Creative spaces, outdoor spaces and sustainability are critical to sucessful events

# tags: Trends , Venues , IACC

According to latest IACC research, Creative spaces offering memorable alternatives is critical to successful in-person meetings

The venue association, IACC, has publish a research about meeting spaces. 80 per cent of meeting planners agreed that their current role in planning meetings involves more ‘experience creation’ for attendees compared to pre-pandemic. The global association representing the top 1% of small to midsize conference and meeting venues has found that with many more people working from home, planners say that it is crucial to create an event which is seen as having real value from attending in-person as opposed to attending virtually. In response to this Mark Cooper, IACC CEO commented: “Planners must take a step back and ask themselves whether it can be done over zoom, if so, it clearly has no place in the room.”

In addition, the report details the lasting impacts of the Covid pandemic for planners, with 41% per cent of respondents stating that they are continuing to look for venues with larger spaces to allow their delegates to spread out and 33% per cent saying that access to outdoor spaces is key.

The report also revealed that meeting planners continue to look for venues with strong technological capabilities, such as virtual streaming and participation, internet access, AV and cyber security. It also suggested that sustainability and social responsibility will continue to grow in importance, ensuring the meeting room of the future is a positive force for the future.

IACC’s Meeting Room of the Future initiative reports on insights from meeting professionals, IACC venues and industry experts from across the world, representing Africa, the Australia-Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Americas.To download the full report, visit the IACC Meeting Room of the Future website.