Ajenis meets new internet standards plan

Mention the word “standard” to anyone in the interactive travel business, and you’ll probably get a dirty look.

For good reason. Some of the fiercest battles in technology are being fought over contentious issues such as Java, Windows, and encryption standards, to name just a few.

All of which makes what PlanSoft will do next month so remarkable.

The Twinsburg, OH, company, which already operates one of the biggest facilities databases online, will quietly introduce a program that promises to impose several much-needed standards on the meeting planning industry.

The new application, called Ajenis, effectively will create a uniform request for proposal template used by planners to solicit hotel business. It also mandates the way properties display information about themselves, in a way not unlike the Multiple Listing Service used in real estate.

Ajenis is a Windows-based application that guides meeting planners through their tasks from start to finish using intuitive “drag-and-drop” features. Think of it working like a personal tax return program, with a few extra layers.

As Ajenis quizzes the meeting planner on specifications, it helps users log on to the Internet to query the PlanSoft database, returning information about everything from venues to vendors. Then it helps the planner through the bidding process, tying up loose ends along the way. When a specification changes, Ajenis notifies all parties electronically through a standardized form. The program also handles menus and invoicing.

A property using Ajenis can receive every update the planner makes, eliminating all the excess faxing, phoning, and e-mailing that staging a large event requires today.

Ted Frank, PlanSoft’s executive vice president, estimates that meeting planners waste between one-quarter and one-third of their time with needless back-and-forth. Ajenis, in theory, would eliminate that.

“It will give meeting professionals more time to focus on the value-added component of the meeting, to address the gap between expectations and results,” he says.

It remains to be seen if theory can be put into practice, of course. About 120 hotels and facilities are expected to plug into Ajenis at first. Other properties that haven’t bought a software license won’t be excluded from the action, but they’ll have to contend with faxes or e-mails sent through an Ajenis interface and thus won’t realize the same time savings.

PlanSoft does not say how many planners might sign up for the software, but interest is said to be high. Especially from investors.

Several big players recently got behind PlanSoft, to the tune of $11.25 million. Among the backers are Meeting Professionals International, the American Society of Association Executives, Sheraton, Marriott, Hyatt, and venture capital firms such as Primus Venture Capital, IDG Ventures, and Wasserstein Perella.

Who can blame them? A single Ajenis license will cost planners just $495, but properties are going to shell out considerably more — somewhere around $10,000 per terminal — to do business on the network.

And then there’s the database, also called the PlanSoft Network, which lists 4,000 properties, each with at least 5,000 square feet of meeting space, for free. But there’s also a second listing tier, which lets a hotel post graphics, schematics, and other electronic goodies, and it isn’t free.

PlanSoft appears to have a winning combination. Not only does it stand an excellent chance of getting its standards adopted by the meeting industry, but it is almost certain to turn a profit at the same time.

Observers can only sit back and marvel at a plan like that.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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