Clockwise from left: Collaboration and connectivity is the name of the game; a movement toward lighter fare fuels productivity; media:scape by Steelcase champions innovative design.
Bull to orange juice, who has a food allergy— so when you come back, you feel like it’s your space,” he says.
A New Lease on Life While Marriott’s ambitious Future of Meetings initiative focuses on reconfiguring its current and future meeting space to accommodate a more social, mobile, and collaborative clientele, other traditional luxury brands such as Manda- rin Oriental adapt based on how their guests use their facilities. Tom Ernsting, Mandarin Oriental’s director of group market sales for the Americas, says changes in customer preferences oftentimes lead to surprising discoveries right under a hotel’s roof—and sometimes on top of it. “In Las Vegas, our hotel had an art gal-
lery that moved, leaving a raw space—cement floors, high ceilings, an empty art gallery. Tat space is now unexpectedly in high demand for just about any kind of event,” he says. “Te same hotel has a sky bar overlooking Te Strip and I don’t believe they realized how popu- lar and in-demand it would be, not just for receptions but for breakfast and lunch meet-
www.elitemeetings.com
ings. Te lesson is, don’t keep your blinders on with the current space you have. Traditional spaces can be more interesting when they’re used for something that is unexpected.” Even the menu at Mandarin Oriental re- flects changing customer tastes. “We’re trying to get away from traditional steak dinners,” says Ernsting. “We’re trying to do sushi and lighter, healthier, more ethnically diverse foods. Family-style food service where we place the dishes at the table and they’re passed around just like home has grown in popularity as well.” But don’t expect a Workspring-style solution for Mandarin Oriental. “As a brand, we deliver an experience that is unique. Certainly, drop screens and rolling technology and lots of natural light are going to be a big part of any new facilities, but I don’t necessarily see walls and properties themselves changing; just the way we approach it is chang- ing,” Ernsting says.
Onward and Upward How might this bright new future of meet- ings affect meeting planners? Rick Garlick says
those who change with the times best stand to reap the rewards. Part of the challenge will involve adapt- ing to changing opportunities within the meetings and events space itself. “Now that meetings have become mobile, we see this as breaking down to much more regional meet- ings that feed into global companies. Tat’s giving a lot of the smaller hotel venues in more secondary cities an opportunity for meetings business,” says Garlick. Meeting planners who once selected
venues on the basis of four- or five-star rat- ings may find ratings less important as new venues emerge that better match their client and budget. “The whole industry has shifted from accommodating a large group at a certain rate to designing this whole meeting with a series of very specific objectives built around the brand and the learning objectives they want to achieve,” says Garlick. “Meeting planners really look to align the brand and values of a venue they’re selecting with the brand and values of their company. Tere is so much more in play now than ever before.”
33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252 |
Page 253 |
Page 254 |
Page 255 |
Page 256 |
Page 257 |
Page 258 |
Page 259 |
Page 260 |
Page 261 |
Page 262 |
Page 263 |
Page 264 |
Page 265 |
Page 266 |
Page 267 |
Page 268 |
Page 269 |
Page 270 |
Page 271 |
Page 272 |
Page 273 |
Page 274 |
Page 275 |
Page 276