Destination Community
It’s all in the Details - Conference Planning Trends
I recently had a discussion with Kristin Waymire, Conference Planning Manager Extraordinaire and Scott Warnes Director of Swank Audio Visual both of Skamania Lodge to find out what they are seeing as current trends with meetings and conferences these days. We specifically talked about meeting space set ups, technology, teambuilding and catering. It seems that many groups are trying to find that “new way “of making their event memorable and productive. It could be that the group comes to our property annually and has the same basic conference every time but wants to change things up so it won’t seem so stale. This might mean something as easy as changing a set from classroom to crescent rounds or flipping the agenda that normally starts with the general session to starting with the teambuilding event.
Our conference planning team is having more and more requests for some unique set ups, such as doing a soft furniture living room set, cluster set’s instead of crescent rounds, using tall bistro tables or having a panel on a stage and using tall bar chairs are all current popular requests. When the attendee’s feel comfortable this often get’s their creative juices flowing and provides for a more productive meeting.
In the world of AV, Scott tells me it is getting really popular to incorporate a live web cast during the meeting to include folks that are not physically at the meeting and enable their participation. He has also seen a trend toward “Web Archiving” which records the presentation and the power point to offer over a media site. Not only can it be used for folks that could not attend the meeting it is also a way for the presenter to charge for the access and an organization may potentially make money with this offering if appropriate.
Other technology trends we see are that meeting planners tend to like dual projectors and to use the latest rear screen projection that does not take as much space as the “old school style”. More requests are coming for using high definition projection and wide screens (16X9) which make sense as most of our notebooks now are wide screen, our presentation screens should be also.
As the attendee gets savvier with their personal technology, their needs for more bandwidth during a meeting increases. When we have a couple hundred folks each with a laptop and a hand held devise that are both connected to the internet and then the registration desk may have a large amount of internet needs and the presenter is doing something super cool on the internet, it can often take a lot of bandwidth. Skamania Lodge recently added a significant amount of bandwidth (currently 48 mbs/sec download and 12 mbs/sec upload) on a permanent basis as we see this trend impacting decisions on where conferences are held. Presentations need to be perfect and slow internet speed is not acceptable.
In the catering world we continue to see trends toward meeting planners wanting to offer organic whenever possible. Locally sourced, vegan and gluten free menu choices are all very popular right now and certainly something Destination Hotels & Resorts properties accommodate on a daily basis. Themes are still “in” but people want new themes. Pop culture comes into play here. Currently at Skamania Lodge, we often do a “black box” competition where our chef brings out 5 or so ingredients hidden in the box, the group is divided into teams and must use the given ingredients to create their appetizer. It is very fun! Pairing meals with local beer, wine or spirits continues to be a requested offering with us as well.
For the recreation portions of the agenda, groups still enjoy golfing and spa, but if the event is supposed to be a teambuilding event, we are finding golf does not always meet every attendee’s skill and preference. However, groups do like the event to have a competitive side to the activity. We have recently had great success putting together a scavenger hunt style event that is a take on “Project Runway”. A group of say 100 would divide into 10 groups of 10 and review their clues to get them to different stations throughout the property. Each team would have a designated “model” and designated “mc”. The “runners” would go from station to station through clues and get items like tape, material, beads etc. that can be used to make the outfit. There are ways to get bonus items. We incorporate our staff in the hunt and the attendee’s get to experience the back of the house at the property and interact with our behind the scenes staff. It is always a hoot and a really great way for the group to bond. Oh, and the outfits are really creative!
The organizations want to have a productive face to face experience with ROI. The attendees want to be entertained. Combining the trends, such as the ones listed above, will accommodate both and create a memorable experience that will be talked about for many years.
