SHANGHAI-based 1000meetings, a procurement solutions company for high-end corporate meetings, is seeking DMC partners to integrate into the eight-year-old business.
Entrepreneur and former IT consultant in France, Julien Delerue, who is founder and general manager of 1000meetings, developed the proprietary RFP platform costing some RMB2 million (US$300,849) when he founded the company.1000meetings, with a staff of 12 employees, offers procurement solutions for four- and five-star international hotel chains and caters to Fortune 500 companies that organise between 10 and 30 meetings a year in China.
Delerue said: “The budgets of these companies are in the range of RMB250,000 per event for between 50 and 250 attendees. Some times the events are for up to 600 people.”
1000meetings ran the summer edition of its MICE Showcase trade event on June 2, which saw the participation of international hotel brands such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels Worldwide and IHG Greater China, and featured some 30 chain hotels.
At the event, the company introduced its new cloud-based solution to enable organisations to manage their corporate event RFPs and generate measurable savings in a more compliant way. Delerue said the next MICE Showcase in Shanghai will be held on September 22.
On what else 1000meetings is looking at, Delerue commented: “The majority of the staff already focus on sales and only a small percentage look into sourcing. But it It’s always a challenge to find new customers and the next opportunity is to find solutions for small events for about 10 people and budgets of around RMB20,000.”
