HOW TO NAVIGATE
This custom guide to the TripProximity tool is designed for Entercom executives to evaluate the product and our company for integration into various Entercom digital properties and potentially as a distribution partner for Eventful.
If you want just the 40k ft view of the features/benefits, click HERE.
If you want to take a deeper dive, simply click on the header on the left navigation and then click on each section to learn about the topic covered. When you are finished reading a section, click on it to collapse it and go on to the next item.
We believe that the moment when someone decides to attend an event is the optimal time for them to plan how they will get there.
If an event ends late at night and/or alcohol is served at the venue, even a local resident may choose to get a hotel room. At Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, they calculate that 17% of event goers (whether sports or concerts) need or want a hotel room. This number goes way up for major events that only happen once a year, such as the US Open, Superbowl, the World Series or the Final Four.
Integration into an events system captures the highest possible intent for travel.
By integrating into the event page, prior to committing to buy the ticket the individual can search in a separate window (branded with your brand) to see if rooms are available. Or if they are local and don’t need a room, they can simply use the map and driving directions.
Marketing messages used in email or social media campaigns for an event, such as Make it a Weekend or Make it a Date Night, can increase the likelihood of a hotel stay.
If it is a good idea, then why wouldn’t we do it ourselves?
Providing these systems is our core business and it is a full time effort to stay on top of it. We have a team of 12 today that are dedicated to client management and development, as well as assisting you with marketing and merchandising our capabilities.
Standard travel booking systems are not engineered to automatically find hotels nearby venues and events. They operate on a city center and airport centric back end.
TripProximity was engineered around events and venues and was built to be dynamically integrated in the same day as the decision is made. We provide not only technology, but we provide ongoing marketing support from your Account Director and we do a minimum of three major product releases a year, with weekly sprints to add incremental capabilities.
The online systems’ affiliate networks are the red-headed stepchildren of the parent companies and their tech resources are about the same as what is available with Solutionz Innovations. They also do not have the resources necessary to act as your proactive marketing partner. Their systems require programming to their API and integration can take weeks and even months to go live. Even minor changes to images and logos or navigation on the booking system requires a programming sprint which is generally a 3 week cycle. They do not have self-service portals that allow you to fully maintain your own environments.
We are always seeking to make travel to a place or an event smarter and easier. That is our commitment to you.
Why should we consider adding Eventful content to the TripProximity product for your other clients?
The metrics of driving traffic to Eventful and your other online properties is a known quantity and likely follow a mathematical equation. To increase your reach costs real dollars. We have observed that your current marketing efforts are geared largely toward locals, versus those that are traveling (although you can clearly manage a search to anywhere). Without development, it would be difficult, if not impossible for you to know where people are going and proactively provide them with an offer email similar to your local one.
TripProximity has a unique plan to integrate trip planning into the systems that people use every day. We are solely a B2B platform, providing tools to enterprise systems, plus providing a self-service capability for individual venues and events that wish to use our tool.
This approach nets us hundreds of thousands, and even millions of monthly travelers with a single implementation. This is much more efficient than the standard online travel site that spends $1m/mo on keywords to drive 500k in unique visitors. Our cost of traveler acquisition is literally zero once the client is installed.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion_section with_bgr=”yes” border=”yes”][boc_accordion title=”To add Smart Trip Planning to your Event Landing Pages on Eventful”]BEST PRACTICE: We typically experience 4.6% conversion on placement of the hotel booking tool above the fold. This could be done by putting the widget to the right of the event information where you currently have the Google Map. The tool is container responsive and would fit into the right rail column.
NEXT BEST: If you place the tool below the fold and use the map view, based on our experience to date with event sites, you can expect approximately 2.6% conversion.
We recommend adding a variable header, such as Make it a Weekend (if the event is on Thurs, Fri or Sat) or “Make it a Date Night” or simply “Do you need or want a hotel room?”
The instructions for installing this tool can be found in the Event Widget section.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”To plan travel to any event venue on Eventful”]For your landing pages for venues, the Smart Trip tool can be added to any of those landing pages to allow anyone traveling to an event at that venue to find a hotel nearby. This can be useful when someone already has a ticket to an event, but still needs to find a hotel nearby.
The instructions to load the dynamic venue widget to your venue landing pages can be found in the VENUE WIDGET section below.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”To be installed on your corporate website as a VISIT US page”]Entercom can add the Smart Trip tool to your corporate website as a VISIT US page, for not only your PHL area headquarters, but for every one of your locations. This will allow anyone that is traveling to your offices, whether driving or flying to get driving directions and book a hotel nearby.
The instructions for adding this static widget to your corporate site can be found in the VENUE WIDGET section below.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Launch campaigns in minutes to support your existing philanthropic efforts (telethons, event sponsorship)”]We know that Entercom is a purpose driven company and so is Solutionz. We believe so much in the power of giving back that we are willing to demonstrate that by augmenting your specific fund raising campaigns (such as the JimmyFund telethon, I’m Listening, etc.) with a 50% donations of our revenues.
In the case of the I’m Listening campaign, we believe that you can build momentum after the broadcast by asking listeners to join you in their support by using the I’m Listening Smart Giving tool to benefit the suicide prevention cause. It costs them nothing to give back in this way and they get to enjoy traveling as well, at guaranteed lowest hotel rates.
They can post their pics and videos on Radio.com and get really creative in their social media support. So much more fun than putting a bucket of ice over your head.
[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][/boc_tab][boc_tab title=”Key Features” icon=”icon icon-new”][boc_accordion_section with_bgr=”yes” border=”yes”][boc_accordion title=”The Smart Trip Tool Components”]The Smart Trip Tool includes the following features.
I’m Staying
This element of the Smart Trip tool gives the event attendee the ability to book a hotel in a single click, since the widget is pre-populated with the event venue info and the event date. Hotel bookings are guaranteed to be the lowest published rate online. Solutionz provides a 110% best rate promise and will refund 110% of the difference for someone who finds a hotel room available cheaper on another site.
I’m Driving
In the US, 89% of all travel is by car. Driving directions are useful to all event attendees that are not personally familiar with the event venue. This tab also provides smart car rental.
Air Tickets
TripProximity provides the ability to buy airline tickets worldwide.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”I’m Staying”]
Hotel Booking Nearby the Venue or Event
This element of the Smart Trip tool gives the event attendee the ability to book a hotel in a single click, since the widget is pre-populated with the event venue info and the event date. Hotel bookings are guaranteed to be the lowest published rate online. Solutionz provides a 110% best rate promise and will refund 110% of the difference for someone who finds a hotel room available cheaper on another site.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Address lookup”]If the user wishes to travel to a different destination, they can type in their destination using the pencil.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”I’m Driving”]
Driving Directions and Optional Car Rental
In the US, 89% of all travel is by car. Driving directions are useful to all event attendees that are not personally familiar with the event venue. This tab also provides smart car rental.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Smarter Driving Directions”]TripProximity now handles multi-day trip planning by allowing the user to define the number of hours per day that they would like to drive. This then calculates the actual driving time, versus the driving straight through method that Google, Mapquest and others use.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Smarter Car Rental”]TripProximity now allows the user to specify whether they want to drive or fly to their destination, which changes where you would pick up your car rental.
You can add an additional revenue stream by asking for a car rental company to sponsor this capability. We can default to that car rental company. The user may override the default at transaction time and see all car rentals, or we could link directly to the car company’s system.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”I’m Flying”]
Optionally offer Air Tickets
TripProximity provides the ability to buy airline tickets worldwide.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Social Sharing”]Once the Smart Trip Tool is displayed, the user can choose to share the widget with friends/family. The widget can be linked back to the ticket purchase page.
This feature can be disabled.
[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][/boc_tab][boc_tab title=”The Economics” icon=”icon icon-money”][boc_accordion title=”Royalty and Giving”]
Royalties
We earn revenues from travel bookings made on our client systems. The highest revenues come from hotels, then car rental. Air tickets produce a nominal fee. We are paid post-checkout, generally within 30 days for completed bookings.
In 4Q18 we are adding another booking source to augment our longstanding relationship with Priceline Partner Network and Booking.com. That will add not only 200 new inventory sources for lodging (including non-standard apartments, home rentals), cruise and attractions, but also the ability to serve very deeply discounted products to closed user groups behind a login (e.g. your Eventful subscribers).
Solutionz will share 20% of our revenues with Entercom for any activities on Eventful or any of your other online properties, such as Radio.com. Should the monthly bookings exceed 250, we will move you to our highest earning threshold of 30%.
NOTE: If Entercom agrees to allow Solutionz to utilize the Eventful content to power our “I’m Discovering” event tab, we will honor the 30% rate without a minimum booking threshhold.
Giving Back
We will donate a minimum of 10% of our revenues to your charity of choice annually, giving the funds in your name.
For special campaigns, such as telethons and other special programs such as I’m Listening, we are willing to do a special donation of 50% of our revenues for those campaigns at the conclusion of the campaign.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Terms”]
We believe that we need to earn your business every day and we are committed to your satisfaction.
You will have an Account Director that will navigate our organization to respond promptly to any issues or concerns.
Solutionz does not require a long term contractual commitment. We do ask our enterprise clients for one year, with mutual agreement on renewal.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Traveler Support”]We guarantee that we will have the lowest published rates on hotel rooms. We stand behind that promise with a 110% best rate guarantee, and we will refund 110% of the difference if someone finds the same hotel, same room type for the same dates/duration after booking on your site(s).
We provide 24/7/365 support in 40+ languages for the customer and an Account Director will be assigned to you for escalation of any issues with the smart trip tool or any of your campaigns.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Referrals”]We recognize that you have very strong partnerships in place with ticketing providers and also with the philanthropic organizations that you serve. We have a very strong offering for both of those categories. For ticketing providers, we can add the travel offer as a “do you want fries with that” at the end of the buying path. For 501c3s we have various fund raising tools, including our “anywhere” tool that can be used to raise donations while they sleep.
We have a formal referral program and the underlying technology to track referrals from Entercom. If you make referrals to Solutionz, we want to thank you in a material way.
We have started you at Level 2, which immediately allows you to earn royalties and donations. Any referrals that you make while you are at Level 2 will be counted toward reaching Level 3.
Once you achieve Level 3 with us (250 booking threshhold), any referrals that you have done will accrue to your account and we will pay you as a channel partner on those deals at a fixed 10% of their first year’s revenues.[/boc_accordion][/boc_tab][boc_tab title=”Brand Choices” icon=”icon icon-heart3″][boc_accordion_section rounded=”yes” with_bgr=”yes”][boc_accordion title=”What brands can I choose from for the booking system that the traveler sees?”]Depending on how you implement the widget, you may have a different need for targeted messaging in the booking system. The default is The Hotels Nearby Events. The next selection shows you all of the possibilities.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”The Brand Options”]
The default refid is 5135 and the default brand is The Hotels Nearby. | |||||
To change the brand to one of our niche brands, you must use the combination of the refid and reflickid2 below. | |||||
These can be overridden at transaction time by using the refid and refclickid2 variables | |||||
refid= | Brand | refclickid2= | |||
5135 | The Hotels Nearby | ||||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Amusement Parks | hotelbyattractions | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Assisted Living | hotelsbyamusementparks | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Attractions | hotelsbyassistedliving.com | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Bloggers | hotelsbybloggers | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Companies | hotelsbycompanies | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Convention Centers | hotelsbyconventioncenters | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Cruise Ports | hotelsbycruiseports | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Doctors | hotelsbydoctors | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Embassies | hotelsbyembassies | |||
6856 | The Hotels Nearby Events | hotelsbyevents | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Festivals | hotelsbyfestivals | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Funeral Homes | hotelsbyfuneralhomes | |||
6988 | The Hotels Nearby Golf Courses | hotelsbygolfcourses | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Hospice | hotelsbyhospice | |||
6855 | The Hotels Nearby Hospitals | hotelsbyhospitals | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Military Bases | hotelsbymilitarybases | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Museums | hotelsbymuseums | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Nursing Homes | hotelsbynursinghomes | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Places | hotelsbyplaces | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Prisons | hotelsbyprisons | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Racetracks | hotelsbyracetracks | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Spas | hotelsbyspas | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Theatres | hotelsbytheatres | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Trainstations | hotelsbytrainstations | |||
6857 | The Hotels Nearby Universities | hotelsbyuniversities | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Wineries | hotelsbywineries | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Zoos | hotelsbyzoos | |||
7028 | TravelingtoGIVE |
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Private Label”]
May we use our own brand?
Yes, for a one time fee of $1200, you may use your own logo and navigation options for the booking back end system, as well as your own URL. You may also customize the buttons to your brand colors. The footer can also be customized, but it must contain our Copyright and the Powered By logo, plus the words “Patent Pending”.
[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][/boc_tab][boc_tab title=”Marketing Stuff” icon=”icon icon-light”][boc_accordion_section][boc_accordion title=”Press Release Draft”]We will work with you to craft a press release for your implementations of TripProximity. You will be the first event aggregation site to launch smart trip planning.
Our CMO George Lynch will help you craft engaging communications for social media and the press.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Recommended Help Text”]We will assist you in drafting the help text for your clients, including the FAQs.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Getting Started Guide” is_open=”yes”]Click on the image to download the Getting Started Guide. This can be useful for socializing the capabilities of the widget with your team.
[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][/boc_tab][boc_tab title=”Getting Started” icon=”icon icon-tools-2″][boc_accordion_section][boc_accordion title=”FIRST STEP: Click the button below to review the Enterprise Terms and Conditions and then REGISTER as an Enterprise Client (no obligation)” is_open=”yes”][boc_button href=”http://www.tripproximity.com/legal-enterprise” btn_content=”Read Terms and Conditions” target=”_self” size=”btn_medium” color=”btn_theme_color” btn_style=”” border_radius=”btn_rounded” icon=”” icon_pos=”” icon_effect=””][/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Portal Invitation” is_open=”yes”]Once you have registered as an Enterprise Client, we will send you an invitation to our Portal.
From our portal you can modify your widgets, create new ones and see your usage statistics.
It is important to note that if you update a widget you do NOT need to reinstall it. The changes will be live immediately.
The script that you write to augment the code snippet that is generated by the portal will override the fields that are included in your script. We have put them in as %VARIABLENAME% into the Event and Venue widgets. We have also built a few sample widgets for you that are included at the top of this page. These are static widgets.
We have online chat (M-F 8am-9pm ET) on the portal. You will have your own Account Director that will review your progress each month and work with you to improve merchandising and placement, including making recommendations about email and social media campaigns.[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][/boc_tab][boc_tab title=”Tech Stuff” icon=”icon icon-plugin”][boc_accordion_section][boc_accordion title=”The Event Widget”]The Event widget is one of our Smart Trip tools. It allows you to dynamically embed trip planning in any event in your system.
It is distinct from the Venue widget in that it has a specific date range for the event and a location where the event is held.
We provide the embed code for the dynamic widget on your portal once you register. Then you will find the instructions for our Dynamic tool, which shows you how to substitute your data for our variables in real time, so that you only have to install the widget snippet once. Once it is installed, if you wish to make changes, you can edit the base elements of the widget in the Portal and you do not have to reinstall the snippet. See the defaults in the last section.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Implementing the Dynamic Event Widget” is_open=”yes”]The following sections are about implementing the Dynamic Event Smart Trip Tool.
If you need further information, click the image above.[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][boc_accordion_section][boc_accordion title=”The Venue Widget (dynamic)”]The Venue widget is one of our Smart Trip tools. It allows you to embed trip planning on any page in your system or on your site or blog where there is a contact with an address. A venue can be a physical place, like a company or a museum, or it can be a location like a park or a beach. As long as we can pinpoint a latitude/longitude, we can “trip enable” any landing page.
This tool is distinct from the Event widget in that the dates of travel are relative to the date that the tool is displayed, e.g. travel 7 days from today for 1 night.
Click the HDQ widget above to see the widget for the EVENTFUL corporate website for people traveling to see you.
Once you have been invited to the TripProximity portal, you will be able to grab the embed code for your HDQ tool. Then you will find the instructions for our Dynamic tool, which shows you how to substitute your data for our variables in real time, so that you only have to install the widget snippet once.
If you need a VENUE widget we have created one on the portal. Once it is installed, if you wish to make changes, you can edit the base elements of the widget in the Portal and you do not have to reinstall the snippet. See the defaults in the last section.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Implementing the Dynamic Venue Widget” is_open=”yes”]The following sections are about implementing the Dynamic Venue Smart Trip Tool.
If you need further information, click the image above.[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][boc_accordion_section rounded=”yes” with_bgr=”yes”][boc_accordion title=”Tech Tips”]Following are tips for the technical integration of TripProximity.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Static Widgets versus Dynamic Widgets”]The static widget contains the following:
async onload=”tripWidget()”
The dynamic widget does not load asynchronously. If you turn on the dynamic flag in the portal in the widget editor, it removes that line from the code snippet that is generated. If you try to install a dynamic widget directly into an HTML container on WordPress, it will NOT render.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”External System Interaction”]The TripProximity widget interacts with the following systems:
- Google Places for lookup of the venues and addresses in the address field
- Google Maps for lookup of the latitude/longitude of any address
Once the input from the widget is received, we pass a search string to our booking system. It contains:
- Brand to be displayed in the booking system
- Travel parameters
- Tracking information to provide reporting back to you for each client
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”CSS”]The widget has its own style sheet that governs the display of the widget within a container.
[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Rules for Display”]The widget can be populated with event and venue information. Ideally, the widget needs the full address to do an accurate proximity lookup of the hotels nearby.
The date fields for events can be coupled with a business rule. For instance if you have an event that begins before noon, you may want to set the date of arrival to 1 day before the event begins. If the event ends after 3pm, you may want to set the date of departure to 1 day after the event.
Just a reminder, even if there is no address or a partial address (city/state), our new widget with the Google Places lookup can find the precise address of the venue or company that they are visiting (even a Starbucks or TopGolf! or finding a hotel near someone’s house that works from home). The user controls this by using the pencil tool on the address field to do their own lookup.[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”Email Services”]Do your providers support JAVASCRIPT?
If not, you’ll need a graphic linked to a landing page on your site.[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][/boc_tab][boc_tab title=”About Us” icon=”icon icon-share”][boc_accordion_section][boc_accordion title=”The Company – Solutionz Innovations, Inc.”]Solutionz is a global technology innovator setting the standard for development of smart trip technology. First and foremost we consider ourselves value creators through giving back and through social impact.
Since 1996, Solutionz has been solving problems for clients in the travel technology space. The company started as a consultancy helping leading brands amp up distribution and travel marketing strategies. Along the way, the business incubated products and technologies for our clients and for our own portfolio.
Over our 21+ year history, we have been a part of building a game changing loyalty platform for Carlson Companies, we launched one of the industry’s first mobile travel platforms for Intel, we built LasVegas.com from concept to company with a consortium of casino partners, we were a key advisor in the acquisition of Galileo and Worldspan by Cendant, we assisted with numerous other mergers and acquisitions and advised nearly 100 companies on the creation of differentiating solutions for their firms.
We were a major investor in LeisureLogix, a venture backed product that brought driving- trip planning to major online travel agencies. And most recently, we have been a part of the incubation of Rich Media Exchange, a digital asset management, marketing and distribution firm.
At every turn, there was always a drive to change the game.
Here are some of the companies that we helped to change their game.
#InnovationMatters[/boc_accordion][boc_accordion title=”New Venture: TripProximity”]
Now, Solutionz is bringing its latest venture to market — TripProximity. Our first product is a smart trip widget that enables businesses and venues to easily serve customers at the very moment they are motivated to make a trip. Its innovative distribution strategy and technology capabilities sets it apart from the rest.
The product was launched first in 2007 as HotelsbyHospitals.com, but founder, Chicke Fitzgerald didn’t want to run a consumer facing web business, so she went back to the drawing board (more than once) and in 2015 launched the next generation, known as TripPlanz. We are now on our third generation of the product, which was rebranded in 2017 as TripProximity.
Chicke Fitzgerald, Solutionz’ founder self-funded this business through the 2nd generation product and began raising friends and family capital in late 2016. The company is now raising a seed round to accelerate growth. Learn more about the executive team assembled to change the game in travel with TripProximity.
In addition to changing the orientation of the travel request from city centers and airports to venues, addresses and events, TripProximity is also shifting the timing of the booking to be much closer to the catalyst for travel. The strategy is to add integrated trip planning to CRM, contact management, calendaring, ticketing and registration platforms, media/publishing companies and web tool companies.
There are many reasons to travel. TripProximity caters to the 72% of travel that is NOT vacation or managed corporate travel.
#ProximityMatters
[/boc_accordion][/boc_accordion_section][/boc_tab][/boc_tabs]
For any other details regarding widget customization, please access the Support Center.