The right way to your venue

A manifesto by Wice

We live in a world where booking a taxi, dinner, hotel room or flight takes just a few clicks. But what about finding the right venue?

The world of 'venue finding' in the MICE industry (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions) has become one of shady deals and a maze of providers. There are countless online booking tools and venue platforms with which you as an event organiser are plagued by the long lists of standardised profiles. This makes venue finding an extremely time-consuming process that can easily cost you more than 10 hours. There is also a good chance that your requests will be answered with 'no' because venues are not even available. All the stress is completely on you because it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. And when you, because you already have so little time, ask for the help of an agency specialised in venue finding, you end up in an opaque world of under-table deals they have with venues in order for them to make as much commission as possible. The contact with venues goes via the agency, so transparency is gone.

Venues on the other hand, always draw the short straw. They put an enormous amount of work into all these online booking tools and platforms where they pay the top price to get just a little attention. Hoping for a meeting or event request that matches their business needs. It simply doesn't deliver enough. When you're one of the many venues that puts time and effort into making a quote for the same (or the wrong) event, things go wrong. The cost/return ratio is completely out of balance and you are left to luck. And agencies? Several of these are in line for the same event. Hail is then fired to get more of the ever-increasing commissions.

Let’s get it together

We truly believe that there is the right venue for every meeting and event. No matter how big or small. Wice uses digital power to find it.

For a meeting or event organiser, Wice is a digital venue finding service with the ease of an agency. An online and independent marketplace where the entered data of a request is immediately and automatically matched with the right venues. Finding the right venue has never been easier. Especially those venues that you probably didn't even think of or knew they existed.

The same goes for venues. But here we take it one step further. Wice is a digital bidding service for venues and creates success by letting data speak. By means of Artificial Intelligence matching, you are easily offered the best requests from potential organisers that are fully relevant to your business needs. No more unnecessary actions and everything is transparent and measurable. It's in your own hands.

Our principles

• The right venue

  We match based on entered data from organisers & venues. This makes it fair and transparent for everyone; also for those smaller venues with a modest marketing budget. These just might be perfect for your request.

• Everything under control

  At Wice, organisers and venues are in control themselves and there will be direct contact from the start. You decide for yourself what you go for and what not.

• Fairly priced

  Eventually, a fixed and therefore planable price for venues makes it fair and clear. In addition, the organiser does not pay anything for submitting requests. Possibly only for additional services.

• Without effort or stress

  You are already busy enough. That is why we are happy to help you with this time-consuming process. By letting technology do the hard work and make the process as efficient as possible, we save you a lot of time and effort. This is what we call ‘digital hospitality’.

Kick out commissions

We do not believe in the commission model. May that be clear. This has become too overwhelming for the general importance of using the right venue for meetings and events. The eventual choice of a venue is then influenced in such a way that it is more important for the agency as a revenue model than it is for the organiser and the actual event.

However, when it concerns an 'event production agency' it is often a different situation. They produce the actual event for the client for which commissions may apply. But let's face it; why would the venue pay this commission when the client decides to use the agency?

In any case, Wice will offer its services free of charge to organisers and at a low fixed price for venues. With this, the commission discussion for venue finding will be over for good.

Our moonshot

• Step 1: Automated matching

  Matching based on ones and zeros. No more human subjectivity. Simple and honest. Because we ask the right questions, you will only receive answers from venues that have availability and fully match the wishes of the organiser.

• Step 2: Digital hospitality

  By using modern technology Wice will help you with creating the best and most effective requests. Integrations with external data sources will already tell you what you can expect while submitting your request. You won’t have to wait for the reply anymore.

• Step 3: Global Ecosystem

  Organising a meeting or event often requires more than only a venue. Our 'moonshot' is therefore to match all relevant types of suppliers with organisers via the same module. Think of caterers, sub venues, decorators, speaker and entertainment agencies, transport companies and so on. Everything in one overview, centrally organised.

The right time

Now it is time for a new approach. It's time for all organizers and venues to explore how to seize the opportunity offered by the recovery from Covid-19 and accelerate the digital transformation process.

The ongoing corona pandemic keeps us on our toes by continuing to look for alternative ways of doing business. The MICE industry is a sector that is always one of the first to be hit hardest during crises. Efficiency in costs and process are therefore always the most important KPI's as a result. Even more than usual.

In addition, the market is screaming for technological change. And it has been doing that for a while now. Not only the commission discussion has been going on for years, there have also been complaints about the old fashioned IT systems on which venues run. Custom build, often yes, but far from flexible and can't be integrated with anything. There are also many venues that still write their proposals in Microsoft Word and then convert them to a PDF. Everything manually and therefore extremely error-prone. This should and can be done better!

While many other industries are far ahead when it comes to technological developments, it remains a challenge within the hospitality sector. Because; ‘I want personal contact with my customer and guest’. Rightly so. We think so too! And that is why we see Wice as a tool to maintain that contact. But then smart and only with the right people.

Join the ride

Does venue finding really still work that way? This is the question that brought us together. A team of professionals that combines hospitality and technology.

In order to secure the future of venue finding, you too are desperately needed. Both experienced and less experienced event organisers and small and large event venues: we need you!

• New request? Try our beta request flow

  Are you looking for a venue for your next event? Feel free to fill in your request in our request flow and give us feedback on your first thoughts. Go to wice.co$/create-match-request.

• Wice newsletter

  Do you believe in this formula and do you want to stay informed about all developments? Then sign up for our newsletter at wice.co/newsletter-signup.

• Wice community

  Have you been inspired after reading this manifesto and are your hands itching to get involved in this movement? Send an email to hello@wice.co. We’ll get in touch and add you to our closed community group on LinkedIn.

• Other

  Do you feel another need to speak up? Please feel free to contact us on +31 (0) 850 041990. or send an email to hello@wice.co.