StarCite Inc., the Philadelphia-based B2B meetings and events dot-com, has forged three new alliances in its continuing effort to become a full-service resource for the meeting industry. StarCite's new partners include Cardinal Communications for online registration and attendee management, V-SPAN for virtual meetings, and CommerceQuest, whose enableNet software has streamlined users' experience moving among StarCite's online applications.
While the deal with Tampa, Fla.-based CommerceQuest has been in place since last fall, when www.starcite.com got a new look and feel, the other partnerships are expected be operational by the end of March. StarCite's relationship with King of Prussia, Pa.-based V-SPAN is essentially a marketing agreement: The online conferencing company is now a preferred StarCite vendor, and StarCite users will have a link to www.v-span.com.
The association with Cardinal Communications, however, runs deeper. RegWeb, Cardinal's online registration and attendee management application, will be accessed directly from StarCite. “We're not just linking; it's integrated,” says Rod Marymor, president of the Berkeley, Calif.-based Cardinal.
RegWeb, which competes with b-there.com, cvent.com, and Event411.com, allows planners to send personalized electronic invitations and attendees to register for a meeting, choose activities, book a hotel, and make airline reservations. Planners can manipulate the attendee data with more than 50 report options and track meeting activity on a personal calendar. RegWeb version 5.0 is expected out by the end of March. The upgrade will add further customization capabilities and improve the housing module. RegWeb is being used companywide by 60 organizations, including Kaiser Permanente, Fireman's Fund, and Wonderware, says Marymor.
At its core, the two-year-old StarCite Web site features a huge database of meeting venues and an e-RFP function. In addition, StarCite creates customized Web sites that allow corporations to consolidate and track their meeting activity and spending.