JERICHO, NY – Members of E&I Cooperative Purchasing now have access to free meeting planning and procurement services available through a new contract with Hospitality Performance Network Global (HPNG).

HPN Global the world’s most global site selection and meeting procurement company is designed to combine the ease and efficiency of a site selection company with an experienced network of meeting professionals and suppliers. HPN Global will assist E&I members with everything from site selection and contract negotiation to site visits, destination management, offsite catering, online registration, and event production.

As part of the Cooperative’s new contract, HPN Global will search all viable program options for E&I members, while also relying heavily on their relationships with many of the "premier" properties throughout the United States. HPN Global delivers a user-friendly and efficient planning system, allowing members to maximize their planning budget while producing a successful event.

“HPN Global is honored to be selected as the meetings and events solution for the E&I Cooperative’s membership. We anticipate that our proprietary procurement system and deep experience in the meetings market, along with our purchasing power and extensive hotel relationships will bring significant savings to E&I members and greatly streamline the process for those planning meetings. Our organization will help members leverage their meeting spend, manage and mitigate risk and assist in compliance and transparency. HPN Global is excited to bring its performance powered by passion to the E&I membership,” said Bill Kilburg, Chairman and CEO of HPNG.

Additional services available through this contract include: recreation and team building, ground transportation, audio visual and production services, mobile events solutions and applications, database and reservation services, and travel agent services through Travel Guard – Business Travel Services.

“It goes without saying that today’s higher education institutions are looking to decrease costs in all budget areas,” said Tom Fitzgerald, CEO, E&I Cooperative Purchasing. “The meeting planning services offered through HPN Global will be extremely valuable in helping our members control spending in this area. Most importantly, the services are available at no cost to the membership. HPN Global is a welcome addition to E&I’s growing contract portfolio.”

About Hospitality Performance Network Global

Scottsdale-based HPN rebranded under the name HPN Global in March 2010 to better align with its mission of becoming the world’s most global site selection service provider.  With meeting procurement professionals in 36 countries all over the world, HPN Global is committed to being an industry leader – not one founded on being the largest company, but one focused on being the best. HPN Global boasts the most experienced team in the industry and provides clients with a unique service level that is driven by that experience along with its proprietary procurement system.  To learn more, visit www.hpnglobal.com or follow us on http://www.twitter.com/hpnglobal and www.facebook.com/hpnglobal.

About E&I

Established in 1934 by members of The National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP), Educational & Institutional Cooperative Purchasing (E&I) is a buying cooperative that serves colleges and universities. E&I uses the combined purchasing power of nearly 2,000 member institutions to lower costs on a wide range of products and services. The organization provides members with access to a diverse portfolio of high quality national and regional contracts from best-in-class suppliers. E&I's member-driven competitive solicitation process has been validated by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP). For more information, please go to: www.eandi.org.

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