New product integration aims to drive attendee engagement for virtual events, and streamlines transportation and meal planning for in-person and hybrid events

Tysons, Va. – June 28, 2021 – Cvent, a market-leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider, announced an integration with Uber for Business, Uber’s enterprise arm. Through this integration, organizations can enhance virtual attendee engagement and facilitate seamless ground transportation options for meeting planners and in-person event attendees. This collaboration brings together two industry leaders to support the changing needs of event planners and marketers who are looking to maximize the impact of their in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.

Cvent customers will be able to automatically create tailored Vouchers via Uber for Business and distribute them to their attendees within the Cvent platform. Organizations can now easily expand their event offerings with meals ordered via Uber Eats, or cover transportation costs and help their customers and guests get to where they need to go using the Uber platform – whether that’s an event venue, hotel, or airport. Uber for Business and Cvent make it simple for organizations to provide incentives and streamline transportation to deliver a better attendee experience, attract new customers, reward existing ones, and enhance customer service.

“In the new meetings environment, where virtual, in-person and hybrid events are all viable options, organizations are looking for simple ways to attract and engage their audiences across all event types, which is exactly what this integration delivers,” said Anil Punyapu, senior vice president of sales & partnerships at Cvent. “We’re proud to partner with the world’s largest on-demand rideshare platform company and bring this new offering to our platform as we continue to look for more opportunities to help our customers streamline the event planning process and maximize attendee engagement.”

"The pandemic brought business travel to a screeching halt in 2020, and the events industry was forced to shift to a virtual format,” said Susan Anderson, Global Head of Uber for Business. “Through the turbulence, Uber for Business was able to quickly pivot its versatile platform to help companies plan their events strategy and maximize impact for attendees. Now, as the world starts to open back up, those same companies and more see Uber for Business as a key tool in events planning and operations – whether those events are in-person, virtual, or hybrid. Companies can offer rides for those who are attending conferences in-person or meal delivery for those who choose to participate from home in virtual events. Whether companies want to reward VIPs, up level the overall event experience for attendees, or simply ease administrative burdens for their events teams, Uber for Business looks forward to sharing the flexibility of our intuitive platform – for rides and meal solutions – with Cvent."

Key benefits include:

Virtual Events

• Seamless Incentives: Offering incentives such as complimentary meals for a virtual event or webinar can help drive registration and event interest. Through the integration, event organizers can customize all meal-related parameters and offer the vouchers to specific attendee types such as speakers, exhibitors, or VIPs.
• Increased Attendee Engagement: Engagement is critical to event success, but keeping virtual attendees engaged with online experiences can be challenging. Offering complimentary meal vouchers delivers added value, encourages interaction, and gives virtual attendees a taste of the in-person experience from the comfort of their own homes.

In-person & Hybrid Events

• Tailored Transportation: Event organizers can customize all ride-related parameters, including pick-up and drop-off times, location, and costs.
• Enhanced User Experience: Event attendees will benefit from using a mobile app they are already familiar with for their personal transportation, and Uber’s Door-to-Door Safety Standards give them added peace of mind when traveling to and from a new location.
• Better Budgeting & Enhanced Visibility: With the integration event managers can more easily budget and track their meal or transportation costs and only pay for the vouchers their attendees actually redeem.