14 May, 2020

Crowne Plaza Sydney Coogee Beach shows off new COVID-proof tech

As more and more Australian meeting and event organisers look to minimise risk and hold their events at home this year, the new-look Crowne Plaza Sydney Coogee Beach is inviting delegates to head beachside and meet safely with its new content-sharing technology.

As part of the hotel’s recent multi-million-dollar renovation, Avestar Audio Visual custom-built and installed a solution to easily and simultaneously connect all of the hotel’s 11 meeting rooms and share both video and audio content through integrated IP technology.

The new tech solution is perfect for clients looking to safely distance their delegates across multiple meeting spaces.

It also allows organisers the flexibility to grow their registered delegates beyond a single meeting room, should interest in attending their event outweigh their expected numbers.

“Pre-COVID, the solution was originally designed to share content across multiple meeting spaces giving clients with hundreds of delegates the ability to instantly share updates when delegates were in breakout sessions or scattered throughout the hotel,” Avestar director Glenn Richards said.

“We’re excited that our solution can be re-purposed to assist the hotel and our clients to safely get back to meeting in person.

“As the technology is already built-in, it comes at a fraction of the cost of setting up a similar solution in other venues, and it’s as easy as a flick of a switch to activate.”

Richards also noted that the hotel’s modern boardrooms were equipped with interactive 4K, flat-panel touch ccreens with built-in Zoom video and audio technology – a popular feature for clients who want to connect their remote workforce to their meeting.

In addition to technology, the Crowne Plaza Sydney Coogee Beach hotel manager Gareth Long said the property was undertaking a new ‘Meet Safe’ initiative to align with what he sees as “the new way to meet” once government restrictions start to ease.

The initiative will align with state government regulations, and will include increased vigilance around social distancing, hygiene and cleaning as a priority.

“We’re also anticipating that this will mean reviewing meeting room capacities to allow for greater spacing between delegates, staggering catering break times to minimise the number of delegates in restaurants and public spaces, and a suite of revamped menu offerings to replace buffet-style catering, including chef-plated or grab-and-go options,” he said.

“Allowing for more client autonomy, all meeting spaces feature built-in touch panels, which means delegates can control everything from within their meeting room – audio-visual, blinds, lighting, temperature – minimising the need for hotel staff to come and go during the day.

“We understand that for some of our clients, like those in the medical and pharmaceutical industry, face-to-face meetings are critical, and now, more than ever, conference organisers are also looking for flexibility in our proposals and contract terms and safe practices whilst they are on site.

“In addition to our ‘Meet Safe’ onsite initiatives, groups who meet eligibility criteria are offered free cancellation and attrition terms, and we’ve received lots of positive feedback on this approach so far.”

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