ChUG 2008 - The Best Yet! Annual Chaser User Group meeting success

Winter frost and warm food – all great ingredients for the 2008 Christmas Chaser User Group (ChUG) meeting! The Royal College of Physicians provided the perfect venue for this year's event – easily accessible with an excellent meeting room and superb food at lunchtime.

ChUG 2008 is possibly the most important user group meeting to date. A day packed with information about all three of Velvet's products; ConferenceBookings.co.uk, Reg.istrations.com and Chaser BUREAU, the main highlight and focus of the day was a preview of the new ChaserBureau.com system.

Chaser BUREAU originated in Conference Bristol (now Visit Bristol) in 1998. Ten years on, over fifty UK destinations have purchased the system. Velvet, working with Conference Leeds, are implementing a brand new version of Chaser as a web-based solution using the latest web 2.0 technology. Set to revolutionise the way in which destinations work with local providers, the system will enable quicker responses to enquiries, less data entry and professional on-line proposals for event clients.

Velvet's Tim Clark presented the new Chaser BUREAU system in the first afternoon session. The enthusiasm of the presentation was clearly shared by many of the delegates asking, “When can we have it!” and “wow - will it make the tea?!”. Tim talked through the work-flow of the new enquiry process, the method for adding new providers and the way in which the new actions list may be used to manage enquiry actions as well as general “to-dos” and appointments.

Velvet have always listened to their clients; throughout the year suggestions made by users are logged and evaluated for inclusion in forthcoming system releases. At ChUG, users have the opportunity to “Brainstrom” in groups. This is a great opportunity to generate new ideas for each system and also to share industry knowledge and experience with other destination colleagues.

Velvet's Simon Hawkins and Chris Gibbs helped facilitate the group brainstorming sessions. Simon presented the Google Analytics modules available for both ConferenceBOOKINGS and Reg.istrations.com – an invaluable tool to measure visitors, site referrals and booking value.

Velvet's annual National Conference Statistics were launched at ChUG this year. Simon presented the latest figures from destinations who have submitted anonymous data throughout the year. Possibly the only true and accurate measure of industry performance by destinations, the report is compiled from destinations' Chaser systems and is based on actual enquiry and conversion figures. Despite the “Credit Crunch”, figures to the year end 2008 are looking positive. A full copy of the report is sent to all destinations who have submitted their data.

Velvet would like to thank all of you who braved the cold for your very positive feedback and kind comments. Mostly, we'd like to thank you for attending the event and continuing to provide the invaluable feedback that have made our products a success and continue to be the preferred choice for Business Tourism professionals. Here's to ChUG 2009!

"Where Time Begins" Velvet welcome Greenwich as the latest ConferenceBOOKINGS system user

A World Heritage Site, Velvet are delighted to welcome Greenwich Tourism Information Centre as the latest users of their dedicated on-line accommodation booking system ConferenceBookings.co.uk.

Mary Fairburn and her dedicated team received training at the start of December at Greenwich's new Novotel Hotel. An excellent facility located directly next to Greenwhich train and DLR stations, five system users were trained on the operation of the system as event coordinators. Opting for the ConferenceBookings? Image Gallery, the new Google Analytics system and on-line payments, Mary is determined to offer the best service to their event clients.

At the end of the second day's training, the team had loaded the allocation and set up a full delegate booking site for their forthcoming high profile “Cumulus” Conference to be held at The 02 arena.

Within minutes of the event going live, Mary received a telephone call from the event organiser who was absolutely delighted with the event booking site, “It's so much more professional than anything we've had before!”. ConferenceBOOKINGS sends an email to event organsiers as soon as the event is at the live “Booking” status – as the team worked on the event, the organiser was able to view the product of their work; a fully branded booking site with scrolling images of The 02 arena, hotel image galleries and Greenwich itself.

Velvet's Tim Clark spent two days on site with the team, “I had a great time in Greenwich – the team were very friendly and picked up the concepts really quickly” said Tim. “Where time begins” and, where conferences start! We look forward to working with Mary and her truly enthusiastic team on their conferences, events and assisting with allocations for the forthcoming Olympics.