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Cvent Inc.

ABA10 WinnerCompany: Cvent, Inc., McLean, VA
Company Description: Founded in 1999, Cvent has 600+ employees worldwide. Cvent offers web-based software with features including meeting site selection, online event management and web surveys. Cvent helps 35000 users in 29 countries manage 200000 events, surveys and email campaigns per year. Cvent has processed $1 billion in online payments and managed 10 million event registrations & survey responses for clients.
Nomination Category: Management Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Management Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Cvent Management Team

1. Tell the story about what this nominated management team achieved since January 1 2009 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Cvent’s senior management is no stranger to tough times. In 1999, Reggie
Aggarwal, Cvent’s CEO and Founder, assembled a talented management team to begin
building the dream: become the market leader in online event registration.
Initially, the team was conservative with hiring and spending, but the world was
rapidly changing. Everyone was raising outside capital to grow faster. They
quickly raised $17million and expanded Cvent from 8 to 125 employees. The media
buzzed, writing over 100 articles about Cvent in national publications like
Forbes and USA Today. But the dot-com meltdown changed the game. Within months,
Cvent dwindled to 27 employees and had little money left. The media turned on
Cvent and almost every article referred to Cvent’s probable failure. Needless to
say, Cvent emerged from the rubble and has been looking in the rearview mirror
for the past 9 years.

Of the 11 senior managers at Cvent, ten have been with the company since its
inception. In spite of the challenges in Cvent’s early years, the management
team has maintained its strong belief in the company (quite a feat when less
than 2% of internet companies from the 1999 vintage retained their original
management team). The strong cohesion among this group is evident in the
synergies across departments and their collective commitment to outstanding
customer service. For example, EVP of Sales and Marketing, Chuck Ghoorah, and
SVP of Client Services, Manjula Aggarwal, coordinate their teams so that for
each new client the sales team signs, there is a dedicated relationship manager
to ensure the client’s smooth adoption of Cvent’s software. The Client Services
team in-turn coordinates with the CTO, David Quattrone, to ensure that client
recommendations for technology enhancements are incorporated into the product.
This collaboration enables Cvent to set the industry standard for customer
support and in 2009, Cvent won an International Service Excellence Award as
evidence of management’s customer focus.

2009 was a record-setting year for the company despite the trying economic
climate. In order to meet the needs of meeting planners worldwide in 2009, Cvent
launched the Cvent Supplier Network, a free tool that enables planners to easily
compare bids from venues for their events. Essentially, it’s the Orbitz or
Expedia for meeting planners. In 2009, Cvent’s management team devoted time and
resources to grow the network to over 100,000 event venues. In just a year, over
130,000 Requests for Proposals were sent through the network to event venues
around the globe, revolutionizing the way the hospitality industry handles group
business.

Profitable for the last 29 quarters, Cvent saw year-over-year sales growth of
33%. Additionally, Cvent’s senior management team recruited across all
departments, hiring 102 new employees. Reggie personally interviewed every
candidate that Cvent hired, investing in the brightest and best candidates to
ensure Cvent’s future. All senior managers also contributed to an eight-week
training program for the new hires, sharing their extensive knowledge and
helping establish Cvent as one of the “Best Places to Work” according to the
Washington Business Journal and Washingtonian Magazine.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Cvent Senior Management Team
http://www.cvent.com/company/management-team.shtml

Cvent Company Video
http://www.youtube.com/user/CventVideo#p/u/0/Ag6gTTkGKlI

Cvent Posts Record-Setting Sales in 2009
http://www.cvent.com/company/cvent-posts-record-setting-sales-2009.shtml

Cvent Continues Exponential Growth, Hiring 102 New Employees in 2009
http://www.cvent.com/company/cvent-continues-exponential-growth-hiring.shtml

Over 1,000 Clients Adopt Cvent’s Web Survey Software Solution in 2009
http://www.cvent.com/company/over-1000-adopt-cvent-web-survey-solution.shtml

Cvent is Now the Largest Source of Meeting RFPS in North America
http://www.cvent.com/company/cvent-largest-source-meeting-rfps-north-america.shtml

Customer Service Institute of America Names Cvent 2009 International
Service Award Winner
http://www.cvent.com/company/cvent-wins-international-customer-service-award.shtml

Cvent CEO Reggie Aggarwal Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2009
Award Winner in Greater Washington
http://www.cvent.com/company/reggie-aggarwal-entrepreneur-of-the-year.shtml

Washingtonian Names Cvent CEO Top 100 Tech Titan
http://www.cvent.com/company/cvent-ceo-washingtonian-tech-titan.shtml

Washington Business Journal Selects Cvent as one of the Best Places to Work
http://www.cvent.com/company/cvent-best-place-to-work.shtml

Cvent Named a Top 10 VC-Backed Company
http://www.cvent.com/company/cvent-top-ten-vc-backed-company.shtml

Dispelling Misconceptions About Online RFPs - Uniting Planners and Suppliers to
Increase Industry Efficiency
http://www.cvent.com/pdf/news/uniting-planners-suppliers-to-increase-industry-efficiency.pdf

Cvent CEO and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Speak at State of Entrepreneurship Panel
http://www.cvent.com/company/state-of-entrepreneurship-address-reggie-aggarwal.shtml

Chuck Ghoorah - HSMAI Affordable Meetings 2009
http://www.youtube.com/user/CventVideo#grid/user/022C27F6B39DA8DD

Payment Card Industry (PCI) Upgrades Cvent to Level 1 Compliance Status
http://www.cvent.com/company/pci-level-1-compliance.shtml

SuccessfulMeetings.com: Cvent Targets Strategic Meetings Management
http://www.cvent.com/company/cvent-strategic-meetings-management.shtml

3. Provide brief (up to 200 words total) biographies of the key members of the management team:

Reggie Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, is a revolutionary force in Washington's
high-tech and association community. He was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of
the Year® 2009 in DC and is listed among the most influential professionals in
the meetings industry.

Chuck Ghoorah, EVP of Sales and Marketing oversees Sales and Marketing, which
have been growing Cvent's top-line sales more than 50% per year for the past
five years. Chuck is a meetings industry expert and has spoken at 100+
conferences about event marketing and registration.

Thomas Kramer, CFO, leads Cvent's Finance, Strategy and Administrative
divisions. Thomas is an industry expert and leading decision-maker in the
eCommerce arena.

David Quattrone, CTO, offers a wealth of expertise in designing and developing
large-scale Internet applications. David designed and supervised the development
of Cvent's original beta product as well as 22 subsequent upgrades and redesigns.

Dwayne Sye, CIO, has guided Cvent's cost-effective yet innovative use of
technology since the company's founding. Today, he is responsible for Cvent's
worldwide technology infrastructure and operations.

Manjula Aggarwal, Senior VP of Client Services, oversees Cvent's Client Services
and Relationship Management divisions. She has over 10 years of experience in
corporate operations, project management, and full lifecycle applications
development.