This month Lauren chats with Dan DeHerrera. Dan is an independent contractor working for HPN Global, he can help any Company, Association or Non-Profit when they get back to in-person conferences by sourcing their events to hotels, conference centers, and resorts. His services are free to the client as he gets a commission from the hotels after the conference is held. For more information you can contact Dan directly at ddeherrera@hpnglobal.com.
Transcript:
Lauren [00:00:04] Hi, welcome back to Enterprise Coworking Community Spotlight. This month, we are talking to Dan DeHerrera, the global accounts director of HPN Global. Dan, thank you so much for sitting down virtually with us.
Dan [00:00:18] Yeah, thanks for having me, Lauren. Appreciate it.
Lauren [00:00:20] Of course. Of course. So why don't you start off by telling us a little bit about HPN Global and what you do?
Dan [00:00:27] Yeah, Perfect. So thanks again for having me. Yeah. HPN Global and account manager. Like, what does that mean. Right. Well what I do is I do hotel sourcing for companies and non-profits and associations. And what that means is when like, for example, your company is starting to plan their next in-person meeting, I think we're all starting to get back to that. We're all tired of meeting and we want to meet in person again. So when your company is planning those, whether it's a conference, some incentive travel for your sales team, typically that's that goes to like an ad campaign or an events person at the company. But a lot of times that person has a bunch of other jobs. So it's a lot of work to plan these events. And sometimes people don't realize how much work goes into it unless you're actually doing it. So at HPN Global what we do is we help with that process and we work with the events team or the admins at your companies. And we will source out the information to the hotel that the conference centers and we will get bids for you so we can bring these hotels or destinations to you, the company, and then you can decide which which offer looks best for you and go that way. We'll also negotiate contracts with the hotel or venue and the company. So you don't have to do that either. So we can negotiate the best incentives, the best rates, and who can just basically bring you the best deal. We handle all of that. And I used to work on the hotel side, so I know how those guys think and I can kind of speak their language and figure out what's best for my clients.
Lauren [00:02:10] That's awesome. Super streamlined for them. So how long has HPN Global been in business?
Dan [00:02:19] HPN Global has been in business for about twenty five years, started small and we're still kind of a small company. We're all kind of independent contractors working all over the globe. Me of course, and a couple other people work here in Denver and there's actually quite a bit of associations and companies here that use us. But yeah, so we've been doing this and a lot of us do come from the hotel side. So we're able to speak directly to our counterparts there. And we have relationships with all the major hotel brands and all the major destinations, conference centers as well.
Lauren [00:02:57] That's super helpful. Good to have all those connections for sure. So that kind of answers a little bit of the next question. But what makes HPN Global different from other companies in the field?
Dan [00:03:11] Yeah, well, I mentioned earlier we're kind of a smaller company, right, which is nice because then we don't have a ton of clients. So our motto is that relationships matter and we really get to know our clients. We get to be part of their events team basically, and get to know what do they want to get out of these in-person events or meetings. And because we have this awesome relationship we can speak on behalf of the company or the organization and getting the best deals and making sure they have the best defense possible. We also are an all in one shop. So if your organization is looking at a destination and you need transportation, you need registration, you need all these other things that you don't think about until you're there. We also help facilitate all of that with one stop shop. So I would do all of that for my clients. And I think the biggest difference, too, is that we source confidentially. So what that means is when we send the information out to the hotels or the destinations, we don't tell them the name of the organization. And that's key because, for example, one of my clients is a health care company. So hotels or some places might see that health care name, and think, Oh, well, this company has a lot of money. Let's push our highest rates. Right? So by leveraging the fact that it's confidential, I say it's this group, it's these dates, that's all you need to know. And then we can really get a competitive bid from from the hotels. So it's really a great way to do it confidentially. And I've saved my clients quite a bit of money that way.
Lauren [00:04:50] Awesome. Who doesn't like to save money? Why did you choose Enterprise Coworking as your little work home base?
Dan [00:05:01] Oh, my God, I love Enterprise. I love it because the flexibility of two destinations in Denver specifically. So I live down south, but my child care is up north, so I have the ability to go between the two locations. I'm the kind of person that does not work well at home. So I get too distracted with chores and stuff and I just work better in a work environment. Plus I like being around people. I made a lot of friends at both locations and it's been really good to have that sense of community. The connectivity of the Internet is great. It's super fast, almost better than my home. So I've been able to get a lot more done and just the flexibility of it has been super great. And I just love Enterprise.
Lauren [00:05:50] Well, we're glad to have you. I definitely feel you. I can't work from home either.
Dan [00:05:56] It's too tough.
Lauren [00:05:59] So our last question here, speaking to our viewers, is there anything else that you would like them to know about you, about HPN Global, anything like that?
Dan [00:06:10] Yeah, to anybody that any of the organizations that are out there that even small, it doesn't matter what size, if you're planning events, planning some incentive travel, feel free to reach out to me. The one thing I didn't mention that's great for everybody is I work for free, all the work that I do for the organizations is free because we get a commission from the hotels or the venues. So there's no reason not to. I can just work, you know, do my thing, send you the information and you guys choose, help, negotiate contracts, really take all that frustrating part out of planning the event out of your hands and do it for free. So if anybody can use the help, if you don't like having to do all the legwork. But let me do it for you. And like I said, it's absolutely free.
Lauren [00:06:59] So it sounds like there's no downside here at all.
Dan [00:07:04] There isn't - put up with my sense of humor. That's about it.
Lauren [00:07:08] I love that. Wow. Thank you so much, Dan, for sitting down with us, telling us about HPN Global. We're so glad to have you as part of our community. We love that you come to both of our locations. That's amazing. For more information or if anybody would like to reach out to Dan directly, you can email him at DDeHerrera@HPNGlobal.com. You get more information or you can get things going. Thank you so much Dan for sitting down with us today.
Dan [00:07:42] Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Lauren. Appreciate it.
