Sian Sayward , chair of beam analyses industry sentiment on Instant Book

e at beam have been working closely with Venue Directory , supporting the development of Instant Book . Following up on the Instant Book Summit in July 2022 , there was an engaging discussion at the beam Annual Forum this summer . Taking part were Jason Gutteridge from Venue Directory , Danny Yates of Clermont Hotels giving a venue perspective , who were joined by Anna Snoep of Inntel and Caroline Medcalf of Agiito sharing the views of agencies .

We recently went back to them for their latest thoughts on this key topic .

What benefits you are seeing ? “ Time-saving and greater efficiency on all sides ” was the common view with Medcalf adding that Agiito has increased its operational efficiency by 30 %. Snoep reflected the views of all , adding everyone can spend more time and attention on more complex meetings with increased quality of service for the client as a result . Yates added that clients appreciated the flexibility , including outside office hours , in when and how they book simple meetings .

“ Instant Book must continue to be for simple meetings - with the emphasis on ‘ simple ’ - essentially , a meeting room with standard refreshments ,”

- Jason Gutteridge , Venue Directory

Sian Sayward

How would you describe the current momentum of Instant Book ? Gutteridge quantified this , reporting that “ We have certainly made significant progress , with the number of venues with Instant Book available on venuedirectory . com recently increasing by 25 %, now exceeding 1,000 . Additionally , planners are sending an average of 373 Instant Book enquiries every month .”

Medcalf confirmed : “ It is certainly gathering momentum . There is a huge amount of interest ’ while Yates added that : “ It ’ s prominent in discussions across industry forums – more and more inventory from venues is coming online which is great to see .”

What are the keys to its continuing progress ? “ Instant Book must continue to be for simple meetings - with the emphasis on ‘ simple ’ - essentially , a meeting room with standard refreshments ,” says Gutteridge . Yates agreed saying : “ Simplicity is the key and if inventory is available to book instantly and receive an instant confirmation this will ensure it becomes a normal way to book small simple meetings .”

Gutteridge added : “ more venues need to prioritise becoming ‘ Instant Book ready ’ as the benefits are undoubtedly worthwhile .”

Echoing this , Snoep said : “ Venues who manage a lot of simple meetings or have lots of small meeting space should take the leap of faith and invest . We have invested heavily in developing our instance of Instant Book on our meeting platform , LOGiC Meetings and it ’ s ready to go as soon as we see richer content .”

Medcalf summed up : “ We need to work together as an industry to understand what the parameters are , agree the ways of working and iron out the details . There is some great work being done by our industry associations , such as beam , to understand the wider implications and engage with key players ( both suppliers and agencies ). As this momentum continues to grow , it will naturally progress .” CN