If you run a company or are organizing any kind of event or conference, you’re going to want to thoroughly research the best and most innovative meeting spaces.
Contemporary meeting spaces can help participants feel engaged, stimulate networking and offer spaces for individual meetings or discussions.
These spaces typically boast modern, high-tech features and others incorporate welcoming features like comfortable, colorful seats.
In this article, we’ll discuss ten unique meeting space ideas, with tips on how to scale your conference or event up!
Screens are essential for nearly every conference or event. With an effective screen or interactive display, you can showcase presentations and include virtual participants on conference-calling software.
Most conferences showcase multiple presentations (sometimes simultaneously!), so depending on your venue, you might want to install a few interactive displays.
The interactive displays that we sell at Avocor are state-of-the-art, with the ability to seamlessly host sophisticated conference calls and to collaborate with in-room and remote participants using application suites such as Google, Office 365 or any other programmes. With a dynamic, high definition display, images and video look crystal-clear on these screens, and they’re ideal for any meeting, conference or event.
One of these screens still packs a punch, but multiple screens can add an extra dynamic to your meeting or event, giving your guests the chance to watch a range of presentations or videos at any time.
If you are hosting a formal conference or meeting, encompassing an informal reception space can be a game-changer when it comes to helping participants network.
This reception space should be a place where participants can grab a coffee or other drink, with plenty of space for different groups to mingle.
This area should be bright and spacious, with high tables that people can stand around as they chat plus food and drinks stations. It should also be in a good location to access the rest of the conference.
If you’re hosting a large conference, consider utilizing a festival stage as your unique meeting space. This is an informal stage where sessions like Q&As or motivational speeches can take place.
Guests could stay in the festival stage area for entire sessions or drop in as other sessions finish, and the stage should have a relaxed atmosphere where people can contribute to the discussion.
If your conference is in the summertime, then why not host it in an outdoor marquee?
These are generally used for weddings, but they’re also excellent for conferences and events too.
There have been lots of studies that prove that working outside can boost brain power, and you might find that some conferences and events can be more productive if they’re al fresco.
Marquees would work particularly well for relaxed team events and conferences, especially if you’re including motivational speakers or entertainment.
Another plus is that marquees are generally very budget-friendly. All you need is an outdoor area that you have permission to use and the marquee itself! Then, you can customize the inside however you desire.
If your conference or event involves participant collaboration, then banquet-style seating or standing tables could be a great idea for a unique meeting space. These tables are typically dotted around the hall, and you can either arrange a seating plan or let people sit wherever they want.
If you arrange a seating plan, you could carefully select which people to put together. For example, if you want collaboration across departments, you could select certain people from different departments to put on each table. Or, if multiple businesses are attending the conference, you could put one representative from each business at every table!
If you have banquet-style seating, you’ll be expected to have at least some food – this style of seating is typically used for gala dinners and similar events. If you’re just serving refreshments, think about standing tables.
Aside from the main venue, consider having breakout rooms. Like banquet-style seating, these rooms can enable different groups of people to have small meetings. They’re often used as huddle rooms, for small meetings aside from the conference.
Don’t have rooms that you can use in your conference venue? You can still partition areas off using large boards or even curtains.
Whether they’re a separate room or just a partitioned area, breakout rooms offer more privacy. If people are likely to be discussing private or sensitive topics, it might be a good idea to favor breakout rooms over other unique meeting spaces.
For people to have more informal, open meetings, you could have different-sized groups of seats in the conference hall. Scatter a selection of sofas and chairs around the venue, with some coffee tables in the center. Doing this enables people to bring their own hot drinks or refreshments, but there’s no obligation to serve extra food.
Having groups of seats also promotes more extensive networking and collaboration. Conference participants could have quick meetings or activities with different people with no set time restrictions. The disadvantage of having this kind of casual meeting set up is that there can be little privacy.
If you want a conference to remember, consider fresh and innovative dining spaces. You could have a room that’s used specifically for dining, with tall tables in the center offering a delectable buffet.
When creating the buffet, make sure that you factor in all dietary requirements, with options for vegetarians, vegans and people on gluten-free diets. And make sure that the food looks good – incorporate a range of colors, offer a variety of different dishes, and serve each with aesthetic cutlery.
If you’re having a gala dinner, create a few set menus for every taste. Make sure all food is fresh and healthy - having a nutritious lunch will help your guests focus throughout the rest of the event!
Of course, if you want to hire a caterer, they can help you with this part of the conference.
Your venue will most likely have its lighting already sorted, but if possible, you could play around with different tones to make sure that you’ve got an ideal glow for your event.
Most important is natural light. Making use of all available windows - floor to ceiling panes if you have them - will give your meeting a wonderful ambience and heighten productivity.
If you don’t have much natural light, try to make artificial light seem as gentle as possible, using the dimming switch to achieve the ideal brightness. If you need to light up certain corners or breakout spaces, you could utilise lamps to give a soft glow.
You might already have your own in-house conference venue, but for certain events, you could select an alternative venue. For example, did you know the following venues host corporate functions?
The advantage of using these types of venues is that they’ll often provide some interesting team building activities. For example, the Silverstone race track in Northamptonshire, England offers team building activities focused on race cars.
Plus, alternative venues often have their own caterers and fully kitted out conference venues.
The disadvantage of using these types of venues is that they can be a lot more expensive and there’s not always room for flexibility depending on your business’s individual needs. If you do decide to host your event at a winery or a sports stadium, ensure that the offerings are suitable for all tastes.
Whether you’re hosting a DIY conference or using an all-encompassing venue, there are plenty of ways you can make your event one remember. By using modern features like interactive displays and making the most of natural light, your event will be productive, inspiring and entertaining for all involved!
Keep up to date with all the latest from Avocor and partners and get information on upcoming events and exciting product news.
