Center News
February 2007
Making room for meetings
Meetings and Event Services team introduces new online software program
Photo by Stephanie Cartier
From left, Reggie Carr, Justin Fontanes (kneeling), Vince Gipson, Jeremy Smith, Juan Rios (kneeling) and Craig Brandt employ new EMS software to stay on top of demand.
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Every year, more than 45,000 seminars, conferences and meetings take place in the dozen buildings on campus. Quietly making those 130-200 events per day happen are the six members of the Meeting and Events Services team.
With the number of meeting-room requests nearly tripled since 2001, the team has turned to technology to stay on top of the demand. "We used to keep track of it all on paper, but now we use the Event Management System, or EMS," said Vince Gipson, Meeting and Event Services supervisor.
The newly upgraded EMS system is making meeting arrangements more accessible to anyone who wants to book a conference room. "The department started with EMS 2.0 back in April 2002, but the software makers kept making the program better — adding features based on user request. As a result, EMS is both intuitive and user-friendly," Gipson said. "If you've ever bought a book over the Internet, you should be able to use EMS with little or no training."
The system, which can be easily accessed through the intranet, provides meeting coordinators with information about the room: such as phone numbers, pictures of the room, AV equipment, room capacities and available room setup options. The system even indicates the presence of windows and whether things like projectors and screens are built into the room.
How to book a room"We have a three-business day window, so that you can't book any rooms within that period without calling us first," Gipson said. "It prevents you from booking the Sze conference room at 5 p.m. on Friday for a major event at 8 a.m. on Monday." However, if you do have to make a last-minute booking, just pick up the phone. "If you call and give us some warning, we can try to be ready for you," he said.
Meeting cancellations should also be handled over the phone. "When we take the time to set up an event, we appreciate people making that one-minute phone call to let us know when to cancel his or her meeting," Gipson said.
EMS does not automatically rebook standing meetings at the end of the year. "I open the schedule to the entire Center in September for the coming year, so it's important to rebook reservations for that same time in the next year," Gipson said.
The Meeting and Event Services team can help coordinate any event. "Our team is also in contact with the Transportation, Security and Catering Departments" Gipson said. "And, I can also connect you with just about anything else you'll need to make your Center event a success."
Contact the Meeting and Event Services team at (206) 667-5100. To access the EMS, visit centernet.fhcrc.org/CN/depts/conference_support.
