What is a Site Selection Company?

Site selection, or choosing a venue for a meeting or event, can be an enormous task — researching the options, completing the RFP, finding the time to do a site visit, and negotiating the contract.

Enter site selection companies, whose main focus is on sourcing venues and vendors, and shepherding clients through the entire process. Site selection is most often offered as a service at no cost to clients, as those making the selection receive a commission from the property that confirms the business.

While many meeting planning companies can assist with site selection, two of the largest players in this area areHelmsBriscoe and ConferenceDirect. Both companies operate a commission sharing model with their associates that are mainly self-employed.

HelmsBriscoe

The grandfather of site selection companies, HelmsBriscoe, was founded in 1992 and focuses on researching and booking venues for business events. There is no minimum meeting size for this service; the company has placed meetings of 10 to 10,000 rooms.

According to HelmsBriscoe, it booked more than 41,000 meetings in 113 countries last year. Many of its 1,500 associates are former hotel salespeople, with firsthand knowledge of venues, rates, and client histories. The company says that because of its collective buying power, it can access lower rates than planners may be able to get on their own.

HelmsBriscoe sends RFPs for its clients through its own hotel RFP management system, HB Connect, negotiates rates, and reviews contracts.

Clients include both associations and corporations, ranging from the International Association of Drilling Contractors to Nike. HelmsBriscoe also offers full-service meeting management services for clients, from registration to logistics to financial management and reconciliation. A geographical list of associates is available on the web site, though any associate can assist planners in booking venues in any location.

ConferenceDirect

The other major player in the site selection arena is ConferenceDirect, which was founded in 1998 and has 300 associates who source venues in 110 countries. The company says it books 45,000 room nights for 13,000 events each year. ConferenceDirect works with both corporations and associations on everything from trade shows to incentives to sales meetings. 

Like HelmsBriscoe; ConferenceDirect’s associates have backgrounds in hotel sales. It also has a team of 120 meeting professionals that manage more than 1,000 events annually, and offer specialized services such as event marketing, green meeting support and experience design. 

Other Companies Offering Site Selection

Using a respected company for site selection helps planners keep their RFPs from becoming ‘RFP spam’ because of the sheer number of requests that hotel salespeople receive every day.

Among the companies offering site selection services is Prestige Global Meeting Source, with 33 years in the business. Its sourcing experts work with clients’ wish lists, present a grid of options, negotiate pricing, and review contracts on their behalf. HPN Global has developed its own sourcing platform and personalized RFPs, and has a single point of contact at each hotel. Among the other well-known companies offering these services are  Site Selection Group, Site Selection Services, and Meeting Innovations.