Web watch

08 March 2001
Web watch

There's nothing like a big exhibition to bring out the new launches and announcements, and last week's Confex 2001 show at London's Earls Court, for the meetings and event industry, was no exception.

Sodexho, for example, took the opportunity to launch its new online service, www.conference-online.co.uk, a database of around 80 of the venues for which it provides hospitality. It's certainly an impressive list, ranging from Edinburgh Castle to Ascot racecourse and Hampton Court, and the details on each site are comprehensive.

Once users get past the slightly annoying animated opening, they can search by region, venue type and capacity to find their options. Once a venue is selected, the room layouts, capacities and facilities are all listed. Bookings aren't taken on-line but with the individual sites.

This is a well laid out site, with all the details any meeting planner would need to know. However, it suffers slightly from having little or no interaction with the user, essentially making it an on-line brochure rather than an e-commerce site.

Also showcasing at Confex was www.venuedirectory.com. This is a spin-off from the Venue Directory search system which, it is claimed, is owned on CD-Rom by 76% of Britain's professional organisers.

The site's home page is slightly strange. Showing a huge map of the globe, presumably to illustrate that the directory spreads worldwide, it highlights which areas are currently covered. At the moment, though, this only means the UK and South Africa, so all that the map does is to show how much of the world isn't covered. The company says that North America and Australasia will be available very soon.

Anyway, once you actually get into searching for a venue, the choice is overwhelming, with the directory including names such as Best Western, Holiday Inn, Hyatt, Le Méridien and Marriott. This could be a real nightmare to search, but anybody with a little patience can specify more than 300 requirements to search for in their venue.

Definitely aimed at the professional conference organiser, this could be indispensable if that world map is eventually covered.

On a completely different tack, if you're the type who finds conferences a bit dull and sneaks out for a pint instead, then beware. Whitbread has teamed up with Web developer Viewpub to install live Webcams in its pubs.

The Web site, www.viewpub.com, is currently experimenting with six London pubs and, while it can be used to catch out surreptitious illicit drinkers, it's also popular with users checking to see how busy the pub is before they go for a drink. The Fox in Putney, west London, is apparently a favourite with homesick Aussies waving to family back home.

Next Web watch: 5 April

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