Category: Main Blog

For years, onPeak’s Compass Dashboard has been where clients go to understand how their event is performing. When it first launched, it was one of the first solutions of its kind, setting a new standard and earning industry recognition along the way. It brought critical event data together in one place, giving clients the visibility they needed to make informed decisions throughout the event lifecycle.

But as client expectations evolved and event data became increasingly important to day-to-day decision-making, we saw an opportunity to make the Dashboard even more powerful. Through surveys, feedback sessions, and ongoing conversations, clients told us they wanted quicker access to key insights, greater visibility into performance trends, and a more intuitive experience overall.

So we went back to what we do best: we listened. And what we heard wasn’t a request for more reports – it was a desire for faster access to insights, clearer visibility into performance, and a more streamlined way to explore the data that drives event decisions every day.

“This wasn’t a project where we started with technology. We started by listening. Clients showed us what questions they were trying to answer and how they wanted to interact with their data. Dashboard 2.0 is a direct result of those conversations.”

– Tayler Gilmartin, Director of Product Management, onPeak

From Snapshot to Strategy

We started with the questions our clients ask every day: How are we pacing? What’s changing? Where should we focus?  These are the questions that drive planning conversations and help teams make informed decisions throughout the event cycle. Dashboard 2.0 brings those answers closer to the surface through a more connected experience.

At the center of that experience is Event Overview, the foundation of Dashboard 2.0. It brings together key metrics, trends, and performance indicators into a single, centralized view, making it easier to understand event performance at a glance and explore deeper insights when needed.

Event Pace makes performance trends easier to monitor and understand through flexible views, year-over-year comparisons, and clear visibility into changes as they happen. By bringing pacing data front and center, teams can quickly identify shifts and stay focused on key metrics.

Inventory Explorer gives clients greater control over their data, making it simple to filter, compare, and analyze information in real time. Intuitive visual indicators help highlight trends and opportunities, enabling teams to move seamlessly from insight to action.

Dashboard 2.0 also introduces Capture Progress, giving clients a clearer view of performance over time. By surfacing historical trends and benchmark comparisons, teams can better understand how attendee and exhibitor capture is progressing throughout the event cycle.

Beyond individual features, the entire experience has been thoughtfully redesigned. Navigation is cleaner, workflows feel more natural, and insights are easier to access and interpret. Every enhancement was built to help clients spend less time searching for information and more time acting on it.

“Event pacing is one of the most important indicators we track, and Dashboard 2.0 puts that story front and center. The ability to compare performance and identify changes quickly has made our planning discussions much more productive.”

– Debbie Guthrie, CEM, VP Housing North America, Informa

And this is only the beginning. We’ll continue to ask questions, listen closely, and invest in the tools our clients depend on because the best solutions are built in partnership with the people who use them every day.

Looking for better insights into your event’s hotel performance, pacing, and inventory? Connect with onPeak to learn more about our event accommodations technology solutions.

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming one of the defining conversations in technology, particularly in the hotel and travel sector. New tools promise faster workflows, smarter automation, and even fully autonomous solutions. The momentum is undeniable, but it raises a more important question:

How should AI be used in environments built on human experience?

As Tayler Gilmartin, onPeak’s Director of Product Management, puts it: “AI should support the people behind events, not replace them.”

At onPeak, that belief is more than a philosophy — it’s a design principle. It shapes how we identify friction, where we apply technology, and how we measure success. While technology continues to evolve, successful events still depend on human involvement — relationships, responsiveness, and service that can’t be automated.

From Philosophy to Platform: The AI Smart Suite

While some organizations are still exploring AI, onPeak has focused on how to apply it with purpose. The result is our in-house AI Smart Suite, a purpose-built set of capabilities embedded across our platform to streamline operations and elevate service delivery.

Rather than asking what AI can do, we started with a more practical question:

Where does work slow down?

That shift matters. Instead of layering on features, we focused on targeted solutions that simplify workflows, reduce manual effort, and remove barriers to execution. Because AI’s role isn’t to replace people — it’s to clear the path for them.

Reducing Friction Without Losing Connection

Events are fundamentally human, driven by real-time decisions, complex logistics, and high expectations. Our approach is simple: remove friction, not connection.

Through AI Smart Suite, we’re addressing the moments that slow teams down — manual processes, fragmented systems, and repetitive tasks. Eliminating those inefficiencies creates space for what matters most: supporting clients, anticipating needs, and delivering exceptional service. As Tayler notes, “AI doesn’t replace people. It brings speed and scale. People bring experience, judgment, and accountability.”

Where AI Creates Real Impact

AI Smart Suite is already delivering measurable value across onPeak by improving both internal workflows and customer-facing experiences. Its impact is best understood in how it changes the day-to-day execution.

• Smart Search: A More Direct Path to the Right Hotel
  Finding the right hotel no longer requires navigating filters or long lists. With Smart Search, users can simply describe what they need — in their own words — and instantly see the most relevant options.

  As Anila Singh, Senior Product Manager at onPeak, explains, “AI should reduce the steps between intent and action.” It doesn’t remove choice — it makes decisions faster and clearer. Already live, Smart Search has been widely adopted, with more than 100,000 bookers utilizing it to quickly find their ideal hotel.

• Smart Categories: From Sorting to Solving
  Customer support teams were spending valuable time categorizing and routing inquiries before resolving them. Smart Categories eliminates that step. By understanding intent and context, inquiries are automatically organized and directed in real time, allowing teams to focus immediately on resolution.

  As John Hunt, Senior Director of Reservation Services, puts it, “the impact isn’t just operational — it’s experiential.” The team spends less time triaging and more time serving customers, improving both the speed and quality of support.

• Smart Contract Reader: Reducing Effort, Preserving Control
  Contract setup has historically been time-intensive — detailed, repetitive, and difficult to accelerate without risk.

  Smart Contract Reader changes that by extracting key information directly into Compass, reducing manual input while maintaining full visibility and control. As Senior Account Executive Sarah Moore explains, “Before, we were entering the same information over and over. Now it’s already there — I’m just reviewing it and making sure everything looks right.”

Connecting Efficiency to Experience

A core theme of our AI strategy is that efficiency isn’t the end goal — it’s the enabler. What start as operational improvements quickly become better client and customer experiences. Faster processes lead to quicker responses. Reduced manual work leads to fewer errors. More capacity leads to higher-quality service.

This is where AI creates the most value, not by redefining everything at once but by improving the moments that matter most:

• simplifying decisions
• removing unnecessary work
• allowing teams to focus on expertise instead of execution.

In a landscape where responsiveness and precision matter, those gains become a meaningful, competitive advantage.

A Thoughtful Path Forward

As AI continues to evolve, leadership won’t come from adopting every new tool. It will come from applying the right ones with clarity and intent, prioritizing impact over hype, and simplicity over complexity.

The AI Smart Suite reflects that philosophy. It’s not innovation for its own sake — it’s technology built around how teams work and how clients are served. Most importantly, it keeps people at the center.

The goal isn’t to automate everything. It’s to enable better decisions, stronger outcomes, and more meaningful work. As Tayler emphasizes: “AI helps clear the way so our focus stays exactly where we want it to be — on the clients and customers we serve.”

Because ultimately, the onPeak experience will always come down to the people who deliver it.

Technology plays an important role, but when applied thoughtfully, it becomes something more: a strategic advantage, enabling smarter decisions, faster execution, and better outcomes for every event we support.

Want to learn more about how this all comes to life at onPeak? We’d be happy to show you. Reach out to us at [email protected].

We can hardly believe it’s been 25 years since onPeak revolutionized housing technology by introducing the Compass Reservations System®. Whether it’s streamlining operations or transforming the hotel booking experience, Compass hasn’t just improved the game; it’s changed it entirely.

From the start, Compass has driven innovation with first-to-market, breakthrough technologies. The past two and a half decades have seen the rollout of the award-winning Compass Dashboard, Master Key for staff and VIP automation,  Group RSVP sub-block management, and the Compass Magnet hotel shopping experience.

The Compass legacy isn’t just about staying power — it’s about forging ahead.

Navigating New Horizons

Compass and onPeak are back on a familiar path with yet another industry first: AI Smart Search. As the first and only housing platform to integrate AI directly into the booking experience, this groundbreaking hotel shopping feature understands natural speaking patterns and anticipates user intent to deliver hyper-relevant hotel results.

Using the lightning-fast voice transcription, users can search for specific amenities, room types, proximity to venues, or personalized preferences. Simply tap the mic, say something like “pet-friendly hotels near the convention center with free breakfast,” and AI Smart Search handles the rest. No typing. No hassle. Just immediate, tailored results. This isn’t only a better way to book — it’s a smarter one.

Tomorrow Happens Today

AI Smart Search is the first in a new wave of AI-powered tools we’re developing across our entire ecosystem. We are working to develop an all-in-one platform of intelligent tools that will:

• Respond to user behavior to deliver more personalized experiences
• Provide insights to empower planner and attendee decision-making
• Streamline operations with predictive, context-aware automation

This is more than an upgrade—it’s a transformation.

Welcome to the future of hotel booking. Welcome to the next era of Compass.

You might have asked yourself:
“Do I even need a housing company?”

Great question! Securing prime dates and locations for your event isn’t just about exhibit space square footage. The number of rooms you book makes a big difference, too. Cities and venues consider this metric when assessing how an event will feed the local economy. That means counting every room night booked by attendees and exhibitors is essential to landing your ideal location.

At onPeak, we boost your pick-up and catch those last-minute reservations, helping you lock in future event dates and locations.

Can your event benefit from working with a housing partner? Consider these 5 critical insights.

1. The advocacy advantage

Does your internal team include someone well-versed in all things housing? (Realtors need not apply!) If not, consider this a must-have partnership. Working with an advocate dedicated to your needs — peak block, flow patterns, number of hotels, and which ones align with your attendees’ preferences — is vital. Equally important, your partner should be able to offer customized solutions to optimize your hotel blocks, enhance participant satisfaction, and deliver exceptional value.

2. Maximizing buying power

Just like you wouldn’t hire a plumber to fix your WiFi, you don’t want to go into room block negotiations not backed by a housing expert. Without them, how do you know you’re getting the best rate? Can you guarantee that the block pattern lines up with your history? A skilled housing partner should live and breathe room blocks. They can confidently navigate complex negotiations to secure the best deals — ensuring your attendees pay less and you benefit from favorable terms.

3. Streamlined booking experience

Nowadays, almost anything is available with a few clicks, and booking in your room block shouldn’t be any different. Your housing partner’s technology needs to offer a simple, one-stop solution that makes finding and reserving the ideal hotel easy. Whether it’s a property with free breakfast or wanting to stay loyal to a specific brand, a hassle-free booking process can quickly highlight these features to save time and eliminate frustration, letting attendees focus on enjoying the event.

4. Solving the room block puzzle

Balancing room blocks is like playing Tetris. And sometimes, making the pieces fit is challenging! What if the peak night is full but the shoulder nights are still available? What if someone needs to stay Monday through Thursday, but Tuesday is sold out? Your housing partner should always optimize inventory using smart strategies like:

• Monitoring booking pace and stepping in when necessary to maintain progress
• Analyzing historical event data to identify trends and make informed decisions
• Adjusting room blocks to maximize pick-up, ensuring efficient use of all rooms

5. Messaging matters

Marketing your room block should be baked into your overall event communication plan. Simply put, plug it every chance you get. Start by considering what content is most compelling to your audience. Do your attendees and exhibitors extend their stay for personal time? If so, maybe they want to know about extra amenities. Is your crowd budget-conscious? Highlighting free offerings like breakfasts or happy hours might be appealing. Using this targeted approach, housing partners can effectively communicate with potential bookers, spotlighting official hotels and informing attendees about the advantages of booking in the block.

At your service:
The housing pros at onPeak LOVE discussing how we can turbocharge your room blocks and keep your attendees and exhibitors happy. Email us at [email protected], and we’ll show you how to do it!

Attendee experience, compression, and delivering value are all part of the future of city-wide events. Knowing the struggle stakeholders face to effectively adapt, PCMA addressed this dynamic during Convening Leaders 2025, held Jan. 12-15 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

onPeak’s Senior Director of Account Services, Jason Gross, was invited to join the panel during the session, “Adapting to a New Era in Citywide Conventions: Room Blocks, Contracting Trends, & Rising Costs” where he and others from around the industry offered insights and practical advice on staying at the forefront of housing.

The evolving post-pandemic landscape

Moderated by Kavin Schieferdecker from the San Diego Tourism Authority, Jason joined an impressive group of professionals from across the industry, including Bill Reed, American Society of Hematology; Earla Jones, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses; and Kathy Mouw, Marriott International. Emerging from a November 2024 workshop on the future of city-wide events, the session covered key industry shifts like reduced room availability, shorter booking periods, and the need for earlier commitments. As part of the conversation, they examined the top 250 high-volume events generating an average of 3,000 peak room nights. Many are concentrated in just 20 cities, require roughly 10 days of convention space, and over half occur during the peak months of May, June, September, and October. The group discussed how these metrics put significant demand on host destinations.

“It boils down to communication,” shares Jason. “onPeak manages about 250 events a year, and from planners to hotel guests, we hear it all — smaller blocks, higher rates, stricter contracts, fewer services. Our hotel partners don’t need to have 250 separate conversations — they can talk with us. We take this feedback, along with our own experiences and observations, and use it to have meaningful conversations with hotels so we can find solutions that work for everyone.”

Strengthen the attendee experience

When booking a hotel, attendees are often contending with higher costs and diminished services, so how do we address this impact on attendee satisfaction and an event’s value proposition? These questions, in addition to managing relationships, communication, compression, delivering value, and how to incentivize booking in the block, were amongst the reoccurring themes tackled by the panel.

Regarding compression specifically, the community is dealing with rate yielding, lower group ceilings, less flexibility, and earlier cut-off dates.

“The city-wide event itself drives compression,” Jason points out. “For hotels, it’s great because it pushes up rates and occupancy. The tricky part is finding a balance so the event’s block and rates aren’t negatively impacted. After all, if the city-wide weren’t taking place, there wouldn’t be any compression. And this takes us back to communication — understanding what’s important to the event organizer, the hotel, and the destination helps us find a win-win.”

While everyone believes the goal is to get the maximum number of people to book within the block, they also recognized that looking at what drives people to book a hotel is critical. So, what is it? Rate? Location? Free breakfast? Countless factors come into play, but Jason mentions an important and often overlooked reason — loyalty points.

“People can be incredibly loyal to a specific brand, and earning points and status play a big role in where they book. That’s why it’s essential for bookers to earn their points and have their status acknowledged. When we ask why they didn’t book in the block, the common answer is that they wanted to ensure they received their points.”

Ultimately, the panel acknowledged that while they might not have all the answers now, the conversations are happening. Planners, hotels, venues, destinations, and service providers like onPeak are sharing challenges and objectives while collaborating on how to balance long-term strategic planning with immediate realities.

Explore your housing options
Want to chat more about onPeak’s perspective on all of this? Just drop us a line at [email protected].

LAS VEGAS, NV and LOS ANGELES, CA, October 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ – GES, a leading provider in the global exhibition and event industry, announced today that its parent company, Viad Corp, and Truelink Capital, a Los Angeles based private equity firm, have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Truelink will acquire the GES business. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2024, subject to applicable and customary closing conditions.

Derek Linde, GES President said, “This is an exciting time for GES. The business has tremendous momentum, and our team is driving strong revenue growth, margin expansion, and client service.
The publicly traded Viad conglomerate has been a great home to GES for decades and we are excited to start a new chapter as a private company with Truelink, who believes in our ability to continue delivering industry leadership, innovation and growth.”

With over 2,600 employees and thousands of active union partners across the globe, GES and its companies have a decades-long history supporting the world’s leading brands and events in robust business verticals, including healthcare, aerospace & defense, financial services, manufacturing, technology, and retail, in a variety of event marketing capacities.

“GES is a trusted brand with a proven track record of delivering best-in-class services to the global exhibitions and experiential marketing verticals. We look forward to collaborating with this talented team to help the company realize its full potential,” Truelink’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner Luke Myers said.

Included in the acquisition are GES Exhibitions, a major provider of global exhibitions & logistics services; Spiro, a leading global experiential agency; and onPeak, SHOWTECH, and Visit, which provide event accommodation, power/lighting and registration services. Upon closing, GES will become a privately-owned, stand-alone company within Truelink’s business portfolio and continue to deliver a range of best-in-class and value enhancing experiential solutions to clients.

Derek Linde, current GES President, will assume the role of President and CEO following the closing. He will be joined by Jeff Quade, GES NA Exhibitions President; Jason Stead, GES EMEA Exhibitions President; and Jeff Stelmach, Spiro President, who will continue leading the operating businesses post transaction.

Linde continued, “We remain dedicated to delivering extraordinary experiences to our clients across the globe. This partnership with Truelink will enable us to intensify our focus on innovation and enhance our capabilities across our differentiated global platform.”

About GES:
The GES business entity is a dynamic collective of industry-leading companies and their distinctive specialties—GES Exhibitions, Spiro, onPeak, SHOWTECH and Visit—that deliver comprehensive experiential, strategic, creative, event management and accommodation, meeting planning and logistical solutions, as well as registration and engagement solutions. We empower brands to engage their audiences and elevate customer experience, using what we believe is today’s most powerful channel in an ever-competitive landscape: experiential marketing. Whether scaling together or independently, our companies strategically partner with brands and event organizers to transform business imperatives into measurable results that drive meaningful customer connections & bottom-line impact.

www.ges.com
www.thisisspiro.com
www.onpeak.com
www.showtech.ca
www.visitcloud.com

About Truelink Capital
Truelink Capital is a middle-market private equity firm based in Los Angeles. Truelink pairs deep industry experience in the industrials and technology-enabled services sectors with a commitment to building partnerships that drive long-term value through an operationally focused strategy. Truelink partners with management, corporate sellers, and founders to accelerate growth through the execution of strategic initiatives and transformative add-on acquisitions.

Contacts:
Marianne Szczech
630-220-6102
[email protected]

In the bustling world of convention housing, there’s a shadowy player known as the “poacher.” These crafty impostors pose as official housing providers, luring unsuspecting attendees and exhibitors away from the official room block.

Their goal? To snatch reservations, disrupt event organizers’ plans, and attempt to scam your participants into purchases that are nonexistent.

No one is immune to these threats, but by remaining vigilant, we can collectively outsmart those pesky poachers. We have prepared some strategies to protect your participants, including email templates, messaging advice, and even a sample cease-and-desist letter.

“By collaborating with our clients, we can create a robust defense against poachers. At onPeak, our dedication lies in safeguarding attendees and exhibitors from these disruptive tactics.”
– Hollie Zeyher, Director Marketing, onPeak

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) now offers a streamlined reporting process for individuals and companies to flag these activities.  By sharing these reports with law enforcement partners, the FTC aims to aid investigations and put an end to these harmful practices.

How to file a fraud report:

1. Go to Federal Trade Commission: ReportFraud.ftc.gov
2. Click on “Report Now”
3. For Question 1: “Is your report about any of these common problems?
   1. Select “An Impersonator” (top left answer)
4. For Question 2: “Who were they pretending to be?
   1. Select “Well-known or trusted business”
5. Click “Continue”
6. Add as much information as you have and submit!

So, next time one of your participants encounters an unfamiliar housing offer, it might just be a room poacher in disguise.  After all, it’s only official if it’s onPeak!

If you want to chat more about how poachers are impacting your event, just drop us a line.

 

 

At onPeak, we’re committed to creating experiences that resonate beyond the present moment. Our recently released ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) report sheds light on how our diverse perspectives and rich life experiences converge to spark innovative ideas. These aren’t just abstract concepts—they’re the driving force behind the solutions we create for our clients.

This culture of innovation doesn’t stop at the office threshold. Our team members are encouraged to voice their insights, take initiative, and actively shape their professional growth. It’s like a symphony of expertise, with each instrument playing a crucial role.

Women’s Mentorship Group

One key component of our success formula is our mentorship programs. These programs go beyond mere skills enhancement—they are designed to foster the leaders of tomorrow. As we invest our time and resources in mentoring the upcoming generation, we simultaneously pay tribute to the current trailblazers.

Cultivating Leadership, One Connection at a Time

Our Women’s Mentorship Group aims to cultivate leadership skills, boost self-confidence, and pave the way for career advancement among women. Guided by an Advisory Board of influential women leaders within our company, this initiative embodies our commitment to learning, growth, and gender equality.

The Mentorship Alchemy

Meah Gordon, our Reservations Services Lead, and Lisa Baez, our EVP of Operations and Services, are members of this group of experienced professionals. Through regular check-in and strategy sessions, the group addresses leadership skills development, building industry connections, and deepening specific skills/knowledge areas. Their passion fuels the mentorship engine.

Meah, reflecting on her journey, shares: “Women empowerment is very important to me. My mentor shared her success story which encouraged me to revisit and rethink my career path.  This world is so competitive so to hear other people share advice and say, ‘I’m here for you,’ is so amazing.”

Lisa, a seasoned mentor, echoes: “As women, it is important for us to surround ourselves with female leaders who are willing to invest in us and cheer us on.  I keep mentoring because I believe strongly in creating a collaborative and supportive work environment.”

A Space for Voices to Soar

In the spirit of Women’s History Month, we celebrate the indomitable spirit of women—the architects of progress, the catalysts of change. At onPeak, we don’t merely commemorate; we ignite a movement—an orchestra of empowerment that resonates far beyond the calendar pages.

onPeak’s leadership team comprises 70% women—a significant milestone. Thus, our Women’s Mentorship Group isn’t just about skill-building—it’s about amplifying voices. Ideas and aspirations find validation here, celebrated as the heartbeat of progress.

 “As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.”
– Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Account Associate Program

Alongside our colleagues at GES, our combined mentorship efforts focus on attracting the brightest young talent to the exhibitions and events industry. The program offers recent college graduates a full-time position within the company, complete with an immersive onboarding process and hands-on training.  Partnering with PCMA and IAEE to recruit on-campus at universities and at regional events, the program seeks to encourage more young people to enter our industry.

A Multifaceted Journey

Each associate gets to dive right into the action. They engage directly with clients, join creative and planning meetings, and even work onsite to assist with event production and management. This year, we welcomed four associates to the onPeak family. They’ve been right there alongside our business development mentors and operations teams, learning the ropes of an event’s life cycle—from the initial sale to hotel contract negotiations, managing inventory, staffing the onsite housing desk, and wrapping up with post-event recap meetings. They’ve seen firsthand what makes onPeak’s service truly white-glove.

Beyond Accommodations

As part of the GES Exhibitions team, these future leaders gain insights into all aspects of exhibition management, including business development, client services, marketing, and operations.  By understanding the entire sales business cycle, they’re ready to take on additional responsibilities and various roles throughout the company.

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At onPeak, our eyes are fixed on the horizon, and we’re committed to shaping a better future—for our industry, our clients, our partners, and our exceptional team members.