HOW TO NAVIGATE
This custom guide to the TripProximity tool is designed for Entercom executives to evaluate the product and our company for integration into various Entercom digital properties and potentially as a distribution partner for Eventful.
If you want just the 40k ft view of the features/benefits, click HERE.
If you want to take a deeper dive, simply click on the header on the left navigation and then click on each section to learn about the topic covered. When you are finished reading a section, click on it to collapse it and go on to the next item.
What is the Smart Trip Tool and why would Eventful integrate it?
We believe that the moment when someone decides to attend an event is the optimal time for them to plan how they will get there.
If an event ends late at night and/or alcohol is served at the venue, even a local resident may choose to get a hotel room. At Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, they calculate that 17% of event goers (whether sports or concerts) need or want a hotel room. This number goes way up for major events that only happen once a year, such as the US Open, Superbowl, the World Series or the Final Four.
Integration into an events system captures the highest possible intent for travel.
By integrating into the event page, prior to committing to buy the ticket the individual can search in a separate window (branded with your brand) to see if rooms are available. Or if they are local and don’t need a room, they can simply use the map and driving directions.
Marketing messages used in email or social media campaigns for an event, such as Make it a Weekend or Make it a Date Night, can increase the likelihood of a hotel stay.
If it is a good idea, then why wouldn’t we do it ourselves?
Providing these systems is our core business and it is a full time effort to stay on top of it. We have a team of 12 today that are dedicated to client management and development, as well as assisting you with marketing and merchandising our capabilities.
Standard travel booking systems are not engineered to automatically find hotels nearby venues and events. They operate on a city center and airport centric back end.
TripProximity was engineered around events and venues and was built to be dynamically integrated in the same day as the decision is made. We provide not only technology, but we provide ongoing marketing support from your Account Director and we do a minimum of three major product releases a year, with weekly sprints to add incremental capabilities.
The online systems’ affiliate networks are the red-headed stepchildren of the parent companies and their tech resources are about the same as what is available with Solutionz Innovations. They also do not have the resources necessary to act as your proactive marketing partner. Their systems require programming to their API and integration can take weeks and even months to go live. Even minor changes to images and logos or navigation on the booking system requires a programming sprint which is generally a 3 week cycle. They do not have self-service portals that allow you to fully maintain your own environments.
We are always seeking to make travel to a place or an event smarter and easier. That is our commitment to you.
Why should we consider adding Eventful content to the TripProximity product for your other clients?
The metrics of driving traffic to Eventful and your other online properties is a known quantity and likely follow a mathematical equation. To increase your reach costs real dollars. We have observed that your current marketing efforts are geared largely toward locals, versus those that are traveling (although you can clearly manage a search to anywhere). Without development, it would be difficult, if not impossible for you to know where people are going and proactively provide them with an offer email similar to your local one.
TripProximity has a unique plan to integrate trip planning into the systems that people use every day. We are solely a B2B platform, providing tools to enterprise systems, plus providing a self-service capability for individual venues and events that wish to use our tool.
This approach nets us hundreds of thousands, and even millions of monthly travelers with a single implementation. This is much more efficient than the standard online travel site that spends $1m/mo on keywords to drive 500k in unique visitors. Our cost of traveler acquisition is literally zero once the client is installed.
To add Smart Trip Planning to your Event Landing Pages on Eventful
NEXT BEST: If you place the tool below the fold and use the map view, based on our experience to date with event sites, you can expect approximately 2.6% conversion.
We recommend adding a variable header, such as Make it a Weekend (if the event is on Thurs, Fri or Sat) or “Make it a Date Night” or simply “Do you need or want a hotel room?”
The instructions for installing this tool can be found in the Event Widget section.
To plan travel to any event venue on Eventful
The instructions to load the dynamic venue widget to your venue landing pages can be found in the VENUE WIDGET section below.
To be installed on your corporate website as a VISIT US page
The instructions for adding this static widget to your corporate site can be found in the VENUE WIDGET section below.
Launch campaigns in minutes to support your existing philanthropic efforts (telethons, event sponsorship)
In the case of the I’m Listening campaign, we believe that you can build momentum after the broadcast by asking listeners to join you in their support by using the I’m Listening Smart Giving tool to benefit the suicide prevention cause. It costs them nothing to give back in this way and they get to enjoy traveling as well, at guaranteed lowest hotel rates.
They can post their pics and videos on Radio.com and get really creative in their social media support. So much more fun than putting a bucket of ice over your head.
The Smart Trip Tool Components
I’m Staying
This element of the Smart Trip tool gives the event attendee the ability to book a hotel in a single click, since the widget is pre-populated with the event venue info and the event date. Hotel bookings are guaranteed to be the lowest published rate online. Solutionz provides a 110% best rate promise and will refund 110% of the difference for someone who finds a hotel room available cheaper on another site.
I’m Driving
In the US, 89% of all travel is by car. Driving directions are useful to all event attendees that are not personally familiar with the event venue. This tab also provides smart car rental.
Air Tickets
TripProximity provides the ability to buy airline tickets worldwide.
I'm Staying
Hotel Booking Nearby the Venue or Event
This element of the Smart Trip tool gives the event attendee the ability to book a hotel in a single click, since the widget is pre-populated with the event venue info and the event date. Hotel bookings are guaranteed to be the lowest published rate online. Solutionz provides a 110% best rate promise and will refund 110% of the difference for someone who finds a hotel room available cheaper on another site.
Address lookup
I'm Driving
Driving Directions and Optional Car Rental
In the US, 89% of all travel is by car. Driving directions are useful to all event attendees that are not personally familiar with the event venue. This tab also provides smart car rental.
Smarter Driving Directions
Smarter Car Rental
You can add an additional revenue stream by asking for a car rental company to sponsor this capability. We can default to that car rental company. The user may override the default at transaction time and see all car rentals, or we could link directly to the car company’s system.
I'm Flying
Optionally offer Air Tickets
TripProximity provides the ability to buy airline tickets worldwide.
Social Sharing
This feature can be disabled.
Royalty and Giving
Royalties
We earn revenues from travel bookings made on our client systems. The highest revenues come from hotels, then car rental. Air tickets produce a nominal fee. We are paid post-checkout, generally within 30 days for completed bookings.
In 4Q18 we are adding another booking source to augment our longstanding relationship with Priceline Partner Network and Booking.com. That will add not only 200 new inventory sources for lodging (including non-standard apartments, home rentals), cruise and attractions, but also the ability to serve very deeply discounted products to closed user groups behind a login (e.g. your Eventful subscribers).
Solutionz will share 20% of our revenues with Entercom for any activities on Eventful or any of your other online properties, such as Radio.com. Should the monthly bookings exceed 250, we will move you to our highest earning threshold of 30%.
NOTE: If Entercom agrees to allow Solutionz to utilize the Eventful content to power our “I’m Discovering” event tab, we will honor the 30% rate without a minimum booking threshhold.
Giving Back
We will donate a minimum of 10% of our revenues to your charity of choice annually, giving the funds in your name.
For special campaigns, such as telethons and other special programs such as I’m Listening, we are willing to do a special donation of 50% of our revenues for those campaigns at the conclusion of the campaign.
Terms
We believe that we need to earn your business every day and we are committed to your satisfaction.
You will have an Account Director that will navigate our organization to respond promptly to any issues or concerns.
Solutionz does not require a long term contractual commitment. We do ask our enterprise clients for one year, with mutual agreement on renewal.
Traveler Support
We provide 24/7/365 support in 40+ languages for the customer and an Account Director will be assigned to you for escalation of any issues with the smart trip tool or any of your campaigns.
Referrals
We have a formal referral program and the underlying technology to track referrals from Entercom. If you make referrals to Solutionz, we want to thank you in a material way.
We have started you at Level 2, which immediately allows you to earn royalties and donations. Any referrals that you make while you are at Level 2 will be counted toward reaching Level 3.
Once you achieve Level 3 with us (250 booking threshhold), any referrals that you have done will accrue to your account and we will pay you as a channel partner on those deals at a fixed 10% of their first year’s revenues.
What brands can I choose from for the booking system that the traveler sees?
The Brand Options
The default refid is 5135 and the default brand is The Hotels Nearby. | |||||
To change the brand to one of our niche brands, you must use the combination of the refid and reflickid2 below. | |||||
These can be overridden at transaction time by using the refid and refclickid2 variables | |||||
refid= | Brand | refclickid2= | |||
5135 | The Hotels Nearby | ||||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Amusement Parks | hotelbyattractions | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Assisted Living | hotelsbyamusementparks | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Attractions | hotelsbyassistedliving.com | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Bloggers | hotelsbybloggers | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Companies | hotelsbycompanies | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Convention Centers | hotelsbyconventioncenters | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Cruise Ports | hotelsbycruiseports | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Doctors | hotelsbydoctors | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Embassies | hotelsbyembassies | |||
6856 | The Hotels Nearby Events | hotelsbyevents | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Festivals | hotelsbyfestivals | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Funeral Homes | hotelsbyfuneralhomes | |||
6988 | The Hotels Nearby Golf Courses | hotelsbygolfcourses | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Hospice | hotelsbyhospice | |||
6855 | The Hotels Nearby Hospitals | hotelsbyhospitals | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Military Bases | hotelsbymilitarybases | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Museums | hotelsbymuseums | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Nursing Homes | hotelsbynursinghomes | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Places | hotelsbyplaces | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Prisons | hotelsbyprisons | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Racetracks | hotelsbyracetracks | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Spas | hotelsbyspas | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Theatres | hotelsbytheatres | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Trainstations | hotelsbytrainstations | |||
6857 | The Hotels Nearby Universities | hotelsbyuniversities | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Wineries | hotelsbywineries | |||
6832 | The Hotels Nearby Zoos | hotelsbyzoos | |||
7028 | TravelingtoGIVE |
Private Label
May we use our own brand?
Yes, for a one time fee of $1200, you may use your own logo and navigation options for the booking back end system, as well as your own URL. You may also customize the buttons to your brand colors. The footer can also be customized, but it must contain our Copyright and the Powered By logo, plus the words “Patent Pending”.
Press Release Draft
Our CMO George Lynch will help you craft engaging communications for social media and the press.
Recommended Help Text
FIRST STEP: Click the button below to review the Enterprise Terms and Conditions and then REGISTER as an Enterprise Client (no obligation)
Portal Invitation
From our portal you can modify your widgets, create new ones and see your usage statistics.
It is important to note that if you update a widget you do NOT need to reinstall it. The changes will be live immediately.
The script that you write to augment the code snippet that is generated by the portal will override the fields that are included in your script. We have put them in as %VARIABLENAME% into the Event and Venue widgets. We have also built a few sample widgets for you that are included at the top of this page. These are static widgets.
We have online chat (M-F 8am-9pm ET) on the portal. You will have your own Account Director that will review your progress each month and work with you to improve merchandising and placement, including making recommendations about email and social media campaigns.
The Event Widget
It is distinct from the Venue widget in that it has a specific date range for the event and a location where the event is held.
We provide the embed code for the dynamic widget on your portal once you register. Then you will find the instructions for our Dynamic tool, which shows you how to substitute your data for our variables in real time, so that you only have to install the widget snippet once. Once it is installed, if you wish to make changes, you can edit the base elements of the widget in the Portal and you do not have to reinstall the snippet. See the defaults in the last section.
The Venue Widget (dynamic)
This tool is distinct from the Event widget in that the dates of travel are relative to the date that the tool is displayed, e.g. travel 7 days from today for 1 night.
Click the HDQ widget above to see the widget for the EVENTFUL corporate website for people traveling to see you.
Once you have been invited to the TripProximity portal, you will be able to grab the embed code for your HDQ tool. Then you will find the instructions for our Dynamic tool, which shows you how to substitute your data for our variables in real time, so that you only have to install the widget snippet once.
If you need a VENUE widget we have created one on the portal. Once it is installed, if you wish to make changes, you can edit the base elements of the widget in the Portal and you do not have to reinstall the snippet. See the defaults in the last section.
Tech Tips
Static Widgets versus Dynamic Widgets
async onload=”tripWidget()”
The dynamic widget does not load asynchronously. If you turn on the dynamic flag in the portal in the widget editor, it removes that line from the code snippet that is generated. If you try to install a dynamic widget directly into an HTML container on WordPress, it will NOT render.
External System Interaction
- Google Places for lookup of the venues and addresses in the address field
- Google Maps for lookup of the latitude/longitude of any address
Once the input from the widget is received, we pass a search string to our booking system. It contains:
- Brand to be displayed in the booking system
- Travel parameters
- Tracking information to provide reporting back to you for each client
CSS
Rules for Display
The date fields for events can be coupled with a business rule. For instance if you have an event that begins before noon, you may want to set the date of arrival to 1 day before the event begins. If the event ends after 3pm, you may want to set the date of departure to 1 day after the event.
Just a reminder, even if there is no address or a partial address (city/state), our new widget with the Google Places lookup can find the precise address of the venue or company that they are visiting (even a Starbucks or TopGolf! or finding a hotel near someone’s house that works from home). The user controls this by using the pencil tool on the address field to do their own lookup.
Email Services
If not, you’ll need a graphic linked to a landing page on your site.
The Company - Solutionz Innovations, Inc.

Since 1996, Solutionz has been solving problems for clients in the travel technology space. The company started as a consultancy helping leading brands amp up distribution and travel marketing strategies. Along the way, the business incubated products and technologies for our clients and for our own portfolio.
Over our 21+ year history, we have been a part of building a game changing loyalty platform for Carlson Companies, we launched one of the industry’s first mobile travel platforms for Intel, we built LasVegas.com from concept to company with a consortium of casino partners, we were a key advisor in the acquisition of Galileo and Worldspan by Cendant, we assisted with numerous other mergers and acquisitions and advised nearly 100 companies on the creation of differentiating solutions for their firms.
We were a major investor in LeisureLogix, a venture backed product that brought driving- trip planning to major online travel agencies. And most recently, we have been a part of the incubation of Rich Media Exchange, a digital asset management, marketing and distribution firm.
At every turn, there was always a drive to change the game.
Here are some of the companies that we helped to change their game.
#InnovationMatters
New Venture: TripProximity
Now, Solutionz is bringing its latest venture to market — TripProximity. Our first product is a smart trip widget that enables businesses and venues to easily serve customers at the very moment they are motivated to make a trip. Its innovative distribution strategy and technology capabilities sets it apart from the rest.
The product was launched first in 2007 as HotelsbyHospitals.com, but founder, Chicke Fitzgerald didn’t want to run a consumer facing web business, so she went back to the drawing board (more than once) and in 2015 launched the next generation, known as TripPlanz. We are now on our third generation of the product, which was rebranded in 2017 as TripProximity.
Chicke Fitzgerald, Solutionz’ founder self-funded this business through the 2nd generation product and began raising friends and family capital in late 2016. The company is now raising a seed round to accelerate growth. Learn more about the executive team assembled to change the game in travel with TripProximity.
In addition to changing the orientation of the travel request from city centers and airports to venues, addresses and events, TripProximity is also shifting the timing of the booking to be much closer to the catalyst for travel. The strategy is to add integrated trip planning to CRM, contact management, calendaring, ticketing and registration platforms, media/publishing companies and web tool companies.
There are many reasons to travel. TripProximity caters to the 72% of travel that is NOT vacation or managed corporate travel.
#ProximityMatters
One Minute Product Overview
Four Minute Company Video
For any other details regarding widget customization, please access the Support Center.
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