STICHTING HOORPROFS – ANOUK DIJKSMA
I got acquainted with Meetingselect via one of the owners of the company whom I have known for quite some years. At Stichting Hoorprofs I need to organize two annual meetings. Before this year, these meetings took place at a location within our own region. Here we are quite familiar with the most suitable locations, which we also book on a frequent basis. Recently, it was decided to hold these meetings on a location outside of this region. Because I am less familiar outside our own region, I immediately thought of Meetingselect. Per email I have sent them a briefing with my requirements and wishes. The limited budget for both meetings was an important factor before selecting venues. Based on this briefing I received a very fast and to-the-point response with several tailor made offers. I was surprised by this very fast response time and the diversity in the proposals. I was offered several suitable locations which were presented very clearly. Pictures were also included in the offers which enabled me to get a good idea of the meeting spaces that were optionally reserved for us. Furthermore, the indicated limited budget turned out to be no problem. Meetingselect negotiated very sharp rates for me, which were even below my budget. All together it saved me hours of valuable time and I was very happy with the professional and adequate service of Meetingselect. In the future, I will definitely make use of their services again!

GENZYME EUROPE - RITSKE KIKKERT
Since I started as an Executive Assistant at Genzyme Europe last summer, I have used Meetingselect on several occasions. And honestly, after having found my way through the tool, I am very happy and satisfied using Meetingselect. For Genzyme I organize meetings regularly for groups of 20-50 people that will both take place internally and externally. Because of the fact that a part of the delegates is coming from overseas to participate in these meetings, beside the meeting spaces, I always need hotel accommodation. The biggest advantage of the online tool of Meetingselect, I find the easiness with which you can find out if a certain venue is suitable and available. Another advantage is you easily get insight in the cost differences per offer. I always request a full day meeting package for one or two days and a quotation for an x-number of hotel rooms, so you can easily see what the meeting will cost and for which rates hotel rooms are available. Based on this information, the decision for the meeting and hotel location is made. In the end some additions will be made, such as diner, speakerphones or transportation, but to make the decision I always make use of the initial price offer. It regularly happens that a hotel needs to be found very last minute which is not so easy when it comes to larger groups. It is very convenient for me that I can ask Meetingselect to take action and to check availability for me. For example, recently I was in need of both a high service hotel and an excellent restaurant in Amsterdam. With the efficient and pro-active service of Meetingselect this combination quickly found at one location!

CANON NEDERLAND - YVETTE TOLNER
It’s very nice to be able to share my experiences with Meetingselect with others! Canon Nederland is cooperating with Meetingselect for organising meetings and events for some time now. So when one of my colleagues had a group of international guests over and asked me to arrange a special dinner, I didn’t hesitate to contact Meetingselect. They came up with some very nice options and eventually the group enjoyed a lovely dinner in the Canals of Amsterdam. An unforgettable experience for all of them.

One of the nice things about Meetingselect is that I can come to them with every wish I have. They will always do their utmost to fulfil all my wishes. But also when not everything went according to plan, they are there for you. They will contact the location and will find out what went wrong. Very nice. It shows that service is a top priority for Meetingselect. I hope to work together again with them in the near future!

LOGICA - LINDA VAN DEN ELSHOUT
With great pleasure I would like to share my experiences with Meetingselect. Since a couple of months Logica is working together with Meetingselect. Within this partnership we as meeting planners can choose to either make use of the user friendly online booking tool or the very hospitable personal service of Meetingselect. The contact with Meetingselect always runs smoothly; when I have to organize a new meeting, I usually place my request via email at the reservations team of Meetingselect. I always receive a response quickly with several offers matching my criteria. When I have specific questions, I will give them a ring and they are always able to help me instantly. My first meeting via Meetingselect was booked at one of the Hampshire locations, everything was arranged perfectly! The second meeting which was booked via Meetingselect, this time at another venue, did not run as smooth as the first one, but this had everything to do with a small misunderstanding at the location, the service of Meetingselect was as friendly and pro-active as before, they have everything perfectly under control!

PWC - GREETJE VAN VROONHOVEN
I got in touch with Meetingselect through the Management Support event at the Jaarbeurs in November 2009. I have had an informative and nice conversation and what a service to receive 3 proposals within 24 hours without having to put in any of my own time.. that sounded very interesting. That’s why I gave it a try. First for a simple assignment for a meeting location for which I indeed received 3 proposals within 24 hours. Very nice!

Last spring I have had a more complex assignment. I was looking for a location easy to reach, in the Rotterdam region, where 80 delegates could participate in an interactive way in 6 different meeting rooms, where we could have drinks exclusively for our group, could stay overnight and where there is also sufficient parking space. For this search, I had more time than 24 hours to receive offers.

When I received 3 offers for suitable venues, we encountered a problem. The excursion which was included in our program by ourselves, could not take place. It took some time before we found an alternative for this, which in the end turned out to be at the other side of the country. This meant we had to move the whole ‘project’ to the Arnhem region. This change of plans was easily and smoothly picked up by Meetingselect. Also, a late additional request from my side to include a certain location in the overall search, was very well answered to. This resulted in 4 complete proposals which I could happily continue with. We have been able to make a good decision and have had a very successful event and the evaluation was very positive, also for the selected location.

It was very pleasant to be in touch with the flexible and friendly team of Meetingselect about this more complex project. The fact that this was going on in holiday season and my contact person therefore changed within the team of Meetingselect, did not change the way of working. Their handover was arranged perfectly. I very much appreciated their flexibility, friendliness and pro-active thinking! In December there will be a next event, hopefully with a less complex start of the project. But even if this will not be the case, I know I will not have to worry about it thanks to the help of Meetingselect!

TD/AZLAN – ALEX WARMERDAM
A friend of mine had recommended me the service of Meetingselect, I started working with the tool at Meetingselect.com to find the perfect location in Rome. A phonecall from the Meetingselect Reservation Service followed, as they noticed my new meeting request right away. They immediately offered to help me with the request by searching suitable venues through the tool. After that telephone call I decided to make use of the Personal Service of Meetingselect, which I experienced as very pleasant. It works really great for me because this personal contact gives you the opportunity to shine a light on your specific wishes and needs. Based on my wishes and criteria, they have searched for locations that were living up to my expectations . I quickly received several proposals. Working with Meetingselect has several other big advantages because they also have several partners all over the world that can assist with organizing an activity or finding a dinner location. For this meeting, I was searching for a special dinner location in Rome and thanks to a valued partner of Meetingselect based in Rome, they were able to offer me a great dinner location. For future meetings or events I will make use of the services of Meetingselect for sure!

GENZYME - HOALAN TRAN
Already a few months ago, Genzyme agreed to a partnership with Meetingselect as their specialist in strategic meeting management. This way, we as a company can easily save a lot of valuable time and costs while booking meetings. Because of this tool, myself and the other assistants within Genzyme can easily book meetings via Meetingselect. I can choose to set out the meetings myself via the online tool or I can make use of the personal service of Meetingselect. Both ways are highly pleasant to work with. I mostly set out the meetings myself via the Meetingselect tool, because I already know what I want and where I want to book it. Sometimes I am not very known within a city, then it is pleasant that I can phone the personal service of Meetingselect. I always get more then one suggestion and helpful tips from them. Apart from that, I have to say that their reaction time is very fast, they are accurate, professional and always look for solutions when everything is not according to plan. The personal service of Meetingselect as well as the Meetingselect.com tool are definitely a recommendation for everyone who is looking for the perfect meeting location domestic and abroad!

NIMA – ELEONORA HONINGS
In my former job I got familiar with Meetingselect. Judith Huisman was our account manager. When she told me that she and Anouk were starting Meetingselect I was thrilled! It really is a great and innovative product. From the beginning I have been working with Meetingselect to find original and suitable meeting spaces. It is great that I can create a request and send it directly to several locations in one action, that saves me a lot of time. I have used both the online bookingtool as well as the personal service of Meetingselect. Both of them are pleasant to work with, but my preference goes to the reservation service! That is because it is nice to discuss the details of the meeting in person. Besides this, they have the experience and knowledge when it comes to meeting spaces. Meetingselect always comes up with nice suggestions. That is especially useful when you are searching for a specific location.   

I’m really happy with Meetingselect and I can recommend it to everyone!

DANISCO – HILDE CORBEEL
A colleague of mine advised me to contact Meetingselect, when I had to organise a meeting. She already has experience in working with Meetingselect and told me that I could receive proposals within 24 hours. Because I was extremely busy, I decided to sent an e-mail to the reservations department of Meetingselect, instead of doing it myself via the tool on the www.meetingselect.com website. I enjoy working with the personal service of Meetingselect, because then I do not need to worry about it. The next day I received several proposals from Meetingselect with an impression of the meeting location and the total estimated costs, from that point on I had the choice of selecting the perfect location for my meeting. It is pleasant that the whole searching process was taken out of my hands, it saves you a lot of valuable time! I certainly recommend everyone who needs to organise a meeting or training to make use of the Meetingselect services. For my next event, I will definitely make use of the personal service of Meetingselect again!

LEASEPLAN CORPORATION – URSULA HORSFALL
We, as a company, have recently started a partnership with Meetingselect and last month I had my first chance to work with them. I have to say that I am very pleased about this! For organizing this meeting I chose to work with the Personal Service of Meetingselect. My decision for the Personal Service has got to do with the fact that I had quite some specific wishes for this international meeting in Miami. Furthermore I always find it very pleasant to discuss details personally. Very friendly and enthusiastic I was being helped with my request and within no time I received several interesting offers. Meetingselect manages everything from looking for suitable venues and placing requests to checking the offers and sending an overview with all possibilities. This really saves me a lot of valuable time! Because our partnership only recently started, I did not work yet with the online booking tool of Meetingselect. This tool really seems very useful, especially for the more standard bookings.  

Overall, a very good first experience with Meetingselect and I will definitely make use of the services of Meetingselect more often!

ARRIS INTERNATIONAL – KARIN DE REGT  
Meetingselect is a real invention! I got in touch with Meetingselect through my former contact person at one of our preferred hotel suppliers. Normally it takes me a lot of valuable time searching for the right location for a meeting I have to organize. What takes up most of this time, is placing a request at several hotels, waiting and chasing for responses and comparing offers from different locations and also respond to them. Meetingselect does all these steps for me, which enables me to spend time on other responsibilities within my job. Personally, I prefer to make use of the self booking tool at Meetingselect.com, because through the tool I have an easy checklist for all requirements and needs for my meeting request. Within no time I receive a reaction from the locations requested. This is very efficient and usefull, especially when a location can not offer availability. Recently, I received feedback from a location within 2 hours that availability could not be offered, which helped me to quickly search for another suitable location. Because the tool is very user friendly and also very complete, efficiency for the meeting planner increases. My profit: within minimal time I am able to deliver an optimal performance!

TEAM TMC WORLD
Our company got in touch with Meetingselect via Judith Huisman, who is 'acquainted' with one of our employees. After a presentation about Meetingselect and all their possibilities, several colleagues within our team have been working with Meetingselect. Within TMC we always stay closely in touch with our clients. Meetingselect works in this way as well, not only with us, but also with venues that are interesting for us. To inform venues as clear as possible about the needs and wishes of our clients, we prefer personal contact, which is why we really like to work with the personal Reservation Service of Meetingselect.   

One phone call or e-mail to Meetingselect Reservation Service and they will take care of it. Meetingselect really listens to us and their way of working is very professional. Within no time we receive several complete and clear offers. The reservations team is very creative and pro-active in finding a match for us in terms of venues. Recently they have suggested us a couple of new locations that are very suitable for our clients. We are very happy with Meetingselect and we can definitely suggest Meetingselect to other companies!

GENZYME EUROPE BV - THE TEAM OF THE GLOBAL EUROPEAN MARKETING DEPARTMENT 
Within Genzyme Europe BV we make use of Meetingselect, after our travel desk introduced us to them. Some colleagues request their proposals via the self-booking tool, others make use of the free service of Meetingselect Reservation Service.

Mirjam: I am very satisfied about the free service of Meeting Reservation Service. I explain my needs and wishes and Meetingselect immediately sends me offers that meet my needs. It is not necessary for me to look for venues and to check if they still have the availability or not. Meetingselect sorts this out for me. This saves me a lot of time. We quickly receive several offers that match our needs. The offers are all very clear. Last year I was looking for a location in Paris. Besides Meetingselect I also contacted an agency in Paris itself. Meetingselect responded much faster and offered more and better options.

Sandra: Personally, I prefer to make use of the self-booking tool on Meetingselect.com.

I really like the fact that I can be in control of selecting locations and place the request for proposal. It is very easy, user friendly and extremely handy! I select several criteria in the search engine of Meetingselect.com, take a look at the result of hotel- and meeting locations and make my selection. From the offers that I receive in my inbox directly, I can easily make my choice. Perfect!

Meetingselect offers a full service with a fast response time. Their offers are very clear. Price is getting more and more important within our company. We have really noticed that Meetingselect offers sharp deals!

DANONE - REBECCA VAN OTTERDIJK, OFFICE MANAGER AND ASSISTANT
I have known the founders of Meetingselect, Anouk and Judith, since they were working for NH Hoteles. At that time I was working for another company and they where my account managers. During that period I frequently booked all my overnight stays and meetings with them and I very much liked their professional way of working. Now I place my requests through Meetingselect.

Every meeting that I have to organize, I book through Meetingselect.com. It’s a very handy system since you can easily search for meeting locations and place a request at several venues at the same time.

Also, I only have to send my request once, which is of course very timesaving! It is a clear system and very easy to use. Last year we have had several meetings in the Netherlands and also some abroad. Even anywhere in Europe Meetingselect offers a various choice of hotels and meeting locations.  

The employees of Meetingselect are very service minded and dedicated which is greatly appreciated. You can always call them for any help. When there are any pending meetings in the system, Meetingselect always contacts me to ask me if I need any further help. Meetingselect is an incredibly good concept and is a real niche in the market. It saves meeting planners enormous amounts of time and therefore saves unnecessary costs for the company.

SPRINGSOURCE - MARK BAARS, FIELD MARKETING EMEA
Via Google I have found Meetingselect. Every month I need to organise business events throughout Europe, Middle-East and Australia for developers of SpringJava technology.

I am very impressed by the professional service of Meetingselect. They are very-well organised, have friendly reservation agents and are extremely fast. Just a while ago I needed to book meeting locations in Paris, London, Amsterdam and Dublin and within one day everything was arranged for all four cities. In fact I could even choose out of a selection of three hotels per city. Great service!

SpringSource operates in a ‘high end’ market. Therefore our presentation needs to be professional and our meetings need to be well-organised. All the options that Meetingselect offered us where a perfect match and fit well with the expectations of our customers. I would like to recommend the free venue finding service of Meetingselect to everyone!

SYNGENTA SEEDS BV - ANNEKE VISSER, SENIOR SECRETARY & MEETING PLANNER
I have been using Meetingselect’s services for a year now and I find the service more than perfect! I am one of those types called a ‘lazy’ meeting planner. You can of course try to do it all up yourself but that can be quite time consuming. I send an email to Meetingselect Reservation Service and within a day, I receive a number of proposals. I ask, they jump! I give them my preferences and price limit and they handle accordingly. In addition to bookings in The Netherlands, I find Meetingselect ideal for planning meetings abroad, such as the recently organised meetings in Antwerp and Paris.

After the meeting, I place a review about the venue on Meetingselect. And I can be quite critical. I find it enjoyable to get a good idea of meeting locations and therefore uses it also as a reference. I am so enthusiastic that I tell my colleagues: ‘Ladies, make things easy for yourselves and use Meetingselect. It takes too much time to look everything up yourself and it is great to just receive different proposals for you to make your choice from!’

DANONE - MONIQUE BEERENDS, CORPORATE TRAVEL & EVENTS
In order to streamline MICE costs, Danone started with Meetingselect this year (2008), a self-booking tool for meetings and an extensive meeting accommodations database.

“The meeting planner enters exactly what is needed in Meetingselect’s system: location, date, required capacity, facilities, meeting room type, etc. The tool then offers several hotels and meeting locations which meet the demands and wishes of the meeting planner. The hotels which Danone has price agreements with are listed first. The meeting planner selects the most suitable location and requests an offer through the system. After that, there is direct personal contact between the planner and the accommodation provider to organise the rest, but the bookings are made using the system. So besides the fact that Meetingselect is a useful search engine and selfbookingstool for meetings, it is also a management information system for me.”

CANON EUROPE N.V. - ANNEKE VAN VEEN
‘The reason we, as Canon’s Procurement department, chose to start a pilot with Meetingselect was to, from a purchasing point of view, get a better insight into the yearly costs and production of meetings. In addition, we can see where the meetings took place. We can see what we as a company do on a monthly basis (but also quarterly, per 6-months and yearly) when it comes to meetings. This gives us more insight when we start negotiations with the locations for the new year.

With this tool, we can also see what the preferred partners are for our bookers. We load the price agreements and the contracts in Meetingselect. This way, the bookers can see with which locations we have price agreements and what to expect in the price agreement.

Meetingselect also saves our meeting bookers time. You can easily put out a request for several locations. When the right location has been found, the other locations can be thanked via the tool. Once the right location has been accepted via the tool, the booker can get in touch with the location through the ‘normal’ channels, keeping the personal relationship!

RIPE NCC - OLIVIA RUIMWIJK
I have been booking hotels with conference rooms and accommodation for my colleagues for years. With Meetingselect, you get an instant overview of well-recommended hotels and meeting locations.

For most hotels, you can immediately read how others have experienced the location. In addition, you can get a lot of information per hotel via Meetingselect and you can also click through to the hotel’s website directly, which is not always as easy to find through Google or other search engines.

It is also good that you can find good quality hotels in countries such as Moldavia, Azerbaijan, Russia, the Ukraine and that you can read other people’s opinions about the hotels in that country.

I will definitely keep on using Meetingselect in the future so that I can keep a clear overview of all bookings, can find them all back and even see what price agreements we had in the past. At the beginning, it was a bit of figuring out how it all works but now I can really find my way round the system!