County of San Bernardino
Helping to manage a global health crisis with Cvent Passkey
When the County of San Bernardino, California was tasked with managing the region’s response to the unprecedented global health crisis, the county’s top priority was to ensure the safety of its citizens. To proactively address both safety issues and to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the county quickly developed a plan to provide a safe and isolated space for those at high-risk. A government mandated two-week quarantine period was required for anyone with a confirmed COVID-19 case, or anyone with suspected exposure to COVID-19. The county needed to immediately provide and manage hotel room blocks across several properties to ensure those affected had a safe place to stay.
Protecting San Bernardino County Citizens
The county partnered with hotel properties to provide hotel rooms as a safe quarantine space for first responders, county workers, and homeless citizens. Room bookings were managed both by the individual properties and through the county. As the crisis evolved, managing these room blocks with traditional manual processes became impossible. Alterations in stay lengths due to changing health status and anticipated volumes meant the county needed to constantly modify rooming lists. Managing room inventory through daily calls and emails with hotels via Excel sheets created data gaps, leaving processes susceptible to human error. The choice was clear: further stretch already hardworking hotel staff, or automate the process with technology.
Using Cvent Passkey to Support Crisis Response
The county found the answer in Cvent’s Passkey solution. Cvent was already working to optimize their solution set and customer support channels to assist organizations with their pandemic response. When the county contacted Cvent, they immediately set up a call to better assess the situation and to leverage Passkey’s capabilities. San Bernardino County quickly adopted Passkey and their Cvent team set to work. The county needed to have Passkey operational within a week to meet the growing pressures of the pandemic. Though the process typically takes longer, the Cvent team was up for the challenge.
A dedicated Cvent account manager immediately connected with Cvent’s training, implementation, legal, and leadership teams. Relying on cross-functional collaboration, they provided a rapid event build for the Passkey registration site while simultaneously onboarding San Bernardino County. To meet the expedited timeline, over fifteen Cvent product experts and support resources worked in tandem. The result was a successful implementation for the county and a live Passkey site in less than one week.
Comprehensive Support for COVID-19 and Beyond
The county team can now manage their room blocks via the registration dashboard and receive automated planner alerts to stay on top of the data. All reservation data that is collected through easy-to-use booking sites flows automatically to the hotel’s reservation system. The hotel properties were trained on RezHub, which securely connects the hotel’s reservation system to the Passkey solution to ensure an easy process for both sides. This complimentary training ensures that the hotel staff can easily capture room reservations to assist in their county’s COVID-19 response.
With dedicated resources, 24/7 support, and a wealth of knowledge available in the Cvent Community, county representatives can easily manage their room blocks across properties. They are now free to focus efforts on other pressing aspects of the crisis response. “We are very pleased with Cvent’s quick response and comprehensive services,” says San Bernardino County CEO Gary McBride. “This service has maximized our team’s effectiveness and has allowed us to affect real change in our community during this pandemic.”
With Cvent’s Passkey in place to support their crisis management strategy, San Bernardino County can now efficiently manage room blocks to ensure the safety of their citizens. Rather than wasting precious hours on manual updates, the county staff can spend their valuable time on other important crisis response measures.
See How Event Technology Supports Crisis Management
Learn how Cvent Passkey can help manage your room blocks and streamline the communications process with venues.