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Brad Pirman

SpeedRFP Works for Weddings

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It was only a matter of time I guess that someone at a hotel figured out that they could use SpeedRFP to consolidate their wedding RFPs (Requests for Proposal) as well as their meeting RFPs. Now we’re seeing it happen on multiple hotel web sites. The most notable example so far can be seen on Paradise Point’s website. The San Diego resort has created a second SpeedRFP form just for [...]

by Brad Pirman on October 26, 2010

SpeedRFP Integrates with MeetingBroker & Delphi

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Deep within the SpeedRFP labs, we’ve been very busy behind the scenes with a few major enhancements. The biggest of which has been the completion of an integration with a few products from Newmarket International. Soon hotel’s utilizing MeetingBroker, Delphi, Delphi.net, and Daylight will be able to have all of their SpeedRFPs delivered to their preferred system. So what exactly does this mean to you? Well, for you hoteliers, it [...]

by Brad Pirman on October 25, 2010

Messaging Matters – FaceTime

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You may or may not know that Elite Meetings has a product called FaceTime Appointment Scheduler. We built FaceTime Scheduler to facilitate our own events and as attendees used it, they told us they wanted it for their own events. FaceTime’s been used in the travel market for a little more than a year now. If you attended The Motivation Show 2010 in Chicago or Meet Different this year in [...]

by Brad Pirman on October 22, 2010

Let Your SpeedRFP Button Shine!

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As the SpeedRFP community continues to grow, we’re hearing more and more feedback. We couldn’t be happier about that. One of the most recent inquiries was in regards to button styles. While we make efforts to brand the usual “Request Proposal” button, we understand that it doesn’t fit the style of every website out there. A New Button: “Send a SpeedRFP” Now by inserting one line of code into your [...]

by Brad Pirman on September 21, 2010

Is SpeedRFP Right For Your Website?

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So your interest is piqued and you’ve heard a bit about SpeedRFP® from colleagues or meeting professionals. Perhaps you’ve received a few SpeedRFPs and you’re ready to really harness the power of our technology on your own website but you’re not quite sure how to get started. Below, we’ve quickly answered some of the most common questions from hoteliers.. Is SpeedRFP Right For You? We understand, you don’t want to [...]

by Brad Pirman on September 17, 2010

Evernote is Noteworthy

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Have you ever been on a site visit and struggled with capturing the details of the property, your ideas for meeting setups, and wondered how you would find the time to incorporate your photos into your notes in an easy and meaningful way. Then read on to learn more about an invaluable tool that should immediately add to your arsenal. I’m lucky enough to play with lots of the news [...]

by Brad Pirman on August 16, 2010

Search on — EliteMeetings.com!

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We’re pretty sure that many of you already know what Elite Meetings does but here’s a little video created by our Marketing goddess, Amanda Smith, that should help clear up any confusion! Cheers Amanda!

by Brad Pirman on August 11, 2010

What’s New With FaceTime 2.0?

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We’ve certainly come a long way… …since we first released the FaceTime Appointment Scheduler back in early 2009. I always have to remind myself that we built FaceTime for our Elite Meetings Alliances and never really planned on opening it up to the world. But the little “scheduler that could” has exceeded all of our expectations and has evolved into quite the robust scheduler that is now used to power [...]

by Brad Pirman on July 15, 2010

SpeedRFP Spotted In The Wild!

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Ever since the release of SpeedRFP into the wild, we’ve been on the lookout for websites that have created a home for SpeedRFP forms. A form is pretty easy to create and immediately “APEX-enables” the hotel that posts it. While we’re not working hard to improve SpeedRFP based on user feedback, we’re busy tracking SpeedRFP to find all of the hotel and hotel chain websites where it may be hiding [...]

by Brad Pirman on July 8, 2010

SpeedRFP Changes – ver. 0.5.1

SpeedRFP Overlay Web Form

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. Read more about the recent changes to SpeedRFP…

by Brad Pirman on June 14, 2010

SpeedRFP Update: Week 2

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Well, SpeedRFP has been out for about two weeks and we’re getting lots of useful feedback from you. We’re hearing about some great possible features and some absolute must-haves. Our development team typically works in month-long cycles but we’ve integrated a couple of key features for you that we know were sorely missed at launch. As always, please let us know what you think of these features and if you [...]

by Brad Pirman on April 16, 2010

It’s Alive

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Updated: Please check out the “SpeedRFP Launches” press release for more information. I’m like a proud, yet mad, scientist (picture Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein) who’s spent months in the laboratory with a team creating what will hopefully save people countless hours of wasted time. SpeedRFP.com was conceived about 15 months ago and it’s now public for you to use. The concept was born from our truest intentions to provide [...]

by Brad Pirman on April 1, 2010

Coming up to the Starting Line

It’s Friday night, I’m more than halfway through a bottle of Zinfandel, music’s playing, and I’m chipping away at the few remaining open issues for the beta version of SpeedRFP. Our entire team is excited to see SpeedRFP hit the racetrack and perhaps no one more than me. Years ago, a friend of mine imparted a morsel of wisdom, “We can make more money, we can buy more things, but [...]

by Brad Pirman on March 26, 2010

It’s time for the next step…

What’s the big deal? Well, we truly believe that SpeedRFP will revolutionize the way that most meeting planners transact RFPs online. To understand why it can create such a change, you must first understand where the process is today. SpeedRFP isn’t a new idea. Rather, it’s the evolution of a system that we’ve had in place for a few years now on EliteMeetings.com. In that time, we’ve seen a lot [...]

by Brad Pirman on March 19, 2010

RFP System Changes

Well hello there, Through user interviews we heard that some people found the RFP process on EliteMeetings.com a little daunting, so we took your feedback and made it super simple (you can watch a video tutorial below). A while back, we developed “lists” for EliteMeetings.com. Think of “lists” as a way to: Keep a group of favorite properties Collect properties that would work for future events Organize hotels and resorts [...]

by Brad Pirman on June 13, 2009

The Alisal Guest Ranch – Relax and Recuperate

I was recently able to get away to The Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort in Solvang, CA, and it was a truly relaxing experience. You won’t find a phone, or a plasma screen in your room. You likely won’t even get mobile reception but that’s ok, because you won’t really have time to sit around and update your Facebook status with your mobile or watch the latest episode of The [...]

by Brad Pirman on February 8, 2009

Hyatt Regency Cancun is a relaxing destination for meetings and incentives.

I recently had a chance to visit Hyatt Regency Cancun located right at the tip of the Cancun isthmus. The hotel staff is what set this Cancun destination apart from it’s fellow hotels. From the moment I arrived, the staff was friendly, respectful, and extremely accommodating. I’m not the biggest fan of Cancun in general but the Hyatt Regency there has everything I needed inside of the hotel. There are [...]

by Brad Pirman on November 28, 2008

Solage Calistoga – Relaxing in the Wine Country of California

Okay, okay. So it wasn’t exactly a meeting I was there for but Solage Calistoga, an Auberge Resort, is one of THE best places in Napa to send your incentive people to. The spa is amazing. They do everything from sauna and pedicures to full-on mud baths. They even have an experience called the Mud Slide that gives you the totally body and mind relaxation you’re always looking for in [...]

by Brad Pirman on November 24, 2008

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