BE LOCAL INTERNATIONAL, ACT GLOBAL This is the ... - BBT Online

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3 years ago. With them is Joris Eyck, an enthusiastic international Dutchman based in. Málaga and in charge of HB recrui
BE LOCAL INTERNATIONAL, ACT GLOBAL This is the spirit of HelmsBriscoe, the world’s most popular venue finding company which celebrates its 20th Birthday in 2012. They operate a worldwide network with 1,200 individual Associates in over 40 countries and their business is growing exponentially, even through difficult economic times. At the end of February they brought together their Belgian Associates with Brussels hoteliers to update them on HelmsBriscoe and remind them of the international importance of the company in terms of the meetings business. It was also an opportunity to present the new team. Just to illustrate the speed of growth… two years ago there was just one Associate in Belgium. Today there are 6. They are certainly an international group, but they have also turned into locals. Meet the international Belgians (from left to right) Keza Ryan, originally from Uganda, has worked in South Africa and came to Brussels from Paris. Hilary Thomet is from West Coast USA and landed in Brussels from Washington DC where she has undertaken event work on behalf of the President of the United States and Pope Benedict XVI. Dries DeMare the first Belgian Associate (and an echte belge!), who joined HB back in 2004 after an international career in travel. Line Jubert is part Danish, part French and speaks 4 languages fluently. Sacha Otten is Dutch and the latest to join after a career in headhunting. Cihan Aydemir (not in the photo) is from Turkey and arrived in Brussels 3 years ago. With them is Joris Eyck, an enthusiastic international Dutchman based in Málaga and in charge of HB recruitment in Belgium, Spain & Portugal. Joris is HB Associate Regional Vice President and it was he who gave an excellent presentation to the Brussels hoteliers.

Some simple facts about HelmsBriscoe

In 2010 they placed 3.86 million room nights in hotels across the world and handled over 25,000 meetings, anything from a 10 room retreat to a city-wide convention, on behalf of their 9,000 clients. The Associates are all individual profit centres and their remuneration is entirely performance-based. Apart from their Partner programme, HelmsBriscoe’s only source of income is a placement fee from the hotels who always sign contracts direct with the client. Associates work on both incoming and outgoing business, but purely venue selection, not any general travel arrangements for which they are always able to recommend specialists.

The secret for success In three words: People, Professionalism, Technology These people are all real enthusiasts, but above all they are professionals. 75% have hotel sales backgrounds, so they know all the tricks of the trade in their negotiations with venues on behalf of their clients. The other 25% have varying background in hospitality, DMCs, sales…. And behind these professionals is state-of-the-art technology with excellent content. And content is only ever as good as the people who provide and manage it. 

HB Connect, a standardised online RFP system for HB Associates which allows clients to compare like-to-like and a database of 130,000 worldwide venues.



HB Insite, a virtual encyclopaedia of HB’s collective knowledge and an internal communication system between 1,200 Associates, meaning that someone will always have that vital personal experience and advice to pass on to colleagues.

Want to know more? So, if you’re looking for venues here in Belgium or virtually anywhere in the world, get in touch with one of the 6 Belgian Associates. You’ll find them, their individual profiles and contact details on www.helmsbriscoe.com

Alternatively, if you have a venue with good meeting facilities, make sure you tell HelmsBriscoe and the Cvent Supplier Network about it www.cvent.com [email protected]