Press Release – Launch of Conference Bay, 5 Sep 2007

Press Release – CONFERENCE BAY TO LAUNCH FIRST-EVER CONFERENCE PORTAL OFFERING DIRECT ONLINE BOOKING AND BIDDING FOR SEATS. Singapore Entrepreneurs Aim to Make Organising, Visiting and Speaking at Conferences a “More Pleasant Experience”.

28 August 2007, Singapore – Conference Bay (www.conferencebay.com), a new and dedicated conference portal developed by Singapore-based Arnout Mostert and Frank Bomers, announces its official Asia Pacific launch in Singapore on 5 September 2007. With a total of $675,000 in funding from an angel investor as well as from SPRING Singapore (under the SEEDS scheme) and EDB (under the Innovation Commercialisation Scheme), Conference Bay is set to revolutionise the way conferences are organised and attended in Asia Pacific by being the first portal to allow users to book directly online and make a bid for seats at conferences.

Conference Bay is set to revolutionise the way conferences are organised and attended in Asia Pacific by being the first portal to allow users to book directly online and make a bid for seats at conferences.

Developed with the specific needs of conference organisers, attendees, speakers and senior HR managers in mind, Conference Bay provides users with a complete overview of all conferences organised by topic and location within the Asia Pacific region. Featuring an easy-to-use interface, Conference Bay also offers all the details necessary – including conference description, seat prices, organiser contact details, venue, etc – to evaluate, participate in or sign up for a particular conference.

Arnout Mostert, Founder and CEO of Conference Bay, says, “Conference Bay is a professional and dependable marketing channel which makes visiting, organising and speaking at conferences a more pleasant experience. We offer an easy and reliable online booking and bidding platform – a first in the industry, which makes Conference Bay the ideal online meeting place for conference organisers, delegates, speakers and senior HR managers.”

Conference organisers benefit from Conference Bay’s effective sales and marketing channel as they are able to sell more seats, and reach out to new market segments which would otherwise be difficult or expensive to reach. The conference portal’s unique bidding system gives organisers the flexibility in accepting bids that allow them to control the type of delegates they would like to attract too. Current partners include leading conference organisers like The Financial Times and The Economist who will be posting their conferences on Conferencebay.com.

Conferencebay.com is also delegate friendly as it offers conference attendees a central informative overview of what is going on in their area of expertise and the opportunity to name their preferred price for a seat at any conference through the portal’s bidding mechanism.

“The Conference Bay model offers a unique platform that hosts a multitude of conferences, which through its bidding feature, enable users to better search and register for conferences that interest them,” said Mr Png Cheong Boon, Chairman of SEEDS Capital Pte Ltd, the investment arm of SPRING Singapore.

He added, “It is encouraging to see the founders’ passion in making the portal a thriving one. We believe the team will establish their footprint in the growing MICE industry. To succeed beyond the start-up stage, Conference Bay needs to accelerate their network expansion, grow its user base, and ensure the robustness of its local-based portal.”

Future developments for Conference Bay include more interaction and networking opportunities for conference organisers, attendees and speakers pre- and post-event; development of a password protected mini-site for senior HR managers providing a comprehensive list of industry-specific conferences with real-time information on bookings and bids made by their staff and the ability to link this to their financial approval systems; and venue locators, online discussion forums and travel related solutions. The portal also plans to grow internationally by including more regions and locations to its database.