ACCOMMODATA (C) 1993,1994 [history.txt] 컴컴컴컴컴컴 History File 컴컴컴컴컴컴 We hope you find this of interest..... � September 1992 - December 1993 Studied the market for competetive products Evaluated the potentiual for a "computerised hotel directory" � January 1993 - February 1993 "Played" with developing the system, evaluating the opportunities for worthwhile functions and to determine the expected file sizes based on an estimated number of participating hotels to ensure the system would be useable by a large number of PC owners � March 1993 - June 1993 Development of the program � July 1993 - September 1993 Sent "beta" copies of the program to friends and relatives for evaluation, fault finding and recommendations � October 1993 Approchaed the English Tourist Board for marketing support, but they said that they had seen this kind of system before from other companies and individuals and it had failed to impress them - "We cannot see how the program can be of benefit to the hotels"..... Won the support of the British Hospitality Association who helped with the final specification and marketing plans for the program (and continue to do so at present - June 1994) � October 1993 - April 1994 Implemented a number of changes to the program based on the feedback from the beta users and also from some hotels who have been approached to provide advise from "their side of the fence". In particular the search process was altered, resulting in a faster search time at the expense of file size and support for conference location was added At this stage we started to approach hotels to invite their participation. Initial response was poor due to rogue companies who offer a similar service but do not actually have a system to provide to the user! They usually just invoice the hotel and threaten them with court action - these people have made our life very difficult. This aside, in the 6 months of prospecting we attracted a total of just under 2500 hotels onto the system. � May 1994 First advertisements for prospective users of the system and the first shipments of release 1.1 _____________________ Notes on release numbers 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴 We intend to change the release number on two specific occasions; 1. The digit to the right of the full stop will change when a reasonable number of hotels have been added or their details changed. So we expect the next number to be 1.2, then 1.3 through to 1.9, 1.10, 1.11 and so on. 2. The digit to the left of the full stop will change when a change is made to the program itself. So the next major release will be 2.1. Bug fixes and minor alterations to the background code will be highlighted by an additional suffix character to the end of release number, so our next release could well be 1.1a, or 1.2a et cetera. Technical Information 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� ACCOMMODATA is written using Clipper v5.01 (originally from Nantucket who were then bought by Computer Associates). We have not used any additional libraries to develop the system (in v1.1 at least) and all programming has been done by Anthony Phipps. Future development plans 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴 We cannot go into too much detail here, but we hope to introduce the following features in future releases; 1. A "BOOKINGS TRACKER", to allow the user to log who stays where, when, and how much their bill came to (could be used both for business and as a personal record). The tracker will also allow the user to print a full report of their hotel costs at the end of the year, an analysis of "best value for money" acommodation and will allow them to produce a mailing to the hotels visited to request special deals, special breaks and so on. 2. A "PROFESSIONAL" version, to include a comprehensive "conference manager" module to assist companies in locating suitable accommodation, mailing the list of prospective attendees, tracking replies, issuing tickets, producing follow up letters etc. Yes, we expect there to be a higher price tag for this system, probably around �100 + update costs. 3. On-screen photographs of the hotel (This is a tricky one because, if we are to avoid cutting out a large number of our existing users we must to produce a non CD-ROM based system, but the amount of disk space required is huge i.e 2000 hotels each with ONE on-screen photo would require an additional 40Mb or so! 4. A sister product aimed at providing a location service for restaurants. (We have already approached a number of restauarnts and they are not particularly excited by the idea!). Imagine you are entertaining business associates or friends. You want to find a restaurant in your area (or worse, out of your area!) who serves INDIAN food, but also caters for a VEGAN diet, they must also be able to sell you a few bottles of LAMBRUSCO wine.....see the potential?