THE sharing economy has spread
to the meetings and events
sector and may soon find its way
to South Africa.
Spacebase, which allows
companies to book and pay for “out
of the box” meetings venues online,
has already conducted a small test
launch in South Africa, though it has
not yet decided when it will launch
fully.
The concept behind Spacebase
is to offer stimulating and creative
meetings spaces rather than having
attendees in a more conventional
meeting room of ‘four white walls’,
for example a boxing ring or famous
international building. More than
2 000 spaces are bookable in ten
different countries. The company’s
portfolio is maintained by a global
network of scouts who regularly
hand-pick spaces for their clients.
Bookings can be made from
anywhere in the world.
Stephan Ekbergh, well known for
his involvement in Travelstart, is
involved in the initiative from an
investment and strategic perspective.
While Spacebase’s core market is
German, co-founder, Jan HoffmannKeining,
says once the company’s
growth in Germany slows down it will
officially look to expand into other
markets in other countries.
Jan says, when the company
first launched, it was well received
by more innovative companies in
the professional services space,
such as media agencies. He says
these companies are accustomed
to making use of more innovative
venues and would just have booked
these venues themselves in the
past. He says the more traditional
companies that previously would not
have thought of using venues such
as these, have become captivated by
the new concept. These corporates
have proved to be very loyal clients,
says Jan.
Spacebase says it provides
meeting rooms that are up to 40%
cheaper than traditional venues.
However, Jan says for most of the
larger companies it services, budget
is less of a consideration. “They are
rather more concerned with finding
the perfect room to meet their
needs.”
Airbnb for meetings?
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