Success Story
The Maassilo
The Maassilo on Rotterdam’s Maashaven is a more than 100-year-old Grain Silo transformed into an event venue. Raw, industrial and pure are the words that best describe event venue Maassilo in Rotterdam. In fact, the Maassilo was still in use as a Grain Silo until the 1990s. The history can be felt everywhere and makes the location unique. Before any events could be held, it had to undergo major renovation. The starting point for this renovation was to preserve as many authentic details and industrial look as possible. More industrial than the Maassilo is hardly possible, but despite this raw frame, the venue is equipped with all contemporary facilities such as heating, ventilation, stages, (moving) lighting and audiovisual technology. The venue has its own staff to take care of the event from A to Z.
Challenge
Before Covid-19, quotes were created in Excel, scripts in Word and contracts were sent out separately. Every time, all this data had to be entered and adjusted. Making mistakes is a lot easier this way, which sometimes caused a lack of overview and productivity. So during the lockdowns, we started to see if there was a program available that could simplify these operations. After researching various reservation systems, we then ended up with Smart Event Manager.
Objectives
Our ambitions included speeding up processes to save valuable time. In addition, we want to improve the quality of our data. SEM offers the ability to put standard reservations in the program, so you don’t have to re-enter everything every time. Which saves a lot of time. In addition, it is clear when a quotation has been sent and whether the customer has approved the quotation. Appointments made with the customer can be mentioned at the time of booking and is therefore immediately known. Invoices can be sent more quickly after an event. The invoices sent no longer need to be entered manually because of the link to our accounting program, and payments are also fed back directly to SEM.
Guidance
The implementation process of SEM went very well and smoothly. We had several sessions a week. After each session, we received a checklist with the points that had been covered and what we could do ourselves to add to the system. If we had any questions in the meantime, the help desk was always readily available to help. Meanwhile, we have started using SEM and still sometimes run into some issues, but switching to a new system takes time and the help desk can always help us with that.
On behalf of Maassilo, Nathalie van der Linden
