The Hybrid Group
Adapting for the future, they moved from simple to robust while staying within a financial model
About Client
The Hybrid Group, comprised of meeting and convention management associates bringing more than 100 years’ experience, combines expertise from many industry backgrounds to create highly customized event management models for their clients. The Hybrid Group’s mission is to establish a comprehensive global brand in which they offer their knowledge to help grow their clients’ conventions, meetings, special events and member services by customizing a “hybrid” suite of services to meet their individual client needs.
Challenge
Prior to using Stova, The Hybrid Group had a very basic registration system that was not robust enough to meet their needs. It lacked pivotal components, such as housing, reporting and communication tools that their clients were looking for.
Therefore, The Hybrid Group needed a more comprehensive system that could incorporate these tools within one solution, while also providing additional aspects needed for extensive event planning, says Jeanette Kilrea, registration and housing manager at The Hybrid Group. From corporations and government agencies, to non profits and international organizations, The Hybrid Group’s diverse clientele also needed software that could help produce a variety of events like conferences, trade shows, fundraisers, product launches and more.
After an extensive search and comparison of other event software companies, The Hybrid Group decided that Stova provided the best overall components of a high quality registration and housing system that not only fit its company and client needs, but that also fit its financial model. “What we liked about Stova were its modules and the ability to customize and create a product that worked well for us,” Kilrea says.
With all the extensive Stova modules, The Hybrid Group was also able to easily showcase a complete registration and housing package to their clients, further enhancing their offerings and services.
Solution
Right away, the Stova sales team developed a customized plan for The Hybrid Group. This was done while understanding that its needs could possibly shift throughout contract term as well as with client growth— something Kilrea says was invaluable. The ability to amend a contract with the sales team while working through company changes has allowed The Hybrid Group to maintain their working relationship with Stova with a positive outcome for the past three years as an Stova customer.
With the range of Stova modules, we can offer more features to our clients and improve client satisfaction.
Jeanette Kilrea
Registration and Housing Manager, The Hybrid Group
For a standard event, The Hybrid Group utilizes several Stova features, such as the website module, where they can create custom microsites for each event that includes a client’s logo, colors, and other branding materials. Tabs for general information, event agenda, and housing accommodations can also be added easily. The Hybrid Group also manages all attendee, speaker and exhibitor registration via the Stova registration module. What is especially helpful, Kilrea says, is having the ability to require registrants to use event hotel blocks and to select check in and check out dates. With that feature, The Hybrid Group is able to provide clients with overall hotel pick up reports and attrition percentages.
The Hybrid Group also harnesses Stova's many reporting features to track registration, payments and more. The intuitive nature of the system allows for robust reporting and real time data. “Customization of reporting saves time as each report can be customized to give exact details the client requires,” says Kilrea. “Clients have shared their satisfaction with being able to move or add data as needed to make reporting easier on their side. This has saved time on issuing IT requests for data purposes.”
At a recent 1,000-person event, The Hybrid Group used Stova to develop its first onsite mobile app. With help from the Stova support team, they were able to customize the app for the event, add up to date information and send an email blast through the platform’s marketing module to all attendees on how to access the app. “For a lot of our attendees that have never used an app like that before, it was very user friendly and easy to follow,” Kilrea says.
With Stova, The Hybrid Group found the comprehensive and adaptable solution it was looking for. In the coming years, they plans to utilize the platform even further to continue to improve client satisfaction as their clients’ needs change. “Every company has ebbs and flows,” Kilrea says. “Our sales team has been able to use Aventri to create the best event experience for our clients based on where they have been and where they are going.”
The multifunction use of Stova helps maintain registration and housing data in one system.
Jeanette Kilrea
Registration and Housing Manager, The Hybrid Group
The Hybrid Group
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Founded: 2008
Employees: 10+
Industry: Meetings & Events
Products Leveraged:
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