What Innovative Approaches Make Meeting Spaces More Engaging?
Flexible space with areas in foyers that allow for guests to interact. Creative seating groupings and options encourage this engagement. -Don Ross
Connection to outdoor/natural light areas that are inviting, such as a terrace or balcony with a nice view or a garden terrace/roof. Guests and patrons are inside meeting rooms all day, so if the venue can offer a few minutes to change the scenery, that is always welcome. Also, dynamic changes in scenery. Conventions usually show or tell a new story and you want dynamic scenery to match—it can be changing lighting or music. The meeting space environment has to appeal to the kinetic senses. -Steve van der Molen
How Do You Keep a Distracted Audience Engaged?
Focus your agenda on your message, but keep the audience engaged by delivering short bursts of important content or messaging, while mixing the day up with innovative industry speakers, team building or community service projects. -Michael Hartman
We work very closely with our AV vendor Encore Event Technologies to help promote Cumulus, which is a web-based mobile app designed and powered by Encore to deliver meeting information to event participants via their smartphone, tablet or other internet device. This allows meeting planners to push their content to a potentially distracted audience in a medium the attendees are constantly plugged into, can relate to and are more likely to pay attention to. -Bill Greaves
We have seen an increase in the number of breaks groups are taking and they’re offering their guests small, light, energy-boosting food and beverages. -Paul Voss
How are Your Team and Space Designed to Maximize Audience Engagement?
Breaking up the presentations into shorter sessions and ensuring that the content is relevant to the audience’s interests and needs. Interactive elements such as sharing immediate feedback from the audience. -Bill Dosch
We are fortunate to have well thought out design in our conference space that allows for maximum versatility. Ballrooms can be configured and re-configured in a matter of minutes and we can do literally hundreds of combinations that allow for quick changeovers from one session to the next. We have a built-in remote hoist control truss system, a loading dock and ramp that is directly connected to the ballroom and a state-of-the-art, dedicated banquet kitchen that allows for culinary presentations at restaurant quality for 2,000+ guests. -Steve van der Molen
What F&B Trends Should Planners Pay More Attention?
More attention needs to be paid to food sustainability, as the long-term goal is to make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and farm resources. Locally grown vegetables and fruits harvested within hours of landing on your table can’t be beat for the vibrancy of their flavors. Get fresh produce from a sustainable farm and you get it at its best. Also, planners need to pay attention to dietary choices vs. dietary needs. -Lanette Myers
All catering operations have pre-planned menus to share with planners, which may be fine for certain audiences or quick one-day meetings. But all catering managers love to be creatively challenged—it’s part of a successful catering manager’s DNA. So, challenge them! Discuss your meeting/event theme or key message—maybe a celebratory milestone or even just the thought of sharing the local flavors of the region that the event is being held in. You’ll soon be rewarded with a carefully thought out menu plan that no other group has experienced before; you “own” that particular culinary experience. -Michael Hartman
How do You Promote Wellness at Events?
Look at whole-body wellness as part of the convention. In addition to learning, there should be time set aside for fun, networking activities, like a “fun run” or yoga at sunrise Consider activities that take the guest outside of the convention space and provide an activity in a new environment. Look at serving food untraditionally and combine it with networking—e.g., set up picnic baskets filled with food for groups of six, set blankets on the floor (indoors or outdoors) and guests must find fellow attendees to share their picnic basket with. -Lanette Myers
Engaging attendees by offering fun walks and runs during the early morning hours or free time. Promoting corporate social responsibility by connecting our customers with our local charities and schools. Working with the culinary team to create healthy and energizing alternatives to the core menu offering. -Bill Dosch
How Do You Ensure that Attendees Leave an Event with Well-defined Takeaways?
Our convention clients’ “experience” in our area is crucial to their overall experience in the hotel. We strive for a memorable experience that includes the very best in food and beverage, and quality meeting facilities that are comfortable and clean. With expert staffing from convention service managers and banquet managers all the way to banquet servers, porters and the culinary team that pride themselves on connecting with our guests and turning short-term relationships into long-term. -Brian Beckner
How Do You Ensure that Your Events are Inclusive to All?
For the planner, there is a responsibility to build diversity and inclusion into conferences. People come from all walks of life with a range of gender identities, geographic locations, racial backgrounds, ages, abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds and other traits that may represent a community. The ability to be inclusive is to accommodate people from a broad range of backgrounds and to make them feel welcome. Can anyone with mobility challenges get to and from the event venue easily? Is there adequate seating for people that may need to sit throughout an event? Consider all the parameters involved with food allergies and preferences from the simplest to the most health concerning. Will there be any guests with communication challenges, or potential hearing, reading and language opportunities? Does the content of the sessions assume that all participants come from a similar community? Content must be open, engage diverse perspectives and be accessible and inclusive. -Lanette Myers
