Following COVID-19’s outbreak, many companies and workers shifted to remote work to ensure a semblance of normalcy. This overnight adoption of digital meeting tools accelerated the longer-term transformations in how companies operated.
However, there was one niggling hitch. Despite the access to superlative digital tools the importance of in-person meetings could not be replaced, especially for sales and business deals. While reduction of travel for internal work meetings, especially internationally, is anticipated business travel will continue to remain important for cracking deals.
Patrick Mendes, Group Chief Commercial Officer (Sales, Marketing, Distribution and Loyalty), Accor tells Vinita Bhatia that hybrid meetings are here to stay – pandemic or not. As this trend shapes up to impact a large part of meetings, hotel brands will continue to rely on a dynamic domestic market by optimising the use of available spaces and diversifying revenue for the longer term.
Are hybrid meetings restricted to boardroom interactions or can it encompass business events allowing delegates to meet in-person and communicate with participants off-site? A hybrid meeting features at least one group of face-to-face attendees connecting virtually with other meeting participants who are unable to attend physically. It is so much more than just boardroom interactions.
It can be more interactive and engaging as physical and online attendees from different locations come together and participate in the same experience or content through technology at the same time. This is an ideal meeting solution during and following the pandemic and we are convinced it will become the norm in the future.
According to our internal research, 70% of media and events (M&E) planners see hybrid meetings as an important service in the future. We expect the trend towards remote meetings and events to remain a lasting legacy even after COVID-19.
How can hotel brands rethink and redefine their options for event delegates and corporate clients in hybrid meetings?
Hotel brands have a key role to play in re-attracting meeting planners. They will leverage two distinctive pillars. The first will be focusing on exclusive brand experience.
Each brand has a distinctive brand positioning that reflects into its meeting experience. For example, Novotel Meeting experiences will promote collective classes to create bounding moments whereas Swissotel will focus on indoor and outdoor vitality activities.
Secondly, hotels will adapt unique F&B experiences to ensure attractive and safe meeting experiences. F&B has always played a fundamental role in facilitating human interactions. These experiences can be adapted to fit safety measure, for e.g. focusing on live cooking and individual servings.
How can virtual events solutions allow companies to connect with team members and collaborate seamlessly?
Accor ALL Connect allows seamless digital and physical meeting experiences and team collaboration by enabling physical in-hotel meetings and virtual interactions across multiple locations simultaneously, powered by Microsoft Teams. The latter is a hub for teamwork collaboration in Microsoft Office 365, which integrates people, content, and the tools that teams need to be more engaged and productive with Surface Hub 2S.
This is a modern, all-in-one collaborative canvas and meetings platform, easy to integrate into any workspace.
This collaboration helps us transcend the confines of the traditional conference room by bringing people together wherever they work. On Surface Hub 2S you can join a Teams meeting simply by touching the screen. The 4K camera and the sound are activated automatically and you can concentrate on your business.
This system can accommodate up to 1000 participants with no time limit with the possibility to record meetings in a secured environment. It guarantees the privacy of content and personal data.
Which new technologies will accelerate the adoption of hybrid events in contemporary times?
Technologies currently exist for interactive screen, cameras that follow speakers during the meeting and 4K quality. What will be different is the democratisation of these solutions to make it the norm. We can compare this to WiFi adoption. At the beginning, it was an additional service in the hotel. Now, it is the norm for every hotel.
Can hotels present hybrid events as a cost effective and inclusive experience for event planners and corporate clients?
Instead of hosting large groups at one location, meeting planners can host small groups in different locations without expensive travel costs. Our capacity as well as meetings and events global expertise will ensure consistency for the same meeting across hotels with similar meeting experience such as F&B experience, for e.g. Breakouts are a popular concept in any business event.
Can hybrid events have small group interactions with panelists after a session?
Microsoft Teams allows breakouts and then ease the contact between participants including panelists. Presenters can optimise their time, jump from one breakout to another, and interact with many participants.
Content is the key in business events. How can hybrid events elevate this aspect to justify virtual attendance?
We need more time to estimate the impact of hybridation on event attendance. By optimising the process and budget to attend events, organisers will have the opportunity to attract a wider audience to their events. Virtual attendees will then become physical participants during next sessions.
Are there tools that can calculate potential ROI of virtual vs physical participation in such events?
This new solution needs to be experienced and we need to monitor the usage and user’s behavior to follow those metrics. RoI is dependent of the results of the meeting’s objectives. There is room for virtual and physical; we need to look at ways to improve this experience to best answer our customers’ needs.
Why will the Accor ALL Connect hybrid meeting concept benefit your corporate clients?
COVID-19 has deeply impacted the M&E market; digital tools became the norm to meet changed customer behaviour. Accor’s ALL Connect hybrid meeting concept helps M&E planners organise seamless hybrid meetings without being concerned about technology.
In Accor meeting spaces, Microsoft Teams Rooms and Surface Hub 2S people on-site can connect with
those joining remotely with audio and video device experiences. It focuses primarily on small hybrid
meetings (up to 50 in-hotel participants) where it combines Accor’s service culture with Microsoft Teams’ collaboration technology. This offering enables corporate customers and meeting planners to combine physical in-hotel meetings with virtual interactions across multiple locations simultaneously.
Does the ALL CONNECT have SLAs to ensure glitch-free performance for participants?
The service is being finalised. A few pilot hotels are being run across different brands and regions to ensure service will be at is best, for hotel staff, meeting planners and of course, participants to guarantee
seamless experience.
Since announcing ALL CONNECT, has Accor seen an increase in enquiries for hybrid events, especially in India?
The number of requests really depends on the sanitary situation. But, there markets are moving progressively out of the crisis where demand for hybrid meeting is developing like Australia, China, Japan, Middle East and yes, India.
How will ALL CONNECT offer Accor a new revenue source? Does it have any digital upgrades to generate incremental revenue streams?
It will become a new revenue stream for the Group as corporate customers will focus on more sustainable corporate travel, continuing to prioritise health and safety, while maintaining business connections. The offer will be distributed on all channels, starting with dedicated search engine on meetings.accor.com and sales solutions for Accor sales offices.
