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Matching program and system for corporate meeting planners and hospitality providers

  • US 7,587,360 B2
  • Filed: 08/20/2007
  • Issued: 09/08/2009
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2000
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A vendor client computer based bidding method for matching hospitality facility data, representing vendors furnishing hotel facilities, meeting room facilities, or other hospitality facilities, with requirement data, representing respective necessities of a plurality of meeting planners for a corresponding plurality of meetings or events, said data stored on a server, said server being one of a server computer and a plurality of networked server computers, and said bidding and matching method implemented over a client-server network with said server and a plurality of vendor client computer systems and a plurality of planner client computer systems coupled together via a telecommunications network, at said server:

  • as a computerized method;

    (a) storing said hospitality facility data and requirement offer data in a database on said server, said hospitality facility data at least including vendor contact data, room quantity data and amenity data;

    (b) via said client-server network, gathering requirement offer data and planner contact data from meeting planners via corresponding planner client computer systems, the gathered requirement data including facilities requirements data;

    (c) matching requirement offer data with said hospitality facility data with said server;

    (d) via said client-server network, supplying blinded requirement offer data, without revealing the identity of the corresponding meeting planner who supplied said requirement offer data, to vendors associated with said hospitality facility data which match said facilities requirements data, the matching vendors associated with corresponding vendor client computer systems;

    (e) presenting via said client-server network, to said corresponding meeting planner who supplied said requirement offer data, blinded specific hospitality facility data responsive thereto;

    (f) via said client-server network, permitting said corresponding meeting planner to select blinded specific hospitality facility data representing a predetermined number of vendors;

    (g) in the event said corresponding meeting planner cannot fulfill necessities corresponding to said requirement offer data, repeating the permitting selection step via said client-server network while excluding at least one of said predetermined number of vendors and repeating an enabling communications step;

    (h) storing facilities offer data in said database on said server;

    (i) via said client-server network, presenting blinded facilities offer data to one or more inquiring meeting planners;

    (j) via said client-server network, gathering specific facilities requirement data from a plurality of responsive meeting planners relative to said facilities offer data;

    the vendor client computer based bidding and matching method comprising the steps of;

    supplying via said client-server network, said vendor contact data, room quantity data and amenity data to said server;

    supplying via said client-server network, specific hospitality facility data via a corresponding plurality of vendor client computer systems to said server relative to said presented blinded requirement data;

    enabling direct communications via said client-server network, by participating in an exchange of vendor and planner contact data between said predetermined number of vendors and said corresponding meeting planner, said predetermined number of vendors being selected by said corresponding meeting planner supplying said requirement offer;

    via said client-server network, supplying facilities offer data from at least one of said plurality of vendor client computer systems to said server, said facilities offer data representing an offer by at least one vendor to supply hospitality facilities, said facilities offer data including at least a hospitality facility feature and facility offer price data;

    presenting via said client-server network, to said at least one vendor supplying said facilities offer data, blinded specific requirement data responsive to said facilities offer data;

    permitting via said client-server network, said at least one vendor to select blinded specific requirement data representing a further predetermined number of said responsive meeting planners;

    enabling direct communications by participating in an exchange of planner contact data between said further predetermined number of said responsive meeting planners and vendor contact data of said at least one vendor via said client-server network; and

    ,in the event said at least one vendor cannot fulfill the corresponding offer to supply hospitality facilities, repeating said presenting via said client-server network, said blinded specific facilities requirement data step to said one vendor while excluding at least one of said further predetermined number of responsive meeting planners and repeating the enabling communications step.

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