personalizing RFPs is crucial for fostering strong relationships with hotels and ensuring transparency throughout the decision-making process. Including details such as full organization names, titles, detailed meeting space & sleeping room needs will set your RFP apart from the start. A notable concern raised during the conversation was the absence of a "select all" or "unselect all" feature for NSOs in the RFP process, which can result in errors or overlooked opportunities to collaborate with your NSOs. Good news – this is on the roadmap as a future product release, promising a more streamlined and efficient RFP experience!
Meeting Compliance and Maintaining Quality
During the conversation, participants tackled the challenge of balancing compliance requirements with budget constraints. A creative suggestion was to leverage the document library for custom attachments, with the potential for pre-configured options tailored to specific hotel chains. Many organizations partner with third-party sourcing agencies that operate within the client's Cvent account, making it crucial to ensure these agencies comply with organizational guidelines. Having these settings pre-configured by country or meeting type, allows for quality RFPs sent from every user.
Compliance with Preferred Programs
While everyone aims to source the organization’s preferred properties, sometimes alternative options are necessary. In such cases, it's essential to thoroughly review and justify these decisions to maintain transparency and meet organizational standards. One best practice shared was using an exception form (through process forms) that a compliance officer reviews to approve any rates exceeding policy guidelines. Another recommended best practice was using disposition codes for non-preferred property choices within the RFP policy feature. Capturing this information is essential for accurately monitoring budgets and demonstrating ROI internally.
Life Sciences and Sustainability
Sustainability is a top priority for many organizations, with numerous companies setting ambitious goals to achieve carbon neutrality within a defined timeframe. The challenge lies in effectively tracking and reducing the carbon footprints of meetings. One actionable step is incorporating sustainability-related questions into RFPs, which can guide decision-making. While some hotel chains have adopted carbon reporting practices, these aren't yet universally available. Utilizing standard sustainability questions in your RFPs can help you create a level playing field between venues and make an informed selection.
AI is increasingly integrated into daily operations, including meeting and event planning. However, its adoption presents challenges, particularly concerning sustainability. The increased energy and water demand of servers used for AI can conflict with sustainability initiatives, causing some organizations to hesitate to fully embrace AI. Balancing AI benefits with environmental impact considerations is essential for aligning technological advancement with sustainability goals.