Meeting site selection based on all-inclusive meeting cost

Claim 2

A computer implemented method of selecting a meeting facility for hosting a meeting, the method comprising: receiving a range of dates, a list of attendees of the meeting, and an originating location for each of the attendees; calculating an all-inclusive cost for hosting the meeting at each of a plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the specified range of dates and the specified list of attendees; ranking the plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the calculated all-inclusive costs; receiving a list of preferences and geographic locations corresponding to the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities; and removing facilities from the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities which do not contain the preferences and which do not correspond to the geographic locations specified in the received list of preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating further includes estimating a cost for each said attendee to travel to each of the plurality of facilities.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating further includes estimating a meal cost for each attendee at each of the plurality of facilities.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating further includes estimating a lodging cost for each attendee at each of the plurality of facilities.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating further includes estimating a conference room cost for the meeting.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating the all-inclusive cost for hosting the meeting includes calculating optimized costs and summing the calculated optimized costs.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 , wherein calculating optimized costs includes calculating a minimum cost for ground transportation to and from airports.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6 , wherein calculating optimized costs includes finding a lowest airfare among airport pairs corresponding to a first airport from a set of airports near an origin location of the attendees and a second airport from a set of airports near a destination location of the attendees.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 , wherein calculating optimized costs includes calculating a minimum costs for a plurality of ranges of dates.

Claim 11

A computer system comprising: a processor; a network connection; and a memory, the memory including instructions that when executed by the processor perform selection if a meeting facility for hosting a meeting by (1) receiving a range of dates, a list of attendees of the meeting, and an originating location for each of the attendees, (2) calculating an all-inclusive cost for hosting the meeting at each of a plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the specified range of dates and the specified list of attendees, (3) ranking the plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the calculated all-inclusive costs, (4) receiving a list of preferences and geographic locations corresponding to the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities, and (5) removing facilities from the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities which do not contain the preferences and which do not correspond to the geographic locations specified in the received list of preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 12

A computer system comprising: a processor; a network connection; and a memory, the memory including instructions that when executed by the processor perform selection if a meeting facility for hosting a meeting by (1) receiving a range of dates, a list of attendees of the meeting, and an originating location for each of the attendees, (2) calculating an all-inclusive cost for hosting the meeting at each of a plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the specified range of dates and the specified list of attendees, (3) ranking the plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the calculated all-inclusive costs, (4) receiving a list of preferences and geographic locations corresponding to the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities, and (5) removing facilities from the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities which do not contain the preferences and which do not correspond to the geographic locations specified in the received list of preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 13

The system of claim 10 , wherein the memory further includes instructions for ranking the plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the calculated all-inclusive costs and selecting the sub-set based on the ranking.

Claim 14

The system of claim 10 , wherein the memory further includes instructions for ranking the plurality of potential meeting facilities based on a predetermined quality rating of the meeting facilities.

Claim 15

The system of claim 10 , wherein the memory further includes instructions for calculating the all-inclusive cost based on at least a range of dates, a list of attendees of the meeting, and, for each of the attendees on the list, an originating location.

Claim 16

The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions for calculating the all-inclusive cost further perform the function of querying a database for information relating to the plurality of meeting facilities.

Claim 19

The method of claim 15 , further comprising: choosing one or more of the meeting facilities from the updated list and making a reservation at the chosen facility via an electronic request for proposal.

Claim 20

A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to perform selection of a meeting facility for hosting a meeting by: receiving a range of dates, a list of attendees of the meeting, and an originating location for each of the attendees; calculating an all-inclusive cost for hosting the meeting at each of a plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the specified range of dates and the specified list of attendees; ranking the plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the calculated all-inclusive costs; receiving a list of preferences and geographic locations corresponding to the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities; and removing facilities from the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities which do not contain the preferences and which do not correspond to the geographic locations specified in the received list of preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 21

A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to perform selection of a meeting facility for hosting a meeting by: receiving a range of dates, a list of attendees of the meeting, and an originating location for each of the attendees; calculating an all-inclusive cost for hosting the meeting at each of a plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the specified range of dates and the specified list of attendees; ranking the plurality of potential meeting facilities based on the calculated all-inclusive costs; receiving a list of preferences and geographic locations corresponding to the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities; and removing facilities from the ranked plurality of potential meeting facilities which do not contain the preferences and which do not correspond to the geographic locations specified in the received list of preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 22

The computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the calculating further includes estimating a cost for each said attendee to travel to each of the plurality of facilities.

Claim 23

The computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the calculating further includes estimating a meal cost for each attendee at each of the plurality of facilities.

Claim 24

The computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the calculating further includes estimating a lodging cost for each attendee at each of the plurality of facilities.

Claim 25

The computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the calculating further includes estimating a conference room cost for the meeting.

Claim 26

The computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the calculating the all-inclusive cost for hosting the meeting includes calculating optimized costs and summing the calculated optimized costs.

Claim 27

The computer readable medium of claim 22 , wherein calculating optimized costs includes calculating a minimum cost for ground transportation to and from airports.

Claim 28

The computer readable medium of claim 22 , wherein calculating optimized costs includes finding a lowest airfare among airport pairs corresponding to a first airport from a set of airports near an origin location of the attendees and a second airport from a set of airports near a destination location of the attendees.

Claim 29

The computer readable medium of claim 22 , wherein calculating optimized costs includes calculating a minimum costs for a plurality of ranges of dates.

Claim 30

A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to evaluate a plurality of potential meeting facilities for an optimal meeting facility by: defining minimum requirements for the optimal meeting facility; transmitting the minimum requirements to an application server; receiving a list of ranked meeting facilities, the list being ranked based on all-inclusive cost calculation corresponding to an estimated total cost of holding the meeting at each meeting facility; choosing preferences for meeting facilities from the list of ranked meeting facilities; choosing specific geographic locations corresponding to a geographic location of at least one of the meeting facilities in the list; transmitting the preferences and the specific geographic location to the application server; and receiving an updated list of meeting facilities from the application server based on the chosen preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 31

A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to evaluate a plurality of potential meeting facilities for an optimal meeting facility by: defining minimum requirements for the optimal meeting facility; transmitting the minimum requirements to an application server; receiving a list of ranked meeting facilities, the list being ranked based on all-inclusive cost calculation corresponding to an estimated total cost of holding the meeting at each meeting facility; choosing preferences for meeting facilities from the list of ranked meeting facilities; choosing specific geographic locations corresponding to a geographic location of at least one of the meeting facilities in the list; transmitting the preferences and the specific geographic location to the application server; and receiving an updated list of meeting facilities from the application server based on the chosen preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 32

The computer readable medium of claim 26 , further comprising: choosing one or more of the meeting facilities from the updated list and making a reservation at the chosen facility via an electronic request for proposal.

Claim 33

A computer system comprising: a processor; a network connection; and a memory, the memory including instructions that when executed by the processor evaluate a plurality of potential meeting facilities for an optimal meeting facility by: defining minimum requirements for the optimal meeting facility; transmitting the minimum requirements to an application server; receiving a list of ranked meeting facilities, the list being ranked based on all-inclusive cost calculation corresponding to an estimated total cost of holding the meeting at each meeting facility; choosing preferences for meeting facilities from the list of ranked meeting facilities; choosing specific geographic locations corresponding to a geographic location of at least one of the meeting facilities in the list; transmitting the preferences and the specific geographic location to the application server; and receiving an updated list of meeting facilities from the application server based on the chosen preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 34

A computer system comprising: a processor; a network connection; and a memory, the memory including instructions that when executed by the processor evaluate a plurality of potential meeting facilities for an optimal meeting facility by: defining minimum requirements for the optimal meeting facility; transmitting the minimum requirements to an application server; receiving a list of ranked meeting facilities, the list being ranked based on all-inclusive cost calculation corresponding to an estimated total cost of holding the meeting at each meeting facility; choosing preferences for meeting facilities from the list of ranked meeting facilities; choosing specific geographic locations corresponding to a geographic location of at least one of the meeting facilities in the list; transmitting the preferences and the specific geographic location to the application server; and receiving an updated list of meeting facilities from the application server based on the chosen preferences and geographic locations.

Claim 35

The system of claim 28 , further comprising: choosing one or more of the meeting facilities from the updated list and making a reservation at the chosen facility via an electronic request for proposal.