PORTLAND, OREGON - May 2, 2012 - In order to streamline and simplify event planning for meeting professionals working with their hotel, The Red Lion Hotel on the River - Jantzen Beach has implemented the GroupMAX™ online reservation system from Passkey, the worldwide leader in hotel booking technology for meetings and events.

Red Lion Hotel on the River, Portland's iconic convention destination, has hosted both intimate and extensive events over the years. With 320 recently-renovated guestrooms and suites plus a newly added meeting room, the hotel boasts over 36,000 square feet of meeting and event space to service groups from 15 to 1,500. With an experienced sales and conference service team and now GroupMAX, Red Lion Hotel on the River is staged to ensure every facet of an event is successful and memorable.  

The deployment of GroupMAX optimizes event housing management, communications, booking processes and logistics for planners working with The Red Lion Hotel on the River - activities that would otherwise be extremely manual in nature and complex. The end result and the point of it all: delivery of an exceptional guest experience.

"This powerful tool makes the life of a meeting planner easier," says Lori Main, director of sales and marketing for The Red Lion Hotel on the River. "We know how time-consuming it can be for planners to provide the client service their customers demand. GroupMAX eliminates a great deal of running around and puts the planner in a better position to control and shape the guest experience into one of excellence."  

Planners that choose Red Lion Hotel on the River for their event will be equipped with a powerful set of tools that include various templates and themes, libraries, bundles and customized event websites, where guests can make reservations and manage their bookings online. Additionally, a mobile version of the booking website can be accessed from any iPhone, Android or Blackberry device, allowing guests to have access anytime from anywhere.

The booking process for each event also includes a dedicated social network, which helps drive attendance and extend the event lifecycle, allowing attendees to connect before, during and after the event. An event-centric social networking option dramatically boosts the perceived value of the event.

While guests enjoy the convenience of online booking and networking, meeting planners can track the progress of their events via their own set of online dashboards that provide automated email alerts and other tools helping to mitigate the difficulties of managing room blocks and bookings.

"GroupMAX will help Red Lion staff establish a high level of operational prowess, from which they will benefit both economically and from a customer satisfaction perspective," says Greg Pesik, president and CEO of Passkey.