PHOTO: Courtyard New Orleans Downtown/Iberville "media pods." (Courtesy of Courtyard New Orleans Downtown/Iberville)
Long gone are the days when large masses of people would simply file into a large conference room or crowded lecture hall, only to hear Mr. Know-It-All rattle off Parts 1A through 10C of his PowerPoint presentation.
Sure, a lot of business is still done that way, and it can still be a valuable forum for communication.
But, while the world continues to get bigger, some are beginning to think smaller… in a good way.
Small, intimate, personalized business areas - or "micro-meetings" - are beginning to sprout up with regularity in office buildings and hotels.
Courtyard New Orleans Downtown/Iberville is one of the hotels that have embraced the idea of offering smaller meeting spaces. The Marriott property introduced six "media pods" in October 2012, and it has turned out to be beneficial in a variety of ways for the hotel and its guests.
For one, the whole idea of having a series of intimate spaces in the lobby - instead of one roaring hub - generally tends to create a more relaxed social environment. Not only does it work well for small groups or business partners trying to get work done, it also tends to be more family-friendly, said Frank Romano, general manager of Courtyard New Orleans Downtown/Iberville.
That's not mentioning the fact that each media pod is free of charge.
"With our business travelers, you may be traveling with one or two partners," Romano said. "You can come down to the lobby and have a semi-private area to gather without having to rent a room or suite."
While the pods - or semi-circular booths - aren't entirely closed off, they do offer a level of separation from other travelers without losing that open feeling. You still have a clear-cut section to yourself for privacy, which may be where these meeting spaces truly differentiate from places with similar vibes such as coffee shops.
Of course, it's also nice to have your own personal TV for entertainment, along with free Wi-Fi and plenty of outlets for your computer and electronics.
In that sense, the pods have a balanced nature to them, offering the option to mix business and leisure.
In fact, Romano said that the pods have actually helped Courtyard New Orleans Downtown/Iberville communicate better with guests. The draw of the pods has brought more guests straight to the lobby, where they can go over their preferences or address issues with the hotel in an open, casual setting (instead of, for example, yelling into their room phones).
In addition to the potentially enjoyable social component to all of this, you can't deny it helps the hotel in terms of dollars and cents, as well. Courtyard New Orleans Downtown/Iberville not only comes away from these meetings with a better understanding of guests' preferences (which will only make guests happier in the long run), there's also the fact that these pods are literally bringing business straight into the lobby. It's actually quite fascinating when you think of the overall effect just a few small meeting spaces can have in the grand scope of things.
Combine the unique benefits micro-meetings bring to businesses with the open freedom they give to customers, and it's no wonder Romano believes they are built for sustainable success.
He's not alone, either.
The Courtyard brand has already introduced micro-meetings in the grand majority of its hotels.
Youri Sawerschel, a strategy and branding consultant with Bridge.over, wrote an interesting article on BoutiqueHotelNews.com in January about the potential of micro-branding in boutique hotels.
And, just in case you were wondering, there is already a website that sells customizable micro-meetings, appropriately dubbed Micro-Meetings.com. Micro-meetings can be configured into anything from "sofas" (four angled screens, four seats) to full-scale meeting rooms (seven high screens, seven seats) to lounges/bistros (seven low screens, seven seats).
Yep, looks like it's a small world, after all.
Have any tech news? Email me at [email protected].
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