Sometime within the last year, The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport went through a major renovation, the result is an exemplary convention venue with two new ballrooms, able to accommodate groups up to 2,200.

These spaces include areas of stadium-style seating throughout the hotel with built-in outlets at each place. However, we were most impressed not by the large venues, but rather by the smaller ones.

Fostering meaningful connections

Every common space in this unique hotel is designed to foster "meaningful connections". From the smaller casual break-out venues to the open networking spaces, this hospitality venue is created with the intention of supporting personal interaction.

Flexible meeting spaces

The renovation brought a variety of new, smaller spaces that encourage guests to work outside of their hotel rooms and have spontaneous meetings. The spaces are effective for solo business travelers and groups alike. Moreover, facilitated by built-in batteries to provide power to each table without dangerous wires, meeting room furniture can be easily moved to accommodate different group sizes.

Attention to detail

This renovation was created to reflect the local area, including colors and artwork to engage the guest even more. It reminded our author Joyce Gioia of five star hotels, she has visited in Asia with its thorough designs and attention to detail.

Unique lighting as well

Unlike most meeting rooms around the globe, these meetings rooms either feature natural light or full-spectrum lighting to promote energy and health. Plus, the property has fiber optic cable in its ballroom chandeliers and wall sconces, which has color changing capabilities, allowing for personalized event experiences.

Marriott has some unusual meeting rooms, too!

The San Diego Courtyard Downtown has a meeting room in a bank vault. The Marriott Executive Apartments Bangkok features flexible meeting spaces. Marriott also created the first Meeting Services App to help with meeting planning and coordination.

What's next for meeting rooms?

In the near-term future, we expect this trend to continue as more hoteliers create casual break-out spaces and other areas to foster meaningful interactions. Longer-term, we expect meeting spaces for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), in which attendees may share the same realities to engage as their avatars in role playing and other training.

© Copyright 1998-2017 by The Herman Group of Companies, Inc., all rights reserved. From 'The Herman Trend Alert,' by Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurist. (800) 227-3566 or www.hermangroup.com  

The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group of Companies, Inc. Reprinted with permission