News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim Graham
SMG Corporate
Voice: 215.592.6655
Fax: 215.592.6699
jgraham@smgworld.com
SMG LAUNCHES CUSTOM AND PROPRIETARY SMGBOOKING.COM SYSTEM FOR ITS VENUES
Philadelphia (April 26, 2005)- SMG President Wes Westley announced today that the company has launched a new proprietary web-based booking system, SMGBooking.com. SMG facility managers will now be able to manage their building schedules in an interactive on-line environment, at the same time allowing SMG's Sports & Entertainment Division and entertainment promoters an unprecedented level of access to real-time booking availability for all SMG-managed arenas and theaters. SMGBooking.com, which was developed by EventBooking.com and SMG's Corporate I.S. department, positions SMG to continue to be a market leader in the field of online booking and marketing of concerts, sporting events and family shows. Implementation of the SMGBooking.com system will be completed on May 1, 2005.
"SMGBooking.com is a great opportunity to leverage our position as a market leader and use the latest technology to provide added benefits and services to all of our clients," commented Westley. "The information provided through this new system will be in the hands of decision makers faster to insure even more concerts and events at our venues."
"We talked to our major clients such as CAA, William Morris, tour managers and family show producers, and designed this proprietary booking system with them in mind," continued Mike Evans, SMG's Senior Vice President of Sports & Entertainment. "It positions SMG in the forefront of the industry by allowing us to respond and provide booking information, which is a valuable commodity in our business, to the entertainment community even faster than before."
A key element of this new program and system is to provide easy access for entertainment clients to see what is available at the SMG-managed venues. While the venue staff will only be able to see and be the user for their building, the SMGBooking.com system will permit both Corporate and Regional SMG management to see availabilities for those buildings for which they are responsible, based upon a number of demographic elements such as-region, venue size and venue type, etc.
SMGBooking.com has been successfully piloted and beta tested for the past few months at the Jacksonville Veterans Arena, Oakland Arena and the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. Facility designees with the responsibility of maintaining and operating the system have been trained at a number of regional training workshops.
The SMGBooking.com system is a web-based system written using standard Microsoft Tools (Windows 2002 and SQL Server), but the SMG-managed facility needs only a high speed internet connection to be able to run the system. EventBooking.com pledges 24/7 dedicated support on all aspects of the system, as well as, automatic software updates, enhancement and fixes.
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About SMG
Headquartered in Philadelphia, SMG provides facility services to over 170 venues, in 41 States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Europe, manages over ten million square feet of exhibit space and controls over 1.46 million entertainment seats worldwide.
SMG manages 70 arenas such as The Forum in Inglewood, CA; Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH; Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale NY; Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY; Gwinnett Center, Duluth, GA and the Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK.
SMG manages 50 convention centers such as The Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Reliant Center in Houston, Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu and the Atlantic City Convention Center. For additional company information, visit www.smgworld.com