LOS ANGELES, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Worktopia, Inc. announced at the NBTA 2008 International Convention and Exposition that it has launched its Universal Meeting Solution(TM) (UMS), which completely automates the process for meeting planners to search, compare and book space for simple meetings, arrange catering, AV equipment, overnight accommodations and other amenities in one single online session. In addition, UMS provides attendee management capabilities, powered by SignUp4.com, detailed meeting activity reports and enhanced user enrollment tools. Worktopia's new UMS also gives financial executives unprecedented visibility into what their companies are spending on small, simple meetings and with whom, for improved planning and control.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080728/NYM002LOGO )

For corporations that have pre-negotiated contracts with hotels and business centers around the world, Worktopia(R) offers the UMS-Corporate Edition (UMS-CE), which loads company-designated rates, properties and other travel-related corporate guidelines into the system. UMS-CE powers leading Travel Management Company (TMC) corporate booking tools, Global Distribution System (GDS) agency desktops and private label versions.

As is the case with all Worktopia services, meeting planners are able to search an inventory of thousands of hotels, conference centers and other meeting venues around the world.

Two-thirds of all corporate meetings are for fewer than 50 attendees, according to travel industry research firm PhoCusWright, Inc.* While business travel spending, including air, car rental and dining, has chiefly migrated online, meeting space and group booking of rooms have remained the last uncharted territory for online procurement. Until now, meeting planners have had to make meeting space and group room requests with hotels the old-fashioned way, using telephone, fax and email.

"Companies have developed excellent spending controls over everyday business trips, but still have virtually no central control over the booking process for simple meetings," said John Arenas, Worktopia's CEO. He noted that this represents a huge amount of unmanaged corporate expenditure, since the U.S. market for meetings and events is a $175 billion market, according to PhoCusWright.* "UMS closes this gap by consolidating the booking of small company meetings into a single meeting planning function for the first time. Worktopia now provides the means to measure overall expenditures for simple business meetings, ensure regulatory compliance, enforce sound procurement practices and generate savings for discounts based on volumes with each supplier ... all within one single online workflow."

"Worktopia's new UMS provides a practical solution in today's meetings environment," stated Lauren Ewing, Consultant, Meeting Intelligence. She added, "Corporations continue to tighten their controls over spend and the smaller, 'simple' meetings are now more often under scrutiny. As the need to maintain compliance across every level of business operations grows, the value of services such as UMS becomes extremely significant."

Worktopia's services drive incremental revenue for its meeting venue partners (hotels, business and conference centers and airport clubs) by offering online, real-time reservations for meeting facilities. This helps them capture increased market share, improve revenue per available room (RevPAR) and build brand recognition, as meetings procurement migrates online.

Worktopia research indicates that hotel meeting space occupancy averages only about 50 percent and most simple meetings are booked within six weeks of being held. Worktopia gives properties the chance to place available inventory online for better last-minute revenue from meeting space and guest rooms.

Many large companies in the travel and hospitality industry have already partnered with Worktopia. Its meetings space booking engine is being used to power meeting reservation services online by Travelport GDS's Worldspan Trip Manager(R) XE and Go!, Sabre Holdings' GetThere(R), Newmarket International's MeetingBroker, and in private label versions deployed by Affinia Hotels, LaQuinta Inns and Suites, and United Airlines' Red Carpet Clubs.

Arenas noted that important new agreements for private label partnerships will be announced in the near future with companies in the travel industry and with large corporations that want employees to use Universal Meetings Solution.

A demonstration of Universal Meeting Solution is available at http://www.worktopia.com/ , or at the Worktopia booth #1667 at NBTA 2008.

About Worktopia(R)

Worktopia, Inc. offers integrated solutions that allow meeting planners to search, compare and book simple meetings and group accommodations online in hotels, conference centers, business centers, and airport lounges in 65 countries. The Worktopia meetings booking engine can be found at http://www.worktopia.com/, in private label versions, and in TMC corporate booking tools and GDS agency desktops. Worktopia also delivers attendee management services in partnership with SignUp4.com. For more information, visit http://www.worktopia.com/.

*PhoCusWright, Inc., Groups and Meetings: Market Opportunity Redefined, January 2007

Web site: http://www.worktopia.com/