According to Jon Hutson, senior vice president of corporate and brand development for Wolfgang Puck Catering, "We needed a product that could meet all of our event management needs and bring our 10 existing locations, as well as any future locations, into the 21st century. ReServe Interactive has been integrated into our operations to fulfill that need."

With expansion plans on the horizon, the management of Wolfgang Puck Catering developed a dramatic growth strategy that required a move from manual sales and management processes to more automated methods that would support growth. After extensive evaluation of several industry catering and event management software systems, management chose to integrate ReServe Interactive software into all of its operations to streamline catering processes and provide consistent, quality service to their clients. The ReServe system will provide better response with proposals and contracts, use labor more efficiently, make better business decisions using report data, maintain a database of their valuable customers, and, in general, help them become more profitable.

The ReServe Interactive Catering and Event software brings efficiencies to the entire process of booking and executing off-premise and on-premise events. It manages event room locations to check availability and prevent double bookings; produces all correspondence, proposals, contracts, function sheets and invoices; tracks deposits, payments and discounts; generates automatic reminders for follow-up tasks; uses an efficient point-and-click design for gathering food and beverage menus, and for defining set-up and service requirements; automatically generates equipment and packing lists, documents and communicates event changes; forecasts revenue; produces hundreds of valuable financial, marketing and event-related reports; maintains a historical customer database; and supports direct mail and e-mail marketing campaigns.

"We expect the annual and long-term revenue goals for Wolfgang Puck Catering to be solidly within reach because of the anticipated improvements to our operational efficiencies," explains Hutson.

ReServe Interactive is one of the only software programs of its kind with Event Lifecycle Technology, a process-driven design that automatically prompts the user with tasks that need to be completed to move an event ahead in its life cycle. ReServe Interactive worked closely with Wolfgang Puck Catering managers to map their manual business process to an automated event lifecycle.

ReServe Interactive engineers also custom designed features and functions to meet their unique business needs. They developed an interface to Microsoft Outlook, which enables Wolfgang Puck Catering to attach incoming e-mails to events in ReServe, as well as synchronize appointments with the Outlook Calendar and tracers with Outlook Tasks. They also designed a function that enables a user to assign equipment lists - utensils, linens, serving equipment, etc. - for each food and beverage item to make event preparation more efficient and customary. When an item is selected for an event, the associated equipment - including quantities - is automatically added to the packing list.

"ReServe Interactive has provided a tremendous level of support, availability and flexibility along with their product offering," said Hutson. "We anticipate that ReServe's software will help us facilitate standard operating procedures and business practices. We expect to see immediate efficiencies within our operations because of various features such as the ability to easily customize event menus and create assigned equipment lists."

Wolfgang Puck Catering has a strategic alliance with Compass Group, a multi-national foodservice provider. ReServe Interactive also provides products for more than 60 Levy Restaurants and Restaurant Associates locations, in which Compass Group also owns an interest.

ReServe Interactive, Inc. specializes in Catering, Event Management, Dining Reservations and Table Management applications for the hospitality industry and is the only integrated solution for managing banquets and restaurant reservations in one system. ReServe Interactive software is suitable for a variety of hospitality venues including hotels, restaurants, sports and entertainment facilities, golf clubs, private clubs, cultural institutions and wineries. The company brings more than two decades of experience in hospitality management and software development.