CIC & Social Tables Introduce a Free Event and Meeting Planning App

CIC and Social Tables have partnered to release a planner-requested app, the Pocket Planner.

Compatible with all iOs and Android devices, this innovative app was born as a result of customer demand. "In speaking with planners throughout the hospitality industry, we found a shared frustration as it pertained to scaling product and personnel quantities to attendees," recalls Dan Berger, CEO and founder of Social Tables. "As a company that has been shaped by feedback from our customers, we knew we had to provide a solution – that’s when the idea of an app hit us."

Through three separate functionalities, Berger predicts that, "It will automate manual processes, allowing meeting planners to spend more time on strategic tasks."

The Calculator function allows users to input the number of event attendees into an algorithm that recommends quantities of food and beverage (including liquor, coffee and standard drinks), safety (fire extinguishers, exit space) and staffing, while the My List functionality allows a planner to save their previously created calculations for future use.

While these components were exciting, Berger realized that he wanted to do more than provide answers – there needed to be an educational component. "That’s when I reached out to Karen Kotowski," Berger says. "There is no better organization to partner with on industry thought leadership than the Convention Industry Council."

"Promoting professionalism is at the core of CIC’s mission, and we are committed to the growth of and anticipating the needs of industry professions. The Pocket Planner app allow us to do both of those things seamlessly. The calculations are based on industry best practices and established standards that CIC uses in our manual, so it was a natural partnership. The app is another tool that allows planners flexibility in applying their knowledge, not a substitute for attaining it. Kudos to Social Tables for creating a useful platform that is accessible and at no cost, to everyone in the industry," said Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, CEO of the Convention Industry Council.

Through the app, planners are now able to purchase a copy of the CIC Manual for use in studying for the CMP and reference in day-to-day operations. The CIC is actively working on a mobile version of the manual, which will be added to the Pocket Planner App once it is released.

The free app will be launching the week of July 11.

The Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) is a
program of the Convention Industry Council

Convention Industry Council
700 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 510
Alexandria, VA, USA, 22314
Tel: 571-527-3116