Georgia Institute of Technology

They had already been operating as a One Stop Shop since their inception in 1997, offering services including the management and coordination of meeting spaces, on-campus lodging, food service, transportation and parking. However, they wanted to eliminate the arduous task of managing the many pieces of one-stop responsibilities through multiple, varying methods. Because they were also a growing operation, they knew they had to find a system that incorporated not only event logistics, but one that would also manage residential guest details and provide a sales and marketing tool.

It is important to Georgia Tech to make the process of event planning as seamless and easy as possible for their clients. As Dan Dykstra, Director of Conference Services explained, “clients don’t have the time or energy to be the go-between on campus. They appreciate the logistical continuity a one-stop operation can provide.” After reviewing several different software applications, Georgia Tech settled on KxResidential. During the selection process, they realized that KxResidential would provide them with a one-stop software solution, much like the experience they were providing their own customers. 

Since implementing Kx, the staff at Georgia Tech has noticed a positive difference in their work with clients. Dan further explained, “We have heard a lot of feedback from clients about how our contracts are presented. We are able to produce everything in one complete document easily generated from Kx. Transparency and clarity is what we have been able to provide to our customers. Kx allows for speed. We can respond to clients much more quickly than before Kx.”

Kx has also allowed the Conferences staff to offer some new services that previously were not possible. They were asked to manage the ad hoc inventory of 20,000 square feet of meeting spaces that exist in the residence halls. Through features found in Kx, they are able to easily manage use of these spaces throughout the year. 

Amanda Brown, Conference Operations Manager also explained that using Kx has improved their internal campus communication immensely. Amanda explained “the reports found in Kx give much more clarity to campus users than we could provide before Kx.” Through the features of electronic check-in and check-out, they are also able to provide much more accurate information to key departments on campus during the busy summer conference season.

According to Dan, Georgia Tech has enjoyed other benefits of using Kx. “This software makes it significantly easier for us, especially when it comes to billing. We are able to see everything related to the event in one place and funnel it down into an easy to produce invoice.” He also enjoys the benefits of the statistical analysis Kx provides. Dan explained that they are able to analyze their business and have been able to determine that, statistically speaking, they gain a great deal of their new business from their website, information that was easy for them to track using Kx.