19 June 2017: IACC today released phase one of its second annual ‘Meeting Room of the Future’ white paper at MPI’s World Education Congress in Las Vegas. The paper, reveals how emerging technology and younger delegates are influencing the way we meet, with memorable individual experiences, interactive presentation and personal development the critical factors for venues and meeting planners to consider. A full copy is available for download here.
The report brings together insights from 180 global conference and meeting buyers to identify new trends and illustrate how previous trends have evolved in the past year.
The desire continues to manifest for a more memorable, personal meeting experience which offers delegates more time for creative thinking, networking and collaboration. This is underpinned by the role interactive technology is playing in driving a more flexible approach to meeting attendance as well as the content and style of presentation. Linked to this is an increased appetite for outdoor space to be integrated into meeting itineraries, with many venues investing heavily in enhancing their surroundings to cater for this desire, offering something unique and different for clients.
“It is clear from our latest report that the format and content of our meetings is being influenced by tech savvy younger generations who are looking for a more individual approached to meetings,” said IACC’s CEO, Mark Cooper. “Delegates want a more memorable experience directly relevant to them and their own personal development with a degree of flexibility in terms of the way they interact with the meeting and the content they take away.
“Unsurprisingly, businesses remain focused on budget and demonstrating return on investment and therefore organisers are assessing the success of meetings through broader metrics than previously, for example whether the meeting impacted their bottom line and met business objectives. As an industry, we need to be conscious of this and look at how we can best demonstrate our value.”
Mark continues: “The industry is evolving and expanding apace and it’s essential that venues and meeting planners stay ahead of the curve and look at how they can best harness these trends to meet the ever-changing needs of meeting planners and their delegates.”
The second half of the Meeting Room of the Future white paper will be launching at IMEX America in Las Vegas on the 10th October 2017 and will report on trends and opinions as seen by IACC venues and committed industry suppliers.
Alex Cabañas, CEO of Benchmark, A Global Hospitality Company and IACC President comments; “In a technology laden world where our heads are down looking at screens more often then up looking at faces, memorable and inspiring face to face meetings are required to get attendees attention and participation. IACC’s members are leading the industry and our collective research shows it.”
The IACC Meeting Room of the Future™ initiative aims is to identify new and emerging trends across technology, education, meeting and networking spaces and food & beverage within the meeting and conference global industry, as well as predicting the landscape of the industry over the next three to five years. The report brings together insights from 180 global IACC members, meeting planners and industry experts, provides valued, in-depth findings on the evolving industry and is available for download here.
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About IACC:
Founded in 1981, IACC is dedicated to representing the best meeting venues globally and is, by definition, the future of the meetings industry. The association brings together the brightest, most innovative minds from around the globe. IACC elevates the meeting experience by creating a unique point of entry that is inclusive of the best-in-class meeting venues internationally. IACC membership is a symbol of meeting excellence and exceptional connections amongst the best in the meeting industry. This exclusiveness makes IACC’s members part of an elite group representing the most innovative, forward-thinking and results-driven meeting venues globally.
All members meet a set of stringent Quality Standards and agree to a Code of Ethics. IACC includes nearly 350 members from the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Russia, Kenya, Nigeria, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Mongolia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Germany, England and Scotland.
