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  • 1.  Open the door to opportunities with Cvent Supplier Network

    Cvent Staff
    Posted 01-05-2022 11:01
    Edited by Ridhima Krishan 01-05-2022 11:04
    Hi everyone! We are super excited to kickstart 2022's first Tip of the Week! 

    A new year calls for a new set of opportunities and today, we want to talk about the best ways to leverage the Cvent Supplier Network to your benefit. After all, venue sourcing is one of the crucial steps while planning meetings and events. So, keep reading to discover some interesting tips around the New Sourcing Experience! 

    • New Sourcing Experience is a redesigned platform to help you manage RFPs and find the best venues for your events. If you are an event planner, you can take advantage of this intuitive new interface by logging in to your Cvent account. If you are still seeing the Classic Sourcing experience, click Switch Now in the gray banner at the top of the page.

    • Creating an RFP: You can quickly request dates, meeting space, and guest rooms by creating an RFP and sending it to the venues of your choice. While looking for venues on the Supplier Network page, you can narrow down your search with the filters available on the left of the page to choose faster from an array of options. You can also opt in to receive emails about proposal updates.

    • Comparing Bids: This feature is helpful when you want to compare proposals and facility details in an RFP. Once you've selected the venues you want to compare, you can run two types of reports: 
      • View Bids Report – This report allows you to compare your prospects' finer points side by side. Each column in this report includes a picture, the venue's info, rooms, rates, and other costs, their notes, and attachments.
      • Availability Report - Get a quick overview of each supplier's status, availability, and proposed dates. You can also see their rates, costs, taxes, and fees, and attachments. Planners often use this as a summary page for the View Bids Report. If you want to configure the report settings further, refer to this article to learn more.  

    • Declining Proposals: You can decline any or all the venues if you feel don't fit into your requirements. Here, we encourage a best practice which is to select a reason from the dropdown to let the venue know why their bid was rejected. If you are declining several venues, you can choose a different reason for each. This feature helps maintain transparency and improves the experience quality.

    • Canceling RFPs: There could a sudden situation such as – maybe your event needs to happen in a different city, your budget got slashed, or you no longer need a proposal from a specific venue. You can also cancel the RFP for individual venues, if necessary. We have compiled this step-by-step guide to help you understand the RFP canceling process better!

    • Awarding Venues: Once you've reviewed the bids and settled on a venue, award the RFP through Cvent. This will alert the winning bidder they have your business, let the others know why they lost, and help you keep your records up to date.

    • Adding Contracted Rates: Lastly, once you've awarded the business to the venue of your choice, take a few minutes to enter the rates you contracted in Cvent. You can run the RFPs and Suppliers' reports later to automatically calculate your cost savings.

    Questions for You:

    • How do you source venues for your events? What factors do you prioritize while searching for venues? 
    • Have you used Cvent Supplier Network before? If yes, how was your experience and how would you like us to improve. 
    • Share some best practices that have worked for you while choosing the right RFP.

    Let us know below! #CventTip

    #SourcingaVenue

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    Ridhima Krishan
    Sr. Associate, Customer Marketing
    Cvent
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  • 2.  RE: Open the door to opportunities with Cvent Supplier Network

    User Group Member
    Posted 01-05-2022 11:52

    Hello Ridhima,

     

    How does my colleague get added to this Forum?

     

    Thanks,

    Carl

     

    *As a reminder, our offices are closed on Friday

     

     

     






  • 3.  RE: Open the door to opportunities with Cvent Supplier Network

    User Group Member
    Posted 01-11-2022 08:13
    • How do you source venues for your events? by needs of the event. Because events are so different, these needs might change everytime we look for another venue. What factors do you prioritize while searching for venues? location, price, and how hotels rank.
    • Have you used Cvent Supplier Network before? Yes If yes, how was your experience and how would you like us to improve. Sending out RFPs was a simple and easy process.
    • Share some best practices that have worked for you while choosing the right RFP. Know what is a want vs. what is a must have. Be specific so the venues can assist in your vision.


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    Mary Ann Hall
    Event Specialist
    Federal Reserve System
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  • 4.  RE: Open the door to opportunities with Cvent Supplier Network

    Posted 01-11-2022 08:21
    • How do you source venues for your events? What factors do you prioritize while searching for venues? 
    • For our larger events, we typically hire an outside event planner/coordinator to source and support negotiations. For smaller events/meetings, the sourcing is done internally, cost, location and amenities are the main factors
    • Have you used Cvent Supplier Network before? If yes, how was your experience and how would you like us to improve. 
    • Yes, I've used it before, and it's a great tool!
    • Share some best practices that have worked for you while choosing the right RFP.
    • Know what your priorities are and what your "must haves" are. There may be some amenities or freebies thrown in that don't add value to the event and shouldn't sway a decision on which venue to pick


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    Bouran Qaddumi
    Sr Manager, Training
    Cajun Operating Company d/b/a Church's Chicken
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  • 5.  RE: Open the door to opportunities with Cvent Supplier Network

    User Group Member
    Posted 01-11-2022 09:12
    • How do you source venues for your events? What factors do you prioritize while searching for venues? 
      • We utilize the supplier network for sourcing. Most of our sourcing is regional, so rooms and distance to our branches is most important.
    • Have you used Cvent Supplier Network before? If yes, how was your experience and how would you like us to improve. 
      • Yes, I like the new experience and filtering options.
    • Share some best practices that have worked for you while choosing the right RFP.
      • Read everything, and know what your non-negotiables are, and stick to them.


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    Beth Vriesen
    Associated Bank Corporation
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  • 6.  RE: Open the door to opportunities with Cvent Supplier Network

    Posted 01-27-2022 08:47
    • How do you source venues for your events? What factors do you prioritize while searching for venues? 
      • Usually when we are sourcing venues it is for an out-of-state event. Our first priority is location and then we focus in on venues that have the amenities that we need.
    • Have you used Cvent Supplier Network before? If yes, how was your experience and how would you like us to improve. 
      • I have yet to use the Cvent Supplier Network but I look forward to using it on an upcoming event.
    • Share some best practices that have worked for you while choosing the right RFP.
      • Best practice is be specific with what you are looking for in a venue and set expectations.


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    Meghan Payne
    Travel and Event Coordinator
    Corning Incorporated
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  • 7.  RE: Open the door to opportunities with Cvent Supplier Network

    Community MVP
    Posted 01-31-2022 09:35
    • How do you source venues for your events? What factors do you prioritize while searching for venues? 
      • We use Cvent; however we have not held in-person events since pre-COVID and have not plans for in-person events in 2022
    • Have you used Cvent Supplier Network before? If yes, how was your experience and how would you like us to improve. 
      • Yes - huge time-saver and a great way to stay organized 
    • Share some best practices that have worked for you while choosing the right RFP.
      • Give as many details about what you NEED and what you WANT. The more specific you can be, the better.


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    Lori Wildman
    Senior Marketing Manager
    DuCharme, McMillen & Associates, Inc.
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