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Downing College Selects Rendezvous to Manage Conference
& Event Bookings
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Downing College is one of the 31 colleges that make up the
University of Cambridge. The College has a unique and magnificent setting amid 20 acres of lawns and trees, yet is in the very center of this historic town. Its buildings, predominantly neo-classical in style, were designed around a great quadrangle, or court, and convey a sense of elegance and spaciousness, enhanced by harmonious proportions, graceful columned porticos and delicate pink and yellow stone.
In recent years the College has developed its
conference facilities, adding the Howard
Building as the main conference venue in 1987.
It now hosts many events, including weddings, on
the extensive grounds. |
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To handle so much conference activity, the College decided to replace its manual booking system. Conference Office Manager Jon Rook, who joined the College in 1999, along with his team, compared three different systems for ease of use and adaptability. They chose Rendezvous Events, the next-generation browser-based conference, meeting room and catering solution from NFS Hospitality. The system went live in early 2004.
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"We found that Rendezvous scored high on our
criteria and we liked the fact that it is a
calendar-based system," Jon says. "It also
gives us other advantages, enabling us to search
more quickly for details and maximize our use of
space, and we like the activity feature as it helps
us chase booking forms and deposits." |
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Jon currently uses Rendezvous for event planning,
calendar and function sheets but will eventually use
the marketing module as well. "All in all I am
very impressed with the system," he says. "It
helps us provide a quicker, more professional
service. We are saving a lot of time." At
present, he and two other staff members control the
system, with other staff having read-only access. |
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As Downing had some particular charging and tax
requirements, Rendezvous has been customized to deal
with the College's service charge and VAT issues.
Jon says that he has been impressed with the
customization and also with the support he gets from
NFS. "Their 24-hour helpline is excellent,"
he comments. |
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Facilities at Downing include The Howard Building, a stately edifice created specifically for
conferences and providing a main base and meeting center. The ground floor has a large reception area with a bar and is suitable for registrations, receptions, exhibitions, coffee/tea breaks, and buffets. The reception area opens out on the West Lodge garden. The first floor provides a fully equipped 160-seat lecture hall.
The West Lodge and Maitland Room are located next to
the Howard Building and also open onto the West
Lodge garden. These two adjoining, multi-purpose
rooms are suitable for smaller seminars of up to 40
in each and up to 60 if joined. They are
particularly suited to company presentations,
private dinners up to 50, receptions, and parties or
breakout rooms.
The College Hall is truly superb, seating up to 180
in a grand classical interior with large marble
columns and Finishes. This is a very flexible space
that lends itself to all forms of catering, from
cafeteria style meals to formal dinners and wedding
receptions.
To serve its conference visitors, Downing offers a
range of accommodation, with a total of 204 rooms.
All rooms are located within the domus of the
College away from busy roads. In an indication of
how conference facilities are being developed across
the university, Downing College is a member of the
Conference Managers Committee, a forum that includes
all of the University of Cambridge colleges. The
committee offers an opportunity to share ideas and
experience.
Going forward, Jon says he will rely on Rendezvous
to provide better customer service and compete
successfully in the university conference arena. |
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