StarCite Announces New Integration Partnership With Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Philadelphia, PA | StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of Web-based solutions to strategically manage corporate meetings and events, today announced a new integration partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts to directly connect meetings requests sent by corporate planners through StarCite's electronic marketplace with Starwood's sales automation system. As a result of this integration -- one of the most advanced in the meetings industry -- the Starwood sales team will be able to more efficiently handle the flow of meetings requests (RFPs) to each of its 960 properties and provide faster, more detailed responses to meeting planners.

"By partnering with StarCite, the leader in corporate meetings management, we will be able to provide faster and better service to our business customers, manage leads more efficiently, and ultimately close more sales," said Barry Goldstein, Vice President Sales Strategy & Operations, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. "We are pleased to push the envelope in terms of meetings technology and improve the overall meetings planning process as a result."

Starwood is integrating its sales automation system directly with the StarCite platform. With this level of integration, Starwood will ensure fast, efficient and more accurate responses to eRFPs flowing through the StarCite Marketplace. This unique technology will enable Starwood to route leads to specific members of its sales team based on Starwood's own internal business rules. Starwood's RFP response times will increase as the integration eliminates several redundant manual steps. This new technology will ensure that Starwood's top groups and meetings salespeople will be engaged and responding to the most profitable business opportunities in the most expedient manner possible.

"We are thrilled to integrate with Starwood and take another important step in the evolution of online meetings management," said David O'Donohoe, Senior Vice President Global Supplier Sales and Operations. "This partnership is an example of the promise of meetings technology -- a new solution that improves the planning experience for meetings buyers and streamlines the sales process for Starwood, increasing efficiency and creating value for both parties."