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On this episode of Hospitable we sit down with Venuesuite CEO and Founder, Ralph van Hoojidonk from ITB in Berlin after his talk on the Green Stage!
Venuesuite announced its new Dynamic Pricing Feature and we discussed the latest trends and innovation that is shaping the MICE industry.
Don’t forget to subscribe, like, rate, and review!
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - The Value of Partnerships
00:01:01 - Introduction to the Host and Guest
00:01:57 - Speaking at ITB and Impact of Tech on Hospitality
00:04:11 - The Importance of Openness and Collaboration in the Industry
00:06:05 - The Role of Technology in Enhancing Hotel Operations
00:06:39 - Venue Suite's Origin and Mission
00:09:03 - The Entrepreneurial Journey and Venue Suite's Impact
00:11:24 - Automation's Role in Hospitality
00:13:38 - Venue Suite's Vision for the Future
00:15:09 - Dynamic Pricing in the Meeting and Event Space
00:18:02 - The Changing Landscape of Hospitality Tech Partnerships
00:20:28 - Venue Suite's Growth and Challenges
00:23:02 - The Significance of Trust in Strategic Partnerships
00:24:30 - The Value of Friction in Forming Strong Partnerships
00:25:16 - The Fear of Vulnerability in Business Relationships
00:26:08 - The Importance of Physical Presence at Industry Events
00:29:33 - Key Takeaways from ITB for the Host
00:32:18 - Closing Remarks and Contact Information
Quotes
- 00:00:00 - "There's a lot of problem identifiers in the world, very few problem solvers."
- 00:04:11-00:04:21 - "the times of not being open and transparent are long gone."
- 00:05:20-00:05:30 - "we need to be in a more space where we're more transparent, we're more open."
- 00:09:25 - "I saw this, I felt this, and I was like, There's nothing on the market. Why don't I just build it? And then like crazy enough to just like go build it and see what happens."
- 00:14:41 - "So why not just add a little bit of percentage on top of that to create a little bit more of healthy profit? There's nothing wrong with that."
- 00:17:06 - "And that's really interesting to see with the larger players in the room that are now getting a very dominant foothold in the market because they all have an open API system."
- 00:18:34 - "But I think that so much change is happening in a positive direction."
- 00:24:06 - "Usually there needs to be a little bit of that friction in the beginning that allows, and I think the faster you get to that friction point, the faster you actually see what you have on the other side of the table."
- 00:24:59-00:25:11 - "we all know it, but it's actually really hard when you actually have to roll up your sleeves and be vulnerable because you're being seen. And that is a scary thing, especially without our CEO. It's scary, scary for everybody."
- 00:27:36 - "The real conversations are a lot better. It gives you more fingerspitzengefühl, they say in Germany."
Connect:
- Omniboost: www.omniboost.com
- Rob Napoli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robnap/
- Ralph van Hooijdonk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralph-van-hooijdonk-567662a/
- Venuesuite: https://www.venuesuite.com/
Filmed on location at ITB Berlin: https://www.itb.com/en/itb-berlin-for-visitors/itb-convention/
Show Produced by: Niranjan Deshpande (Nick), Broken Frames Studio, www.brokenframesstudio.com
Creators & Guests
Host
What is Hospitable?
Hospitable is a podcast that discusses how to make hospitality MORE human through technology.
Hospitable focuses on discussing the leading challenges facing the hospitality industry and to explore the latest trends, technologies, and best practices that are shaping the industry. Each episode features interviews with hoteliers, restaurateurs, chefs, industry analysts, and other experts who share their insights and experiences on topics such as customer experience, sustainability, innovation, staffing, and more.
Hosted by Rob Napoli
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:20:15
Rob Napoli
The true value of a partner. What is a partner actually mean? solving problems together. Yeah. There's a lot of problem identifiers in the world. Very few problem solvers. Yeah. And when you have partners that are wanting to solve problems together, good things happen. Exactly. And I think as a founder, the hardest thing for us humans to do is ask for help.
00:00:20:17 - 00:00:41:02
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Connecting just with anyone and integrating, that's one thing. But then really, really having a good relationship, a strategic partnership, that's that's indeed a completely different level. And that comes down to trust. putting yourself vulnerable on the table, it's all quite obvious. We all know it, but it's really hard to do that, So the best relationships get started.
00:00:41:05 - 00:00:55:12
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Usually when shit hits the fan in the beginning, the best relations because you look each other in the eyes. Okay, so are we going to yes or no? Let's just talk, filter it off. The dutch are quite direct. Always. Are we going to do it? Okay, let's do it. And then it's also solved really quickly. But you just need to give it the attention for it as well.
00:00:55:12 - 00:01:01:07
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah.
00:01:01:09 - 00:01:19:03
Rob Napoli
Hey, how am I doing? I am your host, Rob Napoli. We are back for another episode of Hospitable. I'm excited because we are here in Berlin at ITB, actually in the Speakers lounge in a little podcast here that we finagled into with the CEO and founder of Venue suite, Ralph Van Hooijdonk
00:01:19:05 - 00:01:19:16
Ralph van Jooijdonk
very well
00:01:19:17 - 00:01:21:17
Rob Napoli
Ferrell compliments you.
00:01:21:19 - 00:01:22:18
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Very well pronounced.
00:01:22:19 - 00:01:42:05
Rob Napoli
Yeah hey I tried, it's not an easy, there's so many of these tough last names, especially working for a large company. to be fair, Kees our founder Kees Zorge, Yeah. For the longest time I called him. He never like Zorge And then finally he was like, Rob its Zorge, okay, yeah, thanks for telling me now.
00:01:42:07 - 00:01:57:02
Rob Napoli
Like way later. So, Ralph, you got us hooked up. We're at ITB Berlin, major, major conference. You happen to be a speaker today, so tell me about it. What was that like to be speaker at ITB?
00:01:57:04 - 00:02:18:01
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah, Exciting. Exciting. And this is the place to be for our business. So then to have the opportunity to share some thoughts and some things that we're working on and that's going to help the hoteliers, the hotels move forward to the next era of meeting and event management in terms of, of what's going on in the tech landscape is of course, very exciting.
00:02:18:01 - 00:02:21:20
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And to share that with other players is really good. Yeah I.
00:02:21:20 - 00:02:28:18
Rob Napoli
Love that. And so talk to me about what was the topic of that panel, that discussion like what was it that you were brought in to discuss about?
00:02:28:22 - 00:03:07:20
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah, so the hotel business is known for optimizing everything that has to do with rooms. Yeah. So rooms, rooms, rooms is what everybody loves and everybody knows. And one of the, the most ignored areas is meeting and events and we were able to talk about the impact tech has on MICE, Meeting Incentive Conferences and Events and that what we're trying to do is to to optimize the booking journeys on how people can book hotels, meeting and event spaces and take the new technology in terms of what they know for rooms and move it into the meeting and event segment.
00:03:07:20 - 00:03:21:21
Ralph van Jooijdonk
So the thing we dropped on stage was dynamic pricing is a new feature that we've launched here on the ITB, where we now are able to implement that for all the event spaces and meeting spaces that we sell via booking engine.
00:03:21:21 - 00:03:40:19
Rob Napoli
Yeah, that, that's, that's one awesome and exciting and fun to be able to launch something at an event like this especially like it's the event of the season right at ITB, it's Berlin, it's all hospitality, it's all tourism, it's all innovation. Yeah. Which is I think is amazing and so really cool to get to be on a stage.
00:03:40:19 - 00:03:57:10
Rob Napoli
I think as you continue to grow and how you know that you're actually making an impact on this, the communities that you serve is by being able to be a part of these conversations, right? Yeah. And on stage, I know that you're on stage with, we're talking kind of pre show about competition, coopertition and working with that.
00:03:57:14 - 00:04:10:23
Rob Napoli
Why is it so important to be on stage with others in your space that you may compete against talking about these things? Why do you think that's so important to you to be on that stage with them and sharing your thoughts, your ideas, your voice to the conversation?
00:04:11:01 - 00:04:36:10
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah, is a good question because the times of not being open and transparent are long gone. And so you see a couple of the dinosaurs in the room. I mean that with the old greatest respect for other players in the market that have been a very long time, a very close ecosystem and there is a lot of new players, tech software players, of which OmniBoost is also one that enable new things, that enable new collaborations.
00:04:36:10 - 00:04:52:22
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And I think that's key for our business to move forward, especially in challenging times and challenging times for healthy profitability and that you need to work together. And if you focus on what you do well and we focus on what we do well, in the end the hotelier has a benefit from that and they need to be able to share that.
00:04:52:22 - 00:05:09:08
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And if you can share it on the stage, it has the biggest reach, of course. And in the end, you still need to prove it. You still need to do it together, but it's how I think the future will be that everybody focus on what they're doing best and you can then together offer more added value for the hotel.
00:05:09:08 - 00:05:09:21
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah.
00:05:09:23 - 00:05:31:06
Rob Napoli
I love that. I think it's so important to be able to be able to have a seat at the table and have the voice and sharing those things. And I agree with you that so many people want to stay behind the wall of their secret sauce. And yeah, I get that there's, there's IP and a secret sauce, but we need to be in a more space where more transparent, we're more open because that's where innovation happens.
00:05:31:06 - 00:05:46:20
Rob Napoli
And we think about the customer experience. We think about, the podcast air that we're on Hospitable : How to make hospitality more human through technology. We know that tech is changing everything. Yeah, but when you go to a hotel and you go to an event, when you do these things, you want an experience.
00:05:47:00 - 00:05:47:07
Ralph van Jooijdonk
exactly
00:05:47:09 - 00:06:04:14
Rob Napoli
What you doing when you travel, whether it's for work or for pleasure. You want the experience and that human connection, that human piece cannot be overlooked. And that's what I love about talking about all these things that you need to be transparent about challenges. We can solve innovations in the space that we can make that experience better.
00:06:04:14 - 00:06:22:22
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah, and the good thing is that a lot of the hoteliers, they are not aware of the things that are already possible now today. And that's where these collaborations like we have as well. We can add value tomorrow with so many more people in the industry, so many more hotels, that that is why such an event like ITB is also really important.
00:06:22:22 - 00:06:27:02
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And I think that's probably the best advantage from being in a place like this.
00:06:27:05 - 00:06:48:18
Rob Napoli
Yeah, though I love it and I think it's so unique and it's a wonderful opportunity to share. And I am excited to get into a few that the impact of things, but I do want to take a step back and give me a quick overview. What is venue suite. Yeah. And as the founder, what led you to one be crazy enough to launch a company?
00:06:48:18 - 00:06:55:01
Rob Napoli
Let alone scale a company? So talk to me just a little bit about kind of what venue suite is and how it came to be for you.
00:06:55:03 - 00:07:18:04
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah, sure. So to take it one step back really quickly, I was born and raised in a hotel, basically with a family owned business in the hotel business and now also the meeting and event business. So with regards hospitality is running through my veins and I somehow got into the software business and saw what software could do to optimize processes.
00:07:18:05 - 00:07:44:17
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And with regards, at a certain point we were having some family meetings on how the future looks because as a family business you take a longer perspective, maybe even a multi-generational perspective, and we're lucky. So. So how is the online landscape and meeting and events going to develop? Because we are operating in that segment and we saw that there was so much still manual labor being done by our teams.
00:07:44:17 - 00:08:09:17
Ralph van Jooijdonk
On preparing simple quotes for a simple meeting reservation that at a certain point we saw that this is not future proof anymore. So we need to do something, we need to invest in it and maybe help or build software to help our team to do relief. The pain of of this. We call it the rabbit hole where the booker and the venue host is going down in terms of booking a meeting and event space.
00:08:09:17 - 00:08:32:06
Ralph van Jooijdonk
So so that's where it all started. We thought, well, let's just start building something. And from the one thing came another and now we are here where we are with venue suites. And what we've built is a booking engine, just like we know the booking engine for rooms where we have the booking engine basically enabling a hotelier to get the bookings directly from their websites for meeting and event spaces.
00:08:32:06 - 00:09:01:11
Ralph van Jooijdonk
So we get the booking in from the website. We automates the entire process for our fees up till the digital proposals based on real time availability, pricing, dynamic pricing. Now also SCOOP and all the way up to invoicing. So the starting point was really our own family business, the pain that we had. And then we said let's build a company in software and to see we can roll it out and push the market forward.
00:09:01:11 - 00:09:02:19
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah.
00:09:02:21 - 00:09:19:10
Rob Napoli
I love that is so cool. Like it's always interesting as an entrepreneur, having a background in entrepreneurship and having worked for 500 entrepreneurs in my time as a coach, so consultants with my own, when I come out of my own sales, I just see it's a it's everyone has a unique story of how they get into it.
00:09:19:10 - 00:09:33:20
Rob Napoli
It's so cool when you hear this story of of something personal like that was like I, I saw this. I felt this, and I was like, there's nothing on the market. Why don't I just build it and then like, crazy enough to just, like, go build it and see what happens and then to see it scale and grow.
00:09:33:22 - 00:09:54:21
Rob Napoli
I think it's so much fun to just like, be able to like that's where some of that most authentic technology comes from because a real pain having gone through it at a very real basis versus there's a lot of technology at times that are built because there's a perceived pain. Yeah, they build a solution for it and it's like a solution on top of solution on top of solution and it doesn't actually fix anything.
00:09:54:23 - 00:10:14:13
Rob Napoli
I saw, especially during the pandemic, everything was cut down. It's like what is necessary versus what accessory we had. These companies had stacks of technology in the hospitality industry is very similar in the fact that you've got different systems for everything. Yeah. And how do they all work together to make the most seamless experience happen?
00:10:14:15 - 00:10:24:12
Rob Napoli
And I think that's what you all have done well with venue suite is making a seamless experience and being able to operate and integrate into a hoteliers lifestyle ecosystem in a very simple way.
00:10:24:14 - 00:10:53:20
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah, absolutely. And we see that with the post COVID era that a lot of hotels, they don't have the luxury to have people waste time and resources on preparing simple things that can be automated. And that's that's exactly why we're doing it, that the things that can be automated, let's just do it and then focus on spending more time on relationship management, thinking with the guests, thinking with the corporate bookers on what we can add more value to and not be spending days.
00:10:53:20 - 00:11:22:18
Ralph van Jooijdonk
It really takes sometimes days to preparing a quote, which is just manual work. It's just ridiculous. But yeah, it's the reality for a lot of companies. And now the post-COVID era shows they need to change because we cannot find the staff for a lot of people. So let's automated and that's a strong stimulants for companies like yours and ours to enable that and that's it's wonderful to see that in the in the daily operate operational business that that that actually does what it's supposed to do.
00:11:22:20 - 00:11:44:02
Rob Napoli
Yeah and I think that's the interesting piece right. Is some of the stuff that is manual and yes there's everyone's afraid that technology, AI is going to steal people's jobs and there's things that automation is not meant to replace something. It's meant to take something off your plate so that the person can be more focused on bigger projects or bigger things like god only knows.
00:11:44:07 - 00:12:05:05
Rob Napoli
If people are still out there building quotes on a Word document and sitting over, there's so much other stuff out there that can simplify your life. And I don't know about you, but when I was running my business, I hated creating, like I said, quote, It's like I created just standardized pricing across and made it simple as like, how can I simplify my own process?
00:12:05:05 - 00:12:14:19
Rob Napoli
And that's what I think. So people don't realize. But automation is like automation is meant to help take those things off your plate. So you can be more creative once you go and actually solve problems.
00:12:14:19 - 00:12:36:00
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Exactly. And it brings it brings I love what you're saying because it really brings the in our case, the booker, the corporate booker and the venue, the venue host closer together. You really get to know each other because if you're using some tooling, you can, of course, also gather some data. And by the time, as you're looking at my venue to book it, we already know what your favorite set up is.
00:12:36:04 - 00:12:53:06
Ralph van Jooijdonk
We already know what your favorite food and beverage packages and that's stuff you don't need to talk about anymore because we can see it in the systems. And that's the part that you don't need to find it out. You don't need to call, you don't need to email anymore, Hey, we know each other and that's what tech should do in the end, not automate because we can get rid of people or employees.
00:12:53:06 - 00:12:57:21
Ralph van Jooijdonk
No, it's automation so that you can do more with maybe less, but also to provide a better service.
00:12:57:21 - 00:13:17:14
Rob Napoli
Yeah, exactly. And if that stuff in that also facilitates a much more deep conversation around what's the experience want to have? Like we already know what your favorite food package is. We know that you've done multiple things like this. We can kind of automate that and simplify it and be like, okay, what experience you're looking to go for what was missing last time from the human touch that we can add in.
00:13:17:14 - 00:13:35:15
Rob Napoli
So you have this taken care of. This is all done for you and how do we add those in? And so my next question to you really goes into, as you look at dynamic pricing launched here at ITB, you look at 2024 and at 25 and to 26 within, you see what is the impact that you want to make in the industry.
00:13:35:15 - 00:13:37:21
Rob Napoli
Like what is that, Mark that you're trying to leave.
00:13:37:23 - 00:14:01:04
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah. So, so I really kind of mentioned it and it's all about healthy profitability nowadays. And so of course time savings and cost is one element and you can focus on the right thing, but it's also really about creating healthy profitability for it for our clients, our partners, because they are, as we speak, leaving money on the table and the dynamic pricing part helps with that.
00:14:01:09 - 00:14:18:21
Ralph van Jooijdonk
We know it works for rooms, so why doesn't the work for meeting and events? It does work, but it's it's the laziness, it's the being open to these new kind of things that we want to help with and show them that you can really set up your dynamic pricing We call a set up and forget, set and forget and let the system do the work for you.
00:14:18:21 - 00:14:38:20
Ralph van Jooijdonk
So the research that we've done last year in our venue benchmark is that we know it's a it's a big secret out there that everybody knows the Tuesdays and the Thursdays can be overbooked multiple times in all event locations worldwide. Tuesdays and Thursdays you can overbook ten times. However, we use the same pricing for the Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are high demand days.
00:14:39:00 - 00:14:52:19
Ralph van Jooijdonk
So why not just add a little bit of percentage on top of that to create a little bit more of healthy profit? There's nothing wrong with that. People are willing to pay maybe a little bit more to be on the high demand day, so let's just do it. And that's what I'm saying. The money is on the table.
00:14:52:19 - 00:15:08:12
Ralph van Jooijdonk
So the drive is for our venues, our partner hotels to get this profit into the business. And of course in the end and make some more profit perhaps, but with very little effort because it can be done. You just need to set it up. Yeah. And let it let it go.
00:15:08:14 - 00:15:30:23
Rob Napoli
That's a beautiful thing. And that's a win win win for everybody because also it allows you to optimize your metrics of event days and how you're going to structure it, how you set up and how you build. And it also allows you to, to create scalable strategy, thinking about those things. I mean, and as a consumer, we all know consumers are not immune to dynamic pricing
00:15:31:03 - 00:15:50:01
Rob Napoli
I think we've been doing this for a long time. It's raining outside and you don't want to walk the 15 minutes home. You're going to get a new bird knowing that Uber is going to charge you more because it's raining and demand it wasn't right. Like, yes, as humans, this is already human nature. So why are we not adding it to areas of the business where we can optimize lives and increase healthy property profitability?
00:15:50:02 - 00:16:06:06
Rob Napoli
So I love that kind of like impact and it's really cool to see how this space, the hospitality space is so much fun. There's so much going on. Yeah. What are some things that you're most excited about for the industry that you see? I mean, you were just on a stage talking about missteps. Yeah. What are those things that you're excited about?
00:16:06:12 - 00:16:11:08
Rob Napoli
Yeah, that is coming to the industry as a whole that excites you on a daily basis, that makes you wake up in the morning.
00:16:11:10 - 00:16:45:16
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah. So, so basically is that that the market is opening up so the major players that used to control the business and had their own ecosystem are now all opening up and there were a couple of companies that were that were driving that change and and in that world that is opening up, a lot of new opportunities are being offered for companies such as such as venue suite and OmniBoost doesn't as well with the connections that they make with all the systems that you integrate with, you make a lot more possible not only for us to to offer that to our clients, but as a whole for the business to go forward because
00:16:45:16 - 00:17:07:12
Ralph van Jooijdonk
it's not about one system dominating everything. It's about, again, you focus on what you do best. We focus what we do best so that the hotelier, you get the best out of everything. And that's really, really, really interesting to to see with the larger players in the room that are now, getting a very dominant foothold in the market because they all have an open API system.
00:17:07:14 - 00:17:27:00
Ralph van Jooijdonk
They're not closed anymore. When we started venue suite, we tried talking about integrations. We had to pay like 15 K for a simple connection and then have a maintenance fee of another 10 K. So how are we going to earn that back? How's the hotel going to earn that back? It's like, Well, yeah, we don't know. And basically we don't care because it's our clients and they're like, okay, so this is not going to work.
00:17:27:00 - 00:17:53:07
Ralph van Jooijdonk
So we see in the last couple of years that this has completely turned around and we all know the players in the market that have that have pushed the envelope forward. And I'm really grateful. I'm really excited about it because it really gives a lot of opportunities not only for us as a company because we're a small player, always a little bit on the background, but also for the hotels that they can pick and choose whatever system they want to use for whichever way they are working, because every hotel has their own dynamics in how they work and this is how we do things.
00:17:53:13 - 00:18:02:00
Ralph van Jooijdonk
None of them are having the same way of working, which is a challenge, by the way, and that can now be made for them to work out. Yeah, yeah.
00:18:02:02 - 00:18:26:16
Rob Napoli
That is exciting. And you're right. Like, that's the space is so unique and each hotel you can have the same hotel brand as having a similar experience, but depending on what city, what country, part of the world and there's a, there's going to be that different dynamic twist and having technology and having options available to scale that and create that simplification and scale that across the globe is what I think is really exciting about the industry.
00:18:26:18 - 00:18:46:15
Rob Napoli
And you're seeing that starting to happen. You're seeing so many innovative companies coming up. And I say innovative, right? Like in quotes, because the word innovative gets thrown around a lot and what's truly innovative. But I think that so much change is happening in a positive direction. Yeah, because the end of the day, when we think about meetings and events and we think about going to a hotel, it's that experience.
00:18:46:15 - 00:19:03:10
Rob Napoli
We go there for an experience in some way, shape or form, whether it's business, whether it's travel, whether it's pleasure a little bit of both. You're walking into that hotel with the expectation, whatever, whether you look like a one star or five star getting on where you're at, you are booking for a specific experience. It could be just a bed to lay your head on at night.
00:19:03:13 - 00:19:23:10
Rob Napoli
Yeah, or it could be a a resort where you're looking for the whole kit and caboodle. And I think understanding that each person books a certain place for a certain experience, giving them the option to create that best experience possible is what's going to help hoteliers when every day of the week.
00:19:23:14 - 00:19:47:00
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Absolutely. Yeah. As I agree. And within the business and the corporate meeting and event business, the event planners or the bookers, they have their usual suspects so they know where they're being treated well and therefore they they will stick with their preferred venues or hotels. If you can offer them that ease of of of booking and that they know, hey, I'm going to be treated well.
00:19:47:01 - 00:20:06:07
Ralph van Jooijdonk
First of all, I can book whenever I want. If it's 9:00 in the morning or 9:00 at night, let's do it online whenever I want to book, that's where I'm going to go. And then the rest of the journey is up to the hotel to make that and the impeccable experience that that they expect. But that's why in the corporate segment, it has long been ignored, but it's now moving fast forward.
00:20:06:12 - 00:20:09:22
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And yeah, that's it's just very exciting. Yeah.
00:20:10:00 - 00:20:13:13
Rob Napoli
I love it. So what is growth look like for venue suite this year?
00:20:13:15 - 00:20:14:04
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Sorry.
00:20:14:06 - 00:20:16:18
Rob Napoli
What does growth look like for venue suite this year.
00:20:16:23 - 00:20:20:12
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Growth. Yeah. In what terms you mean
00:20:20:14 - 00:20:26:21
Rob Napoli
whatever term you want to define it as it what as the founder and CEO, what is it. What are you looking at as growth for the year.
00:20:26:22 - 00:20:48:00
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah. So so one of the challenges that we have now is that that some of the expanding companies in the market are pulling away qualified staff because they simply can offer better packages and they can do completely remote working. So that is one of the challenges. But I think that's something that can be overcome quite, quite easily. That's always a temporary glitch that you can see.
00:20:48:02 - 00:21:08:20
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And but yeah, the the distribution of our product is internationally is one of the one of the challenges that we're facing now. We know it works in the Netherlands. The Netherlands, the Dutch market is a good test market for new technology and they're very open minded. We now are active in Germany where we see some cultural differences, of course, as well, but it's also moving forward and they're trying to catch up as well.
00:21:09:01 - 00:21:34:23
Ralph van Jooijdonk
But internationally, too, getting our products out there, that is one of the one of the challenges that we're face right now. And that's why we are partnering up with a lot of these newer, more forward thinking players in the markets for PMS systems, property management systems, for revenue management systems, for connectivity companies such as OmniBoost and that can help us distribute our product because on your own, again, we're not going to be able to do that.
00:21:34:23 - 00:21:49:23
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And that's some of the challenges that we will be happy to have solved by next year. So that's where our growth will be because we from our office in the Netherlands and the Netherlands is this big. We can do it, but we need some good partners for that.
00:21:49:23 - 00:22:11:19
Rob Napoli
Yeah, and I love that. Right. You can do it. Everyone can. Where there's always a path of least resistance. Right. And understanding and having partners. I mean, we're excited to be partnering with you and doing some of the stuff we're doing and Yeah, yeah. Even just getting to sit down a chat with you yesterday to today like and we've connected on LinkedIn and have a conversation and get the whole, you know, to get here today.
00:22:11:21 - 00:22:32:18
Rob Napoli
It's like is that when you understand and the Kees talks with us all the time the true value of a partner, what does a partner actually mean and solving problems together, right. Yeah, there's a lot of problem identifiers in the world. Very few problem solvers. Yeah. And when you have partners that are wanting to solve problems together, good things happen.
00:22:32:18 - 00:22:59:18
Rob Napoli
Exactly. And I think as a founder, the hardest thing for us humans to do is ask for help. Yeah. Yeah. So knowing that as a founder that you're when to ask for help, right? When I ask about it's partnership, but we're in a way asking for help. How do we scale? How can we continue to distribute internationally by doing it with great people in this space that are willing to be innovative forward thinking and align with our values and our goals and our and our mindset, and that to me is like where true dynamic shift starts to go.
00:22:59:19 - 00:23:00:16
Rob Napoli
Yeah, awesome.
00:23:00:18 - 00:23:26:09
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah, absolutely. And that's also a challenge because connecting just with anyone and integrating is that's one thing. But then really, really having a good relationship, a strategic partnership, that's indeed a completely different level. And that comes down to trust, putting yourself vulnerable on the table. It's all quite obvious. We all know it, but it's really hard to do that, so with OmniBoost as well, we had some some glitches in the beginning of our collaboration with Hey.
00:23:26:09 - 00:23:44:20
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And, you know, we just picked up the phone said hey Kees, What's going on? Are we going to do this or not? And then boom, within a week. Okay, let's do it. You know, sorry, everything's fine. And and usually from those kind of things, the best the best relationships get started. Usually when shit hits the fan in the beginning, the best relation, because you look each other in the eyes, they okay, so are we going to yes or no?
00:23:44:20 - 00:23:54:15
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Let's just talk filtered off. You know, the dutch are quite direct always. Are we going to do it? Okay, let's do it. And then it sort of solves really quickly. But you just need to give it the attention for it as well. Yeah. So.
00:23:54:17 - 00:23:57:19
Rob Napoli
So usually when things go too well off the bat.
00:23:57:19 - 00:23:58:22
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah.
00:23:59:00 - 00:24:13:09
Rob Napoli
It's usually an issue. Yeah. I was, we know the term, the saying pressure makes diamonds, right. Usually there needs to be a little bit that friction in the beginning that allows and I think the faster you get to that friction point the faster you actually see what you have on the other side of the table.
00:24:13:09 - 00:24:27:09
Rob Napoli
Can you make this work? Yeah, we dedicated to that exactly, because really easy to be partners when shit's going well. Yeah, the hard part is when shit's not going well. How do we lock arms and do it together? And I think that was that moment that you and Kees had. And yeah, that's it's a bit of the essence of who we are.
00:24:27:13 - 00:24:46:16
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah. Yeah. And it's, it's very stimulating as well as motivating because I see, it's all with Kees and I agree he's got similar challenges way but he's opening up an office in New York or he's selling like, well okay that's really great man. You know so then you start off and then you go, okay, let's yeah, you really motivate each other to do it. Yeah.
00:24:46:18 - 00:24:48:02
Ralph van Jooijdonk
00:24:48:02 - 00:25:06:03
Rob Napoli
And that's, that's, I think that's what we need more of and I love that you share that. And I liked how you said, you know, it's important to be vulnerable, especially with your right partners too. It's easy to do and we all know it, but it's actually really hard when you actually have to like, roll up your sleeves to be vulnerable because like, yeah, you're being seen and that yeah, it's scary.
00:25:06:03 - 00:25:08:02
Ralph van Jooijdonk
I think it's very scary.
00:25:08:04 - 00:25:11:15
Rob Napoli
yeah. It's just it is scary. Yeah, forever.
00:25:11:15 - 00:25:16:20
Ralph van Jooijdonk
But yeah, these podcasts are also very scary by the way. But anyway, I mean, you have to do it.
00:25:16:20 - 00:25:39:14
Rob Napoli
Sometimes you do it. It's the end of the day. Authenticity wins. Yeah, and share story and have a conversation and share some tips and insights that I think to me is what needs to happen more. And that's I mean, it's why you get on a panel at ITB, it's why you do podcasts. It's those things that, yeah, it's nice to have to peel back a few layers and open up a little bit.
00:25:39:20 - 00:25:44:05
Rob Napoli
Now we're just doing canned conversations with that script. It's.
00:25:44:07 - 00:25:56:07
Ralph van Jooijdonk
the panel discussion is one thing. You can throw in one or two snippets, but these kind of things are always going a little bit deeper. So I think it's really nice to do that. Yeah, And it also helps you get to really know each other. Yeah. Yeah. So.
00:25:56:09 - 00:26:13:00
Rob Napoli
So as we got a close up here because I know that the room, there's a lot of rotation happening here in the speakers lounge. What is for you? Why is it so valuable to physically as a CEO and founder to be present at these events? And, and you weren't just you didn't just come and speak on stage in a sentence bigger than you go.
00:26:13:05 - 00:26:22:12
Rob Napoli
You worked every booth, you had meetings. Why is that to you valuable? What is the value of being in face to face events like this at this level? At an ITB? Yeah. Size and scale.
00:26:22:14 - 00:26:50:06
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah. So. So besides the beers afterwards, which are very important because then also the real conversations come across the table, it's really to get a pulse for where the market is going and where the market is. So, so that's why we're here, not only to sell the product that we have, of course we're doing that and we're talking with our partners and we're meeting up with new partners and but it's really about how far as the markets, are they are embracing new movements.
00:26:50:06 - 00:27:09:22
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yes or no. And that's probably one of the most important things that we now see a big shift in at least the meeting and events segment that, yes, things are moving and I'm hearing it from different directions. So it's not anymore. Is Ralph with his idea? And let's see if we can find some people that say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, No, it's really now that the puzzle.
00:27:09:22 - 00:27:27:16
Ralph van Jooijdonk
The puzzle is coming together and that's great to see that. And you need to have a lot of conversations with everybody from their own perspective and say, hey, I never thought about that. And that's what I see compared to last the last two years, that that's not really moving forward. And so that you just need to talk with people because online is online, it's very effective.
00:27:27:18 - 00:27:35:23
Ralph van Jooijdonk
But yeah, the real conversations are a lot better know, it gives you more, more fingers, bits and gives you all this in Germany. And so yeah, yeah.
00:27:35:23 - 00:27:52:00
Rob Napoli
I mean I think the important piece to me is it's a true pulse check. Yeah. What's happening? I mean it's easy to have a conversation in 2D and I can kind of shield you behind my screen. Yeah. When I'm sitting across from you. It's not only that you're feeling the energy, you're seeing the body language, you're the discussion.
00:27:52:00 - 00:28:09:05
Rob Napoli
It's just mean more, in my opinion. Right? I'm not going to speak for everybody. Yeah, but it means more to me to have a true pulse check when we're there. And I think that's the cool thing. And I think that every founder's willing to work the floor like that. So I wanted to just share that.
00:28:09:05 - 00:28:22:20
Rob Napoli
I think that was I think that's a great thing to do it. And it was something I notice about you is like your moving and grooming, your stopping by or saying hi, grabbing a beer here, grabbing a beer there. But you always make time to have the conversations right? You're never not going to make time to say hi to somebody or have a conversation.
00:28:22:20 - 00:28:30:06
Rob Napoli
Like, I'll see them later, because at an even of this size and scale. You might not you might have just ran past and that might be the only time you see them again because there's hundreds of thousands of people.
00:28:30:07 - 00:28:34:00
Ralph van Jooijdonk
It's huge. And I get lost all the time here. I don't know if you have that same problem.
00:28:34:00 - 00:28:35:08
Rob Napoli
I’ve gotten lost a couple of times like this.
00:28:35:10 - 00:28:51:07
Ralph van Jooijdonk
This I don't know where north, south, east and west is, this three dimensional location. It's just humongous. And anyway, so you bump into people, but you still miss a lot of people because it's so big at the same time. So you need to plan and all that stuff, but no. Yeah, I agree. it's great to be here.
00:28:51:07 - 00:28:54:10
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah. So from that perspective we’ll be here next year again.
00:28:54:13 - 00:29:23:01
Rob Napoli
Yeah. I can't wait for. All right. I can't wait for next year, Actually that's my first ITB experience, so I'm already, like, in love with it. I love, this type of stuff. And I got to be at the stand and meeting people now, do a podcast like I'm Happy as a clam. So yeah, and I also just love getting to meet with our customers and but also meet with our partners, our competition and just see the booths and talk to people and, and learn because it's easy to get caught up in your bubble of like your space and what you're working on and whatever, To have that true close conversations that you're since
00:29:23:01 - 00:29:23:12
Rob Napoli
check in.
00:29:23:12 - 00:29:32:06
Ralph van Jooijdonk
So what's, what's the main thing that you then already learned from your one day here so far that that brought you something then, if I may ask in return? Yeah, that's.
00:29:32:06 - 00:29:51:04
Rob Napoli
A great question. Yeah. The biggest thing that I have, I think big takeaway for me is just that I have the market is moving forward faster than even I expected. And to see some of the collaborations and the conversations I've been having of what is to come this year in the space and the way that everybody is thinking about innovating.
00:29:51:06 - 00:30:14:00
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I was it was kind of mind blowing because, is the company that gets to work with quite a few different partners. We see it happening, but to see it at this size and scale is kind of like, shit, it's moving you as you see happening. Exactly. And all the things that we talk about I'm thinking of and debating on are like it's there and it's it's not 9, 12, 18 months, it's weeks to 3 months.
00:30:14:00 - 00:30:30:16
Rob Napoli
It's it's a quarter away. I had a little bit last night kind of an oh shit moment is like, we got to get going like full steam ahead. Like all the things are here. They're already here. Yeah, Yeah. We won't want to miss the train. So that to me was the big kind of moment that I've learned in just day one.
00:30:30:17 - 00:30:31:05
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah.
00:30:31:07 - 00:30:38:18
Rob Napoli
And I knew it was happening. But when you had this many players in the space together and you see it, you have those conversations.
00:30:38:18 - 00:30:41:02
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And you get in the mindset as well. And yeah.
00:30:41:04 - 00:30:54:19
Rob Napoli
It's hard not to get energized by this, right? So, okay, so I feed off this energy. So you're living in New York. It's one of the things I love most is just that every day there's a palpable energy. When you're in a space like this, you can feel the energy.
00:30:54:23 - 00:30:55:13
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah.
00:30:55:15 - 00:30:56:08
Rob Napoli
Good. That's.
00:30:56:10 - 00:31:00:09
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah. And you're going to go back to the Netherlands now as well next week.
00:31:00:10 - 00:31:25:14
Rob Napoli
Yeah. Yeah. And Zeeland and the South for a couple days at HQ, a meeting with the team, which is always, one of things that I always want to make sure of being across the pond in New York City is that I never don't miss an opportunity to bring people over. And cases are really big on bringing people over and me coming back and meeting with the team and I'm here and seen and felt and heard it and really ingrained because that's where that culture is built.
00:31:25:14 - 00:31:51:18
Rob Napoli
So it's it's an exciting time. We've got three in the office in New York City already. I've got five in Utrecht, eight new tracks and we've got the other 35 down in Tunisia and it's making sure that we're there and I get to be a part of that is really important. So even though it's Tunusia and it's a beautiful town for all my friends from Tunisia, from Zeeland, not a lot to do, but, you know, I'm excited.
00:31:51:18 - 00:32:09:07
Rob Napoli
It's going be nice to see the team and really get a chance to get to cover some ground, especially at feeding off of this energy, to have the team together. We really want to make sure that we had everyone together to to really bring that back and share and put a plan. And if you wait two weeks, we're going to lose out on that, that tangible feeling.
00:32:09:09 - 00:32:16:09
Rob Napoli
So we wanted to make sure that I said so. Poppy So it made sense to I'm over here to to hop over and yeah, a few days their headquarters.
00:32:16:11 - 00:32:34:11
Ralph van Jooijdonk
And make sure to come by when you're in the area of Utrecht. No, but it's really nice to see that. And also your company else OmniBoost is really pushing the market forward. You're making a lot possible. So with regards to also tip my hat to you guys, and when I hear those stories, I get more excited like, Hey, I also an office in New York, but we're not quite there yet.
00:32:34:15 - 00:32:50:09
Rob Napoli
Hey, buddy. Hey. You want to come over and work out of our office in New York? Any time my friends take you out and we’ll have some fun. If I did, I will definitely catch you up in Utecht. Yeah. I love to Utrecht, this great little town. So, Ralph, I appreciate you taking time. I know it's been a busy two days at ITB so another day left to go.
00:32:50:11 - 00:33:04:16
Rob Napoli
I But I do want to say I appreciate taking time. I'm really excited about what you're continuing to do. Congrats on the big launch of the dynamic pricing and I'm really excited to see the continued impact and also to collaborate more with you as we continue to do cool shit. So looking forward to my friend.
00:33:04:21 - 00:33:07:10
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Yeah, we're just getting started. So. Absolutely.
00:33:07:10 - 00:33:14:06
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. Yeah. So last thing, where can listeners find you on this message if they want to get in touch with you, how do they how do they get in touch with you?
00:33:14:08 - 00:33:21:12
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Well, they can go to our website. venuesuite.com of course, but also via LinkedIn and just reach out to me and then I'll be in touch.
00:33:21:12 - 00:33:34:16
Rob Napoli
So and his last name is hard to spell so I will put the link to the website and Ralph's LinkedIn in the show notes. So all you got to do is click on that connect and look forward to having more conversations in the future my friend
00:33:34:16 - 00:33:40:11
Ralph van Jooijdonk
Perfect, thanks a lot. I really appreciate the effort of setting this up. Yeah, thank you.
00:33:40:13 - 00:33:52:13
Rob Napoli
And that is it for today's episode. If you like it, please make sure you be a tier one subscribe rate review. Do all the things we appreciate you until next time. Thank you, guys.