Gather, a leading event management software platform for restaurants and venues, announced the launch of its partnership with Yelp, as part of its new program, the Gather Booking Network. Over $30 billion is spent annually on events and parties in the U.S. and, until today, there has not been a single destination to search for and book events ranging from birthday parties to corporate dinners. Gather’s partnership with Yelp addresses this need by connecting restaurants and event venues with the over 15 million people looking to plan events each year.

“Surprisingly, most events today are planned with phone calls, Excel grids and handwritten notes. It can be a frustrating and inefficient process for everyone: restaurants, event planners and consumers,” says Nick Miller, co-founder and CEO of Gather. In 2017, Gather customers planned and executed over 700,000 events, grossing more than $1 billion. “With the launch of our Yelp partnership, we’re bringing event management up to par with other industries, making it simple and intuitive to book, plan and execute great events.”

With more than 100 million unique visitors per month, “Yelp is a go-to destination for people looking to find great places to eat, drink and celebrate, making it the ideal partner for Gather,” said Miller. By promoting venues where planners and consumers already discover and book events, the more than 5,000 restaurants and venues that use Gather’s software will now be able to generate more leads to grow their events business.

“Gather has modernized the process of booking restaurants for large groups and events,” adds Chad Richard, Senior Vice President of Business and Corporate Development at Yelp. “Adding group booking to Yelp is a perfect complement to the thousands of restaurants that can be booked with Yelp Reservations and Nowait, our remote waitlist feature.”

New partners will continue to be added to the Gather Booking Network, including top online event marketplace EVENTup, which Gather recently acquired.