Autumn is busy season for meetings and conferences, and before we know it, it will be 2017! With the Fall colours beginning to show, it is time to start planning for next year. One way to stay on top of your to-do list is: ‘pre-crastinating’. Yes, you read that right! Pre-crastinating is the opposite of procrastinating. When you complete a task far in advance you take away the stress of planning, and can move along to perfecting the details.
It is recommended that for a meeting of 50-100 people you start planning at least three months in advance. For ease and professional support, hotels are great locations to book your meetings.
In my role as the Director of Sales – Canada for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), I both plan and attend countless meetings every year, and many are held in IHG hotels. IHG hotels have a specific focus on meetings, and have many tools and options to make your meeting seamless and exciting. Our on property teams make planning easier for you—here is how:
745,721 Square Feet
That’s the amount of meeting room space IHG has within Canada alone. That’s over 17 acres of wonderful meeting area! Spread across 824 meeting rooms, IHG’s 175 Canadian hotels are an easy choice for meetings and events. Looking outside of Canada? That works too, because we have more than 5000 hotels worldwide! The options are truly limitless.
Space Versatility
Hotel meeting rooms are designed to be versatile. Whether it’s a board meeting, annual general meeting, or celebration, hotels meeting/conference specialists will work with you to create the perfect atmosphere. I personally love the flexibility of being able to brainstorm in a more casual setting while as well presenting in a boardroom in a more formal set up.
24/7 access to planning your meeting
Have you tried IHG’s online meeting planner? By selecting the city, dates, number of people attending, and requested rooms, the planner shows you the exact hotels that can best serve you. IHG even has a meeting checklist to make sure that you don’t forget anything. Items on the checklist include: booking meeting site and rooms, inviting attendees, making travel arrangements, shipping materials to location so that they arrive on time, finalize food and beverage counts, and more.
Audio Visual Support
IHG hotels offer amazing A/V support. Our hotels have the latest technology in our meeting rooms, and will be able to set you up with Wi-Fi, projector screens, smartboards, speakers, microphones, and more. You won’t be stuck in the past at an IHG hotel.
Food and Beverage Support
Another key factor is food and beverage support. Booking meetings at a hotel allows you to serve anything from coffee, to appetizers, to dinner without any trouble. We all know the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach – so we know the importance of the proper food and beverage support.
As we all proceed to finishing 2016 strong, whether you are planning a small four person meeting or large convention, IHG has the know-how to make every meeting a success, and can provide you with a seamless service from start to finish. For more information, visit ihg.com/meetings.
–Caroline Comeau is the Director of Sales, Canada for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). With over 20 years in the hospitality industry, and 17 in Sales Management, Caroline uses her natural communication abilities, creativity, and sense of humour in order to engage her team, clients, and guests on a daily basis. Caroline can be reached at: Caroline.Comeau@ihg.com.
