Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has selected EventSphere as its official housing partner for the G.I.R.L 2017/54th National Council Session at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. EventSphere will provide a full suite of housing services for attendees from 112 Girl Scout councils nationwide. Valerie Trudeau, GSUSA’s chief national meetings executive, said “Partnering with EventSphere was any easy decision for us. They go the extra mile in customer service and have already demonstrated cost savings that will result in high convention participant satisfaction. We try to offer technology that meets our wide spectrum of audience expectations and EventSphere has brought that aspect to a new level.”
Bringing together council members, sponsors, and other individuals, the Girl Scout convention takes place every three years at various cities throughout the United States. During the convention, officers and members of the National Board are elected and the GSUSA constitution is amended as needed. New in 2017 is a split-format and a re-design of the convention, promoting inclusion of girls and women regardless of membership in GSUSA.
Other major elements of the convention include a variety of sessions, such as the National Council Session, opening and closing ceremonies, thought-provoking breakout sessions, and the Hall of Experiences (Hall of Exhibits). The Hall of Experiences is an exposition of nearly 400 commercial companies and nonprofit organizations that provide products and services of interest to Girl Scouts and to girls in general.
“When we heard about GSUSA’s housing needs, we knew that our customized approach and experience with the Democratic National Convention would streamline their current process while serving as an extension of their staff,” said Todd Lambert, EventSphere CEO. “We look forward to using our hotel relationships and technology tools in addition to building a long-standing relationship with the GSUSA team and the outstanding GSUSA program.”
To effectively organize the booking process, EventSphere will be using Lanyon Passkey as the reservation booking system as well as proprietary systems to manage sub-blocks for the convention. Having a dedicated team on all sectors of housing, including client services, event management, and marketing, will ensure all attendees have an effortless housing process prior to the convention and while on site.