A less expensive, scaled-down version of the StarCite strategic meetings management technology is now being marketed by Experient under the brand name MeetingComplete.

Gary Schirmacher, CMP, senior vice president, strategic account services, at Twinsburg, Ohio–based Experient, says the new SMM service will be aimed at small to midsize companies with at least $1 million in meeting spend that lack the resources to implement an SMM program on their own.

“Smaller and midsize companies were contacting StarCite and saying ‘Hey, how can we get this but at a lower price? We don’t necessarily need all the things that MeetingView [StarCite’s enterprise SMM package] might bring to the table. How can we get something cheaper?’” Schirmacher explained. “So there was a certain amount of interest and demand and that’s what prompted us to say this could be a real game changer for smaller companies.” One key difference between MeetingComplete and StarCite’s full-featured enterprise product is that, with MeetingComplete, sourcing is managed by Experient rather than by the client company.

While sourcing and request-for-proposal tools are removed, MeetingComplete provides companies with custom-configured versions of most of StarCite’s other SMM features: technology for centralized event registration and approvals, an enterprise meeting calendar, online meeting registration, budget tracking and reporting, and attendee management, including configurable Web sites, registration forms, and housing management. “In terms of attendee management and registration, there are no transaction fees and unlimited registration through the portal,” Schirmacher points out.

“What we’ve done is try to make getting into an SMM program—jump-starting as we like to say—less expensive and less time-consuming,” says Schirmacher. “A company can understand what their spend is and understand how they can save, as well as utililize the tools that are part of the product that will help with budgeting, attendee management, registration, reporting.”