SpeedRFP Changes – ver. 0.5.1

Just recently we released an update to SpeedRFP.com. While there were lots of changes, some of the more notable ones are described below. Please remember, many of these changes are based on feedback that we get from our user community. Please don’t hesitate to use the “Feedback” tab on the right side of SpeedRFP.com to give us your ideas. We’ll probably incorporate them into future updates.

Everyone

1. Attachments are more obvious when viewing RFPs and Proposals. The section is denoted with a paper clip andthere’s a file icon next to each attachment.
   

   Attachments to RFPs & Proposals are more obvious

2. We’ve added SSL encryption to Sign-in and Edit Account. There now, don’t you feel better?
   

   Sign-in and Edit Account are Secured with SSL

3. Stay Signed-in for 90 days. Once you’ve signed in, you won’t have to sign in again for 90 days from that browser.
4. Add attachments to your messages.
   

   Add attachments to messages

   Perhaps you have an update to your event or to your proposal, just send a message and add your attachment directly to it.

5. Enhanced Alert Notifications.
   

   Notifications get a facelift to make them more readable

   Now success messages are green, error messages are yellow and info messages are blue. It makes things much easier to read and understand.

6. Internet Explorer 6 is now supported when using SpeedRFP Web Forms. I really must ask that you upgrade to IE7, IE8, Safari, or better yet, FireFox. Internet Explorer 6 first launched in August, 2001…9 years ago. I don’t even keep TVs that long.

Planners

1. You can provide a personalized note when you edit your RFP to a hotel to let the hotelier(s) know what changes you made and why you made them.
2. Control your contact information.
   

   Choose how to receive responses to RFPs and control your contact information

   When you uncheck any of the RFP contact methods in theResponse Preferences area of the RFP form, the information won’t show up for the hotels receiving your event details. For example, if you specify you want to be contacted via SpeedRFP and Email only, then your phone number and street address won’t be revealed to the hotels. This way you can be sure to control the way you receive contact from the hotels. If you’d like the hotels to contact you any time after you send your RFP, you can always 1) edit your RFP or 2) send your phone number or email address in a message to the Hotel(s).

3. You can now enter a personalized message when declining a proposal.
   

   You can provide a personalized note when declining a proposal

   This message will be sent directly to the hotel recipients via email.

4. When you re-open a canceled RFP, a personalized message can be sent to the hotelier(s) on the RFP. (Very similar to the dialog above)
5. You may duplicate a function in the Function Space area of the RFP.
   

   You can Duplicate Function Setups to save yourself time when creating your agenda

   Let’s say you have 8 breakout sessions happening in different rooms from 10-11am. Just create one of these breakouts as a function and then duplicate it to create the 5 breakouts you need without having to rekey the same function over again. You can even edit these duplicated functions so if you wanted 8 more from 11-12, you could duplicate your 10-11am session then edit it to be 11-12, then duplicate the new function a few more times to now have 10 breakouts. In this case, you’d only have to enter one full function because you were able to duplicate and edit the others to save on re-keying. Above is what I was able to do in a little under a minute

6. Copy room needs from the row above.
   

   Use the "Copy" button to copy room needs from the previous day

   If you have a 4 day event, enter your room needs on the first row and then use the “copy” button at the right of day 2 to copy the values from Day 1 down to Day 2.

Hoteliers

1. Overlay the SpeedRFP form instead of embedding it.
   

   Overlay the SpeedRFP Web Form on your website - no design changes needed

   There are now two options for deploying your SpeedRFP Web Form on your hotel website: Embed it or Overlay it. Overlaying the web form doesn’t require any changes to your design to accommodate the form. Once the widget is placed on the page, it creates a “Request Proposal” button that will open a SpeedRFP form over your site; Super easy and super clean. See it deployed here: http://www.casadecampo.com.do/?p=groups (Insider’s tip: There’s even a way to create a custom link on your site that opens the overlay form. Ask us for more info in Comments below.)

2. Proposals can now be edited.
   

   You can send a personal note once you've edited your proposal

   If you’ve submitted a proposal to a planner but want to make changes, you may now edit the proposal. You’ll be able to enter a personalized message that will be sent to the planner when you’re done saving your changes.

3. Proposed Dates/Rates are retained if the RFP is edited by the planner after you’ve submitted a proposal
4. You are no longer required to fill in every field when entering a reference. Plus you can remove a previously entered reference with a single click.

Miscellaneous Small Issue Fixes

Success message upon password request

RFP Web Forms will auto-reload if they load as blank.

Lots of other small items

Tagged as: new feature, SpeedRFP, update

by Brad Pirman on June 14, 2010