Waltham, MA – August 6, 2009 – Passkey, the worldwide leader in online group reservations, today announced that the Talbott Hotel in Chicago has licensed its group reservation technology to manage and automate all its groups. With Passkey, the Talbott Hotel will be able to offer its group guests the convenience of online booking while providing planners access to real-time event information via Passkey’s LiveView Dashboards. Importantly, the Talbott hotel will now be able to use Passkey’s Group Campaigns suite to communicate with its group guests pre-arrival, post-stay and even while guests are on property.

Patrick Aversa, director of sales and marketing at the Talbott Hotel notes, “We noticed the value in Passkey immediately. With Passkey’s Group Campaigns, we have a way to strategically channel our guests while maintaining our brand integrity at the same time. Having the ability to market to our guests through Passkey is priceless. We expect Passkey to pay for itself in a short time by generating incremental revenue and boosting our service level to planners and guests. Also with a network of loyal planners, we are confident that Passkey will help grow our group business in this down economy.”

To ensure its group success, the Talbott Hotel will implement Passkey’s GroupMax system, a set of tools and specific steps that have been proven across hundreds of implementations to deliver immediate results to hotels. The GroupMax system consists of three core components: First is web-enabling a hotel’s group business, which includes driving call-in reservations online, automating room lists and monitoring a hotel’s group performance online. The second component revolves around a hotel increasing its selling opportunities by offering upgrades and extended stays to all groups and delivering highly targeted email messaging to group guests. The third GroupMax component focuses on empowering planners by allowing them to track their events online, helping them enjoy a better event experience while mitigating their attrition risk and minimizing their event overhead.

“In this tight economy, hotels are increasingly turning to technology to do more with less,” notes Greg Pesik, president and CEO of Passkey. “For hotels, it is imperative to make smart choices that will ensure their business weathers the storm. The hotels that have implemented Passkey’s GroupMax system have experienced a 90%-plus success rate in terms of enhancing their group service levels while boosting their bottom line. We are delighted that the Talbott Hotel can now use Passkey to boost its group offering.”

About The Talbott Hotel
More than a Gold Coast hotel from a gracious bygone era, the Talbott Hotel offers businesses and leisure travelers an effortless guest experience that is unique respite from the everday.

Built in 1927 and recently renovated, the four-diamond, European-style Talbott Hotel provides everything one expects from world-class branded hotels – and everything desirable about an independent boutique: streamlined check-in and check-out technologies; top-of-the-line amenities; a welcoming staff that takes personal pride in the service they deliver; behind-the-scenes hotel technologies that enhance guest security and comfort; in-hotel dining and room service from the acclaimed BICE Bistro restaurant and sidewalk café. Just outside of the hotel’s doors is everything Chicago has to offer. Imagine this, now.

About Passkey
Passkey (www.passkey.com) is the worldwide leader in online group reservations. The Boston-based technology company offers meeting destinations, hotels and planners a powerful web-based solution for managing group hotel reservations. The heart of the Passkey system is an innovative online booking engine that lets group attendees make their hotel reservations online in the contracted group block, while allowing event planners and hotels to access real-time reports and event information. Offered as an onDemand solution, Passkey delivers benchmark speed, security and scalability.

The Passkey-enabled global network includes over 85% of major U.S. Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs), as well as thousands of hotels, trade associations, meeting planners and meeting management companies.