Gus' Gazette Tag: onPeak Updates

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.

 

Released and ready for use: Smart Search, our first AI-powered feature, and one we knew had to make an impact.

Hotel search is a critical part of the user’s journey, but it can often feel overwhelming. Smart Search changes that. Users can simply describe what they’re looking for—walkability, sustainability, amenities, special promotions—and receive tailored results that match their needs. No filters. No endless scrolling.

Powered by advanced natural language processing (NLP), this intuitive tool understands real-world requests and dynamically filters by price, distance, amenities, sustainability features, exclusive promotions, and more.

It’s smart, intuitive, and designed to make hotel shopping easier. This is hotel search – reimagined with AI. And we’re proud to be one of the first in our industry to bring this kind of AI directly to our users.

This feature is currently in the pilot stage and being used for 9 shows, and we hope to add it to more events in the near future.

onPeak’s Smart Suite

We’re also preparing to launch the onPeak Smart Suite—a collection of AI-driven features designed to enhance the external booking experience, streamline internal workflows, and deliver predictive analysis for smarter planning and decision-making. These initiatives are just the beginning of a smarter, more seamless future with onPeak. Keep an eye out for more updates as we continue to improve the experience for everyone.

 

Last year, the Diversity Leadership Team was launched between GES and onPeak to help, “Foster an inclusive, diverse and equitable environment.” Our very own Tandrika Haynes and Kevin Panetta are a part of that leadership team.

Through the steadfast efforts of this group, a wonderful and exciting opportunity has arisen. Introducing the Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s). Mentored by Jonathan Stutz and Tonishia Haliburton, GES and onPeak are creating safe, informative, and impactful, employee driven communities within the Diversity Leadership umbrella. This new opportunity allows all employees across both companies the chance to advocate and interact, not only with each other but with their communities as well. It reassures that no matter the political climate of yesterday, today, or tomorrow, GES and onPeak were, now, and will always be committed to Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity.

Currently, we have two new ERG’s preparing for launch. TRUE Colors, the LGBTQAI, will be led by elected President Katie Howard, Client Services Manager at GES. TRUE Colors is looking forward to creating a safe and informative space for all those that identify with the LGBTQAI community as well as anyone looking to being an aspiring ally. The team’s agenda and focus are to provide knowledge and education for a group often marginalized and foster advocacy within GES and outside communities.

BOLD @ The GES Collective is the Black/African American ERG led by President Alexas Bourgeois, Client Services Manager at GES. BOLD will set the ‘gold standard checklist’ for cultivating and building an inclusive workplace for Black employees, while creating avenues that explore diversifying incoming talent; creating a well-rounded demographic that aligns with the ideologies of GES and its collective.

You can visit the ID&E page to learn more about the leadership team and keep in touch with the new ERG’s to come!

Feel like being a part of an ERG or perhaps starting one? Maybe a Latine/Hispanic ERG or an Asian American ERG? We encourage you all to reach out with any questions regarding a current ERG or initiating one. All are welcome whether it be to learn, bring new ideas or just be an aspiring ally/advocate. This is for YOU, by YOU. Use your voice.

You can email Tonishia Haliburton, Jonathan Stutz or Robin Jones, and we would be delighted to answer any questions you may have.

Meeting Hotel Incentives Tropic Page 
The new Meeting Hotel Incentives page adopts the modern Tropic style and incorporates features that simplify the process of adding incentives. It achieves this by favoring dropdown selection over manual text entry, while still allowing for custom text input.

onPeak Incentives 
Users can quickly and easily apply six of the most frequently contracted onPeak incentives to a hotel: Breakfast, Fitness Center Access, Food and Beverage Discounts, Internet Connectivity, Parking and Rewards Points. For each incentive type, users can choose from a list of pre-defined descriptions in the dropdown menu. The selected description will then display in the appropriate locations within Agent Interface, Hotel Info on external Compass, and confirmation emails. Currently, users can apply only one of each type of onPeak incentive to a hotel.

Custom Incentives 
Users also have the flexibility to add their own custom incentives using a free-form text box. They can either select from one of the six pre-defined incentive types (breakfast, fitness center access etc.) or choose “other” to add an incentive that may not fit within the six pre-defined options. Custom Incentives will also display in the appropriate locations within Agent Interface, Hotel Info on external Compass, and confirmation emails. Users can apply multiple custom incentives to a hotel.

Transitioning from Legacy to Tropic 
By leveraging the existing database from the legacy Meeting Hotel Incentives page, both the new Tropic page and the legacy page can operate simultaneously. This ensures that duplicate incentives are not displayed on external Compass. Here’s how it works:

1. 1. 1. Dual Functionality:
         • Incentives entered on the legacy page are visible on the Tropic page, and vice versa.
         • Incentives edited on the legacy page are updated on the Tropic page, and vice versa.
         • Incentives deleted on the legacy page are removed from the Tropic page, and vice versa.
      2. Automatic Population:
         • All incentives previously entered on the legacy page will automatically populate on the new Tropic page. Users do not need to re-enter incentives during the transition.
         • If both the incentive subject and description for an incentive entered on the legacy page match a Tropic “onPeak” incentive type and one if its pre-defined descriptions, that incentive will display in the “onPeak” incentive section on the new Tropic page. Otherwise, the incentive will be categorized as a “custom” incentive on the new Tropic page.
      3. Beta Testing:
         • Both the Tropic page and the legacy page will be maintained during beta testing. Users can explore the Tropic page while still using the legacy page. Users are encouraged to submit feedback to Product while testing including, but not limited to, design and functionality requests, requests for additional incentive types and descriptions or edits to existing incentive descriptions.
      4. Retirement of Legacy Page:
         • Eventually, the legacy page will be retired. We will not retire the legacy page until beta testing is complete and any urgent requests are addressed. Once that is complete, we will give access to all. Users will then be encouraged to transition fully to the new Tropic page.

Promotions Filter on Gallery 
The new Promotions filter on the hotel gallery on external Compass allows users to customize their hotel search by filtering hotel options based on incentive type. The result is a shopping experience that enables users to leverage value-adds available to them for booking in the official housing block.

Enabling the New Promotions Filter
To enable the new promotions filter on the gallery, users should add the “Display New Promotions Filter” general meeting rule and set its value to “Y”.

Using the Promotions Filter
Users can easily filter hotels based on specific promotions. Here’s how it works:

1.    Selecting Promotion Types:

• • • • • Users can choose one or multiple promotion options to filter hotels that offer the selected promotion type, via the select-boxes in the drop-down.
        • The pre-defined incentive types applied on the new Meeting Hotel Incentives Tropic page, such as “Breakfast” or “Parking,” will link to their respective filter options.
        • Users can remove their filter choices by de-selecting the associated select-box in the drop-down, clicking the “X” on the associated filter tag or clicking “Clear All Filters”.

2.    All Exclusive Promotions:

• • • • • The “All Exclusive Promotions” option allows users to filter by hotels that have any promotions available.
        • If users have entered custom incentives as “other,” these will link to the “All Exclusive Promotions” filter option.

3. Compatibility with External Filters:

• • • • • The promotions filter operates similarly to the amenities filter and works alongside all other external filters.

 

Updated Amenities Filter Cards
To better differentiate between promotions and amenities filter tags, the promotions tags will display with a ribbon icon. We have updated amenities tags to also display with the associated icons shown below.

Amenity Filter Icons

Promotion Filter Icons